Renzo's weary, half-asleep voice didn't seem to travel through the air; it seeped directly into the minds of every member of the Giant Axe Pirates.
The effect was instant and eerie.
The pirates, who had been roaring, brandishing their weapons, and ready to charge for a boarding battle, all froze in place.
The ferocity and bloodlust in their eyes vanished as if doused by a bucket of ice water, replaced by confusion and an overwhelming drowsiness.
"Ugh…"
"Why… all of a sudden…"
"So sleepy…"
"Haah, yawn, "
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Like stalks of wheat cut by a scythe, pirates collapsed in rows, on the deck, by the cannons, beneath the masts.
Weapons slipped from limp hands, clattering against the wood before being drowned out by a chorus of snores.
Moments ago, the pirate ship had been brimming with killing intent; now, it had turned into a floating dormitory filled with every kind of snoring rhythm imaginable.
On board the Rock, the Marines stood dumbfounded, jaws nearly hitting the deck.
They were still clutching their weapons, battle cries stuck in their throats, realizing suddenly… they didn't even get to fight.
"Is it… over already?"
"They're all asleep?"
"I didn't even fire yet…"
"So this is… the power of the special advisor?"
Their murmurs were filled with disbelief and absurd awe.
Vice Admiral Gummir, watching from the bridge, felt his pupils contract slightly.
He had been warned beforehand about this "special consultant," but seeing an entire infamous pirate crew collapse into sleep from a few lazy words, it was a shock that hit far deeper than he'd expected.
Tightening his grip on his telescope, Gummir found himself gaining a new, visceral understanding of what "conceptual abilities" truly meant.
Renzo looked at the peacefully silent scene before him, clapped his hands lazily, and turned back toward his cabin, as if he'd just swatted away a noisy fly.
"Finally dealt with it… now I can go back and slee-"
Before he could finish muttering, a roar shattered the calm.
"Ugh… AAAAAHHH!!!"
From the bow of the pirate ship came a guttural bellow, filled with exhaustion and fury.
It was "Mountain Splitter" Owen, still standing!
His massive frame trembled violently. His eyes were bloodshot and heavy with fatigue, eyelids sagging like they carried a ton of weight, but through sheer beastly willpower, he forced them open.
The deck around him was littered with his snoring subordinates.
Renzo's power had affected him, but not completely.
A pirate captain worth 188 million Berries, Owen's iron will had granted him strong resistance to the creeping influence of sloth.
"B…bastard…!" Owen's slurred words sounded like sleep talk, yet they radiated murderous rage.
"What… did you do… to my crew… You damned trickster…!"
His rage momentarily overpowered his drowsiness.
Grabbing his enormous, gleaming double-edged axe, the pirate captain's muscles bulged and veins popped.
"I'll… split your ship… in half!!"
With a roar, he hurled the massive weapon like a javelin toward the Rock!
The giant axe tore through the air with a scream, the power behind it easily capable of cleaving through a smaller warship's hull.
The marines froze, hearts pounding in terror.
Vice Admiral Gummir's eyes narrowed, arm already coated in Armament Haki, ready to intercept the blow.
But someone else reacted faster.
It was Renzo, who had just been turning away.
The roaring axe, whistling with lethal force, triggered the very core of Renzo's Absolute Domain of Sloth, a massive, physical, utterly troublesome disturbance.
He hadn't even looked properly at what was flying his way. The whirring sound alone was enough to irritate him.
Turning his head with visible annoyance, Renzo squinted at the spinning shadow approaching and frowned deeper.
"…So noisy…"
"Flying things… the worst…"
"Just looking at it… makes me tired…"
His grumbling wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable force, a rule made manifest.
The next instant shattered everyone's understanding of physics.
The axe, powered by Owen's monstrous strength, suddenly lost all momentum midair, just ten meters from the Rock.
It was as if it had suddenly gotten lazy.
Its kinetic energy vanished, its rotation slowed to a lazy wobble, and it drifted through the air in an almost sleepy arc, before gently plopping into the sea between the two ships with a faint plop.
Tiny ripples spread across the water… and then, silence.
It was as if the mountain-splitting weapon had never been thrown at all.
The deck was dead silent.
Only the sound of the waves and Renzo's irritated mumble remained.
"…Seriously… do I have to fish that out now? Such a pain… Forget it, leave it there…"
Orne stood frozen at the bow, eyes wide, mouth agape.
His mind simply couldn't process what had happened.
His all-out attack, one that could shatter iron,
had just… flopped into the ocean like a scrap of junk.
What kind of power is this? An illusion?!
That final absurdity broke him.
The exhaustion, the "trouble" gnawing at his soul, surged back like a tsunami, completely consuming him.
"N…no… way…"
His eyelids finally fell shut, and with a thunderous crash, Owen collapsed onto the deck, joining the rest of his men.
The world fell utterly silent.
Renzo let out a long, satisfied sigh.
"There… finally… peace and quiet…"
Without sparing a glance at the stunned Vice Admiral or the petrified Marines, he lazily shuffled back to his cabin, leaving behind the calm sea.
Gummir slowly lowered his Haki-coated arm, staring at the still water and the sleeping pirates.
After a long pause, he finally gave his order in a strangely complicated tone.
"...Send a team to secure the ship and detain all pirates. Move quietly, don't wake them."
He hesitated, then added with a sigh:
"And… send someone good at swimming to see if they can fish that axe out. It's still evidence, after all."
Though deep down, he suspected the axe itself might now be too lazy to be taken back.