One Piece: Seeing Proficiency Made Me a Legend

"All hands! Battle formation!"

The Marines moved quickly, surrounding Dongze on every side. Their black gun barrels promised death.

Seeing Jason sneer from the balcony, Dongze laughed.

"Hahaha!"

Jason's face darkened. "Shut up! What's so funny?"

"Did old man Garp put you up to this?"

"You're just a wet-behind-the-ears brat. Why would this Vice Admiral give you special treatment? If you were a pirate, I'd have taken you down already!"

"So this was your own idea?"

"What a shame."

"What's a shame?"

Jason's expression suddenly changed. A crushing force surged toward him like a vast, raging sea, impossible to resist. Dread gripped his heart, and his face went white as paper.

Across the square, the Marines dropped one after another. Within a few breaths, Dongze was the only one left standing.

A terrifying thought seized Jason. Conqueror's Haki!!

"Impossible—"

Folly Had No Cure

Silence fell over Island 65 of the Sabaody Archipelago.

Vice Admiral Jason stood on the balcony overlooking the square. Dongze stood below him, surrounded by unconscious Marines.

"I don't like craning my neck to talk to people. Come down."

At Dongze's cold command, Jason's face changed. The pressure bearing down on him grew even more terrifying. He could almost hear his bones creaking under the strain.

The dread grew worse. In his daze, he seemed to hear someone whispering beside his ear, and a profound terror seized him.

As the Vice Admiral stationed at the Sabaody Archipelago, Jason was no weakling. He had seen Conqueror's Haki before. The archipelago was the last stop on land before the New World, and all kinds of people passed through it.

He had encountered plenty of Supernovas and veteran pirates, including a few powerful figures who possessed Conqueror's Haki.

But Haki this powerful was absurd. Even the legendary Red-Hair couldn't be much stronger than this, could he?

Just then, a creak from beneath his feet made Jason's heart lurch.

Blood surged up his throat.

"Urgh!"

Before he could catch his breath, fear flashed in Jason's eyes. A dense chorus of creaks rose beneath him. The balcony was groaning, and it was about to give way.

"How is this possible?"

Everyone knew Conqueror's Haki overwhelmed opponents through sheer force of presence. Jason had thought the intense pressure he felt earlier was only his imagination.

Looking at the balcony beneath his feet, he knew now that it had been real.

But how could Dongze's Conqueror's Haki be this strong? Jason could only smile bitterly. Every trace of his earlier contempt had vanished.

Only terror remained.

Meeting Dongze's unreadable gaze below, Jason wanted to ask, Where can I buy a cure for regret? I'll take ten pounds!

Dongze's eyes narrowed. He unleashed another measure of his Conqueror's Haki. Its violent force whipped up a whirlwind around him, then erupted beneath his feet like a bomb.

The balcony beneath Jason shattered under the force.

Jason cried out as the balcony crashed to the ground. The thunderous impact alerted the Marines guarding the gate.

They rushed in, only to stop dead at the sight before them.

Dongze, who had entered moments ago, stood alone in the square. The other Marines lay sprawled across the ground, their eyes rolled back. They were clearly unconscious.

And their strongest fighter, Vice Admiral Jason, was in an even more wretched state.

He lay in a heap of rubble like a dead dog, his eyes still filled with lingering terror.

It was as if he had seen the end of the world.

Robin entered with the Marines. Her expression shifted, and she glanced toward Enel.

"Hey, lightning guy! What happened to them?"

Enel chuckled. "A bunch of idiots picked a fight with the boss. I'm starting to wonder if they really belong to the same organization as that ice guy we met earlier."

"And?"

"The boss took them out in an instant. Knocked them unconscious with sheer force. The one lying in the rubble was the loudest of the lot. I bet Dongze chops him to pieces next!"

Remembering the scene sent a chill over Enel's scalp. For a long time, Dongze had never used Conqueror's Haki in a fight.

In fact, Enel had never seen Dongze use anything like it since they met.

One look had floored nearly eight hundred people. Enel had almost pissed himself.

He had thought Dongze had invented another bizarre move. Killing people with a glare? Whoever he looked at dropped dead? How the hell was anyone supposed to deal with that?

Only when Jason named Conqueror's Haki did Enel begin to understand. So that was the most mysterious of the three kinds of Haki. He had thought Dongze couldn't use it. Clearly, he had been wrong.

After calming down and taking a closer look, he realized the Marines weren't dead. They had only passed out.

Only then did Enel dare come in. If Dongze had killed them with a glare, Enel would have run for his life. Who knew whether Dongze might glare at him too if he was in a bad mood?

"Heh."

"I can't believe someone like you became a Vice Admiral."

"Stupidity is a disease with no cure."

"And yours looks terminal."

Dongze walked slowly toward the Vice Admiral, a strange note in his voice.

Jason heard the mockery in Dongze's words. His face flushed with embarrassment, and he tried to rise.

"You—"

A fresh wave of pressure slammed down on him, forcing him back onto the ground.

"Did I say you could get up?"

Jason's chest tightened, and he spat out another mouthful of blood.

"Vice Admiral!"

"Dongze, what are you doing?"

The Marines who had been guarding the gate saw Jason lying there barely conscious and moved to rush over.

Lightning flashed around Enel, and in the next instant, he stood in their path.

"Nobody moves!"

The sight of Enel wreathed in lightning struck fear into the Marines. Dongze might not be famous, but Enel was another matter. Word of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit user had spread across the surrounding seas.

"Enel, what are you doing?"

"Saving your lives, you stupid monkeys. Isn't it obvious what's going on? Rush over there and you'll get yourselves killed!"

The Marines exchanged glances and fell silent. None of them were fools. They had moved forward only because they feared Jason would make their lives miserable later. Now that they had an excuse, they had no intention of pressing on.

Their reaction caught Enel off guard. He had thought they would keep charging. He would never have guessed what they were thinking.

Enel, you really were a little naive.

"I don't know where you got the nerve to stand there spouting nonsense and demand that I apologize to people who help the wicked. Does protecting that scum and doing their dirty work make you feel superior?"

"Or have you forgotten the ironclad rule of the sea—that the strong reign supreme?"

As he spoke, Dongze lifted Jason with one hand. "I can't kill you here and now. But sometimes living is worse than dying."

The moment the words left his mouth, a tiny, invisible sword emerged from empty space and shot into Jason's mind.

"Aaaah!"

Three breaths later, Dongze released Jason and called Robin and Enel to leave with him.

The Marines hurried over to Jason, whose body was still twitching. After a quick check, they found that he was unharmed, merely unconscious, and quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

The Marines scattered around the square gradually woke. Remembering what had happened, they turned pale and began trembling. They did not even dare utter a threat.

Dongze's Conqueror's Haki had crushed their will.

Unless they overcame the shadow it left behind, they might never be able to raise a gun again.

Enel had no idea what Dongze had done. Once they had left, he grumbled, "Tch. I thought you were going to slaughter them."

A strange look flashed through Dongze's eyes. He chuckled softly. "Heh. Of course not. What kind of person do you take me for?"

Enel felt a chill. You're not? You'd believe me if I said I could do a handstand while taking a shit?

An Unexpected Visitor, Pluton Blocks the Way

"Hey, young man! Need your ship coated?"

Dongze had barely left Island 60 when a fashionable old man with silver hair and a silver beard blocked his path.

The man wore beach clothes, a cape, and sandals—the unmistakable getup of someone important.

Round glasses sat on his nose, and a straight scar ran beside his right eye.

Dongze narrowed his eyes. If this was not the man he remembered as Pluton, Silvers Rayleigh, then who else could it be?

But Rayleigh had appeared the moment Dongze left the Marines' territory. Dongze did not believe for a second that it was a coincidence.

"Were you waiting for me?"

Rayleigh paused. He had not expected those to be Dongze's first words.

He scratched his head awkwardly. "You're joking, young man. I'm just looking for customers."

Dongze's mouth twitched. "At a bridgehead a hundred paces from a Marine base?"

Rayleigh gave a couple of dry laughs. Honestly, he could not keep up the lie.

After a brief silence, Rayleigh said, "You're right. I was waiting for you."

"Dongze, who is he?"

Robin stood behind Dongze. Noticing his reaction, she spoke up.

"The Pirate King, Gol D. Roger's first mate. Pluton, Silvers Rayleigh. One of the few truly powerful people on the sea."

Robin froze, then brightened. "Does he know about the Poneglyphs?"

Rayleigh was just as surprised by Dongze's words. More than a decade had passed since Pirate King Gol D. Roger turned himself in. Since Rayleigh went into hiding, few young people had recognized him.

"Oh? You know me, young man?"

Dongze nodded silently.

"I'd planned to visit you, but I didn't expect you to come see me yourself."

"You came in such a hurry. Something urgent must be on your mind."

Rayleigh narrowed his eyes at Dongze's deduction.

Clearly, Dongze had guessed right.

"Shall we talk as we walk?"

After another moment of silence, Rayleigh replied, "All right."

They walked for a while without Rayleigh saying a word. Dongze began to wonder why the man had been so eager to see him today.

"If you have something to say, say it plainly."

Rayleigh sighed softly.

"All right."