Chapter 17: A "Miracle" Suppressed
The grove fell silent for a moment after the teleportation, the only sounds being the heavy breathing of the freed pirates and the distant, ever-present hum of Sabaody.
"Captain, what was that you burst out just now?!" a Kid Pirate asked, his voice a mix of awe and terror as he stared at Eustass Kid.
"I don't know, damn it!" Kid snarled, his single eye scanning the trees wildly, his new mechanical arm whirring as it clenched into a fist. "Who attacked us?!"
Killer, ever the calm counterpart, had already drawn his two distinctive rotating blades, his masked face giving nothing away as he fell into a defensive stance beside his captain. They had just narrowly escaped being crushed by that strange, oppressive light. To be ambushed again so immediately was a terrifying prospect.
"Who is it?!" Kid roared into the foliage, his voice thick with rage and frustration. "Get out here!"
"Impressive."
The calm, measured voice cut through the tension. All heads snapped toward its source.
Levi emerged from the dappled shadows between the trees, Gion a silent, deadly shadow half a step behind him, her hand resting on the hilt of Konpira. He looked at the trio with genuine, clinical interest.
"I didn't expect you to break free from the restraint. Logically, even with Conqueror's Haki, you shouldn't have been able to disrupt it. But with the Op-Op Fruit's coordination… you achieved it. I've learned something."
His gaze flickered past them, back toward the distant pillars of light where Monkey D. Luffy and Roronoa Zoro were still firmly pinned. These two, however, had slipped the net. It was, in a way, more "protagonist-like" than the actual protagonist's crew at this moment. A perfect synergy of abilities. A true, if inconvenient, "miracle."
"Who are you?!" Law demanded, his voice tight. His Kikoku was already slung over his shoulder, fingers subtly twitching, ready to deploy another ROOM.
Then they saw the uniforms. The crisp, white Admiral's coat over a dark suit. The less elaborate, but no less authoritative, Vice Admiral's jacket.
Recognition dawned, cold and horrifying.
"Vice Admiral Momousagi…" Killer muttered, the name carrying the weight of her duels with the world's greatest swordsman.
"And… Black Crow," Law finished, his golden eyes widening a fraction. The world's papers had been screaming about the unprecedented fourth Marine Admiral for two days. The codename 'Black Crow' was already synonymous with an unknown, terrifying new power within the World Government's grasp.
Seeing him in person, feeling the lingering echo of the power that had pinned them like insects, was different. It was visceral. The arrogance that carried them through the Grand Line evaporated. They weren't looking at a challenge; they were looking at a force of nature.
Escape. The thought was instantaneous and absolute in Trafalgar Law's strategic mind.
Without a word to Kid, his fingers moved. "ROOM!" A blue hemisphere expanded and vanished. His Heart Pirates, who had been frozen in fear nearby, disappeared, teleported to a pre-determined safe point far across the archipelago. Survival of the crew was paramount.
"Damn you!" Kid spat, his pride warring with the primal fear in his gut. "So what if you're an Admiral? I'll knock you down someday! I'll remember this!"
It was a brave shout, but it was the shout of a cornered animal, not a declaration of war. Without the suicidal folly he would later display against a Yonko, his instinct for self-preservation still had a voice. It screamed to run.
"A very rational choice," Levi said, his tone almost conversational as he took a single, deliberate step forward. "But unfortunate. I require the… credential of your capture. You chose the pirate's life. Blame your luck. Though," he added, a faint, cynical twist in his voice, "death isn't certain. The future is long and strange. It would be… interesting to see."
The air changed.
It wasn't a wind. It was a thickening. A deep, resonant hum vibrated from Levi's very being, and the sunny glade seemed to dim, as if a cloud had passed over the sun. But it was no cloud. It was spiritual pressure made manifest—a darkness where Levi stood as the only source of light, a cold, blue-white star at its center.
"What… is this?!" Law gasped. The pressure descended not on his body, but on his soul. It was the grip of a specter, the cold blade of a scythe resting against his neck. It was a promise of oblivion.
Behind them, less resilient pirates made choked sounds. Eyes rolled back, and bodies hit the soft earth with heavy thuds, unconscious before they landed. Will shattered like glass.
Kid and Law trembled. Their knees shook. They were men of iron will, veterans of countless battles, each capable of trading blows with Vice Admirals. But this was different. This was an elemental fear, woven into the fabric of their spirits. They didn't collapse, but movement became an impossible dream, a mountain of terror pinning them in place. For Levi, it was simpler than stringing together the other Supernovas.
His Haki… no, his power has grown stronger again! Gion thought, her knuckles white on her sword's hilt. A storm of emotion churned within her: shock, a bitter envy, professional frustration, and an unwilling, grudging respect. This monster… he hasn't trained openly once. How does he keep advancing?
"IT CAN'T BE!" Kid's voice was a ragged scream, tearing itself from his throat against the weight of the Reiatsu. "NOT EVEN AN ADMIRAL! THE GAP CAN'T BE THIS—!"
Rage, the one fuel that could burn through his fear, ignited. Another crimson wave burst from him—wild, untamed Conqueror's Haki. At the same moment, scrap metal from the grove and his own previous battles flew to him, assembling with a shriek of bending steel into a colossal, jagged mechanical arm. "I'LL KILL YOU!"
He launched himself forward, the giant fist hauling back to pulverize Levi where he stood.
"Notable potential," Levi observed, his voice untouched by the violent display. "Still just potential. And while in some respects your loyalty is commendable, you remain a pirate who slaughters civilians. I dislike such pirates."
His eyes narrowed a fraction.
Kid's own admissions to the press condemned him. Civilians who spoke rudely did not deserve death. Was that not the natural order? To scorn pirates? To expect praise for lawlessness was the true sickness.
The Reiatsu in front of Levi condensed. It wasn't a wave; it was a focused lance of solidified spiritual pressure, a shaft of brilliant, deadly light.
It met Kid's erupting Conqueror's Haki and tore through it like tissue paper. The difference was not of degree, but of kind.
Then it struck the colossal metal arm.
CRANG-SHAAA—!
The sound was not of bending, but of utter, violent disintegration. The assembled arm exploded into shrapnel. The force didn't stop. It found Kid's flesh-and-blood arm beneath. Bone shattered. Muscle tore. A spray of crimson painted the green leaves as Eustass Kid was launched backward like a broken doll, blood trailing from his mouth, crashing through the undergrowth to lie motionless.
"It seems I've taken the red-haired man's future role," Levi mused aloud, glancing at Kid's broken form. "A trivial divergence."
"CAPTAIN!!" Killer's cry was raw, his usual cool utterly shattered. The invincible man he followed, the man who had fought a Vice Admiral to a standstill, had been broken by a look. The monstrous gap in power was a chilling, absolute reality. What were the Admirals?
Law, sweating and trembling, fought the soul-deep terror. His fingers twitched, the barest motion to form a ROOM, to at least try to teleport Kid away.
Levi's gaze shifted to him.
BOOM.
It was a silent sound felt only in the soul. An invisible, mountainous weight slammed down from the void directly onto Trafalgar Law, driving him face-first into the dirt with brutal finality. He could not move a finger. The air was solid around him.
Silence returned to the grove, broken only by the moans of the wounded Kid and the shallow, terrified breaths of those still conscious.
Eustass Kid. Killer. Trafalgar Law.
Three Supernovae, captured.
Levi let the oppressive Reiatsu recede, the "night" lifting from the glade. He glanced at Gion. "Collect them. The eleventh is still at large, but he won't be for long."
He looked past the trees, his enhanced perception already locking onto the final, frantic spirit trying to evade the inevitable. The procession was nearly complete.
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Or
For every 50 power stones 🥳🥳