The square felt like it was suffocating. Heat, sweat, and tension pressed down on everyone, but Magnus's sharp eyes weren't on the platform. His hair shifted in the breeze as he scanned the crowd, Haki stirring at the edge of his senses.
And then he saw them.
Not ordinary faces but Legends in the making.
Near the back, leaning against a building with a cloak draped over his shoulders, was a man with sharp, hawk-like eyes. Cold, watchful, too still. Magnus's chest tightened. Dracule Mihawk. The world's greatest swordsman but not yet. Now, he was just another figure in the crowd.
A ripple in the Haki current pulled his gaze to the other side.
A tall, broad-shouldered man stood half-hidden, a green cloak brushing his boots, the shadow of a tattoo curling around his cheek. His expression was grim,unreadable, but the aura of conviction burned like a silent flame. Dragon. The man who would become the most wanted in the world.
Closer to the square, Magnus caught a flash of blonde hair and sunglasses, a grin that looked more like a predator baring his teeth. His blood chilled. Doflamingo.
And not far from him was a dark hair slicked back, a scar over his face, young but unmistakable. Crocodile, arms crossed, as his arrogance already dripping from him.
Magnus's fists tightened. His Observation Haki flickered harder, and more faces stood out like sparks in the night. A boy with red hair and a straw hat too big for his head it was non other than Shanks. Next to him, whining, pointing, his nose bright and round was Buggy.
At the centre of the crowd, a boy with a sharp jaw and restless eyes watched everything. That boy was Smoker, who would one day become a Vice Admiral.
Magnus's heart pounded. He knew every face, every name. From Earth, they had been panels in a manga, voices in an anime. But here? Here they were real. Flesh and blood. Breathing the same air as him.
Beside him, Darius frowned. "You're staring again. What do you see?"
Magnus swallowed, his voice a whisper meant only for himself. "…the future."
Then the drums.
A deep, bone-shaking boom rolled across the square.
Marines slammed their spears against the wood in unison, the sound cutting through the chaos.
The crowd fell into a hushed silence.
Magnus's sharp eyes darted back to the platform. The executioners stood ready.
The Pirate King was about to appear.