First contact

West Blue, Navy 101st Branch Base.

This military fortress, situated beside a treacherous bay, resembled a steel behemoth crouching along the coastline, ever vigilant over the vast waters known as the "most chaotic sea."

The commander's office at the highest point of the base offered an excellent view overlooking the entire naval harbor and part of the open sea.

On the heavy desk, aside from mountains of documents and a Golden Den Den Mushi, the most conspicuous object was an exquisite glass sphere with a miniature warship floating inside.

The branch's highest-ranking officer, Rear Admiral Bastille Raymont, stood gazing out the window.

He was a towering man, nearly three meters tall. Even the white Navy coat with "Justice" printed across its back could not fully conceal the contours of the knotted muscles beneath it. He had a weathered, square face and a hard jawline. A faint scar ran from his left brow to his cheek, lending him an added air of menace.

At that moment, his thick brows were tightly knitted. Between his fingers was an encrypted briefing just delivered by the intelligence department. Through concise wording and blurry long-distance images, it described an unbelievable "giant metal snake" that had appeared above the Kingdom of Bernia.

"The ability to control metal... a suspected Devil Fruit awakening? Or some unknown technology?" Rear Admiral Raymont murmured, his voice like two slabs of granite grinding together. "Bernia... a kingdom with a weak military and severe infighting among its nobles, barely maintaining its standing as an affiliated nation by paying an enormous 'Heavenly Tribute'... when did someone like this emerge there?"

His keen instincts told him this was far from ordinary. Such a demonstrative display of power would inevitably come with a change in power and a drastic upheaval in the situation. Any upheaval could affect West Blue's already fragile balance, and even impact the Navy's arrangements here.

"Buru buru buru." The internal communications Den Den Mushi on the desk rang.

"Speak," Rear Admiral Raymont said in a deep voice, drawing back his gaze.

"Reporting, Rear Admiral!" The Den Den Mushi mimicked the communications officer's meticulous expression. "Captain Valentine has urgent military intelligence to report and is waiting on the first floor. He has also brought something... you may need to examine personally."

"Send him up." Raymont was brief.

Before long, steady, forceful knocks came from outside the office.

"Come in."

The door opened, and a lean, fit Marine Captain with a stern face and a saber at his waist strode inside.

He was Rear Admiral Raymont's adjutant, Carl Valentine.

He first stood at attention and saluted, then placed a thin folder and a long object wrapped in standard Navy canvas on the desk.

"Rear Admiral," Valentine's voice retained a soldier's stiff formality, but deep in his eyes was a gravity he could scarcely conceal,

"This is an expedited report sent through encrypted channels by Lieutenant Colonel Strawberry, who is stationed along Route 13 outside the Kingdom of Bernia. This came with it." He pointed at the long package.

Rather than touch the report first, Rear Admiral Raymont turned a sharp gaze on the package. "What is this?"

"A sword, Rear Admiral." Valentine stepped forward and deftly undid the ties of the canvas wrapping, revealing what lay within.

It was a standard-issue longsword of simple design, without any unnecessary decoration. Its scabbard was made of ordinary hardwood, but the workmanship of its guard and hilt showed an extraordinary fineness, with a cold metallic sheen faintly playing over them.

"During a routine inspection at sea a month ago, Lieutenant Colonel Strawberry intercepted a merchant ship suspected of smuggling," Valentine began his report at a steady pace. "Aboard it, they discovered large quantities of standard-issue blades like this one. Following... er, 'customary practice,' after the necessary 'outstanding taxes and fees' had been paid, the lieutenant colonel's subordinates 'happened to take' a crate containing twenty of them as 'evidence.'"

Rear Admiral Raymont grunted noncommittally. When it came to certain unwritten rules, he usually chose to turn a blind eye so long as they did not affect the bigger picture.

Valentine continued, "At first, Lieutenant Colonel Strawberry merely thought these blades were finely crafted and exceptionally sharp, so he equipped several of his personal guards with them."

"However, during a subsequent operation to wipe out the Splitfin Pirates, something unexpected happened."

He paused, seemingly choosing the words to describe that scene that defied common sense. "During the battle, when our soldiers wielding these swords clashed blades with the pirates, they could actually cut straight through the enemy's swords with ease! Their sharpness far exceeded our standard-issue sabers, and even surpassed some fine blades on the level of the 50 Skillful Grade Blades. The battle became almost entirely one-sided, like chopping vegetables."

Rear Admiral Raymont's brows tightened further. Mass-produced, standard-issue blades could reach that level?

"Lieutenant Colonel Strawberry immediately realized these weapons were no trivial matter, and certainly not ordinary contraband."

Valentine lowered his voice slightly. "He tested them himself and ordered me to deliver one to you as quickly as possible. He particularly stressed... that you should personally try channeling Armament Haki into it."

"Channel Haki into it?" A sharp gleam flashed through Rear Admiral Raymont's eyes. He reached out with thick, callused fingers and grasped the sword's hilt.

It felt slightly heavy in his hand, with perfect balance and an excellent grip. It was indeed a fine sword. But those qualities alone hardly warranted such a fuss.

He drew a deep breath and summoned the immense power within him. Pitch-black Armament Haki, like flowing metal, began spreading from his palm, slowly coating the blade.

Yet the instant the Haki touched the blade, undisguisable shock appeared for the first time on Rear Admiral Raymont's normally unruffled face!

Ordinarily, channeling Haki into an ordinary metal weapon, especially a mass-produced, standard-issue weapon, was never an easy process.

Impurities in the weapon's material and tiny flaws in its internal structure would impede the smooth flow of Haki like rocks in a riverbed. The Haki channeled into it would also dissipate relatively quickly, making a powerful coating difficult to maintain for long.

That was why the truly powerful figures on the seas would spare no expense seeking famous swords and treasured blades-only weapons made from special materials and painstakingly forged by master craftsmen could better bear Haki and become extensions of a powerful wielder's body.

But the sword in his hand now... was completely different!

The Haki flowed into the blade with unbelievable smoothness! It was as though he were not struggling against hard metal, but pouring water into a smooth bottle with an enormous capacity!

With almost no resistance at all, the Haki swiftly and evenly permeated every molecular gap throughout the sword!

In just two or three breaths, the entire longsword, from its tip to the end of its hilt, had been covered in a deep, subdued black that seemed capable of absorbing all light!

This was the sign of highly concentrated Armament Haki forming a perfect coating-the appearance of a legendary "Black Blade"!

The office fell deathly silent.

Rear Admiral Raymont stared fixedly at the pitch-black sword in his hand. Feeling the solid, surging power of Haki it held, far beyond what ordinary weapons could bear, the storm raging within him nearly broke through his resolute expression.

He could feel that Haki dissipated astonishingly slowly within this sword. That meant he could expend less Haki to maintain his weapon's strength in battle while unleashing even greater power!

This was no longer merely a "sharp" sword... it was nothing short of a strategic-grade weapon tailor-made for Haki users!

"This... that crate, all twenty swords... do they all have this effect?" Rear Admiral Raymont's voice carried a rasp even he did not notice. He raised his head and fixed his adjutant with a burning gaze.

Valentine nodded emphatically, his expression more solemn than ever. "Yes, Rear Admiral! Lieutenant Colonel Strawberry's preliminary tests showed that all twenty swords in that crate possessed nearly identical, exceptionally outstanding Haki conductivity and capacity!"

He drew a deep breath and delivered even more alarming news. "Furthermore, according to the commander who conducted the inspection, when he recalled it afterward, weapons like these... filled more than half the cargo hold at the bottom of the ship! Their exact number is difficult to estimate!"

Rear Admiral Raymont's pupils abruptly contracted.

Mass-produced... standard-issue weapons that could perfectly bear Haki?! The implications sent a chill through even him, a Navy rear admiral. If such weapons flooded the market, or even found their way into the hands of certain hostile forces...

"Their source!" Rear Admiral Raymont's voice suddenly turned stern. "Have you discovered where these weapons came from?"

Clearly prepared for this, Valentine stepped forward, picked up the intelligence briefing about the "Steel Snake" from the desk, and placed it beside Strawberry's report.

"After making his preliminary assessment of these weapons' importance, Lieutenant Colonel Strawberry avoided alerting the other party. Instead, he ordered his subordinates to secretly monitor the merchant ship's original route and contacts. After a month of patient surveillance and preparations, they successfully intercepted the merchant again as he attempted to transport a second shipment."

Valentine's fingertip tapped the briefing. "After the use of certain... 'necessary measures,' the merchant finally gave an honest account of where the weapons came from."

His finger finally came down hard on the name "Kingdom of Bernia" in the briefing, and on the blurry yet heart-stopping image of the "giant metal snake" beside it.

"All the leads ultimately point here-the Kingdom of Bernia, the Silver Capital. And judging by the timeline, these weapons appeared at almost exactly the same time as that 'Steel Snake.'"

The office fell silent again, with only the faint sounds of waves and soldiers calling out drills coming through the window. Sunlight streamed through the window onto the pitch-black longsword in Rear Admiral Raymont's hand, yet seemed to be swallowed by that profound blackness, without a trace of light reflected.

Rear Admiral Bastille Raymont slowly set the Black Blade on the desk with a dull thud.

He rose and walked to the window again, looking out over the boundless waters of West Blue with their hidden, surging currents. His gaze seemed intent on piercing space to look directly at the kingdom undergoing drastic change.

"Bernia... the 'Steel Snake'... a factory capable of mass-producing 'Black Blades'... the Devil Fruit User Aaron Boer." He quietly repeated these key terms, the scar on his face looking increasingly fierce in the light and shadow.

"It seems we need to make formal 'contact' with this mysterious Mr. Boer."