While the Marine forces were being routed, another "battle" was taking place within the island—one that more closely resembled a hunt in a dark forest.
Members of the God's Knights moved like ghosts through the ruins and trees. Their swords flashed in the dim light, and each silent strike was accompanied by the end of a pirate's life. Their faces were blank, expressionless, as if they were merely carrying out a routine extermination.
In contrast, the Roger Pirates were a sharp, glittering knife, piercing directly into the heart of the chaos.
"Come on, lads! The treasure is just ahead!" Roger roared from the front, unleashing a "God Avoidance" that sent several CP agents—and the buildings behind them—flying.
"Roger, be careful you don't smash the treasure, too!" Rayleigh reminded him with a smile. His longsword effortlessly deflected an agent's slash before a backhand strike left a bone-deep wound across the man's chest.
The crew advanced with unstoppable momentum, but with every step, Kyle's feet felt heavier. His vibration-sensing ability had already spread across the area, and the fragmented images that fed back to him were stoking the rage in his chest into a white-hot inferno.
He "saw" the young Saint Marcos playfully chasing a slave girl his own age with his ivory pistol. The girl shrieked in terror, running for her life, but a bullet caught her in the leg. She fell to the ground, screaming in pain. Saint Marcos clapped his hands in delight, as if he had performed a clever trick, then slowly walked forward and aimed the gun at her head.
"Too noisy," Kyle murmured, his voice barely a whisper.
Roger heard him and turned to ask what was wrong, only to see an icy, surging killing intent in Kyle's golden eyes—an expression he had never seen on the young man's face before.
"Kyle?"
Kyle didn't answer. He simply raised the black-and-gold naginata in his hand, its tip pointed toward the ground.
"Silent Apocalypse."
In an instant, the world within a hundred-meter radius of Kyle died.
The sound of the wind vanished. The roar of cannons disappeared. The distant laughter of pirates, the shouts of Marines, the screams of slaves... everything was gone.
Saint Marcos, who had been about to pull the trigger, froze, his excited smile locked on his face. He found that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make a sound. When his gun fired, he felt only a slight vibration in his hand; the deafening gunshot he expected never came.
The Roger Pirates and CP agents who were locked in combat instinctively slowed down. Without the sense of hearing, their ability to predict each other's attacks was thrown off. The entire battlefield had turned into a bizarre, silent film. A CP agent, about to deliver a killing blow, stared in shock as his blade cut through the air without making a sound. He opened his mouth to shout, but no words came out. The absolute silence created a sense of panic more terrifying than any noise.
Kyle's figure was a blur. The next moment, he appeared in front of Saint Marcos. Before the Celestial Dragon boy's astonished expression could change, a large hand gripped his neck and lifted him into the air. Kyle's golden eyes were inches from his own, containing no anger, no pity, only a void of icy coldness, as if he were looking at a piece of garbage.
"You..." Saint Marcos struggled, but found he couldn't even make a sound to call for help.
"Kyle!" Roger shouted, though the word was soundless.
Kyle slowly turned his head and grinned at Roger. The smile was as brilliant as ever, but it sent a shiver down the spine. "Don't worry, Captain."
He tightened his fingers slightly. Saint Marcos's head drooped to the side. There was no satisfying snap of bone in the crushing silence.
"I'm just... helping to clean up the trash."
Kyle casually tossed the small body to the ground. The smile vanished from his face, replaced by pure indifference. He surveyed the other Celestial Dragons and CP agents, who were frozen in fear, and mouthed a single word.
"Next."
"Saint Marcos... Saint Marcos is dead!" a CP agent screamed silently, pointing a trembling finger at the corpse. For them, the death of a Celestial Dragon was a catastrophe ten thousand times more serious than the collapse of their defensive lines. It was a direct act of blasphemy against the highest authority in the world.
"Kill him!"
"Kill him at all costs!"
Amidst the silent roars, every remaining CP agent turned on Kyle, their eyes bloodshot with rage. The pirates caught in the chaos saw an opportunity.
"That guy killed a World Noble! Hahaha!"
"Get him! He might have some good treasure on him!"
In an instant, Kyle became the common enemy. The pirates and the government agents, who should have been mortal enemies, now surged toward the same target.
Kyle stood at the center of the storm, quietly watching them come. The smile returned to his face, but the last trace of warmth in his golden eyes faded away, replaced by the cold indifference of a king. Just as the first CP agent's Finger Pistol was about to touch his skin, Kyle's gaze sharpened.
An invisible, overwhelmingly powerful will erupted from him like a shockwave.
Buzz—!
The air itself seemed to solidify. Black and red lightning crackled into existence, coiling around Kyle's body before lashing out in all directions. This wasn't the power of his Devil Fruit. This was the innate quality of a king.
Conqueror's Haki.
The pirates and agents at the front of the charge froze, their eyes rolling back into their heads as they foamed at the mouth and collapsed in droves. In a single breath, the ground around Kyle became an eerie, empty circle littered with unconscious bodies. Only a handful of the strongest were left standing, their faces pale and sweat-soaked, their hands trembling as they fought against the immense pressure crushing their souls.
Not far away, Roger, who had just cleared a path with a "God Avoidance," noticed the disturbance. "Hmm?" He looked back just in time to see the Haki explode outwards. "Kuhahaha! Look at that, Rayleigh!" Roger's grin stretched from ear to ear. "The kid's been hiding his true strength!"
Rayleigh paused, pushing his glasses up his nose. A rare look of surprise appeared in his eyes. "This Haki..." His mind flashed back to a chaotic battle years ago, when a younger Kyle had lost control in a fit of rage and released a tiny flicker of the same power. Back then, it had been a weak flame, barely enough to knock out a few grunts. What he was seeing now was a raging inferno.
"Honestly," Rayleigh said, shaking his head with a smile. "This ship is full of troublesome monsters."
Chaos is the best cover. As the battle raged, two figures snuck through the shadows.
"Vee-haw! This is the place!" Ivankov whispered, pointing to a temporary warehouse. Bartholomew Kuma said nothing, simply using his large body to shoulder the door open.
Inside, jewels glittered. On a central platform sat several ornate wooden boxes. The two ignored the gold and silver, their eyes fixed on the boxes. "It's them! Ginny was right!"
They opened two of the boxes. Inside, nestled on velvet cushions, were two strangely patterned Devil Fruits. One was a deep blue and covered in what looked like dragon scales; the other was a fleshy pink, with cute paw pad patterns on its surface.
"Which one should we take?" Ivankov wondered aloud, but before Kuma could answer, he made a decision. "Never mind, no time! Let's just eat one!" He reached for the more impressive-looking blue fruit. A gamble was better than being hunted down like an animal.
"Mamamama..."
A greedy laugh echoed behind them. The warehouse wall exploded inwards, and Charlotte Linlin stood in the opening. Her eyes locked onto the two fruits, and her face lit up with extreme greed. "Little mice... those are mine!"
She moved with impossible speed, grabbing Ivankov by the neck and lifting him into the air. "Ugh!"
"Run, Kuma!" Ivankov choked out with his last bit of strength. "Go save the others! Even one is a victory!"
Kuma hesitated, but knew that staying would mean they both died. He grabbed the pink, paw-patterned fruit and ran.
Linlin snatched the blue dragon-scale fruit and shoved it into her dress. She tossed Ivankov aside like trash and sneered as she began to chase Kuma. "Trying to run? Not from me!"
Just as Kuma felt the terrifying presence closing in behind him, a dark shadow descended from the sky, crashing down between him and Linlin.
"Hey, Auntie," a lazy voice said as the smoke cleared. Kyle stood there, his naginata blocking Linlin's path. "Bullying children isn't a very nice hobby." On his way over, he had already "cleaned up" two more Celestial Dragons he'd spotted taking potshots at slaves.
"Oh? Another one wants to die," Linlin narrowed her eyes. "It's you. The kid from the Roger Pirates."
"That's me, but there's no prize for guessing," Kyle shrugged. He glanced at the stunned Kuma and the struggling Ivankov. "What are you two waiting for? An invitation? Get out of here!"
They snapped out of their daze and fled into the forest. As he ran, Kuma looked at the fruit in his hand, then back at the man who was blocking the monster for them. Without hesitating, he shoved the entire fruit into his mouth. "Ugh... Disgusting!"
Linlin's gaze was fixed on Kyle. The man was stronger than the last time they'd met; the aura coming off him now was genuinely threatening. "Get out of my way, kid!"
"Can't do that," Kyle said, resting his naginata on his shoulder. "I just did a big cleanup, and this area is spotless. If you two run off now, it'll ruin all my hard work." Before his words had even finished, he vanished. Linlin barely had time to react before the naginata, wreathed in a sonic boom, was slashing at her face.
Clang!
The impact forced even her massive body back half a step. "You bastard..." Linlin's expression turned grim.
Kyle shook his hand. Damn, she's tough. He could already feel several powerful auras—one of them Roger's—rapidly approaching.
Linlin had clearly sensed them too. She glanced in the direction Kuma had fled, then at the Azure Dragon fruit she had secured. She made a decision.
"Mamamama..." she suddenly laughed. "You're lucky this time, kid. I'm taking this fruit!" With that, she turned and rushed in another direction. She had the prize she wanted, and she wasn't about to get cornered by Roger and the Marines just to finish off one troublesome brat.
Kyle watched her go. He turned his head and looked back toward the heart of the chaotic battlefield. The desire for slaughter in his eyes slowly faded as his reason returned.
"Alright," he said to himself. "The venting is over."
"Now, it's time to find some real fun."
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