Five years ago, before officially joining the Marines, Michael ate a Devil Fruit.
At the time, he was working on a merchant ship, tasked with guarding the fresh fruit storage.
A sudden jolt caused the towering pile of fruit to collapse. Fortunately, the storage room was padded with shock-absorbing mats, so there was no loss.
But one apple—pure white and flawless, covered in spiral patterns—rolled to his feet.
In Michael's mind, a faint, urgent voice echoed:
"Eat it! Eat it!"
And he chose to follow his desire, taking a bite without hesitation.
After an indescribable wave of stench, he became a Devil Fruit user.
The Human-Human Fruit: Mythical Zoan, Seraph Form.
However, after joining the Marines, when reporting his abilities to superiors, the fruit's type listed in the official records was Human-Human Fruit: Ancient Zoan, Winged Human Form. Apart from his ability to fly, he didn't reveal any other powers.
But this time, he couldn't hold back his violent temper.
Maybe in this life or the last, he had never learned to be politically shrewd—or maybe it was just that his not-yet-cooled blood had fused with holy flame and began to burn fiercely once more.
His pure white holy flames consumed eighty-eight people.
And by comparing their faces to bounty posters, he discovered that the thugs he had noticed boarding the ship were all criminals with bounties of at least 40 million Belly.
"Couldn't even withstand one blow? Then you really deserved to die."
Bounties don't necessarily reflect strength—some pirates get exorbitant bounties for sheer brutality and bloodlust.
High bounty, low strength—those are usually bounty hunters' favorite targets.
Watching all of this unfold on the battleship, the Marine soldiers gulped involuntarily, exchanging glances.
"I'd heard rumors before, that Commander Michael was strong… but this is insane."
"It looks outrageous, sure, but isn't the fact that he's only eighteen this year even crazier?"
"Plenty of people were unhappy with him being promoted to Vice Admiral Momousagi's adjutant. Well, now what? Who still dares to complain?"
"But those slaves were reserved for the Celestial Dragons. Are we really gonna be okay going against them like this?"
Michael hadn't awakened Observation Haki yet, but with his extraordinary physical abilities, he could hear every word clearly from this distance.
"Hey, you brats still muttering over there? Get a doctor over here now to treat the injured!"
"Y-Yes, sir!"
As the holy light forcefully dispersed the storm clouds, sunlight poured down upon the slave ship.
Michael folded his angelic wings and slowly stepped into the cabin, now basked in light.
"I am Commander Michael of the Marine Headquarters stationed at the Sabaody Archipelago. You are safe now."
Yes—safe for now.
After all, not all slaves are pitiful commoners. Some are heinous pirates who simply ran into misfortune.
But the further Michael walked in, the more the glow from his wings lit each prison cell, and the more that initial assumption crumbled.
Turns out, every single slave prepared for the Celestial Dragons was a beautiful woman.
Nearly all were unarmed civilians, and over a dozen at a glance were clearly young ladies from noble families.
He couldn't help but reflect—why hadn't he specifically asked Momousagi how to awaken Observation Haki?
Relying solely on physical senses for everything was terribly inconvenient.
Before one of the prison cells at the very back of the ship, Michael focused his gaze.
In a damp corner, a blonde girl sat covered in bruises, her eyes filled with fear, her limbs trembling uncontrollably, yet she still shielded a group of little girls behind her.
"Bastards! You scum! This is a crime!"
Michael rubbed his temples.
Was this woman a little too naive…?
Already kidnapped, and still yelling at criminals?
"I'm a Marine. You're safe now."
Michael explained, but in the girl's bright green eyes, it was clear what she was thinking—
Bullshit!
With no other choice, Michael unfolded his seraph wings again, intensifying the holy light.
In an instant, the cabin was fully illuminated. The girl finally saw the Marine uniform he wore, and behind him, Marines smashing open cells to rescue the enslaved women.
At that moment, the seagull emblem and the cape embroidered with the word "Justice" gave her something she had never felt before—
Peace of mind.
"Stella-chan! What's wrong?!"
Seeing the girl's eyes close and her body begin to faint, Michael quickly reached out and broke the cell lock, checking her condition.
"Wait—what did you call her?"
"S-Stella-chan."
Michael looked again at the girl called "Stella."
No wonder she looked so familiar. Wasn't this the "Golden Emperor" Gild Tesoro's love—the one bought directly by a Celestial Dragon and then died young?
In the movie, she was just a background character—not particularly memorable.
But this living, breathing girl gave depth and life to that flat memory in his mind.
"Don't worry. Stella just fainted from extreme fright, and tried too hard to protect you. She finally passed out from exhaustion."
While speaking, Michael extended a finger to touch Stella's forehead. A gentle stream of holy light flowed like water, mending her injuries and fatigue.
Holy light to heal, holy flames to kill—mercy and slaughter, two sides of the seraph.
He hadn't yet awakened the deeper layers of his fruit's power.
As her wounds and fatigue faded, Stella's tightly furrowed brow gradually relaxed.
"Marine, is Stella-chan better now?" a timid little girl asked.
"She'll be fine now. Let her sleep well for a bit." Michael withdrew his finger and rubbed the heads of the little girls. "She protected you very well."
The gentle holy light continued to ease their emotions.
Just like Michael said, even though Stella was afraid, she still stood up to shield these little girls.
Michael easily picked Stella up in his arms. The little girls clung closely, grabbing onto the hem of his coat, and followed him out of the cell.
"Reporting, Commander! We've completed the sweep! A total of 260 slaves rescued! All were captured around the Sabaody Archipelago or the first half of the Grand Line!"
"Good. Get all victims back to the warship. We'll deal with everything once we return to Sabaody."
"Yes!" The Warrant Officer hesitated a moment, then added, "One more thing. Aside from the smuggled goods, we found a chest in the captain's cabin. Inside, along with the stolen money… there were three Devil Fruits!"
"Devil Fruits? Three of them? These traffickers really hit the jackpot."
Even Michael, the transmigrator, was surprised.
These slavers were that lucky?
Not only did they capture over two hundred female slaves—they also found three Devil Fruits?
If that deal had actually gone through, it could've been worth nearly a billion Belly!
An easy, low-risk trafficking run—equivalent to a bounty on Katakuri!
Triangular trade doesn't lie, after all!