Water 7, Commercial Street.
Over forty pirates from the Watson Pirates were wantonly plundering valuable items on the streets: money, food, women...
At this moment, they were like beasts cloaked in human skin, the fire of desire within them burning fiercely, mercilessly killing anyone who dared to resist.
"Hey! You pirate scumbags...!
Your Captain, Watson Logan, with a bounty of 35,000,000 Berries, has already been killed by me...
Who among you still has a bounty on your head?
Come out and die obediently!"
As he spoke, Sephiroth, still in his vampire state, dragged Watson Logan's corpse and flung it into the center plaza of the Commercial Street, a wanton and maniacal smile plastered across his face.
The plundering pirates, upon seeing their Captain's corpse, immediately paused their actions, the fire of desire in their hearts seemingly doused by a bucket of cold water.
However...
Among the pirates, a man with two guns, wearing rimless glasses, and sporting a slicked-back black hairstyle, had his eyes light up when he heard Sephiroth's shout.
His gaze instinctively swept into the distance, and he was delighted to find that Andrew Bass was also dead!
The man with glasses was the third-in-command of the Watson Pirates, their strategist and navigator, George Deen, with a bounty of 5,000,000 Berries.
To be honest, he had long been fed up with the two brainless brutes, the first-in-command Watson Logan and the second-in-command Andrew Bass.
They always acted recklessly, relying on their brute strength, and never bothered to use their brains, just like this current plunder.
He had already advised against it; although Water 7 had well-developed waterways, their transparent invisibility could allow their pirate ship to reach the Commercial Street directly.
But...
During their retreat, the Marines, familiar with the terrain, would not easily let them go; they would surely find a way to intercept the waterways, making it impossible for them to escape unscathed.
That foolish and damned Captain, with such a convenient Devil Fruit ability, could have plundered merchant ships at sea with great success, earning a fortune, yet he insisted on coming ashore to court death!
Now it was good, both idiots were dead!
If he could now seize the opportunity to kill Sephiroth...
Then, he might be able to rally the other pirates and become the new Captain!
Moreover...
George Deen knew that Watson Logan had actually hidden a Devil Fruit in a treasure chest in the Captain's cabin; the latter had been secretive about it, keeping it from everyone, likely intending to take it to the auction house on Sabaody Archipelago to trade it for a large sum of money...
If he could eat that Devil Fruit, he would surely gain powerful abilities like Watson Logan!
Thinking of this, George Deen almost laughed out loud, but he managed to forcefully suppress it.
"Don't panic, brothers!
He's only one person, and there are over forty of us; one shot each, and we can turn him into a hornet's nest!"
With that, the man with glasses was the first to raise his two guns, pull the triggers, and fire at Sephiroth.
Bang! Bang!
Hearing this, the pirates also felt their hearts settle, and since it was an order from the third-in-command, they had no reason not to obey.
Bang bang...!
Continuous gunshots rang out, but Sephiroth showed no fear; there was even a faint excitement in his eyes.
Amidst the hail of bullets, his figure was like a swimming fish; he used his newly awakened Observation Haki to predict every bullet that was about to hit his body.
Suddenly!
A bullet shot straight towards his forehead, and Sephiroth, following that strange feeling in his heart, quickly swung the Autumn Leaf Blade in his hand.
Swish!
The sharp blade struck the high-speed rotating bullet, cutting it in half instantly, as if slicing through butter.
Sparks flew, and two broken bullet fragments whizzed past his body.
Sephiroth's extreme evasive maneuvers stunned the pirates; they never imagined that the opponent could remain completely unharmed under such dense firepower, and... he seemed to have cut the bullet with his sword just now, right?
As the pirates fell back into confusion, Sephiroth had already rushed in front of George Deen.
At close range, the man with glasses repeatedly pulled the triggers, firing both guns, but Sephiroth easily dodged them, powerfully swinging the Autumn Leaf Blade and cutting into the opponent's neck.
Blood immediately splattered!
People in the One Piece World have incredibly tenacious life forces; a few knife wounds might not even kill them, so Sephiroth, when attacking, generally aimed for vulnerable, fatal spots like the throat.
If even cutting open the throat and hitting the carotid artery didn't kill them, he would only have to stab them twice more in the heart!
Seeing this, the pirates around George Deen all looked horrified; even their hands gripping their weapons trembled.
Before they could react, Sephiroth swung his sword again, taking down two more pirates.
"Marines! The Marines are here!"
"Run!"
In their inner panic, one of the pirates shouted, turned around, and ran off.
This shout became the final straw that broke the camel's back.
The pirates had already lost their leader, and the Marines had arrived, causing them to instantly lose their will to fight; one by one, like rats crossing the street, they fled in a panic, scrambling into the surrounding alleys.
Before long, those pirates had completely vanished...
Sephiroth let out a long breath, deactivated his vampire state, and sheathed his Saber.
Looking at the five Marines running towards him on the distant street, he couldn't help but murmur softly:
"They're fast! It's just that there are so few of them..."
Soon, he saw the leader, a man with a full beard... the Lieutenant officer he had met when he went to enlist in the Marines.
"Oh!? Is it you, kid?"
The bearded man looked surprised; he sized up the blood-soaked young man in front of him, then looked at the pirate corpses lying nearby.
"George Deen, with a bounty of 5,000,000 Berries, Watson Logan, with a bounty of 35,000,000 Berries!!!"
"You killed them all?"
Sephiroth scratched his head, somewhat surprised, saying:
"Ah! So this bespectacled nobody also had a bounty!
No wonder he was so arrogant..."
The bearded Lieutenant looked at Sephiroth with a speechless expression, muttering to himself:
This guy will definitely have a bright future; it's probably not impossible for him to become a General officer someday. I need to quickly curry favor and absolutely not offend him!
Thinking of this, the bearded man cleared his throat and said in a slightly fawning tone:
"Ahem! That Sephiroth...
Do you need us to help you take all these bounty criminals' corpses back to the Navy Base?
Later, you can go directly to the base to collect the bounty...
Oh, by the way, according to regulations, we Marines are supposed to impound pirate ships...
However, these pirates were all defeated by you, and we can't let you suffer a loss.
How about this! All the treasures on the pirate ship are yours; after you've moved all the treasures, how about we take the pirate ship back to the Navy Base?"
"Hmm! Then I'll trouble you all."
Sephiroth nodded, agreeing to the other party's suggestion.
The reason the bearded man arrived at the scene so quickly was actually because he happened to be nearby, investigating and reviewing the background information of the new recruits who had signed up for the Marines.
The pirate attack happened suddenly, but he couldn't just stand by.
After calling the Navy Base for support, he rushed to the scene, intending to stall for time until the support troops arrived.
But he never expected that Sephiroth, by himself, had taken down all the cadres of the Watson Pirates; the remaining forty-odd pirates were scared and fled in all directions, leaving the scene.
Hmm!?... In a while, they would also have to hunt down the fleeing pirates throughout Water 7.
Thinking of this, the bearded Lieutenant got a headache, muttering, "What a hassle!"
On the other side, Sephiroth had already boarded the schooner, rummaging through it for valuable items.
When he passed a tightly locked cabin with a "Captain's Cabin" sign on the door, his eyebrows slightly raised.
He transformed into his vampire state, tensed his leg muscles, and kicked the cabin door hard.
"Bang!"
After a loud crash, the wooden door fell inward, hitting the ground.
Sephiroth stepped over the wooden door and entered the Captain's Cabin.
The furnishings in the cabin were very simple: a set of office desk and chair, a large bed, a large wardrobe, and two rifles crossed on the wall...
His gaze swept around, and he immediately saw a locked treasure chest sitting quietly in the corner.
He searched the Captain's Cabin but couldn't find the key to unlock it; he figured the key to open the treasure chest should still be on Watson Logan...
However, he had a better way to unlock it!
Sephiroth reached out and took down one of the rifles from the wall; he pulled back the bolt and found that it was already loaded.
As he aimed the muzzle at the iron lock on the outside of the treasure chest and pulled the trigger, with a "Bang!" of a gunshot, the iron lock was violently broken open instantly.
Sephiroth excitedly opened the treasure chest, but he was somewhat disappointed to find that it only contained a small pile of gold coins, three stacks of banknotes, and a small wooden box...?
"Hmm? What's so troublesome that it's packed separately in a box...?"
He muttered to himself, casually lifting the lid of the unlocked small wooden box.
Upon seeing the green gourd-shaped Devil Fruit with circular spiral patterns covering it inside the small box, his heart instantly pounded.
"Is this... a Devil Fruit?"
In this world, the price of Devil Fruit ranges from 100,000,000 Berries to 5,000,000,000 Berries, and they are also priceless, rarely found.
In actual auctions, unless the Devil Fruit ability is too useless, it can generally be auctioned for over 1,000,000,000 Berries.
Most ordinary people who obtain a Devil Fruit fall into hesitation: whether to eat it and gain unknown abilities, or to auction it off, earn a large sum of money, and live the rest of their lives as a rich person.
Only extravagant spendthrifts like the Celestial Dragons would be willing to feed Devil Fruit to slaves for entertainment...
Sephiroth carefully recalled in his mind, but he still couldn't find any memories related to this Devil Fruit.
Finally, he decided to put this Devil Fruit away for now; it wouldn't be too late to deal with it after he obtained a "devil fruit encyclopedia" and learned its effects...