The Battle Began, the Battle Ended

Linx was caught by the sudden gravitational pull, then seized in Mark's hand.

"Let me borrow your head!"

"Martial Art: Hand Stab!"

Mark's lowered palm was coated in Armament Haki, hard as stone. In a flash, his pitch-black hand pierced through Linx's chest before slowly pulling back out.

Fast as an afterimage!

Under the stunned gazes of all the surrounding pirates, Linx coughed up blood, disbelief filling his eyes as he slowly collapsed to the ground.

His pierced heart gushed blood like a spring.

"V-Viper Captain Linx... was killed?" Some pirates looked as though they were in a dream, staring blankly at the scene with their mouths hanging open.

"H-How is that possible? That was Viper Linx!"

"Who the hell is that guy?"

"D-Didn't see clearly."

Mark ignored the surrounding exclamations and glanced at the Combat Bracer.

Physique: ★★☆.

The energy bar within the third star rose slightly. The change was not significant, and it remained at one-third full.

"I guessed right. These people really weren't that strong."

Although killing Linx had involved an element of surprise, the main reason was that his opponent simply had not been very strong.

Using the Dark-Dark Fruit's ability to swallow the blood from his palm, Mark turned to the bartender and said with a smile, "Could you do me a favor?"

Although the bartender could not see the smile on his face through the black mist formed by the Dark-Dark Fruit.

"N-No problem!"

Two figures arrived at the Viper Pirates' territory on Wind Island. It was a large estate. The inside was dilapidated, and the windblown sand had long since withered the flowers and grass, yet the estate was bustling with voices.

Most of the Viper Pirates' officers were here.

Looking at the estate before him, Mark said to the bartender with satisfaction, "Wait here for now."

He patted the sack on the bartender's back and continued, "I'll need you to go in and collect the money later."

The bartender looked terrified and hurriedly nodded in agreement.

This was a madman. He had just killed Linx, and now he had immediately come to the Viper Pirates' territory. From the sound of it, he even intended to go in and rob the Viper Pirates of their Beli. The Viper Pirates had more than a hundred men, while this man was alone. What else could he be but insane?

Yet the bartender still did not dare to run away. What if Mark succeeded? If he could not find him afterward, would he hold a grudge against him...

As a bartender who made a living under the Viper Pirates, he had no desire to offend pirates who killed without blinking.

Seeing the bartender's reaction, Mark smiled in satisfaction, turned, and entered the Viper Pirates' territory.

The estate's gate was badly worn, and no one guarded it. Weeds grew wildly beyond the entrance, with only a cobblestone path swept clean.

From where Mark stood, he could see three pirates chatting and laughing in the courtyard.

He spread out his Observation Haki and carefully sensed the people within the estate. A moment later, he had a clear grasp of their distribution.

The estate was huge, but the range covered by Mark's Observation Haki was even broader. That was thanks to his repeatedly evolved body. Had he relied on training alone, it would have taken at least two or three years to reach this level.

This also showed how powerful the Combat Bracer was.

He stepped through the gate and walked along the cobblestone path.

"Hey! Where did you come from? Don't you know this is Viper Pirates territory?"

One of the three pirates talking in the courtyard noticed Mark and shouted.

At his shout, the other two also turned their gazes toward Mark.

"What?" Mark pretended not to hear and continued forward at an unhurried pace.

"Are you looking to die? I said..." The shouting pirate looked irritated and strode toward Mark, berating him as he walked.

Before he could finish speaking, however, a broad axe blade swept sideways like a waning moon.

Crack! A huge head flew away and rolled to the feet of the remaining two pirates.

The two stared in stunned disbelief, frozen in place by the sudden slaughter.

Mark did not look at their reactions. He used Silent Step, his body flashing like lightning and leaving an afterimage behind. Gripping the massive axe with both hands, he twisted his wrists, and the blade effortlessly sliced across their necks.

As the three men fell, their blood gathered into the shape of a world map.

Observation Haki covered the surroundings. Following the direction of his senses, Mark entered the estate.

The interior of the estate was rather luxurious, worlds apart from the outside.

Beyond the entrance was a hall and a horizontal corridor. Most of the hall's decorations were made of purple, red, blue, and other colored glass, coating the surrounding walls in a riot of colors.

The floor was covered with patterned carpets, while an enormous glass chandelier hung at the center of the hall.

The walls of the horizontal corridor were built from granite and decorated with paintings and calligraphy Mark could not understand.

At that moment, a group of pirates sat in the hall, all wearing excited expressions as they shouted around a massive round table.

They were gambling, something pirates had always enjoyed.

Of course... Mark was an exception.

He was only interested in his own strength and cooking.

The gambling pirates did not notice Mark's arrival. Even those who saw him merely assumed he was a newcomer joining the crew and paid him no mind.

After entering the hall, Mark walked straight to the gambling table. The piles of money on it made his eyes light up.

There seemed to be tens of millions of Beli on the table, no small sum.

After looking around, Mark found an enormous sack in a corner.

He then stopped before the gambling table, raised his hand toward the stakes, and black mist surged from his palm, gradually gathering into a gravitational vortex.

"Dark Water!"

With a rush, the banknotes on the table flew toward Mark's palm. Tens of millions of Beli were swept clean in an instant and stuffed into the sack.

Only then did all the pirates turn their attention to Mark.

"Where's the money?"

"It looks like that guy took it..."

"What was that just now? Is he a Devil Fruit user?"

On the Grand Line, Devil Fruit users were not exactly a secret. Most people knew about them.

"That's my money! Spit it back out!"

The pirates around the gambling table finally came to their senses. Raising their weapons, they shouted and charged at Mark.

But all that awaited them was the cold gleam of an axe blade.

Dark Water restrained the enemies, and the axe blade struck in an instant. Blood splattered throughout the hall, while severed limbs littered the floor.

A sky full of axe shadows, a ghostlike figure.

The swords and spears wielded by the pirates were utterly useless against Mark while he was empowered by Silent Step.

"Demon! He's a demon!" Most of these pirates had already lost their courage, or perhaps they had never possessed much to begin with. Terrified by the constantly spraying blood and severed limbs, they abandoned the money and turned to flee.

But under Mark's Dark Water, not a single one of them made it out of the estate.