Mafia Victor looked down from above at Capone Bege, who lay sprawled on the ground, but he did not relax his guard.
Although Capone Bege at this point in time was extremely secretive about his abilities, Mafia Victor—who had once read the manga—knew them all too well.
Capone "Gang" Bege, one of the future Eleven Supernovas of the Worst Generation, who would one day stand alongside figures such as Monkey D. Luffy, would eventually carry a bounty of 300 million Berries. He was the user of the Castle-Castle Fruit, a "castle human."
This man had strength, intelligence, and—most importantly—courage.
The mere fact that he would later dare to plot the assassination of Big Mom—one of the Four Emperors—and still manage to escape alive proved he was no ordinary figure.
His Devil Fruit ability was quite interesting as well.
The Castle-Castle Fruit was a Paramecia-type ability that combined spatial storage with defense. It allowed him to form an entire fortress within his body where both people and objects could be stored. His lower body could transform into tank treads, allowing rapid movement. In the manga's later events, he would even transform into a gigantic living castle, possessing defensive power so immense that even Big Mom could not easily break through it.
"Protect the boss!"
"Grab your weapons!"
Chaotic shouts erupted from within Capone Bege's body.
One after another, figures leapt out of him. In an instant, over a hundred armed men appeared on the battlefield, surrounding Mafia Victor and Capone Bege.
As for "Dead Snake" Suleiman Shaon, whose blood had already pooled beneath him like a small lake—being riddled with that many bullets and still not reduced to paste only showed how strong his body had been while alive.
"Mr. Bege, it seems you have no intention of surrendering."
Mafia Victor glanced calmly around the battlefield before lowering his head and giving Capone Bege a gentle smile.
"How unsightly."
"Cough… the one who should surrender is you!"
Capone Bege slowly stood up and spat out the cigar that had long since gone out.
His gaze locked fiercely onto the blond young man standing before him.
It was this seventeen-year-old boy—who had eaten his Devil Fruit only minutes ago—who had beaten both him and Suleiman into such miserable states.
But Victor had made a mistake.
He was too arrogant.
That arrogance had given Capone Bege and his men a perfect opportunity.
With a single command, every rifle would fire simultaneously.
Even if Victor had wings, he wouldn't escape.
"Mafia Victor… I admit I underestimated you."
Capone Bege's voice turned strangely sincere.
"Your combat talent is something I have never seen before."
"Come serve under me."
"If we join forces, we could unite the entire West Blue."
He meant it.
Victor's talent had genuinely impressed him. If someone like Victor worked under him, Bege was confident he could sweep through the West Blue without resistance.
"Heh…"
Mafia Victor chuckled softly.
"Mr. Bege, why shouldn't you serve under me?"
"You might make an excellent warehouse manager."
He looked at the short, stout gangster with amusement.
"You don't know when to quit…"
Capone Bege's eyes grew cold.
He turned around and waved his hand impatiently.
"Forget it."
"Kill him."
"As for that girl—capture her and deliver her to the officials. I know quite a few of them who enjoy that sort of thing."
"B-Boss…?"
Several of the gunmen hesitated, staring behind Capone Bege with confused expressions.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Do I need to teach you how to kill someone?"
Annoyed, Capone Bege turned around.
Then he froze.
Mafia Victor was gone.
At the same moment, an angry voice echoed from above.
"You fat little pig!"
"Do you think Lady Perona didn't understand what you meant?!"
"Disgusting! Go die!!"
"Mini Ghost – The Grateful Dead!!"
Everyone looked up in panic.
Thousands of miniature ghosts now filled the sky.
And then—
It began to rain.
The ghosts plunged downward like a storm of falling stars.
Mini Ghost after Mini Ghost exploded across the battlefield in relentless waves. Perona didn't even bother counting how many she used.
If one hundred were destroyed—
She created two hundred more.
If five hundred exploded—
She made another thousand.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The moment the explosions began, nearly half of the Capone Gang was wiped out.
In the continuous chain of chaotic detonations, no one could escape.
Some men raised their rifles and fired toward the floating girl in the sky.
But the bullets passed through Perona's ghostly body without effect—like stones sinking into the sea without making a ripple.
Capone Bege himself became Perona's primary target.
Hundreds of mini ghosts bombarded him without pause.
Even with the incredible defensive power of his Devil Fruit, he began coughing blood.
The bombardment lasted nearly half a minute.
By the end of it, the center of the town had been completely flattened.
Fortunately, when Mafia Victor and Talma Pippin had begun fighting earlier, most of the nearby residents had already evacuated.
Aside from the unlucky Coral officers who had come to support Pippin, there were no additional casualties.
As the dust slowly cleared, Capone Bege's once-elegant black coat now looked like a tattered rag.
His entire body was covered in wounds.
After all, he had endured nearly ten thousand mini ghost explosions.
Even ten thousand mosquito bites could nearly kill a man.
Behind him, within the ruins of a collapsed building, a zipper slowly opened across the wall.
Mafia Victor calmly stepped out from inside.
The most basic ability of the Chain-Chain Fruit.
Nylon Zipper – Safety Door.
When he had been surrounded earlier, Mafia Victor had simply opened a zipper beneath his feet and slipped underground, moving through the area until he reached a nearby building.
From there, he watched the entire "bomb rain" in peace.
He gave Perona a thumbs-up in the air.
Then he rolled up his sleeves and slowly approached the barely standing Capone Bege.
"Mr. Bege…"
"I am about to present you with an offer you cannot refuse."
Mafia Victor pulled a folded sheet of paper and a pen from his chest pocket and handed them to Capone Bege.
Confused, Bege opened the document.
After reading only a few lines, his expression changed drastically.
Before he could shout in anger, Mafia Victor raised a finger to silence him.
"You cannot refuse my offer."
"Either your signature goes on that paper…"
"…or your brains do."
Victor gently pressed his finger against Capone Bege's forehead.
A faint metallic sheen flickered at the tip of his finger.
Bege had no doubt that if he dared refuse, his skull would be instantly pierced.
Capone Bege opened his mouth as if to argue.
But after several seconds, he sighed in defeat.
Gripping the pen tightly, he signed his name on the document.
"An excellent decision, Mr. Bege."
Mafia Victor smiled warmly.
"With that…"
"The Suleiman Family is hereby destroyed."
"The Capone Gang voluntarily joins Coral without conditions."
"From this day forward, the underworld of the West Blue will speak with only one voice."
"That voice is Coral."
At some point, members of the Coral organization had gathered around the battlefield.
Their faces were filled with admiration.
They placed one hand over their chests and bowed deeply toward Mafia Victor.
"Greetings, Father!"
Even Capone Bege bowed slightly, his voice trembling.
"…Boss."
Watching the entire scene unfold from beginning to end, Colonel Crone felt as though he had just witnessed the birth of something historic.
A new king of the West Blue…
…was about to rise.