"Captain, there's a small boat ahead with a kid on it."
"Oh? Perfect timing to test out our newly installed cannons!"
"Oh, oh, oh! Way to go, Captain!"
Looking at the Sickle Pirates a few hundred meters away, Captain William Coombes with a bounty of 8,000,000 Berries.
A cannonball flew towards Leno, who covered his right hand in Armament Haki and punched the cannonball, causing it to explode.
"Yoohoow! The captain hit it! As expected of Captain William with a bounty of 8,000,000 Berries!"
"Oh oh oh!"
The crew cheered for Captain William. William Coombes stood at the bow, hands on his hips, laughing: "Once I conquer the East Blue, I'll take you all to the Grand Line! I'm gonna be the Pirate King!"
"Captain! We'll follow you to the death!" xN
"Pirate King!" "Pirate King!" ...
*Crackle!* *Zap!*
"How scary, the Pirate King!"
"Who? Who's there?!" The crew turned around to see a youth crouching on the mast.
"Who are you? How did you get on our ship?"
"Ca... Captain, he's the person from that small boat just now." The lookout stammered.
"What?!" After a brief shock, William's face turned fierce: "Shoot him down!"
*Bang! Bang! Bang!* ...
The bullets passed through Leno's body without leaving a trace.
"Wh... what's going on? Why can't we hit him? Is he a monster? Captain, what should we do?"
Cold sweat dripped down William Coombes' face. "Don't be afraid, he's just one person. Let's attack together!" He let out a yell and charged forward.
"Now it's my turn to make a move." In the blink of an eye, Leno appeared in front of William and threw a punch. William's eyes bulged, and he collapsed. What followed was a one-sided slaughter, with pirates falling one after another.
"Oh? So you're a Devil Fruit user? No wonder you didn't die..."
The originally fallen William had now transformed into a three-meter-tall minotaur with dual horns standing there.
"Ox-Ox Fruit, Model: Bison. Since eating this Devil Fruit, I've never shown this form to anyone else. Kid, dying in this form is an honor for you!" A bovine fist instantly pierced through Leno's body.
*Crackle, crackle*
"Ox-Ox Fruit, so scary~" Leno turned his head to look at William.
"What?! You... what are you..."
"Oh, I'm a Devil Fruit user too, but I'm a Logia type. Farewell, Pirate King. Lightning Spear!"
Two lightning spears pierced through William. As William fell, his body slowly returned to its normal form. After looting the ship's treasures, Leno found only a few million Berries.
"Cheapskate." *Crackle* With that, Leno disappeared. A massive pillar of lightning suddenly descended from the sky onto the pirate ship's location, completely burying the Sickle Pirates in the vast sea.
Arriving above Loguetown, Leno used Observation Haki to find the sword shop. He walked in and looked around—yep, this was the place.
He went to a corner and rummaged through a bamboo basket for a long time. "Found it, Sandai Kitetsu."
"Hey hey hey, what do you think you're doing?" The shop owner was baffled by Leno's actions.
"Buying a sword! How much for this one?" Leno placed the Sandai Kitetsu in front of the owner.
"Are you serious?" The owner broke out in a cold sweat.
"Of course!"
"But this is a cursed sword! Its previous owners all died horrible deaths. How about picking another one?" The owner tried to persuade him.
"No, I want this one. I specifically want a cursed sword. Let's see if I can tame it." As he spoke, Leno drew the sword and threw it into the air, closed his eyes, and extended his arm.
"(*Φ皿Φ*)" ...
*Hum hum hum* ...
*Crackle* *Thud*
"Wow!" "Holy crap!" ...
Opening his eyes, he saw half of his arm lying on the ground. Then, with a *crackle*, it turned into lightning and returned to his arm...
Owner: ....
Leno: ....
"Dammit!" Enraged, he gripped the sword hilt tightly. Continuous *crackle* sounds erupted as lightning accumulated along the blade of the Sandai Kitetsu. The blade slowly turned red, and with a *hum*, Leno stopped outputting lightning.
"Think you're tough? I'll show you who's boss!"
"So, owner, how much for this sword?" Leno asked triumphantly.
"50,000 Berries," the owner answered woodenly.
Only after Leno paid and left the shop did the owner wipe the sweat from his forehead: "What kind of person is that?"
Holding the Sandai Kitetsu in his left hand, Leno swaggered with an unmistakable arrogance toward the execution plaza. He felt that a man needed a sword—for one simple reason: it looked cool.
Standing before the execution platform, Leno couldn't quite understand Pirate King Gol D. Roger's thoughts. Was it about ushering in a new era or the continuation of a dream?
Leno didn't really care about any of that. Having come all this way, he just wanted to live freely and without constraints.
After leaving Loguetown, Leno turned into electricity and sped toward the Grand Line. After more than ten days of traveling with frequent stops, Leno finally arrived at his last stop before Sky Island, Jaya Island.
Standing on the shore of Jaya, he looked up at the sky and spread his arms. "Sky Island, here I come!"