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When Rojen's crew stepped out toward the mouth of the alley, there was now a round, black bundle in Crocodile's hand, fresh blood seeping through the cloth.
The men in black suits had tried to take a shortcut through the narrow passages, hoping to reach the exit quickly. Yet because of that very choice, not a single soul had discovered their deaths.
After walking only a dozen meters, the crew split into two groups.
Rojen and Trens headed toward the shipyard, while the others made their way to the port.
Five minutes later--
"Tom San."
Rojen, with Trens at his side, entered the shipwright's office. Bloodstains still streaked the wooden floor, and Franky had already been sent to the hospital.
"You…"
Tom froze, his hands trembling slightly as he looked at Rojen in shock and suspicion.
"Tom San, that vile man will never trouble you again, not in this lifetime," Trens said lightly, a thin smile tugging at his lips.
"You… you killed him?"
Tom sucked in a breath of cold air. His eyes widened as he stared at the two, disbelief tightening his chest.
"We only knocked on the door, that's all," Rojen replied calmly, smiling faintly.
Tom stared once again at the pair standing before him. And in that moment, his understanding of their courage, no, of their very nature, shifted completely.
Spandam was no ordinary man. Weak in body, yes, but cloaked in the mantle of the World Government. That authority alone gave him an untouchable arrogance, allowing him to sneer at anyone without consequence. Most would never even dare think of raising a hand against him.
Power itself carries a weight. It smothers like a shadow no one bares teeth against.
When Qin Wuyang drew his blade at thirteen, he was ferocious and unstoppable, but when that same man stood grown within the palace of Qin, before King Ying Zheng, his breath faltered. Was that weakness? No. It was the invisible weight of power, pressing down mercilessly, stripping strength even from those who had shed rivers of blood.
That deterrence cannot be described in words. Seen from afar, it feels like nothing. But when face to face with it, it suffocates you, pressing down on your heart, making even breath itself a struggle, forcing you to measure the depth of your own courage.
Most lack the Haki, the will, the spirit, to resist this weight.
But this man, Rojen, and his crew…
Tom finally understood what he was staring at.
This was the courage of beasts.
To strike at the World Government itself, then dismiss it as just knocking on a door!
What madness! What kind of audacity was this!?
"What exactly… are you trying to do?" Tom asked, voice low, uncertainty giving way to unease. He was not a naïve man. No one would believe they had struck down the World Government with no greater plan.
"To do something big."
Rojen answered him with a smile, as if saying something as simple as ordering breakfast.
Tom drew in another long breath, steadying himself, suppressing the storm inside his chest. Finally, he turned his gaze back down to the intricate blueprints spread across his desk.
"Since you've done this… you can't remain here. You must leave immediately. Let me at least explain this blueprint to you."
"My time is short as well." Rojen nodded in understanding.
Tom began his explanation, tracing lines with his thick fingers across the sketches of hulls and frames. As he spoke, Rojen's smile widened. With each detail revealed, from hidden compartments to defensive plating, his excitement only grew stronger.
Meanwhile, at Water 7's port, a different storm brewed.
A group of masked giants marched up the docks, heavy footsteps shaking the planks.
"Raise anchor! Prepare to set off!"
Jason pulled down his mask, his booming voice echoing across the waters.
Behind him, the Dragon-Elephant Five leapt aboard in swift succession, their movements quick and precise.
Crocodile stood at the edge, smoke curling from his mouth, eyes fixed ahead. His gaze landed on a ship not far away, its emblem gleaming in the night.
"This is the one, right?"
"That's right." Jason nodded firmly. "The World Government's ship."
"Shall I go, or will you?"
Crocodile asked, his cigar glowing faintly in the night.
"Of course me. You'd only wreck everything," Jason replied, already striding forward with thunderous steps.
Crocodile gave a faint smirk and remained where he was, choosing to watch.
This moment was not for destruction. It was for demonstration.
Jason walked boldly up to the medium-sized vessel, eyes narrowing at the mooring anchor. His lips curled into a cold sneer as he bent low, pressing his massive hands against the hull.
Ka-cha!
In an instant, his hardened fingers pierced straight into the ship's body.
Passersby began to stop, their eyes widening in shock.
"What is he doing?"
"Good lord, his arms… they're in the ship!"
"Wait, that's a World Government vessel! Is he trying to… sabotage it?"
The rising commotion made the stationed soldiers rush down, weapons raised.
"What are you doing?! Step away at once!"
But Jason ignored them. He inhaled deeply, muscles bulging as veins traced across his skin. He buried his arms deeper, his grip locking like iron fangs into the wood and steel beneath.
Then, with a guttural roar that shook the docks, he heaved.
"Up you go, for Father!"
Hong-long-long!
The earth itself seemed to groan. The colossal vessel shuddered violently, water crashing in all directions. And before stunned onlookers could believe their eyes, Jason lifted it.
The medium-sized World Government ship was hoisted clean out of the sea, raised above his head like it weighed nothing more than driftwood. The crowd gasped as if the very air had been ripped from their lungs.
"Ha!" Jason's booming laughter echoed across the harbor like thunder.
Step by step, he carried the impossible weight forward, his shadow blotting out the light of lanterns. He reached the open plaza beside the docks and, with a controlled tremor of his arms, set the massive vessel down upon the stone.
The soldiers scrambled in chaos, clambering across the tilting deck, shouting in panic.
"Who are you?! What do you want?!"
Jason didn't bother answering. Instead, he called out:
"Crocodile!"
At once, the warlord answered. Sand erupted from his presence like a living storm, sweeping across the entire deck. In a single breath, it bound, choked, and silenced every soldier. Their screams cut off as the sand buried them, leaving only silence.
The golden grains swirled together, coiling into a mound at the ship's prow.
Crocodile stepped onto the deck, ash trailing from his cigar. With deliberate calm, he set the severed head he had carried atop the mound.
Shhhhh, The sand shifted and hissed, crafting itself into enormous words that burned into the hearts of all who saw them:
"I've come to knock on the door!"
The crowd erupted in terrified whispers, none daring to step closer.
This was not a battle. It was a declaration.
Rojen had said it clearly, if the rotten World Government hid behind arrogance and intimidation, then he and his crew would knock on their door so loudly that the world could not pretend not to hear.
This act was their voice, their unspoken roar, the vow of a nameless crew still young yet burning with ambition.
Where there is oppression, there will always be resistance.
And if anyone dared to take his companions from him, then let the Evil Ghost knock until heaven itself shook.
By the time the demonstration had ended, Rojen had already boarded The Logan.
"Captain!"
The crew greeted him with eager cries, eyes blazing with excitement. They knew what this meant. From this very moment onward, their name would be engraved into history. The world could no longer ignore them.
"Don't celebrate too early," Rojen replied with a faint smile. "What we do next… will be even grander than this."
"Set off!"
Jason's voice thundered from the captured ship, and a moment later, The Logan roared away from the harbor.
Rojen stood at the rail, gaze fixed on the abandoned vessel now looming over the port, townsfolk swarming around it, murmuring in awe and fear. His eyes shone with a light that seemed to pierce straight into the future.
"To the Heavenly Palace, I'll be the one knocking."
His voice dropped to a cold murmur, but in it was steel that could split the sky.
"Celestial Dragons… Marines… are you ready?"
(End of Chapter)