In the town.

Thud, thud, thud...

Kuzan walked alone down the street, a bag slung over his shoulder. For some reason, he veered off the main path and into a deserted dead-end alley.

"Come out. You’ve been following me the whole way."

Kuzan stopped and turned around, speaking to the empty air with a stoic expression. A wisp of white frost drifted from his body, and the temperature in the alley plummeted instantly.

A second later, a man clad in black robes leaped silently from a nearby rooftop, landing across from Kuzan.

"Kuzan-san, I am a Level 3 Intelligence Officer from the Chris Investigation Bureau!" The man shivered, partly from the cold and partly from a tremor of fear he couldn’t quite suppress. Facing a monster who was once a Marine Admiral would make anyone nervous.

"Oh? The Chris Investigation Bureau? I thought..." Kuzan gave the man a surprised look, cutting his sentence short.

"I understand, Kuzan-san. This is my Captain’s Den Den Mushi. He wishes to speak with you for a moment." The hooded man held out a small snail adorned with golden earrings.

"He’s here too?" Kuzan’s eyelid twitched as his expression turned grim. After a moment’s hesitation, he reached out and took the receiver.

...

On the dunes on the other side of Secon Island.

CLANG—!

With the sharp ring of metal on metal, a Seastone jitte was sent flying into the air.

"Tekkai!"

A Marine Rear Admiral braced himself, his body glowing with a faint, hard luster.

BOOM—!

Zephyr closed the distance instantly. His fist, hardened by Armament Haki, slammed mercilessly into the officer’s abdomen.

"Urgh..." The Rear Admiral stood no chance. His eyes rolled back into his head, his gaze losing focus as he collapsed onto the sand.

"Your Justice... is useless!"

"Justice! Freedom! You all need to start over from scratch!"

Zephyr roared at the empty air, as if reliving a bitter memory. He stood alone amidst a field of fallen Marines.

"You’re right! Justice? Freedom? Might makes right. That’s the only truth!"

A voice suddenly rang out from above, and a massive shadow blotted out the setting sun. Zephyr’s expression shifted as he looked up. A colossal black warship was hovering two hundred meters in the air, slowly descending toward the open ground nearby.

THOOM—!

The massive vessel touched down on the dunes like a predatory beast, radiating a murderous aura.

"That’s... the Chris!"

Seeing the black wolf figurehead and the specific markings on the sails, Zephyr’s pupils shrank. He recognized it instantly.

"Heh heh heh... Zephyr-san, it’s been a while. Last time you visited my home, I wasn’t there to greet you. It was terribly rude of me!" Aeridar stood at the railing of the Chris, looking down at "Black Arm" Zephyr with a mocking, savage grin. "This time, I hope you’ll stay so I can show you some proper hospitality!"

Beside him, Gilbert Arlan wore a smile, but his eyes were ice-cold. "Indeed. You left in such a hurry last time, Zephyr-san. I didn’t get to entertain you. This time, we’ll make sure you’re well taken care of."

Dimitri and the other officers lined up, staring down Zephyr with predatory intensity.

Zephyr’s heart sank. He had outsmarted the Navy and evaded Cipher Pol, only to be cornered by a pack of pirates.

"Hmph. A bunch of brats. Just because you’ve run wild in the New World for a few years, you think you can be this arrogant?" Zephyr snorted dismissively.

"Z-sensei!" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

With the sound of hurried footsteps, Ain and Binz arrived with nearly two thousand Neo Marine elites.

Suddenly, Aeridar frowned. He scrutinized Zephyr for a few moments, his face darkening. "You... you used all those serums?"

"Ah... that’s right. They were surprisingly effective. The XT Serum! A single dose creates a ’superman’ with a Doriki over 500. I didn’t expect you to be hiding such treasures!" Zephyr grinned, his voice full of satisfaction. "My body hasn’t felt this light in years!"

"What?!"

"You bastard! You used up the XT Serum!"

"You damn old geezer!"

Dimitri and the others were livid. As core executives, they knew exactly how precious the XT Serum was. Its potency was several times that of the SS Serum; it could maintain cellular activity and repair old injuries. Even in old age, it allowed a warrior to maintain their peak physical strength.

Even they were only allowed one injection a month. For this old man to have used the entire stock was a sickening waste.

"Fine! Then I’ll see just how much of your peak strength you’ve recovered, ’Black Arm’ Zephyr!" Aeridar’s face was a mask of cold fury. He was done talking.

Pop~

Aeridar vanished. Only a slight ripple in the air remained where he had stood. Zephyr’s brow arched as his left arm turned obsidian-black, bracing it across his chest.

CRACK—!

Aeridar reappeared instantly, slamming a fist into Zephyr’s arm. The sheer force vibrated through the air, sending a shockwave of wind whistling outward.

"Z-sensei!" Ain and Binz cried out in shock. They hadn’t even seen the man move.

"Heh." Aeridar’s lip curled.

"I don’t go by that name anymore. I am ’Z’!"

Zephyr roared, swinging the massive Battle Smasher on his right arm. It descended toward Aeridar like a falling meteor.

KABOOM—!

The earth trembled. A ring of air exploded outward, kicking up tons of sand as the Smasher carved a massive crater into the dune.

Standing ten meters away, Aeridar sneered. "A toy laced with Seastone. Its destructive power is decent, but something that clunky will never keep up with my speed!"

The moment the words left his lips, Aeridar was in Zephyr’s face again. His right leg whipped out like a blade, aimed straight for Zephyr’s head.

THUD!

Air surged and sand swirled. Zephyr used the Smasher as a shield, catching Aeridar’s roundhouse kick. "You’re just another Ability User," Zephyr growled. "Don’t rely too much on your Devil Fruit in front of me!"

"Heh... as expected of the former Chief Instructor of the Navy Headquarters. But my martial art isn’t half bad either!" Aeridar grinned savagely.

He kicked off, soaring into the air, and delivered a lightning-fast descending kick. The force was so great it compressed the air into a physical weight.

SHING—!

A massive, crescent-shaped air blade shrieked downward, seemingly tearing the atmosphere apart.

BOOM!

Dust clouded the air as the sand was split open, leaving a deep fissure dozens of meters long.

"Hiss... what a powerful Rankyaku!" Ain, Binz, and the rest of the Neo Marines gasped, staring in horror at the bottomless trench.