Sakazuki's voice sounded like two slabs of basalt grinding together.
He had only recently been promoted to Vice Admiral. He sat ramrod straight, both hands flat on the table, his fingertips unconsciously pressing against the wood grain.
Had it been him, even with magma's power to burn everything to ash, he could never have penetrated so silently through layer upon layer of Seastone mechanisms and defenses mixed with **-let alone broken into Level 6 head-on.
Tsuru lowered her eyes to the latter half of the secret report. "Approximately two meters sixty tall. Male.
"Deep voice. Estimated age: around thirty-five.
"Highly proficient in Two-Color Haki. Witnesses described his Armament Haki Hardening as 'a cold, dark iron sheen spreading across his skin.'
"Wielded two swords of an undocumented design; also carried a firearm, but did not fire it.
"His close-quarters moves were concise, mostly using joint locks and instantaneous bursts of power to break through encirclements."
She looked up and added, "Some prisoners claimed that when this man approached, certain guards briefly lost focus and afterward could not recall his precise appearance.
"Furthermore, the disappearance of laboratory vessels and some armory stock was unusual-they were not carried away, but seemed to vanish into thin air."
Silence fell on both sides of the long table.
The officers' gazes collided soundlessly in the air, then quickly turned away.
They could dredge up no matching figure from memory.
Someone who combined so many dangerous traits should not have been unknown on these seas.
"According to scattered statements from the rescued prisoners,"
Tsuru continued, a trace of cautious doubt entering her tone, "the white-robed man's primary target appeared to be Shiki.
"But we all know that Shiki's temperament inclines him toward maintaining relationships through fear rather than loyalty.
"Would someone with such strength and planning ability