One Piece : Admiral Falcon is Pissed off again today!

A month later...

Today, Gion arrived alone at the manor serving as the headquarters of the SWORD.

Her main purpose for coming was to deliver a message.

But another reason... was that Michael and his subordinates from the special forces hadn't shown their faces in front of her for an entire month.

Though Gion herself was only twenty-six, she was already starting to feel like a worried, overworked mother.

After all, as the saying goes...

When children are quiet, they're up to no good.

And from its leader to its members, not a single person in this special forces unit was known for being well-behaved!

So she figured it was time to check in.

"Michael? Stella? Are you here?"

A gust of wind swept by, carrying two leaves.

No one responded and Gion's sense of foreboding grew stronger.

Just as she reached out with her long, slender fingers to push open the main gate, a loud explosion echoed from the backyard.

"BOOM!"

A flock of birds took flight, scattering into the sky.

Gion's heart clenched—had something gone wrong?

An attack?

She shook her head and immediately sprinted towards the source of the noise, activating her Observation Haki along the way in case of another strike comes.

When she reached the backyard, she found it completely transformed.

Originally, it had been a massive garden, reportedly built by the gang boss who owned the place to impress his eighteen wives.

But now, it had been converted into a vast, flat training ground.

The secluded manor's privacy was indeed excellent—she hadn't even heard about the renovations.

But as she ventured further in, Gion was met with a scene resembling a battlefield littered with casualties.

Shu hung limply from the lone tree beside the training field like a ragged cloth.

T-Bone stood tall on the training grounds, but he was unconscious, propped up only by his massive sword.

Hina lay face-down on the ground covered in dust with a strange smile on her face.

Her right arm stretched forward, her fingers scrawling the words "RUN AWAY" into the dirt.

Rosinante had it even worse—a half-smoked cigarette dangled from his lips, his clothes torn to shreds as he leaned against a storage crate, his expression so serene it seemed he had ascended to heaven.

Yet on the training field, a few were still conscious.

First was Robin, who clearly hadn't participated in the fight.

Instead, she stood at a distance, using her Flower-Flower Fruit abilities to sprout multiple arms, each jotting down notes in different notebooks.

This level of multitasking was something only someone with Robin's genius-level intellect could pull off.

The second was Stella and Smoker.

Stella and Smoker were both Logia-type Devil Fruit users after all—one was the disciple of the Marine Hero Garp, while the other had served under Aokiji.

Though battered and bruised, they were still holding on stubbornly.

And their opponent… Was a man hovering in midair, his wings fully unfurled.

Pure white Holy Flame drifted around him, yet a violet-black energy crept up his arms, forming intricate patterns along the blade of the sword in his hand.

It was Michael!

But Gion felt as though she was seeing a completely new Michael.

His mastery over Armament Haki was so refined that even she seemed slightly inferior by comparison.

Moreover, the sword in his hand no longer resembled the Supreme Grade Sword "Ace" once wielded by the Pirate King Gold Roger.

'Ace' is a cutlass.

But the sword Michael now held was more akin to T-Bone's massive battleship sword—

Yet slimmer and far more ornate.

Like the weapons described in religious texts, those wielded by angels themselves.

Michael finally spoke.

His very first words were pure mockery!

"Stella and that fool Smoker! You're still far from ready! Even with all of you working together, you couldn't rescue little Robin from me!"

"Boss! Do you even realize how strong you are now?!" Smoker lamented, his voice filled with anguish as he chastised Michael.

"One move! Just one move nearly wiped us all out! Those white flames of yours are ridiculously hot and now you've even developed techniques to make them explode?!"

"If Rosinante hadn't run fast enough, he'd be half-cooked by now!"

Stella's spoke with a calm voice, but Gion could still detect the suppressed frustration towards Michael in her tone.

"No worries, no worries. Even if he were half-cooked, I could probably still save him."

"That 'probably' is exactly what makes us uneasy!"

Michael, watching Smoker's complaints, was about to use another move to give him a proper rest.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, his massive white Wings flapped violently, propelling him backward...

Just then, a golden Flying Slash sliced through the space where Michael had been standing moments before.

Michael's eyebrows shot up and he glared furiously in the direction the attack had come from.

"Hey! Gion! What's with the sneak attack, woman?! We're in the middle of training here! Serious training!"

"Don't mistake me for some pushover! I can be a real handful when I'm angry!"

"Exactly. Isn't this a simulation exercise? Rescuing hostages and such..." Gion's smile carried a hint of mischief as she added.

"Wouldn't it be possible for a passing Marine Vice Admiral to intervene during a mission?"

"...Gion, if you just want to beat me up, just say so."

"Of course I want to beat you up! Do you have any idea how much paperwork I had to deal with during that year and a half you ran off with that old man Garp?! I aged a whole year and a half because of it!"

"Wait... aging a year and a half over a year and a half is just normal! What's the problem with that?!"

"...So now you're calling me old, huh?! Prepare to die, you scoundrel!"

With that, Gion leveled her blade, 'Konpira'.

She unleashed two more Flying Slashes towards Michael, their edges wreathed in Armament Haki.

Michael's body instantly tensed, shifting into full combat stance.

Gion was serious about fighting him!

She was even using Haki-infused Flying Slashes!

Not daring to take her lightly, he mustered every ounce of his strength to block the attacks.

Though they had only exchanged a single move, Stella and Smoker immediately sensed the difference in Michael's demeanor compared to when he had faced them.

None of them had ever pushed Michael into his true combat state.

And Michael's shock was no less than theirs...

For the first time, he realized that a woman's grudge could fester for nearly two years before finally erupting!

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