The Upcoming Experience Pack (Part 1)

Guanhao Floating Archipelago, inside a two-story building.

Adams sat in a rough log chair.

Several slabs of fragrant, charred grilled meat were piled on the enormous porcelain plate before him.

He speared the largest one with a silver fork and stuffed it into his mouth, tearing and chewing in huge bites as scorching white steam curled off his sweat-slicked skin.

"Tell me your decision now. Do the two of you want to become my subordinates?"

He swallowed the mouthful of meat, his blade-sharp gaze sweeping over Kalifa and Kaku in turn.

Kalifa instinctively pushed up the frame on the bridge of her nose, her fingertips trembling almost imperceptibly.

Behind her lenses, conflicting emotions clashed fiercely in her eyes.

She drew a deep breath of the cold, thin air and gathered her courage to speak. Her voice struggled to remain steady, yet still betrayed the unease buried deep within her.

"J-just asking... what happens if I refuse?"

Adams did not even look up at her. He merely focused on cutting the steak on his plate, the silver knife scraping sharply against the porcelain as he answered between bites.

"Nothing will happen. I'll just throw you off from ten thousand meters up."

Kalifa would be highly capable once she had been properly developed, but if her loyalty could not be guaranteed, he could only ruthlessly destroy such a promising flower.

The last trace of color instantly drained from Kalifa's face, and her pupils contracted sharply behind her glasses. The chill of the high altitude seemed to seep straight into her bones.

She clenched her fists so tightly that her nails nearly dug into her palms.

Time passed amid suffocating silence, broken only by the sounds of Adams chewing and the howling wind.

After a long while, her shoulders sagged as though all strength had been drained from her. She let out a resigned sigh, her voice dry.

"I... am willing to join."

There was no reaction on Adams's face, as if this outcome had been inevitable. His sharp gaze then turned to Kaku, whose stance beside her was somewhat casual.

"And you?"

Kaku kept both hands in the pockets of his loose trousers and tilted his head. There was no particular emotion on his face, as though he were merely deciding what to eat for dinner.

"It's the same wherever I go. I have no objections."

He shrugged, his tone so relaxed that he seemed almost indifferent. As the youngest, he had been brainwashed by the World Government the least and felt the least resistance.

Adams gave a slight nod, his gaze finally settling on Lucci.

"It's your turn to choose."

The instant his words fell, Lucci moved. He leaned forward by half a step, so subtly it was almost unnoticeable. The lean, steel-wire muscles across his body suddenly tensed, brimming with destructive power.

From beneath the shadow of his hat brim, his gaze was as sharp as a tangible blade, fixed firmly on Adams with naked scrutiny and appraisal.

Adams sighed silently to himself.

What a pity. Such a sharp blade was ultimately beyond his use.

He set down his silver fork, his knuckles tightening slightly as power silently gathered within him. He prepared to erase this potential threat completely.

At that critical instant, the terrifying aura around Lucci, like that of a beast ready to devour someone, abruptly receded like the tide.

He returned to that restrained calmness.

He raised his chin slightly. The shadow beneath his hat brim shifted, revealing those utterly emotionless eyes.

Staring at Adams, he pulled his lips into a curve of absolute confidence, even arrogance, and spoke in a low, clear voice.

"I hope you can maintain your current strength forever."

He paused, his tone carrying the forcefulness of a declaration.

"Otherwise, I'll definitely kill you. I don't want a leader weaker than me."

He had indeed considered attacking just now. But after carefully weighing the gap between them, he had chosen to give up. Still, his stubborn nature would not allow him to directly speak words of submission.

A nearly imperceptible trace of satisfaction flashed through Adams's eyes.

He said with complete confidence, "You will never get that chance."

The brief confrontation came to an end.

Adams rose to his feet, naturally wrapping an arm around Stussy's slender waist as he strode toward the stairs leading to the second-floor bedroom.

At the bedroom door.

Stussy turned around. A lingering trace of doubt remained on her exquisite face as those perceptive eyes looked directly into Adams's.

"Do you really trust the three of them? Cipher Pol... from the moment they can remember, they have been branded to give everything to the World Government, including their lives."

Adams did not look at her. His voice was as calm as if he were stating an established fact.

"I naturally don't trust them now, but I believe that my future self will definitely make them truly submit."

Stussy sighed softly, her red lips parting as her tone carried a hint of helplessness and incomprehension.

"I really don't know where you get that confidence from..."

"Time will prove it. All right, it's time for you to meet my family."

A certain smile curved Adams's lips. His broad palm was already pressed against the door as he gave it a gentle push.

West Blue, Colombo family headquarters.

A suffocatingly murky air filled the enormous reception room. A massive kerosene lamp illuminated only a small area at the center, casting the seat of honor in a ghastly pallor while the surroundings sank into all-devouring darkness.

A goby fish-man of extraordinary size sat imposingly in the seat of honor.

He was the master of this place, the head of the Colombo family, Colombo Avery.

More than a dozen brawny enforcers stood around him, dressed in bizarre clown outfits with ghastly white paint smeared across their faces. Their gazes were vacant and vicious.

In the room's cold corners, rusty iron cages were stacked one atop another. Inside them, ragged slaves huddled together, their eyes empty and numb.

"G-Godfather..."

A trembling voice shattered the silence. Barton, his entire body wrapped in filthy bandages, lay prostrate on the scarlet carpet before the seat of honor like a lump of rotten mud, shaking like a sieve from fear and pain.

"Y-your subordinate deserves death! This operation... completely failed..."

He swallowed with difficulty, a harsh rasp coming from his throat.

"Y-your subordinate encountered... an extremely troublesome ability user... that man... claimed to be from Egadi..."

Barton's voice was filled with the lingering terror of having survived a disaster.

After being severely wounded by that silver-haired man who seemed like a demon god, he had hidden like a sewer rat for a month. Only by relying on the tenacious vitality of a Zoan had he barely kept himself alive and recovered enough to move, before daring to drag his broken body back to this terrifying den to report.

Avery's enormous body moved. He stood up, and his huge shadow instantly swallowed Barton, who was crawling on the floor.

He walked up to Barton, bent down, and gently patted the bandage-wrapped shoulder with his broad hand, using a force that was almost "gentle."

"Since you ran into an unexpected situation, there was nothing to be done. You did well. Thanks for the effort."