The Storm Reaper cut through the waves, speeding toward the waters of Hachinosu.
Inside the captain's cabin.
Aiden sat in a large chair with a glass of in his hand.
Kane stood in front of the desk. He held a newly sorted intelligence report and frowned at what he had found.
"Sir, I think I know why that bastard Gulliver insisted on sending us to Hachinosu."
"Oh? Tell me," Aiden said, taking a sip of wine.
"According to the latest news from Headquarters..."
Kane lowered the report slightly.
"Silver Axe, one of the new Seven Warlords of the Sea, is leading his fleet in a large-scale attack on Hachinosu."
"Silver Axe?"
Aiden raised an eyebrow. He knew the name. The newspapers had recently reported that Silver Axe had accepted the Government's offer and become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
As a remnant of the Rocks Pirates, Silver Axe was a dangerous pirate from the old era. Back then, he could trade blows with Shiki the Golden Lion. His only real weakness was that he had never eaten a Devil Fruit.
He was a monster from the old era.
Aiden thought for a moment.
"If Silver Axe is that dangerous, then Ochoku who has held Hachinosu for years and forced Silver Axe to gather a fleet to attack him can't be weak either."
That meant two old-era monsters in one place.
Aiden set the glass down.
He needed to push his Armament Haki to the Transcendent level, and this was exactly the kind of fight he needed.
"Silver Axe just became one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea," Kane said. "Now that the Government is backing him, his ambition grew. He doesn't want to wander the seas forever. He wants his own territory."
Kane pointed to the skull-shaped island on the sea chart.
"Hachinosu, the Pirate Paradise, is his target."
"Also, our intelligence shows that Silver Axe and Ochoku, the pirate currently ruling Hachinosu, have a deep personal grudge."
"A personal grudge?"
"Yes. Rumor has it that Ochoku caused the God Valley Incident."
Kane lowered his voice as he spoke about a secret that should have stayed buried.
"They say he captured Shakky himself and handed her over to the World Government to prove his loyalty. That directly started the God Valley battle and led to the fall of the Rocks Pirates."
"Silver Axe wasn't exactly loyal to Rocks, but he hates traitors more than anything."
Aiden did not respond right away. He looked at Kane for a moment.
"How does a field officer like Kane know this kind of intelligence?"
This was not information an ordinary field officer should have.
He knew the World Government had deliberately erased everything about God Valley.
If Harald's broken horn was common news on the sea, Ochoku capturing Shakky should have been buried even deeper.
Yet Kane had found it out and explained it clearly.
"It seems he has some real skills," Aiden thought.
Aiden originally thought Kane was just a useful subordinate. He didn't expect him to have real talent for intelligence work and his own channels.
"Good work."
Aiden put down his glass and nodded.
"You managed to dig up such an old secret. It looks like bringing you along was the right choice. From now on, you are fully in charge of intelligence."
"Thank you, sir! I will do my best!"
Kane's hands shook with excitement. To him, earning Aiden's approval meant everything.
"So, Silver Axe is attacking Hachinosu to clear out a traitor and claim the territory," Kane took a breath and continued his analysis.
"That sneaky bastard Gulliver definitely knew about this! He knew a war was going to happen here. Sending us to patrol right now means he wants us caught between two legendary pirates!"
"He's using them to kill us! He's letting two pirates do the killing for him!"
Hearing this, Aiden didn't get angry. Instead, he laughed.
"Heh... Hahahaha!"
Aiden laughed and stood up.
"Buy one, get one free?"
"Gulliver isn't so bad. He really sent them right to me."
He walked to the sea chart and tapped his finger on the two names representing the legendary pirates.
"Since they are both here, it saves me the trouble of hunting them down one by one later."
Aiden put on his coat and pushed the door open. He gave Kane an order as he walked.
"Tell the whole ship to hold on tight. We are going at full speed!"
"Don't let those two old monsters kill each other before we arrive. If one of them dies before I get there, Gulliver will have wasted a good gift."
Kane froze for a second. He didn't fully understand what Aiden meant by "wasted a good gift," but he understood the order to go at full speed. He immediately ran out to tell everyone to hold on, carrying out his orders faithfully.
"Yes, sir!"
A few hours later.
The Storm Reaper sailed into the waters around Hachinosu.
They expected a battlefield full of cannon fire, but right now, the sea was strangely quiet.
The air smelled strongly of gunpowder and blood. Broken wood and bodies floated on the water. A fierce firefight had clearly taken place here not long ago.
But now, everything was still.
Several huge warships were anchored outside the port of Hachinosu.
These ships all flew black flags with a double-bladed silver axe design. They were spread out in a fan shape, completely blocking the waterway in and out of the island.
"Sir..."
Kane stood next to Aiden. His palms were slightly sweaty.
"That is Silver Axe's fleet. They've blocked the port. Any ship that gets close will probably be treated as an enemy."
"Should we force our way in?" Issho asked, his finger already resting on the handle of his sword-cane.
"No rush," Aiden said. He stood at the bow, looking at the blockade ahead. "Just sail straight through openly."
At that moment, the lookout on Silver Axe's flagship spotted the black warship.
"Report! A ship is approaching from behind!"
"Hm?"
On the flagship's deck, a heavily built man turned around.
He had messy light hair and thick sideburns. There was a clear X-shaped scar on his chin, and his full lips turned down slightly. His mouth was set in a hard line.
He wore a dark kimono with a light-colored double-bladed axe pattern, a light belt around his waist, and dark gloves.
The most obvious thing about him was the giant, single-bladed axe strapped to his back, which was as big as a door.
He was the new Warlord of the Sea—Silver Axe.
"Who is it? If it's a pirate ship from somewhere else, sink it immediately," Silver Axe said.
"N-no... It's not a pirate ship!"
The lookout hesitated.
"Looking at the paint... it looks like a Marine warship!"
"Marines?"
Silver Axe went still behind his sunglasses.
Why would the Marines come here at a time like this?
But then he thought about it, and he smiled.
"Hmph. Those guys in the World Government are pretty smart."
"I just became one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea a few days ago, and they already sent someone? Hmph. Looks like the Government knows how to treat its new ally."
To him, he was now a legal pirate, an ally of the Government. Ochoku was still a wanted criminal.
If the Marines showed up now, they had to be here to help him. They wouldn't be here to help a pirate.
"Even though they only sent one ship, it shows the Government's attitude."
Silver Axe gave the order to his crew.
"Pass down the order! Clear the waterway!"
"They are allies! Let them through!"
"Yes!!"
Then Silver Axe's fleet moved aside.
The aggressive fleet saw the Storm Reaper approaching and actually split to both sides, willingly opening up a wide path straight to the main port.
Some pirates even stood by the side of their ships, whistling and greeting the Storm Reaper.
"This..."
Kane wiped sweat from his forehead. "Sir, they... really aren't shooting?"
"Heh."
Aiden calmly took a sip of tea. He looked at the unguarded pirate ships on both sides like they had lined themselves up for him.
"Because in their eyes, we are on the same side."
The Storm Reaper sailed openly and smoothly right through the blockade, heading straight into the heart of Hachinosu.
Meanwhile.
Inside Hachinosu.
The island had a very special geography. A huge skull-shaped rock mountain stood in the center. Countless buildings were built into the mountain, packed tightly together like a honeycomb.
Right now, the atmosphere on the island was strange.
Even though a huge enemy was right outside, the tens of thousands of unruly pirates on the outer edges of the island were not united as one might expect.
Instead, most of them gathered around the plaza or lay on the roofs. They held bottles of alcohol, shouted, and waited for the fight like it was a bloody show.
The rule of Hachinosu—the winner is king.
There was no loyalty here, only power.
Most of the pirates were just watching. If Ochoku won, they would keep calling him boss. If Silver Axe won, they would instantly change flags and call Silver Axe boss.
Follow the winner. That was the rule of survival in the Pirate Paradise.
However, as the boss who had ruled here for years, Ochoku naturally had his own forces.
An elite unit had already gathered around the Skull Rock plaza in the center of the island.
This was Ochoku's personal guard, the core of his power in the New World. In terms of skill and numbers, they were just as strong as Silver Axe's fleet blocking the sea.
At the very front of the group, a heavily built, round man sat confidently in a large chair. He held a giant barrel of alcohol and drank wildly.
He had thick hair combed back and a wide face. He wore a colorful scarf around his neck and a loose robe with decorated cuffs and collar.
Unlike Silver Axe, he looked like a pirate who had survived the old era through violence.
He was a remnant of the Rocks Pirates and the current boss of Hachinosu—Ochoku.
"Glug, glug... Haa!!"
Ochoku threw the empty barrel away and wiped his greasy mouth with his sleeve. His small eyes locked onto the harbor.
"Silver Axe! You piece of trash!!"
"Back on Rocks' ship, you were always beneath the Golden Lion! Now that you're old and can't beat me, you go and become a tool of the World Government?!"
"What? Are you afraid you can't beat me alone, so you specifically called the Marines for help? You're getting weaker as you get older!!"
Ochoku stood up. His heavy body shook with the movement, and black-purple Haki burst from him, cracking the stone beneath his feet.
"Boom!!"
His Haki swept across the plaza instantly. Several weaker pirates staggered back, and bottles shattered across the ground.
"Come on!! I don't care how many Marines you drag here, I'll take you all on today!!"
Facing his former crewmate's taunts, Silver Axe pulled the giant axe from his back.
"Hmph. You're about to die, yet you still talk tough."
He raised the giant axe. Silver Haki shot upward and clashed with Ochoku's Haki.
"Rumble—"
The Haki of the two legendary pirates from the old era crashed together in the air. It created a real wind pressure that turned the calm sea rough.
The whole port shook under the clash.
Silver Axe kept his axe raised and turned toward the warship that had just sailed in from the side.
While keeping up his clash with Ochoku, he yelled an order toward the Storm Reaper without looking back, as if he were giving orders to a subordinate.
"Hey! You Marines over there!"
"Since you're here, guard the port for me! Lock down this area!"
To him, they were just support sent by the Government to help out and handle the blockade.
On the sea, everything went quiet for a moment.
On the left was Silver Axe, acting bossy and treating Aiden like a subordinate.
On the right was Ochoku, greedy and arrogant, treating Aiden like one of the Government's men.
The Haki of the two legendary pirates pressed against the sea between them.
However.
The only answer they got was the sound of the sea breeze blowing against the flag.
A moment later.
The young Marine, who had been sitting quietly, slowly stood up.
He adjusted his collar, then walked to the bow of the ship.
Aiden looked first at Silver Axe, who was pointing fingers, and then at Ochoku.
"Heh..."
Aiden let out a light laugh.
The next second.
"Buzzz————!!!"
Aiden released Conqueror's Haki, and it tore through the clash between the two old pirates.
"Crack!!"
The pressure over the port broke apart.
The standoff between the two legendary pirates was torn open.
Aiden's voice carried clearly across the sea, pressing down all the noise.
"Did you... misunderstand something?"
The port went silent.
Silver Axe stopped smiling. Ochoku's laughter died.
Aiden slowly placed his hand on the hilt of Oto at his waist. Lightning cracked along the deck around him.
"I didn't come here to serve anyone."
Aiden smiled.
"I'm here..."
"To end you both."
After Aiden finished speaking, the sea went silent.
Then came a burst of loud laughter, as if they had just heard a joke.
"Hahahahahaha!! Interesting! This is too interesting!!"
"Marines these days talk a lot!"
Ochoku suddenly stood up from his chair again. His heavy body shook violently with the movement, and his Haki rolled across the plaza again.
"Kid, do you know who I am?! I was fighting to the death on the seas before you were even born!!"
After saying that, he turned to mock Silver Axe, who had fallen silent in the distance.
"Hey! Silver Axe! Is this the Marine backup you found?"
"It looks like your Warlord title isn't very useful! The Government only sent this arrogant brat? And he says he's going to put you in the grave too. This is killing me!!"
However, while all the pirates were laughing at this arrogant Marine.
Silver Axe, standing at the bow of his flagship, abruptly stopped laughing.
Behind his sunglasses, his attention went to the famous sword at Aiden's waist, the one he had just grabbed. As a master of the axe, he knew weapons better than normal people.
The unique golden guard, the pattern on the sheath that looked like falling cherry blossoms, and the pressure of a famous blade that could still be felt through the sheath...
"That's..."
Silver Axe's grip tightened around his axe.
"Oto?!"
"That's Shiki's sword!!"
As soon as he said that, Ochoku's laughter stopped.
"What?!"
Both of them turned toward Aiden at the same time.
There was only one Marine who could carry that sword now.
On these seas, there was only one person who could openly walk around carrying Shiki the Golden Lion's sword.
The Marine who had filled the newspapers recently! He had shocked the world by killing the Golden Lion, and more recently, he was "locked up" in Impel Down for killing a Celestial Dragon!
"Aiden..."
Silver Axe tightened his grip on the axe.
"You bastard... It looks like the rumors are true. That old lion really died at the hands of a brat like you."
Even though he had never gotten along with the Golden Lion and had clashed with him many times, it still felt wrong to see Shiki's sword in a young Marine's hand.
"Oh? You have good eyes," Aiden said.
Facing Silver Axe's question, Aiden calmly drew the longsword from his waist.
"Clang—"
The bright blade caught the sunlight.
Aiden turned Oto once in his hand.
"It really is a good sword."
"That old lion went out with dignity. This is the prize he left me."
Aiden looked from Silver Axe to Ochoku. His voice stayed calm.
"Since you two knew him, I thought I'd bring his sword to see his old friends."
"And while I'm at it... send you down to keep him company, so he won't be lonely down there."
"You cocky brat!"
Silver Axe shouted in fury.
"Don't get too cocky, brat!"
Ochoku stopped laughing and leaned forward. He was a bit calmer than Silver Axe as he watched Aiden.
"But I'm wondering... Didn't the papers say you were locked in Level 6 of Impel Down for killing a Celestial Dragon?"
"What? Did you break out?"
Hearing this, Aiden suddenly looked surprised.
"Oh my..."
He shrugged, acting helpless.
"I wanted to keep a low profile, but I didn't expect you to figure it out."
Aiden sighed. He slowly pointed Oto at the two legendary pirates in front of him.
"Since you know I sneaked out... things are going to be difficult."
"To stop you from telling the Five Elders and leaking my location..."
Aiden smiled and raised Oto. Lightning ran along the blade.
"Then none of you can leave this place alive."
Before he finished speaking.
Aiden slowly closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, white lightning gathered around his body. His hair lifted in the electric current, turning silver-white under the glow.
"Bzzzt—Boom!!!"
The lightning no longer just covered his skin. It wrapped around his coat, arms, and blade. The deck beneath his feet cracked as the electric arcs spread outward.
The air around him crackled with electricity. Tiny arcs jumped through the air, making a series of sharp, popping sounds.
Aiden raised his right hand without saying a word.
Rumble!!!!
The clear sky was instantly covered by dark clouds.
Then, countless giant lightning pillars, as thick as stone columns, crashed down one by one along the edge of the waters around Hachinosu, stabbing deep into the ground!
Between these lightning pillars, high-voltage lightning wove into a tight net, completely sealing off all of Hachinosu inside!
From a distance, it looked like a giant birdcage made of lightning, locking Hachinosu in place.
"Oh no!!"
The moment Aiden raised his hand, Ochoku's Observation Haki gave him a warning from the island plaza.
Danger spread through his senses and covered the whole island.
"This kid is serious!!"
Without holding back, Ochoku moved with a speed that did not match his heavy body.
"Whoosh!!"
He turned into a blur. A second before the lightning pillars fully closed, he shot out of the port like a cannonball, flying toward Silver Axe's fleet on the sea.
The pirates who reacted slightly slower and didn't rush out immediately saw Ochoku run. They tried to slip through the gaps between the giant lightning pillars.
"Bzzzt!!"
The moment their bodies touched the seemingly empty gaps, arcs of lightning snapped into them.
"Ahhhhh——!!"
Their screams lasted less than a second.
The next moment, those people were directly burned to ash by the high-voltage electricity. They fell to the ground smoking.
This sight terrified all the pirates who had wanted to run. They stopped dead in their tracks.
"We can't get out!!"
"We're trapped!!"
Panic spread through the crowd.
Even though the lightning pillars mainly locked down the land of Hachinosu, seeing that massive lightning cage and the deaths of those pirates threw Silver Axe's fleet anchored outside the blockade into extreme panic.
"Hurry!! Turn around!!"
"Get out of these waters! That Marine is crazy!!"
Several pirate captains looked at the lightning fence connecting the sky and the sea. Their survival instinct instantly beat their greed. They shouted orders at their helmsmen, trying to turn the ships away from the forming lightning cage.
The steel warships, packed with heavy firepower, tried to turn all at once, nearly crashing into each other as they fled toward the open sea.
"Trying to leave?"
Aiden stood at the bow, watched the fleeing ships, and raised Oto.
"Since you're here, you should all stay."
He slowly raised Oto.
Aiden swung his sword several times toward Silver Axe's fleeing warships in the distance.
Several giant crescent-shaped lightning slashes flew from his blade. Each one tore across the sea toward a different warship.
The slashes carried both Haki and lightning. They split the air with a sharp crackle as they rushed toward the fleeing ships.
"Oh no!!"
Standing at the bow of his flagship, Silver Axe raised his axe at once.
As a pirate who had once sailed under Rocks and survived countless battles, Silver Axe immediately understood how dangerous those attacks were. Each slash carried enough force to sink a warship. If he didn't block them, his fleet would be wiped out in seconds!
"Get... lost!!!"
Silver Axe roared. His muscles bulged, covered in a thick layer of Armament Haki. The giant axe in his hand cut through the air again and again, sending several huge silver axe waves toward the lightning strikes heading for his escort ships!
He wanted to save all the ships!
However.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Silver Axe's strikes, strong enough to split stone and steel, crashed into Aiden's lightning-coated slashes. The silver arcs broke apart on contact, scattering into sparks of light.
The difference was clear.
"What?!"
Silver Axe clenched his teeth, but there was no time for shock. The strongest lightning slash was coming straight for his flagship.
"Damn it!!"
There was nowhere to dodge.
Silver Axe pulled his attack back at once. He gripped his battle axe tightly with both hands, poured his Haki into the blade, and swung hard at the incoming strike.
"Boom!!!"
The axe blade and the lightning slash collided dozens of meters in front of the flagship.
A shockwave burst out, pressing the seawater beneath the flagship down into a huge hollow.
"Ugh..."
Silver Axe groaned. The force rushed down the handle of his axe and into his arms. He dug his feet hard into the deck, leaving deep footprints as he was pushed back several meters. He only stopped when his back slammed into the cabin.
Just blocking that single strike left him panting, his arms numb around the axe handle.
And the ships he had tried to protect...
"Slash—Slash—Slash—"
The other lightning slashes broke through Silver Axe's scattered defenses and cut straight through the escort ships on both sides of the flagship without slowing down.
"Crack... Crack..."
The sound of splitting steel rang across the sea.
Those heavy, steel-reinforced warships were cut cleanly through their centers.
The masts collapsed, and the hulls split apart.
The cuts blackened from the intense heat of the lightning.
"Rumble..."
The loud crashes didn't ring out until the split ships collapsed and splashed into the sea.
Hundreds of pirates sank into the ocean with the broken ships, or were instantly killed by the remaining electricity.
Silver Axe's fleet was gone in a second. Only his flagship remained, rising and falling with the waves.
Judgment successful...
Sin Points +32,520
Sin Points +12,200
...
A long string of system notifications filled Aiden's mind.
When the chimes finally stopped, the elite pirates Silver Axe had brought had given Aiden nearly a million Sin Points all on their own.
Hachinosu went silent.
The pirates on the shore stood with their mouths wide open. They didn't even notice their weapons dropping to the ground.
What kind of power was this?
Was that really something a Marine could do?!
On the sea.
The only surviving flagship was now blackened and smoking.
Silver Axe stood there with his axe still raised, but his body was shaking slightly.
Even though he had managed to block Aiden's strike a second ago, the force of that attack still left his hands shaking.
"This Devil Fruit power... and this Haki..."
Silver Axe looked at the unharmed young man in the distance, sweat running down his forehead.
For a moment, he remembered the pressure he had once felt from Rocks.
"A monster..."
"For a moment... it felt like I was standing in front of Captain Rocks again!!"
Right then, a heavy figure landed on the deck next to Silver Axe.
It was Ochoku, who had managed to escape the island just in time.
The boss of Hachinosu no longer looked arrogant or greedy. The arrogance was gone from his face.
"Silver Axe!!"
Ochoku gripped the railing and spoke through clenched teeth.
"Forget about that piece of territory! You can see it too. One-on-one, neither of us can probably beat this brat!"
"He means to kill everyone here!"
Silver Axe took a deep breath and gripped his giant axe tightly.
"I know that without you telling me!"
"Let's team up, Ochoku!"
"Just like back on the ship... let's kill this arrogant Marine brat first!"
"Exactly what I was thinking!!"
Facing a life-and-death crisis, the two men who had once sailed under Rocks, who had been ready to fight each other to the death, joined forces at this moment.
"Boom!"
Their Haki surged at the same time, shaking the sea around them.
Now both of them stood against Aiden.
Looking at the two former Rocks pirates, Aiden did not step back. Instead, he raised Oto.
"Finally willing to work together?"
turned his right wrist. Lightning ran along Oto's edge.
"But... if it's two against one, a single sword really isn't enough to go around."
Aiden reached his left hand out into thin air and grabbed.
"Buzzz—"
A famous sword with a faded yellow cloth wrapped around its handle appeared in his hand.
One of the 21 Great Grade Swords—Kogarashi.
"Since you miss the old days so much..."
Aiden held a sword in each hand. Lightning and Haki crawled over Oto and Kogarashi as he raised both blades.
"Then I'll be kind."
"And use the Golden Lion's twin swords... to send you down to keep him company!!"