092 The Island That Fell from the Sky

Xuan Ye stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at Lucci with calm indifference. “It’s only a mark. For someone like you, who has spent years wandering the darkness, I’m not entirely at ease.”

“Hah...” Lucci gave a mocking laugh, his tone full of disdain. “I don’t think this is merely a simple mark.”

“That’s right. There’s no need for me to hide it from you. Within this tattoo lies my full-force strike at present, with a temperature of one hundred million degrees Celsius. In other words, if I so choose, you’ll explode like a bomb and vanish without a trace.”

“You’re treating me like a slave!” Lucci’s eyes reddened, and the aura around him began to grow unstable. He clenched his teeth and stared viciously at Xuan Ye like a beast.

“I’m only warning you.” Xuan Ye’s gaze was deep. “A man like you would never willingly bow beneath another. I can promise you this: as long as you satisfy me, I can lift your restraint at any time.”

“And what I want is not a slave, but a powerful subordinate. If it comes to it, so long as you earn my approval, what would be so strange about being my brother?”

“Hmph...” Lucci snorted again and again, still unable to accept it.

“Rest assured, I won’t restrict your freedom, nor will I interfere with what you choose to do. But when the time comes and I need you to do something, you must carry it out. Otherwise, you die.”

“What’s the difference between that and slavery?” Lucci sneered.

“If you’re unwilling, then I can make you disappear right now.” Xuan Ye raised a hand, his fingertip glowing gold-red as a scorching power began to gather slowly.

“I’ll give you five seconds to think it over.”

“Five.”

“Four.”

“Three.”

“Wait...” Feeling that ferocious killing intent, Lucci ground his teeth. “I’ll agree to it. But if there comes a time when I need to borrow your strength, you must lend it to me!”

“Hmph. Armament Haki and Observation Haki—you must at least reach the doorway within half a month, or you’ll no longer be worth cultivating.” The blazing flames vanished, and Xuan Ye’s expression turned cold.

“Remember this: what I want is a powerful subordinate, not a weak slave who gets bullied. You’ll remain in CP9. Unless I give the order, you’ll stay exactly as you were before.”

“Understood.” Lucci’s face remained dark, and he made no attempt to hide his displeasure.

“By the way, do you know about Devil Fruits?” Ignoring Lucci’s grim expression, Xuan Ye leaned back in his recliner and asked casually.

“Yes.” Lucci’s expression carried a hint of contempt, clearly looking down on Devil Fruits somewhat.

“I have a piece of advice for you. Whether you take it is your choice.” Xuan Ye tapped the armrest of the recliner, the sound crisp and clear.

“What advice?”

“If the World Government ever gives you a Devil Fruit, don’t eat a Zoan. If possible, eat a Paramecia. And if one of them happens to be the Door-Door Fruit, then even if you don’t consume it, you must keep it for me.”

“Why?” Lucci looked puzzled, even somewhat bewildered, as though Xuan Ye already knew what would happen in the future.

“You don’t need to know. If you want to eat it yourself, that’s fine, but it must never fall into anyone else’s hands besides yours.”

Xuan Ye was serious. He was not joking, because the Door-Door Fruit was simply too absurdly powerful.

If possible, Xuan Ye would even have wanted to eat that Devil Fruit himself. But the Sun Crow Devil Fruit was too strange, and Xuan Ye could not quite make up his mind about it, so he only thought about it.

Some might say that Xuan Ye was already a vice admiral and could simply submit a special request for that Devil Fruit. But setting aside whether the fruit was even in the World Government’s possession, the very idea itself was a little too unsettling.

“I understand.” Lucci’s face was expressionless.

“Good.” Xuan Ye nodded.

That night, the starry sky shone brilliantly, and endless moonlight poured down like a divine painting, beautiful enough to intoxicate anyone who beheld it.

In the Office of Justice Tower, Spandine’s office, all of CP9 had gathered.

“Spandine, was the thing I asked you to prepare this morning ready?” Seated in the highest place, Xuan Ye looked calmly at the one-armed Spandine.

“V-vice Admiral... sir, it’s already been prepared! The twenty tons of training materials you requested have been sent to Grado Island.”

“Good. I’ll be leaving for a while after this, but listen carefully: the moment you receive any news of Golden Lion Shiki, you must report it to me immediately. Otherwise... you know what will happen.”

“Yes, yes...” Spandine bent at the waist and nodded repeatedly, exceedingly respectful.

“Lucci and Kalifa will come with me.”

“This... Vice Admiral, Lucci and Kalifa already have assignments...” Spandine hesitated.

“You can report it to the Five Elders. Tell them I’ve requisitioned them.” Xuan Ye sounded a little impatient.

“Yes...” Spandine frowned.

“That’s settled. Lucci, Kalifa, go prepare yourselves. We leave for Grado Island tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, Vice Admiral.”

The next day, at dawn, after half a day’s travel, Xuan Ye and the others arrived on a primitive island. That island was Grado.

“From here on, we’ll spend half a month training here. Remember, you only have half a month.” Looking at the man and woman beside him, Xuan Ye’s expression remained unreadable. In the end, he had brought Kalifa as well, and just like Lucci, she too had a divine bird tattoo on her right shoulder.

“Monkey, I’m leaving the two of them to you. I think you should know how to train Armament Haki and Observation Haki—just as I trained them back then: by getting beaten.”

After speaking, Xuan Ye went directly to a mass of refined iron that resembled a small mountain. Biting down hard, he heaved it onto his shoulder with difficulty and began training himself like his life depended on it.

This training weight had been personally ordered by Xuan Ye. It weighed a full ten tons, pressing down on him until he could hardly breathe.

“Chirp... I understand!” Hearing Xuan Ye’s order, Monkey cracked his knuckles, baring his teeth as he stared at Lucci and Kalifa with a thoroughly wicked look.

“You two, attack me with everything you’ve got!”

“Shave...”

Marine Headquarters had risen steadily in prestige ever since the capture and subsequent execution of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger. Even now, with the seas in turmoil over the name of One Piece, one had to admit that the Navy remained the strongest power upon the ocean.

In addition, with Kong having become Commander-in-Chief of the entire armed forces and Sengoku having taken the seat of Fleet Admiral, the Navy’s strength had entered a period of explosive growth.

The new official brings three fires to light, and Sengoku had thoroughly overhauled the Navy’s discipline. Though only on the surface, the rewards were immense; at the very least, Sengoku’s position as Fleet Admiral had now been firmly secured.

On top of that, the recent voyages of the three monster-level admiral candidates had frightened many pirates at the mere mention of their names.

What had originally been a thriving, dominant Navy was that day met with a nightmare of destruction.

Dark clouds pressed low overhead, the entire sky black as ink, while threads of white lightning snaked through the heavens. In the span of moments, the sky that had been clear for ten thousand miles looked as though it had fallen into the apocalypse, chilling the heart.

The sea heaved violently, its waves towering to the sky beneath the gale and torrential rain. Entire Marine Headquarters seemed wrapped in a storm of destruction, suffocating in its oppression.

The citizens of Marine Headquarters could hardly breathe, and one after another they hid in their homes, as though only then could they ease the fear inspired by nature itself.

“What... what is that...”

A guard nearly lost his soul on the spot as he looked up at the shadow growing larger and larger amid the storm.

Buzz... buzz...

Heavy and overwhelming, the entire sky seemed to tremble. That sound, like blows pounding directly against the heart, drew nearer and nearer.

“It’s... it’s an island... It’s a small island...”

A Navy officer turned pale with terror, lowered his telescope, and collapsed to the ground.

Whoosh... whoosh...

With immense force, an island several hundred meters long fell from the sky like a meteor.

Boom... rumble...

Marine Headquarters shook. Countless buildings were overturned, and the earth split apart into ruins.

“What’s happening outside?” Sengoku, wearing his frog-shaped glasses in the Fleet Admiral’s office, was furious.

“R-report to the Fleet Admiral, an island... an island suddenly fell from the sky, and now another one has come down as well.”

A drenched Navy officer, face filled with terror, pushed open the door, his mind and spirit all but scattered.

“What...” Sengoku rose to his feet, his aura surging skyward. The office was in utter disarray.

...