Lucci's Zero Score

Two days later, the sea was calm and the sky clear.

On the azure horizon, a two-masted sailing ship flew a vicious skull-and-crossbones flag as it sailed at full speed. On deck, a group of burly men surrounded their captain, drinking, laughing, and talking boisterously.

"Captain, once we hand over this batch of goods, we'll have a good time in the Blue Kingdom!"

"That's right! The girls there are all damn pretty!"

The captain at the center was named Isaac. Leaning against the rail, he did not join his men's lewd laughter, instead looking toward a shrewder-looking confidant beside him.

"Have you finished taking inventory of the spoils we seized from that merchant ship?"

Their vessel appeared to be a pirate ship, but it was actually a professional slave-catching ship. Disguising themselves as pirates made it easier to operate and allowed them to make some extra profit along the way. After all, no one ever complained about having too much money.

The confidant hurriedly nodded.

"Don't worry, Captain. The captives have all been locked in the lower hold, waiting to be sold once we reach our destination. But... while inventorying the valuables, I found a strange wooden box. Inside was something that looked like a Devil—"

"Something's happening in the sky ahead! Something's approaching fast!"

The lookout's sudden cry from the crow's nest interrupted their conversation.

Captain Isaac's expression hardened as he immediately looked up. A tiny black speck on the horizon was rapidly growing larger. It vaguely resembled a human figure, moving at high speed through the air without wings or any tools!

"Enemy attack! Everyone, prepare for battle!" Isaac decisively shouted.

The traffickers instantly stopped laughing and grabbed their weapons, staring nervously into the sky.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Dull sonic booms rang out overhead. Lucci kept accelerating through the air, expertly combining Soru and Geppo. In less than a minute, he landed on the slave ship's deck, making the vessel sway slightly.

The traffickers looked at the suddenly appeared, murderous young man with uncertain expressions. They had never seen such an incredible technique as walking through the air. No one dared underestimate him because of his age.

Isaac forced himself to remain calm, stepped forward, and barked out a question.

"Brat! Who are you? Don't think you can run wild on my ship just because you ate some Devil Fruit that lets you fly!"

His knowledge was limited, and he failed to recognize the Navy and Cipher Pol's exclusive Six Powers techniques.

His only answer was an afterimage too fast to follow!

Whoosh!

Lucci used Soru and vanished from where he stood. The next second, he appeared before Isaac like a ghost. Isaac did not even have time to react before he felt a chill in his chest. Looking down, he saw that a finger had already pierced his heart.

Lucci's figure flickered again, appearing behind Isaac. He casually shook the blood from his index finger, his voice filled with disdain and indifference.

"The weak... have no reason to live, much less the right to question me."

Isaac clutched his chest, his eyes filled with disbelief and despair. His lips moved, but no sound came out. Then he crashed forward and died.

"Captain!"

"Bastard! He killed the captain!"

The traffickers erupted into panic and alarm. Lucci's strength was on an entirely different level from theirs!

Isaac's closest confidant suddenly remembered something in his extreme terror. He swiftly pulled an exquisitely crafted wooden box from his clothes and threw it open—inside lay a Devil Fruit covered in spiral patterns, its color dark and strange!

He had originally intended to suggest selling it. After all, a fruit with an unknown ability was too risky. But now, the flames of revenge overwhelmed everything else. He only wanted to eat the fruit at once, gain power, and avenge Captain Isaac, who had treated him well!

However, to Lucci, his movements were as slow as a snail's crawl. How could Lucci give him a chance to turn things around?

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Lucci turned into an afterimage again and instantly rushed before the confidant. His Shigan stabbed out in a relentless storm, instantly punching several bloody holes through the man's body.

The confidant did not even groan before dying on the spot. The wooden box fell from his hand, and the strange Devil Fruit rolled across the deck.

Lucci did not spare the fruit a second glance. Soru activated beneath his feet again as he charged into the traffickers, who had fallen into chaos and scattered in all directions after their captain and confidant died in an instant.

Every flicker of his figure was accompanied by a dull impact and a blossoming spray of blood. His killing efficiency was horrifying. To him, the thrill of taking lives mattered far more than any mission objective.

Just two and a half minutes later, Lucci stopped moving. Corpses littered the deck around him. Every trafficker who had been on deck was dead.

Yet the bloodlust in his eyes had not subsided. Instead, it burned even fiercer after the slaughter. He let out a low growl, turned, and charged into the cabin to seek out any other survivors who might be hiding inside.

Before long, dull sounds of bodies being pierced, dying wails, and desperate cries rang out one after another from within the cabin.

When every sound finally fell silent, Lucci, covered in blood as if he had returned from hell, slowly emerged from the cabin with a satisfied, cruel smile. The thick stench of blood seemed almost tangible as it filled the entire ship.

"Zero points. Fail. I'm very dissatisfied with your first independent raiding mission."

Just as Lucci was still immersed in the lingering thrill of slaughter, a voice filled with obvious frustration at his failure to meet expectations sounded behind him.

He suddenly turned around and saw that Dawn's towering figure had somehow appeared on the deck like an iron tower. Dawn bent down, picked up the wooden box that had fallen to the ground, carefully placed the Devil Fruit, stained with a little blood, back inside, and closed the lid before continuing.

"The task I gave you was to raid this ship for supplies and replenish our stores. And what did you do? You rushed into the cabin. Other than killing people, did you bring out even a single valuable item? You even ignored the Devil Fruit lying right at your feet. Lucci, you've deeply disappointed me."

Dawn did not condemn Lucci for killing every trafficker aboard the ship along with the slaves they had captured.

Dawn himself observed certain bottom lines, but he never expected or forcibly demanded that these companions who had grown up in brutal environments follow the same principles. Environment shaped one's character. Forcing everyone to be the same was unrealistic.

What he cared about was that Lucci had been completely controlled by his desire to kill and forgotten the fundamental purpose of the mission. That was putting the cart before the horse—a major flaw in his character.

Lucci's lips moved. He wanted to argue, but found himself speechless. He really had been completely immersed in the thrill of killing and had thrown the mission of gathering supplies to the winds.

In the end, he merely gave a stubborn cold snort, turned around, and rushed back into the bloody cabin without a word to begin collecting valuable supplies.

Watching Lucci's retreating back, unwilling even to admit fault verbally, Dawn narrowed his eyes and secretly decided that once they returned, he would have to give this brat some strict "training" and properly cure his bloodthirsty habit of forgetting what mattered.

Having made up his mind, Dawn did not waste any more time. He skillfully began searching the corpses strewn across the deck.

Suddenly, he found an ordinary-looking cane at the waist of a trafficker dressed relatively well and carrying himself like a swordsman.

It felt heavy in his hand, as though it concealed something. He gripped the handle and gently twisted and pulled—

Shing!

A clear metallic scrape rang out. Hidden inside was a straight-bladed sword that gleamed with cold light!

Its blade was perfectly straight, forged in a cut-edge style, with a flowing pattern along its surface. A chilling murderous aura spread from it. It was clearly no ordinary weapon.

"Gambler's Fireline..."

Dawn quietly spoke the blade's name, his tone carrying a hint of confirmation. He knew something of the pirate world's famous blade classifications, so he naturally recognized one of the Supreme Grade 12.

He had not expected to obtain it this way, in a place like this.

Without hesitation, he sheathed the straight blade, scabbard and all, then stored it in his unique storage space with a thought.

Though he currently focused on physical techniques and developing his Devil Fruit ability and had yet to systematically practice swordsmanship, such a top-grade famous blade was immensely valuable whether he used it himself in the future, gave it to a trustworthy swordsman under his command, or simply kept it as a collection piece.

After dealing with this unexpected windfall, Dawn continued searching patiently. His subsequent gains were far more ordinary, mostly gold and silver coins, along with a few decent muskets and cold weapons.

He sorted every valuable item into categories, then removed a large, relatively clean piece of thick canvas from the main sail. He wrapped the spoils in it and once again used his storage space ability to put them away.

Only after finishing all that did he leisurely take out the wooden box again, along with a thick, hefty book from his storage space—Devil Fruit Encyclopedia.

He carefully opened the wooden box, took out the fruit, and meticulously compared it against the illustrations and descriptions in the encyclopedia.

TO BE CONTINUED