God of Slaughter

Boom!

A powerful warm current instantly coursed through Rochi's entire body.

He felt an intense numbness at his broken ribs. Though they had not fully healed, the agonizing pain had greatly subsided.

"Phew..."

Rochi casually pulled his hands, covered in bits of flesh and blood, from Baron's body and kicked the corpse aside.

He raised his head, his black eyes, no longer bearing the Sharingan, sweeping coldly over the surroundings.

At that moment, the remnants of the affiliated pirate crews watched as even their monstrous captain, worth over twenty million Beli, was crushed to death barehanded by this recruit. Every last shred of their mental defenses completely collapsed.

"Devil... He isn't human! Run!"

No one knew who let out the shrill scream, but thousands of pirates abandoned their weapons and scattered in panicked flight.

"Only thinking of running now?"

Rochi flexed his body, strength restored, rolled his neck, and curled his lips into a cruel smile.

"The feast has only just begun."

Boom!

The ground exploded beneath him. Rochi became a deadly afterimage and mercilessly charged into the torrent of fleeing pirates once more!

This one-sided slaughter by Rochi continued from broad daylight until the evening sky was filled with crimson clouds.

Severed limbs covered every street, and the pungent stench of blood drew countless circling seagulls.

Not until the sun had completely sunk beneath the horizon and night had fallen.

When the final pirate corpse collapsed at Rochi's feet, the slaughter in this ruined city finally came to an end.

In the distance.

Rear Admiral Rex and all the Marines stood frozen in place, guns raised in their hands.

They looked at the mountain of corpses piled from countless pirate bodies in the distance, at the boy sitting silently atop it, not a single clean scrap of cloth left on his body, like a youth returned from the hell of Asura.

The breeze drifted past, yet no one dared make a sound and break the dead silence.

Rear Admiral Rex swallowed dryly, his palms drenched in cold sweat.

Not only could Rochi perfectly replicate an enemy's killing techniques, but he had even dared trade severe injuries for a fatal strike! More terrifying still, after killing such a powerful enemy, he had slaughtered for an entire afternoon without showing the slightest fatigue!

"A monster... an unimaginable monster..."

Rear Admiral Rex's gaze trembled as he stared fixedly at the figure atop the corpse mountain.

Scorching gunpowder smoke still drifted above the port of the Saintingburg Kingdom.

The salty, damp sea breeze carried an intense, choking stench of blood.

The massive Marine flagship lay quietly moored by the shore, while hundreds of Marine soldiers cleaned up the battlefield.

The rush of running water and the scraping of wooden brushes against the ground rose and fell, yet they still could not wash away the dark-red bloodstains soaked into the cracks between the stones.

"R-Rear Admiral!"

Rear Admiral Rex stood at a high point overlooking the harbor, one hand resting on his sword hilt.

An adjutant drenched in sweat rushed over with the battle report in both hands, his voice filled with endless shock:

"The battle results have been tallied! The remnants of the Mad Axe Pirates' grand fleet... aside from the main force eliminated by the Admiral, a total of over 1,340 pirate corpses were found in the western district."

"Get to the point!" Rear Admiral Rex said in a deep voice.

"Yes!" The adjutant gulped, his eyes nearly bulging from their sockets. "'Bison' Baron, with a bounty of twenty-five million Beli, and 242 pirates... all were killed by Private First Class Rochi alone!"

Even though he had already witnessed that horrifying mountain of corpses with his own eyes.

Hearing those exact figures read aloud by the adjutant still made Rear Admiral Rex's scalp tingle.

A fifteen-year-old recruit! Enlisted for barely three months!

Using nothing but physical combat, Rochi had smashed through more than eight hundred villains and even killed a Devil Fruit user with a bounty exceeding twenty million!

"Give me the report. I'll personally submit it to the Admiral."

Rear Admiral Rex snatched the report away and headed toward the Admiral's office on the top deck of the warship with heavy steps.

Inside the office.

The air was thick, like dry kindling that could erupt into flames at any moment.

"Red Dog" Sakazuki sat back imposingly in a leather chair, a lit cigar between his lips, staring expressionlessly at the surging waves beyond the window.

"Admiral."

Rear Admiral Rex stepped forward respectfully and offered the report with both hands. "This is the final battle report for the Oak Island pacification operation. Please review it."

Sakazuki extended a broad, rough hand to take it, his stern gaze rapidly scanning the page.

When his eyes settled on the lines, "Rochi alone killed Bison Baron and over two hundred pirates," "combat style extremely violent," and "showed no mercy to those who surrendered."

A dazzling glint suddenly flashed through Sakazuki's previously unmoved eyes.

Crack!

The cigar in his hand was crushed to pieces, and a scarlet ember quietly died out in his palm.

Sakazuki's deep voice echoed through the office, carrying rare fervor and approval:

"No weak mercy, no pointless words! Garbage like pirates, the rot poisoning the seas, should be crushed with the most thorough violence!"

Sakazuki turned his head and stared hard at Rear Admiral Rex.

"What rank is this boy named Rochi now?"

Rear Admiral Rex hurriedly stood at attention. "Reporting, Admiral, since he was just transferred from the East Blue branch, under Headquarters regulations... he is currently only a private first class!"

"Bastard!"

Sakazuki slammed his hand onto the desk, and an incomparably violent heatwave instantly scorched the entire redwood desk black!

"A monster who can kill a twenty-million-level pirate and slaughter eight hundred hardened criminals at fifteen, and you make him a private? That is a stain on justice and a waste of talent!"

Sakazuki shot to his feet, his eyes filled with unshakable dominance.

"Pass down my order! Once the warship docks at Headquarters, immediately retrieve Rochi's file! Promote him exceptionally to lieutenant commander at Marine Headquarters!"

"Also, once the battlefield has been cleaned, have Rochi come to my office alone!"

"Yes, Admiral!"

Rear Admiral Rex answered loudly, though a raging storm had already risen in his heart.

From the lowest-ranking private, skipping past sergeant, warrant officer, and ensign, Rochi was being promoted in one leap to lieutenant commander at Headquarters!

It was simply unimaginable.

Half an hour later, the warship set sail back to Marineford.

The atmosphere aboard the entire warship underwent a complete transformation.

Those Headquarters veterans who had once held prejudices against recruits from the Four Seas branches now voluntarily stopped whenever Rochi passed by, straightened their backs, and looked at him with awe and fear rising from the depths of their souls.

On this sea, where strength reigned supreme, Rochi's fearsome reputation, forged with his fists, had conquered everyone aboard the ship!

Knock, knock, knock.

Rochi knocked on the door to the Admiral's office.

"Come in."

Rochi pushed open the door. He had still not changed out of his private first class uniform stained with dried blood, but his spear-straight posture and those black eyes, as dead and silent as an abyss yet gleaming with bloodthirsty coldness, instantly drew Sakazuki's attention.

Sakazuki sized up the fifteen-year-old boy before him.

On Rochi, Sakazuki saw none of the impatience or arrogance of youth. There was only an extreme desire for slaughter and strength.

And an icy killing intent that almost perfectly aligned with his own, one that would never compromise with "evil."

"Similar... too similar." Sakazuki's lips moved slightly, and a trace of dazed reminiscence flashed deep within his eyes.

He seemed to see himself thirty years ago, newly enlisted in the Marines, with nothing in his mind but uprooting every pirate from the seas!