Kael ignored the townsfolk's panic and walked straight for the harbor.
Deafening cannon fire and shrieks did not slow him. If anything, the golden light in his eyes burned hotter, a flare of excitement he could not tamp down.
Days of drifting and the daze of a new world needed an outlet.
These brainless pirates had arrived right on time.
"Hey, boys, this shop looks loaded." The wooden door beside the docks flew open under a boot. Several thugs from the Black Shark Pirates bared their teeth and rushed in to loot.
Kael's figure appeared behind them without a sound. His gaze swept over the men.
An invisible tremor spread from him like ripples on water, locking precisely onto the weapons at their hips and the weak points in their bodies.
Almost the instant he willed it, the pirates froze.
The leader lifted his saber to split a locked chest. The blade began to shiver violently in his hands, gave a sharp hum, then, with a grating screech, crumbled into glittering metal grit that rained to the floor.
"My sword… what is this?!" He stared at his empty hands, stunned.
Before confusion could become fear, a strange twinge stabbed through his guts, followed by a savage wrenching pain, as if an invisible fist had seized his organs and was kneading hard.
His mouth opened. No sound came out. He watched, helpless, as his companions crumpled too, clutching their bellies and spasming on the floor while blood foamed at lips and nostrils.
It all happened in near silence. Only the faint chime of breaking steel and bodies hitting wood.
Kael did not spare them another look. He was already moving to the next target.
"That kid. It's him!"
"Fire. Kill him!"
One pirate finally spotted the ghost that had been reaping his crew and screamed.
Under the lash of death, the rest snapped back to themselves and swung weapons toward the calamity that had stepped into their day.
In a blink, muskets leveled and spat lead. Blades chopped from every direction.
Kael neither dodged nor retreated.
As bullets and steel reached him, his outline twisted without warning, turning hazy and insubstantial like air wavering above sunbaked stone, his edges flickering with subtle waves.
Whizz whizz whizz.
Bullets slipped through his "body" and shattered the wall behind him.
The sweeping blades met no purchase, slicing only empty air and leaving a few ripples where he had been.
"Missed… thin air?"
"What is he?"
"A ghost. He's a ghost."
Terror froze their arms mid-swing.
A thin smile touched Kael's lips. This was the first time he had flowed into elementalization so smoothly in a real fight, and it felt good.
He danced on a knife's edge, switching in a blur between flesh and vibration. Every flicker left another pirate on the ground.
Some had chests that caved in suddenly, weapons flying from limp fingers. Others rolled back their eyes as fine beads of blood seeped from within, then folded without a sound, not even time for a scream.
"Too slow. Too weak." His voice carried through the chaos, edged with faint mockery.
He planted his feet, thrust both hands forward, and aimed at a knot of a dozen pirates staring at him in bafflement.
The first shock wave hammered out, solid and clean, carving a clear streak through the air straight into the mass.
Boom. Boom.
Two more followed almost on top of it.
The dozen faces blanched. They did not have time to move. The triple blast swallowed them whole.
The force flipped bodies, toppled nearby shacks, and filled the street with flying splinters and dust.
Noise died. Scattered townsfolk and the few surviving pirates stared, stunned.
"A monster." One pirate dropped his weapon and stumbled into a panicked run.
Kael gathered himself to press the advantage and wipe out the stragglers when a wave of dizziness hit. His vision swam.
He grunted and forced his stance to hold. The thrill ebbed like a receding tide, leaving a fatigue that felt carved into his bones.
Too much Devil Fruit output on an empty stomach. Days without a proper meal. His body had finally had enough.
Damn it. I need to end this now.
"Captain, the brat looks weak!" a sharp-eyed pirate yelled, startled.
The Black Shark captain, a burly brute with a face like a map of scars and a ship's anchor for a weapon, went dark as storm water.
Ruling these waters for years and getting driven into a corner by a nobody was not on his script.
"All hands. Kill him. Bounty doubled." His roar cracked like a whip.
A cold sword light darted at Kael's flank.
A tall, gaunt officer with a long blade, eyes narrowed and mean, had been waiting in the shadows for this. He had found his moment.
The tip of his sword turned black, sheathed in a thin skin of darkness. It struck like a viper, angling for Kael's back.
Armament Haki? In this starter town? Where did you get that, you little goblin?
Kael's heart clenched. He twisted hard.
Rip.
The blade scored his ribs, tearing cloth and skin. Blood spread across his black shirt.
Pain punched breath from his lungs. He staggered back a few steps and braced against a crumbling wall.
The swordsman bared his teeth in a grin. "Tricky power, kid, but you are done. I am a master of Armament Haki." He advanced one slow step at a time, blade dripping, pride swelling.
Kael panted, cold sweat beading across his brow.
Brutal. Even small fry are faking weakness for ambushes now?
Do I die right after leaving the starter village? What a joke.
Mama, I am going to starve to death.
Kidding. I lied.
A feral light flashed in his eyes. His form split, two wave-born afterimages peeling away so that three Kaels closed from three angles.
The swordsman's face tightened. He pivoted to meet them.
A black shadow dropped from above.
Clang.
Metal screamed against metal.
A figure landed in front of Kael, wearing a hat. A straw hat he knew.
The swordsman stumbled back, hands numb, shock stamped across his face.
Kael stared at the newcomer's profile. His pupils tightened to pinpoints. A tidal roar filled his skull.
"Ah… Ace?!"