Even though he hated the slave owners, the truth was that some of the slaves deserved it.
In this world—especially in Sabaody—the people sold at human auctions were mostly pirates. Pirates were no different from slave masters—disgusting scum. In the short time Genichi had been in the pirate world, he had already seen many villages looted or even massacred by pirates.
And that was just on the first half of the Grand Line, where Marine Headquarters was. He didn't even want to imagine how insane the pirates in the New World would be.
On top of that, Genichi had one percent of the Nine-Tails' power. The beast came with its own sense of good and evil, like a radar, so he could easily tell that the district being rebuilt was filled with scum. Even if pirates were captured and turned into slaves, no matter how pitiful their fate, it didn't erase the evil they had done before.
"Once I get Haki, I'll send you all off. Think of it as giving you release."
Genichi stayed in the dark space, which quietly remained near the Holy Land, while Toguro went to the other side of the Red Line, to Red Port in the New World. He also used the bubble gondola to descend, but since it was already late at night, no ships were setting out to sea.
Many warships were still docked at the port. Ordinary people weren't allowed to linger near the Holy Land for long. Toguro himself wasn't very interested in the Holy Land anyway. On those Marine ships, there had to be plenty of masters of Haki. As long as he entered their minds, it would be easy to look through their memories.
It was very possible that the Marines' Six Powers were actually training methods for Haki, and when pushed to the limit, they became Haki. In fact, Jinbe had even said outright that Iron Body was basically Armament Haki. Although only officers of a certain rank were allowed to learn the Six Powers, to true elites this wasn't really a secret and shouldn't be too hard to get.
Just as he expected, Toguro went to an inn. By the time he reached his room, it was already deep into the night. Holding the octagonal talisman in his hand, he used a little force, and the Sheep Talisman released a glow.
Genichi's consciousness, which resided inside Toguro's body, felt his soul leave Toguro's body in spirit form. In truth, Genichi's avatars all had a faint bit of instinct, so even if he didn't directly control them, they could still follow his orders, though in a stiff and mechanical way.
He had thought that if he placed his consciousness into an avatar and then used the Sheep Talisman to leave the body, his true self would also be affected. But to his surprise, after leaving Toguro's body, his real body back in the dark space was not affected at all.
"This works out just fine. Won't delay anything."
Genichi thought to himself, then slipped into the dreams of the Marines. Dreams were projections of the human subconscious. With enough power, one could dive even deeper into the mind. After all, the Sheep Talisman's ability wasn't just dream-walking but true separation and entry of the soul.
Of course, this sort of entry required great strength. Backed by someone as strong as Toguro, Genichi wasn't about to be blocked by some vice admirals. He easily slipped into their minds and gathered the information he wanted.
The main thing was the training method of the Six Powers. For someone like Toguro, training them wasn't all that difficult—it was just that before, he hadn't known the method.
Although he got what he came for, Genichi still wasn't satisfied.
With such a good tool, wouldn't it be a waste not to cause some trouble in their dreams?
What he really needed was emotion.
In soul form, Toguro drifted freely among the warships until he reached Sengoku. At first, he planned to look for Garp, but seeing Sengoku gave him another idea.
He slipped into Sengoku's dream. It was a blank space—clearly, Sengoku wasn't dreaming. But with the Sheep Talisman, Genichi could still do many things through this soul-to-soul contact.
For example...
His body began to change. The bulky, muscular frame shifted into a man dressed in black, wearing an ice mask that covered his face. His explosive muscles shrank away. In this dream world, he could freely change his form.
And then, he appeared in front of Sengoku.
In the blank world, Sengoku had been resting with his eyes closed, his dream body at peace just like his real one. But when Genichi drew near, Sengoku's eyes snapped open!
"Who are you?!"
He shouted, not realizing this was a dream. It felt so real. Even in sleep, his Observation Haki had warned him that someone was approaching.
He opened his eyes to see a masked man before him, the mask like solid ice, hiding all features.
Sengoku's pupils shrank. Speaking of masked men, hadn't Zephyr run into one not long ago?
Though the mask and appearance were different, still...
Sengoku was already ready to fight.
"Me?" Genichi's mouth curled up under the ice mask. He spoke in a light tone. "Am I a visitor from hell? Or a messenger from the pure land? I don't know either. The choice is yours."
"Mine?" Sengoku frowned. For some reason, this figure before him felt strangely familiar.
Of course he would feel that way—Sengoku hadn't realized this was a dream, so naturally Genichi held some sway here. In dreams, whatever happened made sense; logic didn't matter.
"No one has seen me for many years," Genichi said with a smile. "You ate the Buddha fruit, didn't you? Gained the strength, wisdom, and spirit of a Buddha, becoming a man who embodies body, mind, and skill. Only someone like you has the power to see me."
"..." Sengoku stayed silent. His Devil Fruit—the Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Model: Great Buddha—wasn't a secret. That this man knew about it didn't prove anything.
"Are you also from the 'Invisible Empire'? Like that 'Zero' and 'Nine-Tails'?" Sengoku had been sitting cross-legged but now stood, towering over Genichi.
"'Invisible Empire'? I see... that does sound like a fitting name for their land." Genichi said softly. "But no, I am not the same as them. You can see me only because of your own power. Still..."
He stretched out his right hand, which began to glow faintly.
"It's still too much of a strain..."