Breath of All Things, Steel Cutting (Please Bookmark and Recommend)

The streets that had once been bustling with prosperity and crowds were now deathly silent. Beneath that flash of azure sword light, no one made a sound. Even the wind seemed to have stopped. Everything was as still as if time itself had frozen.

"Shing—"

A grating metallic sound rang out. The guard who had been standing on the woman's back, along with his pure steel armor, had been cut cleanly in two. A straight diagonal line ran from his shoulder to his lower waist, and his upper body slowly slid downward.

Some citizens finally came to their senses and muttered in disbelief.

"Steel... steel armor was cut in half!"

"That's impossible! This is specially forged layered steel that can withstand cannon fire without a scratch!"

"Ah—!"

Seeing the guard who had been perfectly fine moments ago split into two in the blink of an eye, the richly dressed noble staggered back in panic. His feet tangled, and he fell flat on his rear with a terrified scream.

Then he looked at Zhong Hao, who had suddenly appeared, and at the azure Sea Fang in his hand. He immediately realized Zhong Hao had killed the guard. Looking closer, he recognized him as the brat who had spoken such treasonous words yesterday. After a few thoughts, he assumed Zhong Hao was a Marine, and his arrogant air instantly returned.

He rose from the ground and shouted, "You again, brat! You spoke disrespectfully yesterday, and today you killed my guard. If you don't give me an explanation, I'll report this to the World Government and have the Marines answer for it!"

His words sounded righteous enough, but what right did a mere kingdom noble have to address the World Government directly? What gave him the confidence to hold the Marines accountable?

Zhong Hao ignored him completely. With one hand, he flung away the guard's lower half, which was still standing upright, then crouched beside the woman lying on the ground. "Why didn't you run just now? If you had run, your children might have died, but you could have lived. If you didn't run, all three of you would die. Why didn't you run? You're still young. If the children died, you could always have more."

The woman painfully crawled over to the gravely injured boy and wiped the blood from his face again and again. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she said, "Three days ago, I lost my husband. I lost my home. Now, besides them, I have nothing left. If we are destined to die, then let our family die together. At least when we reach hell, I'll still be able to take care of them."

Zhong Hao fell silent for a moment before saying in a low voice, "Your son's injuries are too severe. Given your current situation, he will certainly die. I can save him, but the price is your life. Are you... willing?"

At that moment, Hina had already leaped down from the rooftop and come to Zhong Hao's side. Hearing his words, she tugged at his arm. Her mouth opened several times, but she stopped herself each time.

The woman abruptly raised her head, her eyes filled with hope and resolve. "Yes, yes, yes! As long as my son can live, I'm willing to do anything!"

Zhong Hao stared directly into the woman's eyes, and she met his gaze without backing down. After a full minute, Zhong Hao saw not the slightest hesitation or wavering in her eyes. His expression changed several times in an instant. He pressed his lips together and said, "He's very lucky. At least, luckier than I was back then."

With that, he slipped a hand into his pocket and took out a syringe filled with green medicine from his storage space. He inserted it into the boy's chest and injected it.

Garp had given this to him. When someone was on the verge of death, one injection could keep them alive. This medicine was difficult to produce, had an extremely low success rate, and was incredibly expensive. In the entire Marine force, only high-ranking officers from vice admiral upward could be issued one. Garp had given Zhong Hao his only dose.

"His life has been stabilized. He can hold on until a doctor arrives. As for your life, keep it yourself." Zhong Hao stood and looked at the richly dressed noble. "It was only some dirty clothes, yet you wanted to kill someone. What exactly are human lives to you? Are they cheaper than a piece of clothing?"

The richly dressed noble adjusted his collar and put on that lofty expression again. He snorted coldly. "Watch your status, Marine. I am a noble of the Euro Kingdom, and beneath your feet lies the land of the Euro Kingdom. When you see me, you should bow and greet me, not suddenly attack and kill my guard."

Killing intent had already appeared in Zhong Hao's eyes. He said coldly, "For the last time, what exactly are human lives to you?"

He had run out of patience. No matter how the noble answered, he had been sentenced to death from the very beginning.

Zhong Hao had realized that this world was already terminally ill. From the nobles he had encountered on the route to Mary Geoise, to the Euro Kingdom, to the Goa Kingdom mentioned in the original story, all of them treated commoners like ants and killed on a whim. It was revolting.

And it happened far too often. Clearly, these were not isolated cases.

Then there were the Celestial Dragons, who were even worse. It was obvious that the World Government had truly rotted to its very core.

"D-damn it! What are you trying to do?" The richly dressed noble noticed the killing intent in Zhong Hao's eyes and immediately shuddered. Having lived a pampered life, when had he ever faced such a situation? He hurriedly screamed at the other guard, "Shoot him! Hurry up and shoot him dead!"

The guard's gun had been aimed at Zhong Hao from the beginning. Upon receiving the order, he pulled the trigger without hesitation.

"Bang!"

He missed. The bullet blasted a hole in the ground, and it was far more powerful than the guns used by those kidnappers earlier.

But no matter how powerful it was, it was useless if it could not hit anyone. Before the gun fired, Zhong Hao had stepped slightly to the left as though he had known in advance. Only then did the shot ring out.

This was the Breath of All Things, and it was also Observation Haki.

"Swish!"

A tiny silver-white slash shot from Sea Fang, piercing through the armed guard and his steel armor. It continued flying another forty meters before vanishing, a full fifteen meters farther than its previous range of twenty-five meters.

This was Steel Cutting, a realm of swordsmanship. If he had previously relied entirely on Sea Fang's sharpness, then now, even with a rusty blade, he could cut through steel. Having reached this realm, he was not far from becoming a true swordsman. In the Marines, a swordsman had to be at least a vice admiral, like Zoro after two years of grueling training in the original story.

Zhong Hao looked at the richly dressed noble. He had no interest in wasting any more words on him, so he quietly declared, "Choose how you want to die."

"Y-you... you..." The richly dressed noble's heart had risen to his throat, nearly ready to leap out. His face was drenched in cold sweat, and even his crotch had gone wet. "Y-you can't kill me... I'm a noble of the Euro Kingdom. I have immunity. The Marines have no right to judge me."

"Immunity? Is there such a thing?" Zhong Hao turned to Hina and asked.

"I've heard of it, but only the kings of member nations can possess it. He's merely a kingdom noble. This so-called immunity should be a privilege the Euro Kingdom created internally by imitating the World Government." Hina explained, then tugged Zhong Hao's arm again. "You don't really intend to kill him, do you? Killing him will cause a lot of trouble. It would be better to report this to Instructor Zephyr first and let him handle it."

"It's fine. He's just an ant that despises life. Once he dies, people will only cheer." Zhong Hao swept his gaze around, taking in the looks in the surrounding crowd's eyes. They were filled with expectation, along with a trace of fear.

Then he turned back to the richly dressed noble. There was not a hint of killing intent on his face as he said calmly, "That didn't answer my question. Do you want me to choose for you? You'll regret that decision."

With that, he raised his right hand, flipped the long blade, and swept it horizontally without hesitation.

"No, no! I'm begging you, don't kill me! You can't kill—ah—!" Just as the richly dressed noble finally cast aside his dignity and begged, the slash passed through his waist. His body was instantly divided into upper and lower halves. He fell to the ground, but he was not dead yet.

"The... the noble was killed! Run! The army will be here soon!"

The crowd that had just looked on with anticipation saw that the noble had truly been killed. The kingdom's long-standing authority immediately crushed their reason, and they fled back into their homes in fear. The shops along the street shut their doors as well. In an instant, the street that had been packed with people a moment ago fell silent. On the empty road, only Zhong Hao, Hina, and the others remained.

Mm! And one scumbag who had lost his lower half and was waiting in agony for death.

"It hurts... I'm going to die... I'm going to die! Ah—It really hurts! Bastard, you killed me! The king won't let you go! Ah—The World Government won't let you go..."

Listening to the richly dressed noble's miserable screams, Hina could not help saying, "Zhong Hao, we're in big trouble now. He was a noble, after all, and the Euro Kingdom is a World Government member nation."

She said "we," clearly not trying to distance herself from this.

Zhong Hao shook his head and thought, This country will cease to exist very soon. What member nation?

At that moment, a stream of white smoke descended from the sky and set down the doctor it had been carrying. Seeing the scene before him, Smoker could not help scratching his head.

The doctor had already learned what happened on the way here. Though he was startled by the three people who had been cut in half, his professional ethics immediately took over, and he ran to the boy's side to begin treatment.

A rhythmic hissing sound came from above again. Soon, Zephyr descended from the sky, and the sight before him made the corner of his mouth twitch.

At that moment, the richly dressed noble finally breathed his last. Having lived such a pampered life, the useless man had not even lasted two minutes.

Zephyr sighed. "Zhong Hao, you really caused trouble again. So many people saw this that there's no way to keep it hidden. Sengoku is going to have a headache now."

After what happened yesterday, Zephyr could no longer have any goodwill toward this country's powerful elite. The death of one noble meant nothing to him, and Sengoku would be the one handling the aftermath anyway. Still, he was worried about Zhong Hao.

Zhong Hao chuckled, completely unconcerned. "Something much more serious will happen soon. Everyone's attention will be drawn there. Compared to that, the death of one or two nobles is nothing. You don't need to worry."

Zephyr asked in confusion, "What serious thing is going to happen? Do you know something?"

Zhong Hao shook his head without speaking. Zephyr glared and was about to curse at him, but quickly calmed down again, his face full of helplessness. Smoker, standing nearby, was intensely jealous.

Zhong Hao walked over to the doctor and watched for a while. When the doctor stopped, he asked, "Doctor, how is he?"

The doctor stood up and said, "The boy suffered severe blows to his chest, abdomen, and waist. How could someone his age possibly endure that? His liver, kidneys, and heart have all suffered varying degrees of damage. It's very serious. Fortunately, treatment came in time, and he is out of immediate danger for now. But if he is to fully recover, he must go to a hospital."

Zephyr walked over, his tall body imposing as he ordered, "Then send him to the hospital. Clean this place up too. Burn all the bodies and deny everything. Smoker, stay here and wait for the Marines to arrive. We must make proper arrangements for what happened today."

Zephyr protected him without the slightest hesitation. That was simply how fiercely he looked after his own.

"Ah! Why is it me again?" Smoker wailed. In his youth, he was nowhere near as steady as he would become in middle age.