Slaughter

"What's with those sunglasses? You want to be my companion?" Cifer teased.

"I've sailed with you for so long, and I even drew the design. What's wrong with adding a tiny pair of sunglasses?" A puff of thick smoke drifted toward Cifer, only to disperse in midair.

"Our next stop is Jaya."

Cifer paid no attention to the flag. To him, it was merely a formality. As long as it was not ugly, he did not care what it looked like.

"Is it because it's interesting again?"

Hina sensed that something was off. During their previous voyages, they had always picked a random island from the map as their destination that very day. This time, Cifer named Jaya without even looking at the map, nor had he asked what kind of place it was.

"No. I'm going to find someone to be my companion."

Cifer lay atop the bow. His casual remark immediately put Hina on alert.

Who was Cifer? A future Shichibukai, someone with strength comparable to an Admiral. She knew perfectly well just how high his standards were.

Over the past month or so, there had been at least eighty or a hundred pirates who, after losing to him, wanted to serve under him. Some were even Great Pirates with Bounties as high as 50 Million Belly.

Those people had become the Belly currently aboard the ship without making him hesitate for even a moment. Anyone he would personally seek out could hardly be ordinary.

Hina knew that Cifer had initially approached the two of them merely because he needed two people on his ship. Otherwise, their strength would never have caught his eye.

As for inviting them to leave the Marines and stay, that was only because they had spent some time together and he regarded them as friends.

If more little monsters appeared aboard this great monster's ship, Hina could hardly imagine what would happen. Fortunately, he was about to become a Shichibukai. Hopefully, he would remain "kind" forever.

Smack!

As Cifer flicked a gold coin into the air, the News Coo dropped the latest newspaper in return, and it landed beside Hina.

"Black Winged Great Demon - Ulquiorra Cifer has been slaughtering pirates throughout Paradise, the first half of the Grand Line. In recent months, the number of pirates entering the Grand Line and the New World has sharply declined. He is suspected of suppressing Paradise for some unknown reason..."

Hina found that nearly the entire newspaper reported on Cifer's power and brutality. She looked up at Cifer, who was still sunbathing, and read it aloud word by word.

"Hmph. Looks like the World Government has started building up my reputation," Cifer said, instantly understanding what was going on.

"As long as I keep stirring things up, the News Coo will keep reporting on me, making Paradise's little brats tremble at the mere mention of my name. Once I become a Shichibukai... my deterrence against newcomers will increase greatly."

Building up Cifer's reputation was something Sengoku and numerous Vice Admirals had discussed in meetings. They had witnessed Cifer's slaughter of pirates firsthand, and Hina had remained in steady contact with them.

They believed that among all the Shichibukai, Cifer harbored the deepest malice toward other pirates. He was like a double-edged blade; if used properly, he could effectively reduce the number of ordinary people who chose to become pirates.

Therefore, until Cifer became a Shichibukai, they would monitor him closely and continuously magnify the terror he inspired, intimidating the Four Seas!

Would Cifer lose to the existing Shichibukai? They had never even considered that question. Strength at the Admiral level was beyond doubt.

"Mr. Cifer! Look, another pirate ship!"

Wright, who was steering, looked excited. Over this period, several pirate crews had been destroyed by Cifer. They were all ignorant little brats who had tried to rob them, only realizing Cifer's strength when it was already too late.

Those were all piles of white Belly! Cifer usually either killed them or had Hina imprison them, then exchanged them for Belly to spend together.

That meant they were practically his own Belly! How could Wright not be excited? After living more than half his life, it was his first time experiencing the feeling of countless Belly rolling in every day just from cooking, steering, and playing chess.

"Look!" Nearly every pirate aboard the pirate ship shouted, "What a huge ship! And it's flying such a strange Pirate Flag. Let's rob it!"

The Evil Wolf Pirates had burned, killed, and plundered their way from the North Blue to the Grand Line. They had robbed merchant ships and other pirate crews more times than they could count, so this was nothing new to them.

Only one pirate holding a telescope stared at Cifer standing at the bow. He felt as though he had seen that face somewhere before, and a sense of dread rose within him.

"Coo! Coo!"

The cry of a News Coo came from above.

Newspapers!

He remembered now. He had seen that face in the newspapers some time ago.

As the pirate ship approached the Little Ul, everyone was rubbing their fists and preparing for a grand fight. Only he rushed back to his room, grabbed the newspapers from the table, and frantically flipped through them.

Finally, after several issues, he found the report about the Sabaody Archipelago incident, along with Cifer's absurdly high Bounty.

"Captain! Stop the ship!"

He charged in like a madman, found the captain calmly drinking at the bow, and shoved the newspaper before his eyes.

"The man on that ship is the culprit behind the Sabaody Archipelago incident! He's the Black Winged Great Demon, a Great Pirate with a Bounty of 1.348 Billion Belly!"

The sky seemed to darken slightly. The captain was trembling too hard to speak, his shaking finger pointing toward the sail.

"Who here has a Bounty?"

Cifer's voice came from above. The pirates finally noticed his tall figure standing atop the sail's mast. Though they had no idea when he had gotten there, it did nothing to dampen their fighting spirit.

"That little brat came right to us! Our captain is a super villain with a Bounty of 60 million—"

Before he could finish, a flash of blade light swept past. Until his death, the underling who had spoken could not understand why he had been killed by his own captain when he was clearly trying to bolster the captain's reputation.

Everyone aboard fell silent. The captain's actions could only mean one thing: they had run into serious trouble!

Cifer did not care. As long as the other party was a Bounty Criminal, that was enough. What did it matter what his name was?

"Even though you can't hear me, thanks. You saved me some trouble."

Cero Oscuras.

With just one finger, the captain felt as though a giant had smashed him with a full-force punch. Blood gushed from his mouth and nose, and it felt as if every bone in his body had shattered. He lay on the deck, unable to move.

"Captain!!!"

"He's still alive? Not bad for a man worth 60 million. Then I'll let you live." Cifer's praise sounded full of mockery to everyone present, yet none of them dared step forward.

The captain's terrified, pleading gaze swept over his crew, but wherever he looked, they all avoided his eyes.

Cifer grabbed him by the collar and, as though carrying a chick, vanished from the crowd in an instant.

"Are we safe?"

The pirates aboard barely dared breathe. That man was simply too terrifying. Even their captain, with a Bounty as high as 60 million, had been left on the verge of death in a single move.

Avenge their captain? Impossible!

They had only just reached the Grand Line. How could they casually throw their lives away? If the captain was gone, they could just replace him!

"This is... the captain of the Evil Wolf Pirates!"

Hina recognized at once the man Cifer casually tossed onto the deck like a dead dog. After all, a 60 million Belly Bounty truly qualified someone as a Great Pirate in the first half of the Grand Line.

"60 million! As expected of Mr. Cifer!"

The moment Wright heard the man's Bounty, he began calculating what to buy on the next island.

"Are we just going to let that ship get away?"

Aboard the Evil Wolf Pirates' ship, the pirates desperately accelerated away, afraid that if they were even half a second too slow, they would be left behind.

"What's that?!"

Everyone turned toward the sound. An emerald-green light flashed, and then the entire pirate ship shattered into pieces.

The wicked Evil Wolf Pirates were destroyed.