"You're back?"
"Faster than I expected."
"Did you take care of those three little rats?"
Seeing Lucci return to the warehouse, Kai's eyelids twitched. He gave him a casual once-over and asked.
"Handled."
Lucci nodded.
He walked over to Kai's side, harboring a tiny sliver of hope in his chest, and couldn't help asking, "Did you also finish off those four officers with bounties over thirty million Berries…?"
His pride wouldn't let it go.
He still wanted to compare himself to Kai, even if just a little.
"What do you think?"Kai smiled. "You don't actually believe the four of them could escape from me, do you?"
"Thought so…"
Lucci's shoulders slumped at once.
He let out a helpless sigh, completely deflated.
He really had been too naïve.
If a monster like Kai personally made a move, there was no way he'd let those four officers get away.
This guy really was a monster.
You had to admit it.
Forget it.
"A monster on Kai's level… even across all these seas, he's a once-in-a-century freak."
"So why am I trying to measure myself against him?"
"If I make someone like that my target, I probably won't even see his shadow in this lifetime."
Lucci silently comforted himself in his heart.
After a moment, Kai asked, "So, what now? Since the Sword-Lion Pirates have been wiped out, this rescue mission should count as perfectly completed, right?"
Hearing this, Lucci answered directly, "For now, we let these people lie here. You and I head to the palace and meet with Rosede IV. We report the full situation to him."
"After that…"
"The rest isn't our problem."
"The Sword-Lion Pirates' captain and officers are all dead. On top of that, this whole batch of pirates has already been knocked out cold by your Conqueror's Haki."
"If the Rosede Kingdom can't even clean up this little aftermath, then they deserve to be overthrown by pirates."
Lucci couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the wrecked warehouse.
He wasn't wrong.
Kai had already torn the Sword-Lion Pirates apart by himself.
If Rosede IV, as king, couldn't even handle what's left after this, then Rosede Kingdom truly had no future. Better to be wiped out early.
"You're right,"Kai said with a nod. "Let's go tell Rosede IV what happened here and have him send soldiers over to clean up this mess."
He had no interest in handling this kind of tedious aftermath.
It wasn't just troublesome—it was a waste of time.
If he had that time, he'd rather spend it on training.
With their decision made, Kai led the way out of the massive warehouse, Lucci at his side.
As they stepped out, Lucci asked, "You sure they won't wake up? And all bolt from the warehouse?"
He still felt uneasy about the pirates lying inside.
If they all woke up and fled, half of their effort would be wasted.
"Relax. They're not waking up,"Kai said, chuckling. "At least for the next day, they won't regain consciousness."
"So that's the legendary Conqueror's Haki… really makes people jealous,"Lucci muttered, his eyes full of envy.
The fabled king's disposition.
One in a million.
A power only true monsters of the sea possessed.
Of course he had thoughts about it.
But—
He didn't believe he himself had the disposition of a king.
"You… what's your deal, anyway?"
"You even have a king's disposition."
"Your background clearly isn't simple."
"Anyone who has that kind of potential… has to be carrying some kind of noble bloodline."
"Who exactly are you?"
Lucci gazed at Kai, eyes filled with awe.
Across all these seas, those with the disposition of a king were few and far between.
People said it was one in a million.
But in reality, the odds were much lower.
How many people lived on these seas?
Too many to count.
Every island had hundreds of thousands of residents, sometimes millions.
And how many islands were there?
Even just the first half of the Grand Line had more islands than anyone could comfortably count.
If not a thousand, then at least eight hundred.
By that math, the population of the first half of the Grand Line alone was beyond calculation.
Yet—
The number of people with the disposition of a king could be counted on one hand.
It was obvious.
Those who could awaken Conqueror's Haki were far rarer than the "one in a million" rumor suggested.
Lucci could hardly believe it.
That one day, by his side, there would be a peerless genius who had awakened Conqueror's Haki.
And that this monster—
Was only four years old.
"Don't overthink it,"Kai said. "Let's go."
He didn't say more, just turned and started walking toward the palace.
Seeing this, Lucci could only shake his head helplessly and drop the questions.
Still, in his heart he was already certain.
This monster Kai definitely had an enormous background behind him.
Anyone who could wield Conqueror's Haki had to be born with a noble, exalted bloodline.
Lucci believed that completely.
Only the descendants of true monsters—
Could possess Conqueror's Haki.
That was the conclusion he'd reached after studying all the data on Haki he could get his hands on.
He didn't know if it was true or not.
But he was willing to bet the odds were at least eighty percent in his favor.
On the way to the palace, Lucci dropped his usual cold, expressionless demeanor.
He turned into a chatterbox, chasing after Kai and asking all kinds of questions.
It drove Kai crazy.
The Lucci from before had been completely different.
Lucci used to mean cold, stoic, distant.
But after Kai revealed his overwhelming strength, Lucci had suddenly become annoyingly enthusiastic. His mouth hadn't stopped since they left, his words tumbling out nonstop.
Kai was helpless.
Lucci…
Do you realize your image has completely collapsed?
What happened to the icy front?
What happened to the indifference?
And you turned into a chatterbox?
If Lucci's talkativeness was all because of him, then Kai really did feel a bit guilty.
Gradually, the two of them disappeared into the distance as they headed toward the palace.
Not long after—
In a corner of the devastated warehouse, amidst the wreckage and the sea of unconscious pirates…
Someone moved.
Two men stepped out from the shadows.
They wore pure white clothing, their bodies tall and slender, each nearly three meters in height. White animal masks covered their faces completely.
Mysterious.
Eerie.
Unsettling.
That was the first impression they gave.
At this moment, the two white-clad figures emerging from the darkness were none other than the CP0 agents:
Joelf and Reis.
They swept their gazes over the destroyed warehouse, taking in the ruins and wreckage. Their eyes shone with emotion and awe.
"What a terrifying existence…"
"Only four years old, and he's already using Conqueror's Haki."
"A monster like that… there has never been one in the seas for hundreds of years."
"An entire pirate crew, the Sword-Lion Pirates, wiped out because of a four-year-old brat."
"Even that pirate worth nearly fifty million Berries, Sword-Lion Gart, got crushed from start to finish by that kid and blown apart on the spot."
"With that, the Sword-Lion Pirates have been erased."
"And this emergency rescue mission has officially reached its end."
Joelf couldn't help but marvel aloud.
After a while, their shock gradually settled.
Then Joelf's tone shifted. His eyes flashed as he spoke to Reis beside him.
"Take out the Den Den Mushi."
"I'm going to personally report everything about this four-year-old monster to those above."
"As for whether they want to try and recruit a once-in-a-century genius like this…"
"That's for the ones up top to decide."
"All we need to do is report everything that happened here today exactly as it occurred. No embellishing, no omissions."
He paused for a moment, then added quietly,
"But judging by my own assessment…"
"I have a very strong feeling."
"A terrifying genius on this level…"
"Even those at the very top won't be able to ignore him."
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