Siswal

On the bustling streets, which nevertheless carried an eerie air of death, Rain followed the rough map provided by a black-market merchant, purchasing all manner of necessary supplies across the island.

In this city called Siswal, he was simply too conspicuous.

The crowds around him bustled with activity. Whether they were vendors pushing carts or soldiers on patrol, every face bore the same cloudless smile, as though basking in a spring breeze. The entire world seemed to have been overlaid with a sickening soft-focus filter.

Rain wore a dark gray coarse linen cloak, with most of his face hidden beneath the hood's shadow. His black eyes held no emotional fluctuation, only the indifference of a top-tier hunter.

More critically, he had just emerged from the massive flesh-and-blood grinding mill that was Alabasta. The dense murderous aura he had accumulated through slaughtering corrupt officials and killing bandits had yet to fully dissipate.

Walking through the crowd, he was like a cold lump of black charcoal dropped into a bucket of colorful paint. Whenever the smiling citizens came within three meters of him, their bodies instinctively trembled in fear, yet their faces remained stubbornly fixed in those serene smiles.

The extreme disconnect between their biological instincts and facial expressions made Rain's stomach churn with visceral discomfort.

"Stop right there, traveler from afar."

Just as Rain was about to cross an intersection, three men in pure white uniforms, smiley-face badges pinned to their chests, blocked his path.

They were the city's Bliss Guard.

The captain stepped forward. Looking at Rain's expressionless face, the curve of his lips rose naturally. "Sir, it seems you have not carefully read Siswal's Bliss Code."

Rain stopped and looked at him coldly without speaking.

"On this island blessed by the gods, sadness, anger, and indifference are all strictly forbidden." The captain's voice was gentle, even carrying a strangely persuasive quality. "You are not wearing a smile. That face of yours, filled with negative emotions, is damaging this nation's atmosphere."

The captain extended a hand and smilingly gestured for him to proceed.

"For your own good, and for this nation's peace, please come with us to the Thought Purification Room. His Majesty the King will grant you the most perfect smile."

Rain looked at the three flawless smiling faces before him, and a trace of annoyance flashed through his black eyes.

"I'm not interested in the atmosphere here." Rain's hoarse voice rang out across the street, carrying an unquestionable undercurrent of violence. "And your rules... what the hell are they supposed to be?"

"It seems your illness is quite serious. We'll need to forcibly—"

Before the captain could finish, his words came to an abrupt halt.

Rain could not be bothered to waste words on brainwashed puppets like them. In an instant, his right leg beneath the cloak completed its assimilation with rock. Gray-white granite instantly covered his lower leg, its density skyrocketing in the blink of an eye.

There was no unnecessary windup.

"Bang—!"

A savage roundhouse kick so fast that not even an afterimage could be seen tore through the air and struck the captain precisely in the side of the waist!

Terrifying kinetic energy and crushing force erupted at once. Like a cannonball fired from heavy artillery, the captain, along with the two subordinates beside him who had yet to react, was violently swept away by that utterly tyrannical force.

"Boom!"

The three men slammed into the wall of a blue-brick building beside the street like rag dolls. The thick wall instantly cracked and collapsed, embedding them firmly amid the rubble.

The sickening sound of bones breaking echoed through the street. More than half the captain's chest had caved in, blood pouring frantically from the corners of his mouth.

Yet what made everyone's scalps prickle was that, despite such grave injuries, the three guards embedded in the wall did not let out a single scream.

They vomited blood in great mouthfuls while gazing at Rain with gentle, peaceful eyes, the same perfect smiles still hanging from their lips.

Rain coldly withdrew his right leg. Without even sparing them a glance, he stepped over the rubble and continued toward the trading house.

This brief yet extremely violent one-sided crushing did not cause panic among the other smiling citizens on the street. They merely smiled as they pulled apart the collapsed wall, rescued the three guards, and swiftly cleaned everything up. Before long, the street had returned to its original tranquility and prosperity.

However, from an exceedingly concealed dark alley at the corner, a pair of eyes took in every detail.

It belonged to a man wearing tattered linen clothes, his entire body filthy. When he saw the power behind Rain's kick and the normal, human "indifference" on Rain's face, extreme shock and wild joy erupted from his bloodshot eyes.

"He hasn't been assimilated... and he has that level of strength!" Hidden in the shadows, the man's body trembled slightly with excitement. "We have to inform the leader immediately. We... have hope!"

At the same time.

Deep within the magnificent palace at Siswal's highest point.

Upon the broad, luxurious royal throne sat a pirate dressed in an extravagant dark red velvet coat. His eye sockets were deeply sunken, and his gaze carried an extremely dangerous, neurotic air.

With a bounty of eighty-five million Beli, he was "Dreamweaver" Odel.

As for the nation's original king, he was currently sprawled beneath the throne's steps like a dog, smiling as he scrubbed the floor with a rag.

Odel held a goblet of scarlet wine. His half-closed eyes suddenly snapped open.

Deep within his pupils, strange pale purple ripples flickered. Reflected upon his retina was the final sight the captain had seen before losing consciousness: the young man in black beneath a dark gray cloak, his face cold and indifferent, and that devastating roundhouse kick.

"Oh? What an interesting passerby."

Odel swirled the wine in his hand, a twisted, fervent smile curling across his lips.

"Ordinary pirates in Paradise can't deliver a kick with that kind of terrifying force. An aberration who doesn't smile..."

Odel suddenly drained the red wine in his goblet, his eyes gleaming with almost pathological greed.

"If I can brainwash a monster of that caliber, make him smile forever, and turn him into the strongest killing weapon in my hands... I can return to the New World!"

He rose to his feet and snapped his fingers at several subordinates in the shadows of the hall.

"Go. Prepare a lavish gift for our distinguished guest from afar. I will personally hold a banquet in the royal court to entertain him."