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Inside Street No. 178.
Bellamy was sprinting at the very front, his face lit with excitement that bordered on madness. His crew chased after him, close on his heels.
They all knew perfectly well that they were not the only ones willing to gamble everything. Plenty of pirates had the same idea. Kill the Pirate King, and your name, your status, your reputation would skyrocket.
There were countless pirates out on the sea, and their ambitions and dreams came in all shapes and sizes.
But in the end, it all came down to the same things: fame, power, and money.
As for the One Piece, that was something meant for the man who would become the Pirate King.
"If we can actually pull this off…"
Bellamy's heart pounded wildly as he already began imagining the future that awaited him after success.
Suddenly, in the dim street ahead, lightning flashed without warning.
Crack!
A figure wrapped in arcs of electricity appeared out of nowhere. The sudden sight brought the entire group to a dead stop.
"Having ideals and ambition is a good thing,"
Kyle said calmly, lightning crackling around his body as he floated in midair.
"But if you choose the wrong path, or overestimate your own strength, that ambition becomes the biggest obstacle to survival."
"A Marine?!"
Bellamy's pupils shrank.
But only for an instant. He immediately roared, "Kill him!"
From the moment today's plan began, he had already made up his mind.
Anyone who stood in their way would die.
At his shout, the crew behind him surged forward, drawing the long blades at their waists. With twisted expressions, they charged at Kyle and swung.
Kyle did not even blink. He made no move to dodge.
The next second, the blades passed straight through his body, sparks of lightning bursting out where they cut.
The pirates landed on the ground, their faces drained of all color.
"Boss, he's a Logia!"
Only then did Kyle slowly raise his right hand, extending a single finger and pointing ahead with deliberate ease.
But he was not pointing at the man who had attacked him.
As the pirates were still confused, the Kyle before their eyes vanished.
"And it's not just a Logia," his calm voice sounded again.
His finger was already pressed against the attacker's forehead.
"How is that possible?!"
"He's too fast!"
Bellamy's whole body trembled as his pupils contracted.
Then he saw light gather at Kyle's fingertip before shooting out in an instant.
A twisting bolt of lightning pierced straight through the pirate's brow.
"Roger isn't someone trash like you ever had the right to get close to."
Kyle turned his head and looked at Bellamy.
His gaze was calm, cold, and utterly merciless. The pirate crew shuddered as one.
"Thunder… it's thunder!"
"He ate the Rumble-Rumble Fruit! He's a lightning man!"
Someone screamed in terror.
To most pirates, Logia users were already monsters. Someone who controlled lightning was on another level entirely.
"Wait, he… he looks like…"
"That Vice Admiral."
"It's Kyle! He's Kyle!"
As his identity was recognized, fear spread even faster.
Bellamy stood there, completely stunned.
Vice Admiral Kyle?
The Marine who captured Roger, and just days ago defeated Golden Lion Shiki and sent him to Impel Down?
"Damn it! Someone as strong as you, why are you here?!"
Bellamy shouted in panic.
Kyle raised his right hand. Lightning crackled between his palm and fingers, sizzling in the air.
"The route you chose happens to be under my watch."
"Those with courage deserve respect."
"But unfortunately, people like you deserve no mercy."
As his voice fell, the arcs of electricity rapidly expanded, growing violent. The temperature in the narrow street spiked at a terrifying speed.
The next instant, Kyle flicked his finger.
Crack!
Lightning roared like splitting branches, spreading forward in a flash and crashing into the remaining pirates.
"W-wait!"
Bellamy screamed in terror.
It was too late.
In a single instant, he and the others were struck by lightning. The intense heat ignited their bodies, and the overwhelming destructive force twisted them out of existence.
A pirate crew of more than ten people was vaporized in the blink of an eye by Kyle's lightning.
Kyle turned away, frowning slightly.
"It looks like the coming days are going to be busy."
With another flash of lightning, he vanished once more.
This day was the second-to-last before the execution.
And yet, it was also the day when countless pirates and underground figures, driven mad by ambition and blinded by overconfidence, launched assaults toward where Roger was being held.
Kyle expanded his field and, over the course of the day, wiped out more than a hundred pirates while constantly issuing orders to his subordinates.
When night fell, their workload only grew heavier.
By the seventh day, according to Crocodile's count, they had destroyed thirty-six pirate crews and killed a staggering total of four hundred and fifty-eight pirates.
"Tomorrow, Roger will be executed,"
Borsalino said softly, tilting his head up toward the morning sun.
Kyle's expression remained calm. He offered no comment.
"Let's move. Today's going to be another busy one."
"These filthy sewer rats never seem to understand their own place,"
Sakazuki (Admiral Akainu) said coldly.
After adjusting his Marine cap, killing intent rolling off him, he was the first to leave.
The rest of the squad followed one by one. Kyle dispersed his field and, using his ability, created a massive thundercloud over Loguetown that covered a radius of three kilometers.
From that point on, throughout the day, people outside the area would frequently hear thunder and see lightning strike down from the sky.
They had no idea that with every bolt of lightning, several people, sometimes dozens, were dying.
That same day, at Loguetown's harbor, people continuously disembarked from ships and quickly blended into the dense crowds ahead.
Among them were pirates who would one day become infamous across the seas.
"Fufufufufufu!"
"What a world-shaking event this is!"
"It's thrilling… absolutely exhilarating."
In the crowd, a figure threw his arms wide and laughed loudly.
"I can feel the pulse of the era!"
At the same time, on another street,
a red-haired man with a long sword at his waist and a straw hat on his head walked forward in silence. A red-nosed boy followed closely behind him.
That evening, thunderclouds gathered over Loguetown, rumbling ominously.
Rumble!
The sky flickered between light and dark. When a bolt of lightning flashed, a new figure appeared on a street near Central Park, cloaked in green, his face completely hidden beneath the hood.
When the next lightning bolt struck, the man slowly lifted his head and looked toward the towering execution platform in the distance.
"So this is where you'll meet your end tomorrow?"
"Roger!"
"..."
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