One Piece: Burning the Sun God to Ash

"Give me a ship! Hurry!!!!"

"I want a ship!"

"I want a ship!!!!!!"

His bloodshot eyes bulged from their sockets as he shouted incoherently.

Like a man about to fall into a bottomless abyss, he clutched at what he thought was a lifeline.

But unfortunately, his luck was terrible… because the one he ran into was...

The nearby Marines, having finished their battle, surrounded him, leaving no room to escape. They were completely unmoved by the pirate captain's pleas.

"Nobody move!"

"Aren't you Marines supposed to be just?!"

"Don't you care about the kid in my hands?!"

"Give me a ship! Hurry!!!!"

The pirate captain looked at the soldiers encircling him as if he were staring death in the face. Fear surged through him, pushing him to the brink of collapse.

"You want a ship?"

A towering figure nearly three meters tall appeared.

The surrounding soldiers silently stepped aside to make way for this figure.

"Y-Yes!!!"

The pirate captain swallowed hard, staring at Sakazuki's imposing form, and forced himself to speak.

"Give me a ship!"

Sakazuki slowly raised his arm and extended one finger. The clueless pirate captain, trying to refocus on his goal, shouted again.

"Just give—!"

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Two faint slicing sounds cut through the air.

Suddenly, both of the pirate captain's arms exploded into blood mist.

"AAAAAHHHH!!!!"

He screamed in agony.

And it wasn't over yet. The moment his arms burst—

Swish! x3

Three officers used "Soru."

They appeared in front of and to the left and right of the pirate captain.

The one in front crouched down and caught the child.

The two officers on either side pressed their hands on the captain's shoulders.

At the same time, they kicked the fronts of his knees.

Crack!

Both of his lower legs snapped forward at a ninety-degree angle at the knees!

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!"

"Cough... cough!!"

The Marine holding the child then casually picked up a rock from the ground.

After the pirate captain's legs were broken—

He shoved the rock straight into the captain's mouth.

"Report!"

"Rear Admiral Sakazuki."

"All pirates have been eliminated or captured."

"Battle complete."

"Awaiting your orders!!"

After delivering the final blow to the pirate captain, the officer who had rescued the child turned to report to Sakazuki.

"Some of you start sorting the supplies."

"Once inventory is complete, escort the pirates and supplies to town."

"The rest of you—put out the fire."

"Yes, sir!!"

Sakazuki gazed toward the town where thick smoke still billowed and began issuing orders.

He then led the remaining forces toward the town to rescue civilians.

...

The town before them was engulfed in flames.

Ruins and rubble lay everywhere, corpses of civilians scattered about—there wasn't a single living soul in sight.

As the Marines arrived, the inferno was quickly extinguished.

Some civilians who had been hiding cautiously poked their heads out when they saw the rapidly dying flames.

"The..."

"The Marines are here!!"

"Uwaaahhhhh!!!!"

"Finally...!!"

As wails of grief broke out,

More and more hiding civilians began to emerge, revealing themselves.

It was as if they had finally found a pillar of strength. Everyone burst into loud, uncontrollable sobs, as though trying to purge this nightmare from their hearts.

Sakazuki had witnessed scenes like this far too many times over the years. He could only sigh silently.

His expression remained cold and stern as he continued directing the rescue operation.

Most of the soldiers had personally experienced similar events. Every time they saw such scenes, their eyes would turn red.

Once the civilians had let out enough of their emotions, Sakazuki ordered the sorted supplies to be distributed to the survivors.

Life had to go on...

As for the pirate prisoners, they were led to a spacious open area.

Once the soldiers forced them all to kneel in rows, Sakazuki handed each surviving civilian a blade.

"Please... please spare me!!!"

"I'll never do it again!!!"

"Please, I beg you, don't kill me! My child hasn't even learned to walk yet!!!!"

"I swear I'll turn over a new leaf!!!"

"Sob sob sob sob!!"

"I know where the captain's treasure is! Spare me!!"

"Let me go! It's all yours!!!!!!"

Pleading voices echoed nonstop, but in the ruins behind them, those words felt weak and meaningless.

The civilians gripping their blades remembered how just yesterday their families and friends were turned into severed limbs.

Hatred swelled within them. Eyes red with fury, they stared down the begging pirates.

Slash! Slash! Slash!...

The sound of blades cutting into flesh rang out endlessly.

At that moment, a small figure caught Sakazuki's attention.

A boy, just over half a meter tall,

Clutched a long blade and aimed it at the pirate captain.

His eyes burned with hatred, but he couldn't muster the courage to strike.

The pirate captain noticed the boy's hesitation.

With the rock still stuffed in his mouth, his face twisted grotesquely, and he lunged slightly toward the boy.

The boy flinched in fear, his hand loosening—the blade was about to fall.

But just then, a large hand reached out and firmly held the boy's tiny hand on the hilt.

"Look over there."

Sakazuki appeared beside the boy, crouching down as he gripped the child's small hand to steady the blade. His deep voice rumbled.

He pointed toward a section of collapsed ruins.

There lay the graves of the boy's parents, friends, neighbors, and many kind elders from the town.

The boy could no longer hold back:

"AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!"

He let out a guttural cry of anguish and glared hatefully at the pirate captain.

Sakazuki guided the boy's hand, pushing the long blade forward. One strike... then another... a third... No one knew how long it went on.

Eventually, the boy's body went limp, and he collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

Only then did he realize the Marine who had been holding his hand had quietly walked away at some point.

And the pirate captain before him... had long since stopped breathing.

...

"What's the situation?"

"Reporting to Rear Admiral Sakazuki."

"All personnel have been located and rescued. Supplies have been sorted and distributed."

Sakazuki walked at the front, officers flanking him on either side.

They made their way from the town back toward the coast as Sakazuki asked the officer to his right.

"Form up. We move to the next—"

He nodded slightly and was about to give the next order when, suddenly, Sakazuki stopped and turned to look behind him.

Everyone followed his gaze.

They saw a young boy, panting, dragging a long blade as he ran toward them. When he saw Sakazuki had stopped, he picked up the pace.

"Huff... huff... huff..."

Clang!

He finally reached Sakazuki and tossed the blade to the side.

Thud!

He dropped to his knees, then slammed his head onto the stone road.

Crack!

The sound rang out as he raised his head—his forehead already a bloody mess.

"Please let me join the Marines."

"Admiral-sama!"

The boy looked up at Sakazuki with firm resolve and shouted.

"I'm no 'Admiral-sama.'"

Sakazuki stared at the kneeling boy. His voice rumbled low as he asked:

"Besides..."

"Give me a reason."

"I want to..."

"Sob..."

Hearing Sakazuki's question, the boy seemed to recall something, and tears welled up in his eyes.

"I want to..."

"Sob... sob..."

The boy tried to keep his expression firm, but in the end... he couldn't hold it anymore...

"I want to kill every last pirate in the world!"

"Uwaaaaahhhhhh!!!!"

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