West Blue, in a rather lawless town.
Gang warfare and illegal dealings ran rampant, and pirates were often spotted.
Human traffickers also operated in the shadows.
This small town was a microcosm of West Blue, and even the entire world.
"Caw!"
A harsh cry rang out now and then.
On branches and rooftops, several crows looked around, shifting their bodies.
A few circled overhead.
They were unremarkable. The townspeople had even grown accustomed to them and paid them little attention.
In this lawless town, bloodshed was commonplace. Any given alley might have a few corpses lying in it.
And those corpses were a feast for the crows.
Late at night, when no one was around, the crows that had remained still during the day would swarm over them. In just a few minutes, an intact corpse would be picked clean.
They were the cleaners of this lawless town, so usually, no one bothered to dispose of the bodies.
At most, they would drag them into a corner somewhere, out of the way.
Anyone who made a point of observing the number of crows in town would have noticed that their population had increased far beyond what was normal.
If they gathered together, it might have been obvious.
But they were scattered throughout the town.
A gleam of intelligence shone in each crow's eyes.
Without anyone noticing, the crows gathered in blind spots, eerily merging into one.
When all the crows had fused together, their form suddenly changed.
They became a man draped in a black robe, Kaz's face hidden beneath the shadow of his hood.
He had short purple hair and deep azure eyes, with a scarf wrapped around his head and neck and his upper body bare.
Just moments earlier, Kaz had split his body into hundreds upon thousands