It's Me

Even though Yaen was cursing Kuzan in his heart and had already mentally devised dozens of ways to "repay" him, the immediate priority was still dealing with the dozen or so submachine guns pouring bullets toward him.

Facing the large, gorgeous, and beautiful cherry blossoms that had appeared out of thin air, the dozen men in suits showed no signs of panic. Clearly, as members of the West Blue underworld, they were well aware of the existence of Devil Fruits.

Furthermore, one of the men in suits standing at the very back picked up a Den Den Mushi to report the situation, requesting reinforcements with more firepower.

"That's going a bit too far, isn't it? Requesting fire support?"

Yaen heard the man's voice clearly and couldn't help but mutter to himself.

Immediately, with a thought from Yaen, a large portion of the cherry blossoms that were surrounding him without any blind spots separated and swept toward the line of men in suits.

"Huh?!"

Seeing this, the men in suits fired even more frantically. Some even used their robust physiques to draw two submachine guns at once, attempting to scatter the incoming wave of cherry blossoms.

Unfortunately, these cherry blossoms were thousands of blades; it was impossible to scatter them with a mere dozen or twenty submachine guns.

The next moment, to the horror of the men in suits, the mass of beautiful pink cherry blossoms swept past them.

As the cherry blossoms returned to Yaen's side, drifting and rotating around him, countless deep, bone-reaching gashes suddenly appeared on the bodies of the men in suits. The massive amount of blood that sprayed out soaked the ground in the blink of an eye.

Yaen felt regretful that these men in suits, instead of fleeing when faced with Senbonzakura, had chosen to fire their guns wildly.

"Cherry blossoms are beautiful and fragile, but they are also deadly..."

It was a fact that the Shikai state of Senbonzakura lacked high attack power and destructive force, but that depended on who it was being compared to.

Compared to powerhouses like Gion, a future "Admiral Candidate" whose strength far exceeded her rank; or Vice Admiral Saul; or the soon-to-be Marine Admiral Kuzan, it was naturally lacking.

However...

"They are just mere Mafia."

Yaen looked back at Kuzan, who had already lazily found a corner to lean against, and could only helplessly walk toward the Capone Building.

When it came down to it, the existence of these Mafia organizations in the West Blue was truly nothing more than a joke to Marine Headquarters.

It was only because many underworld forces or Mafia organizations were connected to World Member Nations, and because most Mafia groups didn't cause trouble on the open sea, that they didn't fall under the jurisdiction of the Marines.

The reason Yaen had been worried about the West Blue Marines earlier was simply out of concern that they might gradually fall into widespread corruption under the influence of underworld forces, not because he thought these so-called Mafia could actually amount to anything.

"Forget it, since I'm already here, I might as well go in and see what it's all about," Yaen muttered, then walked into the Capone Building.

As for the issue of merit that Yaen had been worried about, at the end of the day, the merit gained from wiping out a Mafia organization would, at most, only reach the level of a non-commissioned officer.

In the Marine system, such a rank didn't even count as a proper officer, which was barely within the range of what Yaen could accept.

More importantly, even if Yaen wanted to slack off, Kuzan, who was clearly becoming even lazier behind him, wouldn't allow it.

"So, besides comforting myself like this, what else can I do?"

Thinking of this, Yaen couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed, turning that slight frustration onto the Mafia members blocking his path.

Along the way, Yaen's Observation Haki spread out, enveloping almost the entire Capone Building.

Every trap, every ambush, and every attack naturally could not escape Yaen's perception.

For those who met him and pointed their guns at him, they were met with cherry blossoms transformed into thousands of blades.

As for those Mafia members who used their fists and feet without deliberately aiming for Yaen's vitals, Yaen simply knocked them unconscious.

Unfortunately, the number of Mafia members who managed to escape unscathed was few and far between.

As Yaen broke through floor by floor toward the roof, the Mafia members tried all sorts of weapons, yet they still couldn't hinder Yaen in the slightest.

Furthermore, the way the dead Mafia members looked—as if they had been sliced into a thousand pieces—gradually made even those cruel and tyrannical Mafia members feel a chill in their hearts.

"Mon... monster..."

"It's... it's completely not on the same level."

"All types of firearms, and even cannonballs, are useless against him. Those cherry blossoms mean certain death upon contact."

"It's over. I don't know where the Capone Family provoked such a monster from. The Capone Family is finished."

Gradually, Yaen noticed that the force blocking his path was becoming smaller and smaller.

In the end, Yaen felt that walking through this Capone Building, which was filled with gun violence, was like taking a leisurely stroll; no one came to bother him at all.

After giving it some thought, Yaen glanced at the elevator-like facility nearby, but decided to abandon such a dangerous method, choosing instead to walk step by step toward the top floor of the Capone Building.

Standing outside the door of the room on the top floor, Yaen yawned and then knocked gently on the door.

According to Yaen's perception, the strongest few people in the Capone Building were gathered behind this door. Following the convention that the big bosses are always up high, Yaen had headed straight here.

Behind the door, Capone Bell, a middle-aged man with the air of a Mafia boss, chomping on a cigar and draped in a fur coat, signaled to the four burly Mafia men standing to his left and right.

Those four burly Mafia men stood cautiously behind the door, their bodies suddenly expanding as they revealed their respective animal forms, their bared fangs and sharp claws ready to launch an ambush at any moment.

Only then did Capone Bell speak up and ask, "Who is it?"

"It's me," Yaen replied.

"Who?!" Capone Bell was stunned and continued to ask.

"It's me," Yaen continued to answer.

"Who exactly are you..."

However, the next moment, a massive swarm of cherry blossoms suddenly surged in through the gap beneath the door, sweeping directly toward the four Zoan Devil Fruit users.

"Ah! Argh!"

The countless cherry blossoms relentlessly sliced into their flesh, causing the Devil Fruit users—who had just been viciously preparing to launch a sneak attack—to scream and roll on the ground in agony.

Only then did Yaen leisurely push open the door. He looked at Capone Bege, whose face had turned somewhat pale, adjusted his glasses, and said:

"I told you, it's me!"

Looking at the completely unrecognizable Yaen, Capone Bege shouted in a mix of terror and breakdown, "I'm asking you, who the hell are you?!"