Lucci's Zero Score

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

On the azure horizon, a two-masted sailing ship flew a pirate flag bearing a savage skull and sailed with its sails full. On deck, a group of burly men gathered around their captain, drinking, laughing, and shouting merrily.

"Captain, once we deliver this batch of goods, we'll have to enjoy ourselves properly in the Blue Kingdom for a while!"

"That's right! The girls there are all so fresh and pretty!"

The captain at the center of the group was named Isaac. Leaning against the railing, he did not join his subordinates' crude laughter. Instead, he looked toward a shrewd-looking confidant beside him.

"Have you finished inventorying the loot we took from that merchant ship?"

Their vessel appeared to be a pirate ship, but in truth, it was a professional Slave Ship. Disguising themselves as pirates made it easier to act and let them make a little 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 counting those valuables, I found a strange wooden box. Inside was something that looked like a Demon..."

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

The lookout's startled cry from the crow's nest abruptly cut off their conversation.

Captain Isaac's expression hardened as he immediately looked up. A tiny black dot at the horizon was rapidly growing larger. It vaguely resembled a human figure, speeding through the air without wings or any sort of tool!

"Enemy attack! Everyone, prepare for battle!" Isaac made his decision at once and shouted the order.

The traffickers instantly stopped laughing. They grabbed their weapons and stared nervously into the sky.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Dull explosions of compressed air sounded overhead. Lucci continuously accelerated through the sky, skillfully combining Soru and Geppo. His speed was astonishing. In less than a minute, he landed on the Slave Ship's deck, making the vessel sway slightly.

The traffickers looked at the murderous youth who had suddenly appeared, their faces filled with uncertainty and alarm. They had never heard of such a technique for walking through the air, and none of them dared underestimate him because of his age.

Isaac forced himself to remain calm, stepped forward, and demanded harshly,

"Kid! Who are you? Don't think that just because you ate some Devil Fruit that lets you fly, you can come cause trouble on my ship!"

His knowledge was limited, and he had failed to recognize the "Rokushiki" techniques unique to the Navy and CP.

The only answer he received was an afterimage fast beyond belief!

"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 pierced straight through his heart.

Lucci flickered again and appeared behind Isaac. Casually shaking the blood from his index finger, he spoke with utter disdain and coldness.

"Weaklings... have no reason to keep living, 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. With a thud, he collapsed forward and died.

"Captain!"

"Bastard! He killed the captain!"

The traffickers erupted in panic and terror. The strength Lucci had displayed was on a completely different level from theirs!

Isaac's closest confidant, consumed by extreme fear, suddenly remembered something. He quickly 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 planned to suggest that Isaac sell it. After all, a fruit with an unknown ability carried too much risk. But now, the flames of revenge overwhelmed everything else. He only wanted to eat it immediately, gain power, and avenge Captain Isaac, who had treated him well!

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

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Lucci turned into an afterimage once more and instantly lunged before the confidant. His Finger Pistol struck like a raging storm, opening several bloody holes in the man's body in an instant.

The confidant did not even manage a 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 another glance. Soru moved beneath his feet again, and he charged into the traffickers, who had fallen into chaos and scattered in every direction after the captain and his confidant were killed in an instant, like a tiger entering a flock of sheep.

Every flicker of his figure was accompanied by a muffled impact and the bloom of blood. His efficiency at killing was horrifying. To him, the pleasure of taking lives was far more important 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 had grown even fiercer from the slaughter. With a low growl, he turned and rushed into the cabin to search for any other survivors who might be hiding inside.

Soon, muffled sounds of bodies being pierced echoed from within the ship, along with dying screams and desperate cries.

When every sound finally fell silent, Lucci emerged slowly from the cabin, drenched in blood like someone returned from hell. A faint, cruel smile of satisfaction rested on his face. The thick stench of blood seemed almost tangible, permeating the entire ship.

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

Just as Lucci was still immersed in the lingering thrill of slaughter, a voice full of obvious disappointment rang out behind him.

He spun around sharply and saw that at some point, Dawn's burly figure had appeared on the deck like an iron tower. He bent down and picked up the wooden box that had rolled onto the ground, carefully placed the Devil Fruit, stained with a little blood, back inside, and closed the lid before continuing.

"The mission I gave you was to raid this ship's supplies and replenish our reserves. But what did you do? You rushed into the cabin. Other than killing people, did you bring out a single valuable thing? You even ignored the Devil Fruit lying right at your feet. Lucci, you've disappointed me too much."

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

He himself adhered to certain bottom lines, but he had never expected—or intended to force—the companions around him, who had grown up in brutal environments, to follow the same principles. Environment shaped personality, and demanding complete uniformity was unrealistic.

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

Lucci's lips moved. He wanted to argue, but found himself unable to say anything. He really had been completely absorbed in the pleasure of killing and had thrown the task of gathering supplies to the winds.

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

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

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

Suddenly, he found an ordinary-looking cane hanging from the waist of a trafficker dressed relatively well and styled like a swordsman.

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

"Shing!"

A clear metallic rasp rang out. Hidden within was a straight-bladed longsword that gleamed with cold light!

Its blade was perfectly straight, made in a cutting-edge style, with a flowing temper pattern. A chilling killing intent spread from it. It was clearly no ordinary weapon.

"Gambler's Fireline..."

Dawn quietly spoke the sword's name, his tone carrying a hint of confirmation. He knew something of the hierarchy of famous blades in the pirate world, so he naturally recognized this one of the Supreme Grade Twelve.

He had not expected to obtain it in such a place and in such a manner.

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

Even though he currently focused on physical combat and developing his Devil Fruit abilities and had not yet systematically trained in swordsmanship, such a top-grade famous blade was immensely valuable—whether for his own future use, to grant to a trustworthy swordsman under his command, or simply to keep as a collection.

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

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

Only after finishing all that did he leisurely take out the wooden box again. At the same time, he retrieved a thick tome from his storage space—Devil Fruit Encyclopedia.

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

TO BE CONTINUED