In an instant,
The air warped, the carpet tore apart, and the windows on the walls shattered at the same time!
Throughout the entire space, even the light seemed to twist into a faint red.
It lasted only a second.
Thud!
The Capone family head collapsed without any resistance, his head slamming into the corner of the desk.
A searing pain shot from between his brows, like a nail driven into his brain, startling him into a brief moment of clarity.
But it was only mental clarity.
He lay sprawled across the desk, unable to move.
Like a quadriplegic patient, the sensation of unconsciousness still permeated his entire body.
From the corner of his eye, he saw the young figure calmly walk past the desk.
Bang! Bang!
Two gunshots rang out.
He knew the two bodyguards must have died.
Those two bodyguards were only slightly weaker than Gotti. They had been one of the trump cards he had hidden for a long time... yet now, they had died here without even knowing why.
"I'm next, aren't I?"
A wave of unwillingness suddenly surged through his muddled mind.
He had imagined being killed by one of the other four families.
He had imagined being captured and executed by the Marines.
But he had never imagined that he would die at the hands of some inexplicable historian.
"How ridiculous!"
"I refuse to accept this!!"
The Capone family head's face twisted, his eyes bloodshot. His numb hand on the desk slowly clenched into a fist, and his whole body trembled as though he were about to awaken from the rigidity of shallow unconsciousness.
Just then, an icy gun barrel pressed against his forehead.
The Capone family head stopped moving.
Jogo's black-haired, black-eyed face appeared in his vision once more.
"Jo...go..." he forced out the two syllables.
Jogo wiped away his nosebleed and nodded, his expression calm.
"It's me."
"The Marines... were they you too...?"
"That's right. I called them."
"Do you... have a grudge against the Capone Family?"
"Do you have a grudge against Ohara?"
"Ha... hahahaha..." The Capone family head suddenly laughed, his voice bleak.
At that moment, he suddenly regretted it.
Why had he provoked that group of historians in the first place?
Why had he made that phone call?
Because of this... because of this Ohara he had never taken seriously!
His plans...
His Capone Family...
Everything had been destroyed!
Click!
The hammer cocked back.
The Capone family head closed his eyes.
The next second, he suddenly opened them. One hand tightly seized the barrel of the gun as he stared at Jogo. "Let it go... don't... Bege... the Capone Family..."
Bang!
Blood spread across the desk.
Jogo put away his gun, expressionless.
A notification sounded in his mind.
[Obtained Trait: Beheading Tactics (White)]
After glancing at it, Jogo began gathering the things the three of them had pulled from various hidden corners of the desk.
A small treasure chest containing high-value checks and all kinds of precious jewelry.
And a stack of notebooks... the Capone Family's internal ledgers?
Your Capone Family really did love keeping accounts.
He took it all...
A few minutes later, Jogo kicked open the door and walked out of the office with a heavy pack on his back.
Sunlight streamed in through the windows.
The hallway was littered with family members sprawled crookedly across the floor.
Jogo stepped over them, descended the stairs, and headed toward the prison beneath the low building.
The Capone family head's final words were not difficult to guess.
He had merely wanted Jogo to spare Capone Bege and the entire Capone Family.
Those words had been somewhat unnecessary.
Jogo had never intended to go after Capone Bege in the first place. Mainly because he would most likely be unable to defeat him.
Not to mention a colossal force like the Capone Family.
With the Capone family head dead, Ohara's crisis had been temporarily resolved.
His goal had been achieved.
Even if Capone Bege wanted revenge afterward, it would only happen after he had secured his position as family head and shaken off the Marines' pursuit... at the very least, two or three years from now.
For Jogo,
Forget two or three years. If he still did not have the strength to crush Bege within a year,
Then he could forget about protecting Ohara. He might as well find somewhere to bury himself.
Crash!
Along the way, Jogo casually knocked over the liquor cabinets and smashed the barrels that had been brought out, spilling alcohol everywhere.
By the time he reached the prison, the low building was already filled with the fragrance of liquor.
He pushed open the rusty iron door and walked inside.
The prison was packed with pirates from the Acne Pirates.
Like potatoes in a field, they squatted pitifully on the ground with their arms wrapped around their legs, all unconscious from the impact of Conqueror's Haki.
Behind them, the captain occupied a space all to himself—completely naked and suspended in midair.
Almost no patch of skin on his body remained intact. The horrifying bloodstains covering the surrounding walls spoke of the brutality of the punishment he had endured.
Perhaps he had smelled the alcohol in the air. As Jogo approached, he could still hear him muttering in his sleep.
"Liquor... liquor... liquor..."
"One day, you're going to drink yourself to death," Jogo said irritably.
As though he had heard his voice, the half-conscious captain chuckled foolishly and mumbled again, "Drink... have a drink... good brother... I... won't say..."
"..."
After two seconds of silence, Jogo shook his head and carried him and the remaining twenty-odd crew members out of the low building.
The black car driver was still waiting where he had been, too scared to leave.
Jogo knocked on his window, signaling for him to drive over the delivery truck from the shop next door.
Then the two of them worked together to load all the pirates onto the truck.
Just as he was about to leave, Jogo suddenly remembered something. He turned back into the building and, before long, emerged carrying a wooden box.
He placed the wooden box on the truck, braced a hand against it, then turned to look at the low building before him—understated yet luxurious—and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
For a moment, he actually felt much lighter.
Looks like I was born for murder and arson after all!
"Lend me a light!"
He somehow produced one of the Capone family head's prized cigars and waved it before the driver's eyes.
The driver hurriedly took out some matches and lit the cigar with trembling hands.
Jogo put it to his lips and took a performative puff, then broke into a violent cough.
"Tastes awful... no wonder he died young."
With a light flick of his finger, the cigar spun through the air and flew into the low building.
He turned and climbed into the vehicle.
"Let's go!"
The truck started up, spewing black smoke as it rumbled and bounced into the distance.
Behind them, flames gradually burst from the windows of the low building, eagerly climbing onto the ornate roof.
Not long afterward...
Hurried footsteps echoed through an alley.
"What happened? Everyone on the street is down!"
"Who knows? Forget it. So, did we shake the Marines?"
"They're gone..."
"Hahaha, how could they possibly know Sunflower Island better than we do?"
"Almost there. Hang on—we can rest once we reach the base!"
Capone Bege staggered out with a crowd of family members, panting heavily and about to celebrate their escape... when firelight abruptly reflected across their faces, followed by a wave of heat.
Everyone turned their heads blankly, mouths agape as they watched the safe, familiar base from their memories burn fiercely on the quiet street.
The joy of escaping death seemed to have been reduced to ashes along with the blaze.
"What happened... what happened here?"
"Wasn't everything fine when we spoke on the phone earlier?"
A charred corpse lay slumped across a windowsill, revealing the tragedy that had unfolded here.
It was just like...
It was just like...
The great fire at the nightclub the day before yesterday!
Bege's furious roar rang through the street.
"Father!!!"
He was about to rush into the sea of flames when a family member suddenly cried out behind him.
"Lord Bege, the Marines are coming!"
Capone Bege froze in place. Struggle flashed through his eyes as he stared blankly at the inferno. After standing stunned for two seconds, he finally gritted his teeth and shouted, "Go! Everyone, leave with me immediately!"
A black Capone Family car was parked by the roadside, left behind by someone unknown.
Vito took the driver's seat and quickly started the car. Bege activated his Devil Fruit ability, pulling the family members into his body before getting into the back seat.
Before long, the black car hurried away.
The street fell silent once again as the flames burned quietly.
Not long after,
Marine soldiers rushed over, then hurried away again.
No one knew how much time passed.
A light rain gradually began to fall from the sky.
Passersby gradually woke from unconsciousness, staring wide-eyed at the towering blaze burning beneath the rain.
"Ah, a rainbow!"
Someone suddenly pointed behind the raging flames.
The people looked in the direction he indicated.
Sure enough, beneath the rain clouds gradually scattered by the sunlight, a rainbow rose from the flames.
At the same time, in a room at the Wild Sunflower Tavern...
The captain of the Acne Pirates suddenly opened his eyes.
"I won't tell you!!!"
He sat upright in fury, staring wide-eyed and gasping for breath.
Only after several seconds did he realize something was wrong.
He did not seem to be in the dungeon anymore.
Looking at the clean, familiar room around him and the bandages covering his body, he sat frozen on the bed.
His mind could not quite process it.
A folded letter lay beside his hand.
He picked it up and unfolded it.
Through the neat, forceful handwriting, he could almost see someone he had known for only a few days waving goodbye to him.
"Thank you to the Acne Pirates for your hospitality these past few days..."
Before you continue