PIRATES: I WORK IN NAVY FROM NINE TO FIVE

Ten minutes after the heavens and sea were torn asunder, the chaos finally began to settle.

The overwhelming waves gradually receded.

The sky, once split down the middle, and the ocean, once gashed like an open wound, both returned to their calm, natural state.

But for those standing on the deck of the Marine warship, peace brought no relief—only dry throats and a haunting silence.

They had all witnessed slashes before.

But that one slash from Luo Yu? That wasn't a technique. It was a force of nature.

It made everything they'd previously seen feel like children play-fighting with wooden swords.

If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, none of them would have believed that a single, casual sword strike could reach so far, cut so deeply, and cause such devastation.

"Admiral Luo Yu, we've located Blackbeard's group," Ain reported hastily, approaching him. "They're alive, but their injuries are severe. Ace is fine, though—CP0 saved him."

CP0?

Luo Yu took a swig from his flask and looked toward the shattered raft now drifting nearby, where several mummified figures lay bound in layers of bandages. Even Blackbeard was wrapped like a triple-layer rice dumpling.

The moment he spotted Luo Yu, Blackbeard ignored his pain, struggling to rise as he roared:

"No! That's impossible! There should only be one Dark-Dark Fruit in the entire world! What kind of power did you just use?!"

"Tell me—tell me what it was! And I'll tell you a secret! A massive secret about Ace!"

To Blackbeard, the Dark-Dark Fruit was everything.

He'd spent decades hiding aboard Whitebeard's ship, waiting for it.

He'd murdered a brother to obtain it.

And during his battle with Ace, he'd felt triumphant—invincible.

But in front of Luo Yu?

He was utterly powerless.

And that final slash Luo Yu had unleashed…

Blackbeard felt like he was going to cough up blood just thinking about it.

"A secret?" Luo Yu walked to Blackbeard's stretcher, voice calm and indifferent. "The only thing I'm interested in is how many millions you're worth."

"As for secrets—meh. Not my business."

He looked down with an almost bored expression and added:

"Anyone with eyes could see the ability I used is the same as yours."

"Yours is... support-type. Mine's attack-type."

"Or maybe yours is the female version, and mine's the male. Guess the difference in sex explains the power gap."

"Support" and "attack"? "Female" and "male"!?

Blackbeard's mind almost snapped.

"No… I refuse to believe Devil Fruits come in male and female types!!!"

Thud!

He screamed the words, and then—collapsed backward with eyes wide open, foaming slightly at the mouth as he fainted dead away.

Everyone stood dumbfounded.

Tina and the others were stunned speechless.

But worse—the seed had been planted.

Could Devil Fruits really have genders...?

Otherwise, how could Blackbeard's Dark-Dark Fruit pale so completely in comparison to Luo Yu's?

Of course, Luo Yu had no interest in clearing up their confusion.

His gaze shifted from the unconscious Blackbeard to the bloodstained, ash-covered figure of Spandine nearby—before finally landing on Portgas D. Ace.

"It would've been better if you'd died just now."

Ace stiffened.

The bitter retort on his lips died instantly. His shoulders slumped as he sighed and replied hoarsely:

"Can you kill me, then?"

Those nearby froze.

The atmosphere instantly shifted.

Luo Yu's words… and Ace's response…

The entire exchange felt like they were speaking on a completely different wavelength than the rest of the world.

Smoker, Tina, and the others tensed. All of them instinctively looked toward Luo Yu.

Would he really kill Ace now?

"You can't!" Spandine cried out, panicking. "You're the Fourth Admiral—you can't kill Fire Fist Ace! You can't kill me either! I'm with CP0! You've already hit me once!"

By the end, he was nearly groveling.

Anything to avoid Luo Yu coming at him again.

"Relax," Luo Yu said with a soft chuckle, draining another swig. "That one's a bonus target. I won't kill him."

"As for you… You're what we call a walking paycheck."

"A what…?" Spandine blinked, dumbstruck.

"A 'wealth-delivering child.'"

The title stunned him.

It sounded like praise… but also not.

Something about it made his back itch with discomfort.

And just when the tension was thick enough to choke on—

A pillar of golden light descended from the sky.

It shimmered and condensed until forming the figure of a familiar man in sunglasses and a gaudy yellow coat.

"Yo yo, Admiral Luo Yu," Borsalino (Kizaru) greeted lazily, "Rear Admiral Tina contacted me, told me to link up with you here."

"So Blackbeard's here too? Perfect. Saves me the trouble of chasing him down for Sengoku-san."

His tone was breezy as ever, but when his eyes caught the blackened, bruised, bandage-wrapped wreck lying on the stretcher—

His laid-back smile stiffened.

"Uh… Luo Yu-dono, you're not gonna tell me that… this dumpling here is Blackbeard?"

"Cough cough, Admiral Kizaru," Luo Yu said, patting him on the shoulder. "Everyone can vouch—it was Blackbeard who struck first. I only slashed him once. Just the one time."

"When you report back, make sure you tell Sengoku. Otherwise I'll have a hard time collecting my bonus."

Just one slash…?

Kizaru glanced again at the unconscious Blackbeard.

His cheek twitched uncontrollably.

He really wanted to ask: "What kind of slash does that!?"

How powerful did a blade need to be to reduce a future Warlord of the Sea to this sorry state with a single cut?

Still, now that it was done, he wasn't about to complain. Less work for him.

Three days later — Marineford, the entrance to Navy Headquarters.

A pirate ship, flying a Jolly Roger, brazenly sailed into the heart of the Navy's territory.

Rear Admiral Kibin, stationed at the harbor, turned an alarming shade of blue.

"Rear Admiral Kibin! What kind of pirate has the guts to sail straight into Marineford!?"

"Don't they fear being obliterated by the full might of the Navy?!"

The young recruit's outrage was palpable.

To him, Marineford represented absolute justice. A pirate ship entering here was an act of unspeakable blasphemy.

"Quiet!" Kibin snapped. "You're a rookie—you don't understand!"

"That's one of the Donquixote Pirates' ships—the family of Warlord Heavenly Yaksha Doflamingo."

"This isn't something we can handle. Notify Vice Admiral Tsuru. Immediately!"

As a Rear Admiral, Kibin knew full well what it meant for Doflamingo's ship to be this bold.

But just as he finished speaking—

His own body moved on its own.

Without thinking, his right hand seized the katana at his waist—and slashed toward the young recruit next to him.