Annihilate the Deputy Branch Chief, Annihilate Them All

Bard walked to the entrance, his smile not reaching his eyes as he looked at Rochi's excessively young face. A trace of undisguised contempt flashed through his gaze.

Headquarters had actually sent some wet-behind-the-ears brat to keep him in line?

What a complete joke.

"Oh my, so Officer Rochi has arrived. My apologies, my apologies."

Bard had no intention of saluting. He flicked ash from his cigar, put on an exceedingly troubled, affected expression, and let out a long sigh.

"Sir, please don't blame the brothers below."

"Earlier, in response to the harsh situation on the Grand Line, I personally led the brothers in an extremely brutal 'closed-door training session' inside. Everyone was so absorbed, so devoted, that we accidentally lost track of time."

As he said this, Bard's smile grew more and more brazen. He even looked at Rochi with a hint of provocation.

"We're all risking our lives for justice. Surely, Officer, as a magnanimous and broad-minded man, you won't blame the brothers for such a tiny mistake, right?"

The meaning behind those words was obvious even to an idiot.

This was no simple show of force. It was a full-force slap aimed directly at Rochi, the newly appointed supreme commander!

If Rochi swallowed this insult today,

then he would become nothing more than a figurehead in this branch!

Lace was so furious that she nearly crushed her teeth. She was just about to draw her gun and rebuke them.

But Rochi suddenly raised a hand and stopped her.

He looked at the potbellied lieutenant colonel, who was flaunting his power with a smug expression. Rather than getting angry, a cold smile appeared in his pitch-black eyes.

"You lost track of time during closed-door training? I see."

The corners of Rochi's lips lifted slightly as he said softly,

"You worked so hard for justice. Why would I blame you? Of course I don't mind."

Hearing that Rochi had actually backed down, an incredibly arrogant look of contempt flashed through Bard's eyes. He sneered inwardly.

I thought he was some formidable character. Turns out he's just a useless brat, all bark and no bite! A few words were enough to scare him into submission!

"Since you are so understanding, sir, please wait outside for a moment. I'll go inside and have the brothers..."

Bard turned around smugly, his sentence only halfway finished.

"Boom—!!!"

Without any warning! Even the flow of air had failed to give the slightest alert!

The bluestone beneath Rochi's feet exploded as though struck by a meteor!

Before everyone's eyes, Rochi vanished from where he stood like a phantom!

"What?!"

Bard's arrogant smile froze on his face. A terrifying gale, like the descent of the Grim Reaper, struck him along with a violent warning of death that made every hair on his body stand on end!

But Rochi was simply too fast—so fast that Bard did not even have time to think of turning around to defend himself!

"Bang—!!!"

A muffled boom like thunder erupting from level ground exploded at the entrance to the training field!

Rochi's right fist, seemingly forged from steel, carried no flashy technique. It was nothing but brute force in its purest, most extreme form as it slammed solidly into Bard's round beer belly!

Time seemed to come to a complete standstill at that moment.

The next second.

"Pwah—!"

Bard's eyes bulged from their sockets like those of a dead fish, bloodshot and wide, as he spat out a huge mouthful of blood mixed with shattered internal organs!

His two-hundred-pound obese body was hit by the terrifying recoil of Rochi's punch as though a heavy naval cannon had struck him head-on!

His body folded backward at an inhuman angle, turning into a human cannonball as he flew through the air!

"Crash!"

The heavy reinforced-steel gates of the training field shattered under the impact!

Bard's body rolled and plowed a horrifying bloody trench half a meter deep and dozens of meters long through the ground. He overturned more than a dozen drinking tables along the way before finally crashing into the load-bearing wall at the far end of the training field and sliding down like a lump of mud!

Every bone in his body had shattered. He was critically wounded and on the verge of death, his fate unknown!

"Hiss—!!!"

At that moment, the entire training field fell silent.

Over a thousand veteran soldiers who had been drinking and eating meat seemed frozen in place. Their collective gasps formed a chilling tide, and the deathly silence made everyone's scalp tingle.

The two guards at the entrance were so frightened that their legs gave out, and they collapsed onto the blood-soaked stone slabs.

Urine streamed uncontrollably down their trouser legs.

One punch!

Without even wasting another word, he had blasted the branch's second-in-command into a dead dog?!

"Bastard! He actually dared to kill the deputy branch chief!"

"Mutiny! This is mutiny! Brothers, kill him!"

After standing stunned for more than ten seconds, the thuggish soldiers in the training field finally recovered from their overwhelming shock.

Several ringleaders who usually followed Bard in committing evil deeds roared madly as they drew the long blades at their waists!

"Click, click, click, click—!"

In an instant, hundreds of flintlock rifles were cocked in unison, their dark muzzles covering Rochi as he stood amid the ruins!

Killing intent surged. The atmosphere instantly dropped to freezing point, ready to erupt at any moment!

"Are you trying to rebel?!!!"

Lace's face went pale with shock. Without hesitation, she drew her sidearm and stepped in front of Rochi, shouting furiously.

"You are pointing your guns at your highest-ranking officer!"

"This is naked rebellion! You'll be court-martialed and sent to Impel Down!"

Yet although the red-eyed soldiers looked hesitant and exchanged glances, not one of them lowered his gun.

"There's strength in numbers! He's just some outsider brat. Does he dare kill all of us?!" one ringleader continued to incite them at the top of his lungs.

At that moment, Rochi suddenly raised his hand and gently moved Lace aside.

He brushed the dust from his white gloves and, as though taking a leisurely stroll, slowly walked to the center of the training field beneath the aim of hundreds of rifles.

Those black eyes, silent and dead as an abyss, slowly swept over every soldier holding a gun.

Then Rochi smiled.

His smile was exceptionally cruel, like a demon of slaughter climbing out of hell.

"Put down your guns? No, it doesn't matter."

Rochi casually pulled over an unbroken chair and sat down with a commanding posture, crossing one leg over the other. His gaze was deep and crazed.

"Go ahead. Anyone who wants to shoot can shoot."

"To tell you the truth, I never intended to play childish power games with trash like you."

Rochi's voice was not loud, yet it exploded beside every soldier's ear like thunder.

"I came here under Fleet Admiral Sengoku's highest secret order. I came here to purge this place!"

"Even if I... slaughtered every last one of you thousand pieces of scum here today! Even if I wiped out the entire G-8 Branch, it would not matter!"

Rochi leaned forward slightly, and his suffocating, blood-sea-like killing intent swept through the entire field like a hurricane.

"After all, as long as the World Government still exists, the Marines will never lack recruits!"

"Now, I'll count to ten."

"After ten counts, anyone still holding a gun will die!"

Rochi's utterly unrestrained, life-disregarding mad words struck these veteran soldiers like a series of heavy hammers, completely shattering the last brick of their mental defenses!

They looked at the young man seated in the chair, radiating pure death, and their minds went blank.

Hadn't they said Headquarters had sent some little brat here to pad his résumé?!

This was clearly a living King of Hell who had no scruples and dared to slaughter even his own people!!

That punch earlier had absolutely not been a joke! He really would kill everyone here!

"Clang!"

Someone's trembling hand gave out, and a rifle was the first to hit the ground.

It was as though the first domino had fallen.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Weapons hit the ground one after another. The thousand once-arrogant thugs now looked like quails stripped of their spines, throwing down their weapons with faces full of terror and despair.

"Thud!" Wave after wave of people dropped to their knees before Rochi. They did not even dare raise their heads, their bodies shaking like sieves.

Rochi looked coldly at the ants kneeling all over the ground. A flash of boredom crossed his eyes; he could not even be bothered to activate his Sharingan.

He rose to his feet, his greatcoat snapping in the wind.

"Major Lace."

"Yes! Colonel!"

Lace's voice trembled uncontrollably. It was reverence born of overwhelming strength and iron-blooded methods!

"Take full control of the branch. Execute anyone who resists on the spot."

Rochi turned and headed toward the base commander's office on the top floor of the branch.

"By tomorrow morning, I want to see pirate blood in these waters!"