Aliens Who Toy With Humans

"Empty shells! They cannot withstand the weight of ten-tenths conviction!"

Conrad's Haki and his domineering intent fused together, erupting like the oil-fed flame of a Conqueror's Haki lamp.

The fire burned ever brighter, clinging like bone-deep marrow, while behind him, a golden phantom with a furious gaze and a Glazed Ring Blade faintly manifested.

Sengoku stared at the golden phantom, droplets of golden wax dripping from his melting cape; he felt his mind go blank with a sudden, thunderous roar, leaving him in a state of bewilderment.

Why could Conrad, using such a minuscule amount of Haki, actually burn his Great Buddha cape?

He looked down involuntarily at his bloated golden belly; it seemed vastly different from his usual form. Could there be something wrong with the Great Buddha form he manifested?

As if seeing through his thoughts, Conrad spat out a soul-piercing truth.

"Appearance stems from the heart!" Conrad stared, locking eyes with him.

Sengoku was a brilliant strategist, but at this moment, his intellect seemed to have been pried open, the phrase branded firmly into his mind, tangling in his ears like a mess of hemp.

His two rows of white teeth within his golden face ground together until they creaked and trembled; his eyes behind his round glasses lost their focus, and he muttered to himself as if his heart had been thrown into chaos:

"Buddha light... golden lamp? Buddha light? Golden lamp! Ah... Buddha's Palm!"

Bang!

In his Great Buddha form, Sengoku's two thin legs—barely a third the length of his torso and less than a fifth of its volume—sprang out like steel cables, leaping from the flames and soaring into the sky.

He raised his hand, intending to strike a divine palm toward the clouds in the firmament to vent his frustration and shatter the eyesore.

But he suddenly glanced down and saw the city of Marineford. He was an Admiral, and this leap of the Great Buddha had already drawn the attention of many marines.

He retracted his strike, suppressed the Buddha form, and reverted to the elegant, medal-adorned strategist in his white uniform, flying back to the main citadel via Geppo.

Sengoku kept his head down, not looking back, because even without turning, his Observation Haki could sense the gaze locked onto his back—indifferent and pitying.

"Appearance... stems from the heart. Two forms... I must master these two forms first! I can do it!" His face turned faintly dark.

Conrad walked down the Mountain Pillar Stairs.

He adjusted his breathing; even the strongest flame required fuel, and even the most useless iron required temperatures far exceeding its melting point to liquefy.

Moreover, Sengoku was no scrap metal; he possessed Conqueror's Haki, a physique honed over decades, a Devil Fruit, and mastery of Haki.

Through their brief exchange, Conrad had already realized the gap between them, akin to a diamond clashing against a mountain.

"It seems it will take a few years before I can subdue this old man."

He had already decided: when he could defeat Sengoku, if the man remained stubborn and refused to listen to reason, he would simply strike with heavy fists!

Some rebellious disciples simply wouldn't become talent without being forced.

Old Street District 2.

A vacant lot hung with tire swings.

A man with a horse-like face and a mustache, wearing thin-rimmed glasses and a katana at his waist, was pushing a little girl on a swing.

He was clearly smiling, yet his features were bunched together, giving him a perpetually sorrowful expression.

"Major Kadal." Conrad called out enthusiastically as he walked down the street, carrying a box of cake and several bags of fruit.

"Who are you?" Kadal rarely read the newspapers lately, nor did he pay much attention to the daily news, for his only mission over the past two years had been to capture the Sun Pirates.

"My name is Conrad, a new recruit from this year's Zephyr Training Camp." Conrad said straightforwardly, "I'm curious about the Sun Pirates and would like to learn some information from you, Major."

Kadal's face wrinkled even tighter, and he couldn't help but let out a cold snort.

But after looking at his daughter and instructing her, "Daddy has business, go play by yourself for a while," he pulled a cigarette case from his uniform, lit one for himself, and offered the open case to Conrad.

"I don't smoke, thank you." Conrad waved his hand.

Kadal tucked the case back into his rumpled uniform, which was stuffed with various sundries and fit so tightly it seemed he hadn't washed or even taken it off in a long time.

Exhaling smoke, he walked toward his home; Conrad was not the first person to come asking him for information.

Conrad followed him inside. The house was simple and tidy, with a blonde young woman in an apron busy in the kitchen. He placed the cake and fruit on the coffee table.

Once inside, Kadal flopped onto the sofa, propped his legs on the table, flicked ash onto the floor with his cigarette, and said, "Who are you asking for? Who wants to catch them?"

"No one." Conrad sat on the left side of the sofa, where the smoke wouldn't drift, "I just want to learn about the Sun Pirates."

"What would a recruit like you know!" Kadal's tone deepened, and he sneered, "The arm strength of a Fish-Man is ten times that of a human; they could crush you with a single palm!"

Conrad didn't want to chat anymore and asked directly, "Which areas do they haunt, and do they have any current targets?"

"No!" Kadal reacted as if triggered, recalling the scenes of being beaten half to death and thrown into the sea after his ships were dismantled by Fish-Men time and time again.

"They have no targets! They are a purely violent gang! They snatch up gold and treasures, abuse people, and then toss them aside, just like playing for fun! These aliens... they treat humans like toys!"

Crash!

A wine bottle fell from the cupboard and shattered across the floor. The blonde woman covered her ears, her face twisted in indescribable bitterness.

She hurried to grab a broom and mop to sweep up the glass and clean the floor.

"What! You don't want me back! Giving me attitude! Giving me looks, are you! I'll just leave then!"

Kadal flew into a rage at the sight, irritably stubbing his cigarette out against the wall and leaving a charred black mark. He yanked his leg back from the coffee table, dragging the tablecloth and all the gifts down with it.

He hunched over with his hands shoved deep into his pockets and strode toward the door.

Conrad was an outsider, so naturally, he had no interest in showing concern for the man's wife at a time like this. He did not rise, saying in a calm tone, "Your daughter is on the swing set; we should talk inside."

Kadal's footsteps faltered. He sat down on a chair by the doorway, lit another cigarette, and reached into the refrigerator to pull out a beer he had half-finished the night before, gulping down two mouthfuls.

"There's nothing to talk about. I can't catch them, and sooner or later, they're going to cause a massive catastrophe!"

"I saw it with my own eyes while I was monitoring them. They snatched a little girl from the villagers, about the same age as my daughter! That saw-toothed fish-man named Arlong slapped the girl so hard she fell to her knees."

As he spoke, Kadal shuddered, took a deep drag of his cigarette, and said slowly, "I led a team to rescue her, but Arlong tore our warship apart in retaliation. He stepped on my head and ground it into the deck."

Conrad listened to his account, cross-referencing it with his own memories, and continued to ask, "Can you describe what that girl looked like?"

Kadal rolled his eyes upward, "Her hair was a mess, she wore overalls, and no matter how much she was beaten, she just kept smiling."

The memory was etched deep; the girl had kept smiling while apologizing, saying: I'm sorry, I'll work hard to clean. I'm sorry, please don't hit me. No matter what you do to me, I won't cry, I'll work with a smile, please don't kill me.

Conrad was certain now: Kadal's description was heavily skewed by his perspective and did not reflect the facts.

That girl was named Koala, a former slave of the Celestial Dragons. After being liberated by Tiger, she had followed the escaped slaves to a certain island.

She hadn't been kidnapped by the Sun Pirates; the villagers had entrusted Tiger with the task of taking her home to see her mother.

And the moment Tiger successfully returned Koala home was the very moment he was ambushed by the Navy and met his end.