Locke Village Under the Executioner's Blade, The Illusion-Illusion Fruit Appears

East Blue, the weakest sea.

The sea breeze here was far from as violent as that of the Grand Line, carrying a rare gentleness and tranquility.

A medium assault ship flying the sails of a Marine Headquarters general-level officer was sailing smoothly along the calm current toward a remote island at the end of vision.

"We're almost there, Locke Village is ahead!"

Major Lace stood on the bridge, stretching luxuriously.

That extremely form-fitting white Marine uniform outlined her hot and perfect curves to the absolute limit.

The continuous high-speed navigation of the past few days had not made her feel tired; instead, a rare, relaxed smile appeared on her delicate and cold face.

Behind her, the fifty-odd Headquarters elite veterans who had been drafted to act as "transport soldiers" were also chatting and laughing as they organized the mountains of luxury supplies piled high on the deck.

"Major, do you think our officer—who's like a living Yama—what is his hometown actually like?"

A veteran patted the top-quality smokeless coal beside him, playfully teasing with a curious face:

"To have raised a Shrodinger-like monster like Colonel Rochi who treats human heads like leeks to be reaped, shouldn't the local customs in this village be eating Sea Kings raw for breakfast every day?"

"Don't guess blindly!"

Lace pushed the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of her nose, yet the corners of her mouth couldn't help turning up:

"No matter what, this is the commander's hometown. When you all go ashore later, put away that usual murderous aura of unruly soldiers!"

"This is delivering winter supplies to the commander's mother and sister. Whoever scares the local civilians, I'll skin them alive myself, you hear me?!"

"Yes, ma'am!!!" The soldiers instantly snapped to attention, though the smiles on their faces remained bright.

On this cruel sea, having a mission that didn't require seeing blood and could be treated entirely as a vacation was simply paradise for them.

Lace turned her head, looking with anticipation at the increasingly close, verdant island.

However.

Just as the warship rounded a huge cape and the full view of Locke Village finally came into everyone's sight—

"Clang!"

The monocular telescope in Lace's hand heavily smashed onto the deck!

The lens shattered into pieces in an instant!

The assault ship deck, which had been immersed in a relaxed atmosphere just a second before, was frozen at this moment by some invisible, terrifying force, plunging into a creepy, deathly stillness!

"Th-This... what is the situation?!"

Lace's pair of beautiful eyes, originally full of anticipation, violently contracted to the size of pinpricks at this moment, her entire body's blood seemingly flowing backward in an instant, directly freezing her heart!

No tranquil, peaceful smoke from cooking fires, no children playing and running about.

In fact, not a single intact building!

As far as the eye could see, the entire Locke Village had completely turned into a burning, ruined sea of fire!

Billowing thick smoke like a string of pitch-black poisonous snakes tore apart the azure sky of the East Blue with bared fangs and claws!

"Enemy attack!!!"

Major Lace let out an extremely shrill scream, and the formidable Observation Haki belonging to a Marine major erupted without reservation!

"All hands, Level 1 combat readiness! Load your weapons!"

"Hurry, hurry, hurry! Bring the ship in close! Something terrible has happened!"

The smiles on the faces of those Headquarters elite veterans instantly froze, replaced by extreme terror and raging fury.

Who on earth had eaten the gallbladder of a bear and a leopard to dare slaughter the hometown of Colonel Rochi right here in the East Blue?!

"Bang!"

Before the warship had completely stopped, Lace had already stomped the deck into pieces, turning into a white aftercare as she rushed like a madwoman toward the depths of the village!

At this moment.

In the dilapidated plaza at the back of Locke Village.

The air was filled with a nauseating stench of blood and charred odors.

"Bang—!"

A dull, explosive sound tore through the void.

A frail figure wearing coarse hemp clothes, stained all over with blood, flew backward like a kite with its string snapped, heavily smashing into the ruined stone wall!

"Cough, cough..."

Mouthfuls of fresh blood gushed from Roski's mouth, staining the front of her clothes red.

Her originally delicate and gentle face was already pale as paper at this moment, covered in terrifying wounds of all sizes.

Yet in those eyes, there was a bone-chilling, do-or-die determination!

And right in front of her.

Two men wearing crisp white suits and bizarrely patterned masks on their faces were walking step by step with their hands in their trouser pockets, taking extremely arrogant and mocking strides.

If Rochi were here, he would definitely recognize that the masked man at the head was none other than the Cipher Pol Agent whose knees had been directly shattered by his Haki at the G-8 Branch a few days ago, rolling away in miserable defeat—codenamed C-4!

And the other person was his dispatched colleague, C-5!

"Hahaha! I really didn't expect this!"

C-4 violently ripped off the patterned mask from his face, revealing an extremely greedy and distorted expression, his gaze fixed dead on Roski collapsed in a pool of blood as if looking at a rare, priceless treasure.

"Originally, we were just investigating the background of the ghost village that was wiped out fifteen years ago to find Charochi."

"Who would have thought that the heavens would drop such a huge pie right onto my head!"

C-4 laughed wildly up to the sky, his laughter tinged with a nauseating fanaticism:

"The Illusion-Illusion Fruit?! It's actually the Illusion-Illusion Fruit that the World Government searched for for over a hundred years and listed in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia as a [Strategic Top Secret]!!!"

C-5 beside him was also trembling all over with excitement, staring fixedly at Roski:

"Rumor has it that this fruit can ignore any defense, directly tampering with the target's memories from the mental level and creating false illusions that seamlessly blend into reality!"

"The higher-ups of the World Government have been searching themselves crazy for it!"

"As long as this woman is brought back alive to Mary Geoise... those adults up there will be able to easily brainwash and control those allied kings who possess formidable military power but refuse to obey!"

"This merit, even if it directly appoints us as the highest commanders of CP0, is more than enough! Hahaha!"

Listening to the uninhibited, wild laughter of the two agents.

Roski propped up her battered body with difficulty, slowly steadying herself against the stone wall as she stood back up.

"Cough... You beasts wearing human skins, having killed so many innocent people, doesn't the World Government fear retribution?" Roski gritted her teeth, blood tears flowing from the corners of her eyes.

"Retribution?"

C-4 scoffed with utter disdain, as if he had heard some cosmic joke:

"Originally, we just wanted to capture you to threaten that ignorant Rochi, but now it seems your own value as a woman far exceeds that brute who only knows how to kill!"

"Just obediently surrender!"

"With your lack of any martial arts foundation, a country bumpkin who doesn't even know Haki, no matter how heaven-defying your fruit ability is, you can't stop us!"

"Shave!"

Before the words finished, C-4's figure instantly vanished in place!

The ultimate Six Powers technique at the Marine major level! The speed reached a terrifying degree that the naked eye simply couldn't capture!