They Had No Manners at All, Unlike Me

In the woods behind Demon Valley Town, at the same ravine where Zebra Killer had been tied up at first!

A sound of rushing air came from a thousand meters overhead. A Giant Golden Sword plunged down at incredible speed, then hovered above the river, sending up a huge splash. It moved sideways to the bank and stood upright.

Some of the ten Marines threatened him, while others cursed him, but not one of them was afraid.

Chaos flicked his hand. The golden chains loosened, and Tobit, his face pale, dropped to the ground. The moment he landed, he charged at Chaos.

Chaos folded his arms and watched with amusement, like a cat toying with a mouse. He didn't move at all, but the chains on the Giant Golden Sword shot out with a whistling sound and wrapped around Tobit, forcibly stopping him.

Tobit's finger pistol was barely ten centimeters from Chaos's eye.

"You damn pirate."

Suspended in the air against his will, Tobit was stretched out in a star shape by the chains. He struggled fiercely, but only the clang of metal rang out!

"Let Rear Admiral Tobit go!"

"Damn pirate!"

The ten bound Marines struggled too. Chaos merely glanced at them, then the chains wrapped around their mouths, leaving them able to make only muffled sounds.

"What do you want!"

Tobit was calm, but his gaze burned with anger.

"Don't be so angry. We can make a deal!"

"Just tell me how to train in the Six Powers and share your insights. Once I've mastered them, I'll let you all go!"

"I, the Golden Emperor, live by one word: 'honor.' I don't want to resort to torture. After all, I'm kindhearted, not a lunatic! That way, we're all happy."

Chaos was as direct as ever, making no attempt to hide what he wanted.

Tobit stopped struggling and stared at Chaos. Then he suddenly let out a mocking laugh.

"You, a pirate! Keep your word?"

"Kill me or do whatever you want, but there's no way I'm giving you the Six Powers!"

Tobit's face was full of scorn, and his eyes were hard and resolute.

Even if it cost him his life, he wouldn't let this pirate get his way.

The ten Marines behind him also looked at Chaos with contempt.

Chaos wasn't angry. He first glanced at the ten bound Marines, then chuckled and circled Tobit.

"Your men seem to admire you. I can tell it's genuine. That alone makes you a good Marine.

"Calm down, and let's talk this through. What I'm after isn't the same as what those vulgar pirates who slaughter the innocent want. They have no manners at all, unlike me."

Chaos reached up and swept his fringe back, his face full of disdain for those pirates.

"If you're going to kill someone, kill me."

Tobit glared at Chaos through gritted teeth.

This guy was despicable.

"I'll give you ten seconds. My patience is limited. If you hesitate for even a second after those ten seconds are up, I'll kill one of them. That means you've got twenty seconds in all!"

"Even if I kill every one of you, I can just find other Marines. It'll only waste a little time."

Chaos shrugged indifferently.

"Mm! Mm!"

The ten Marines kept shaking their heads at Tobit. They weren't afraid of dying.

They absolutely couldn't give in to a pirate.

Tobit's eyes were filled with conflict. He couldn't just stand by and watch his men get killed.

But...

"That's enough. Time's up. What's your decision?"

Chaos folded his arms and yawned. He didn't seem worried at all.

"Let them go first."

Tobit gritted his teeth. He would take responsibility for whatever happened.

"Mm! Mm! Mm!"

The ten Marines behind him struggled. Some of their eyes had gone red.

They'd more or less guessed what was coming.

After all, this was their Rear Admiral Tobit, a good officer who was always willing to look out for them.

But they didn't want to hold Rear Admiral Tobit back, either.

Even if they made it back safely this time, Rear Admiral Tobit would be punished, and he might even end up in prison.

"This is Demon Valley Town. Even if I let them go, they can't get out of here without a warship!"

Chaos spread his hands.

"Then how can I trust you to keep your word?"

Tobit's gaze turned cold.

"Do you have another choice? Or should I kill one right now?"

The chains stretched toward them. A young Marine glared viciously at Chaos, as if he could kill him with his eyes.

"Stop! I accept!"

"If you don't keep your word, I'll drag you down with me, even if it kills me."

Tobit's face was tense, but he finally gave in.

"See? You could've done that sooner. You made me waste all that breath."

Chaos smiled and waved his hand. The chains returned to their places.

The sun rose and set. Time slipped away like fine sand through one's fingers.

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.

At the Tropical Grand Hotel, Chaos sat bare-chested, his strong muscles sharply defined. He held a glass of red wine and smiled as he read the bounty notice in the newspaper.

"Golden Emperor Gaia Chaos, Devil Fruit user, bounty: 123 million."

That's right. Chaos was holding his own bounty notice: 123 million.

It was quite a bit lower than the 200 million he'd expected, but a bounty of 123 million on his first outing was still a small peak.

Aside from his own bounty, the newspaper also had plenty of news about other pirate crews.

The seas were fairly calm at the moment.

Chaos had released Tobit and the other Marines five days ago. At first, Tobit and the rest couldn't believe it. After all, pirates were supposed to be deceitful and cruel, but Chaos had actually let them go.

As far as Chaos was concerned, he could be unhinged, cruel, and utterly mad, but he had to keep one good quality: he kept his word!

When he said something, he meant it!

Chaos's 123 million bounty this time was probably partly thanks to Tobit, too.

Otherwise, it couldn't have been that high. Under normal circumstances, it would probably only have been around seventy or eighty million.

Of course, none of that mattered to Chaos now.

In the past half month, he'd already gotten what he wanted. He'd gained a basic grasp of Finger Pistol, Iron Body, Tempest Kick, and Paper Arts.

That's right. In just half a month, he'd successfully learned Tempest Kick and the other techniques.

At first, Tobit and the other Marines had looked at him as if they'd seen a ghost.

Even Chaos himself could hardly believe it.

After thinking it over, he decided it had to be because crossing worlds had improved his natural talent, combined with the foundation he'd built over three years and five months. He'd already reached the threshold in those areas. All he needed was the right direction, and everything would fall into place naturally.

Take Iron Body, for example. Chaos had taken plenty of hits over the past three years, and he'd even awakened Armament Haki. Tobit only had to explain some techniques and insights, and Chaos learned it within a day, even gaining a basic grasp of it.

The same went for Paper Arts and Tempest Kick.

Paper Arts was easy enough once you'd awakened Observation Haki.

Tempest Kick was an extension of Shave, and Geppo was easy too!

The solid foundation he'd built over those three years was finally paying off.

Above all, it was the spiritual talent he'd gained from crossing worlds!

"It's about time I went up there and took a look!"

Chaos set down his wineglass and looked out the window at the clear blue sky.

His Gold-Gold Fruit had a major flaw.

At present, he could only turn his body into gold and control gold he touched!

That meant Chaos had to carry gold with him at all times. Otherwise, all he could do was turn his body into gold, which would weaken his combat power considerably.

Unless he awakened the Gold-Gold Fruit, in which case he could temporarily transform the surrounding environment.

As for creating gold out of thin air, that was still a long way off.

So next, Chaos planned to make good use of the gold on Sky Island to develop his Gold-Gold Fruit—things like increasing the amount he could control and making his control more versatile.

Gold was heavy, too, so he could use it for weight training.

It was around the end of July in Marineford Calendar Year 1496. There were about five months left until 1497, and Chaos planned to consolidate his gains before making his move in 1497.

At this point in time, Roger hadn't entered the New World yet, but it wouldn't be long now...