From the start, Loa had never intended to hide.
It wasn't just that the plan required it. He needed to clear a landing site for the undergunned Wavebreaker Warship, and he had confidence in his own strength.
The great pirate Scavenger Bill Beard wasn't as famous as the Yonko or the Shichibukai, but in the New World, his name carried real weight.
And because Beard was a mercenary who spent most of his time out in the world, the Marines had gathered detailed intelligence on him. Loa knew his abilities well. He had done his homework; Beard hadn't.
Beard's Devil Fruit Ability was called the High-Frequency Fruit, a Devil Fruit Ability that let him make objects vibrate at high speed.
Unlike Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit, his power worked through touch. He couldn't create Vibration whenever he pleased.
In range, power, and mastery, he was no match for Whitebeard.
Well, that went without saying.
Beard had once used that power to destroy a city through touch.
Even if he had demolished its buildings one by one, the feat was terrifying enough.
But like most highly destructive Devil Fruit Powers, his couldn't act directly on living creatures, greatly limiting its lethality.
Loa only needed to avoid being struck by Beard's specially made dagger, which could withstand High-Frequency Vibration.
Having come from Earth, he knew exactly how dangerous High-Frequency Vibration could be.
On the snow mountain at the island's center lay a massive open-pit mine.
At a flat spot beside the pit, two figures stood shoulder to shoulder, their faces expressionless.
Inside the pit, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of captured Hisville citizens swung shovels and hoes in the bitter wind, dressed in thin clothes.
Their gaunt faces told of their suffering. Every so often, someone collapsed. The others gave them a blank glance and went