Sabaody Archipelago, Marine Base.
Sephiroth's figure emerged from the Dimensional Door, instantly hovering over the Marine Base playground. His eyes immediately scanned, clearly seeing that in the area of Island 7, towering flames and thick smoke billowed. He obtained this visual information from the bats he had left in the areas of Island 55 and Island 7, which shared his vision. A growl escaped his lips.
"All combatants assemble at the playground!!!" His voice thundered, "Within five minutes, whoever can't get there, let's see how I deal with them!!!"
In the office building, in the communication room, Frank had just hung up the phone. A sigh of relief escaped him as he saw the silver-haired silhouette appear above the playground. As long as Sephiroth showed up on time, everything would be easy. The Marines under his command only needed to handle the aftermath, while the troublesome pirates would be swiftly dealt with by Sephiroth's Butcher Knife.
With his black wings fluttering in the air, Sephiroth watched the Marines rush out one by one towards the playground, forming neat lines. Only then did he swing his Butcher Knife again, opening another Dimensional Door, and in the blink of an eye, arrived at Island 55.
"Hahaha! Brothers, grab all the valuables!"
"Hand over the money quickly, or I'll kill you!"
The dozens of pirates seemed insane, continuously burning, killing, and plundering in the streets. Sephiroth frowned slightly. It had been a long time since he'd encountered such audacious pirates, daring to launch a large-scale plunder. Could it be that his moniker, "Throat-Cutter," was no longer effective? Or perhaps he'd encountered idiots seeking one last thrill before entering the New World?
Suddenly, he saw a uniformed Marine figure appear in the street, holding a long wooden staff, with a steak on his face and sunglasses. The staff was wrapped in dark Armament Haki, dancing deadly, knocking many pirates unconscious with a single blow. It was Vergo. How could this guy be here, wasn't he supposed to be sweeping toilets at the base?
Sephiroth rushed closer to Vergo, while his right hand continued to swing the Butcher Knife, harvesting the lives of the pirates one by one.
"Soldier! Which unit are you from?" Sephiroth asked.
Vergo quickly turned his head and saw the silver-haired youth with black wings extended behind his back. Wasn't Sephiroth supposed to still be at Marineford right now? Why was he back so quickly!? And these pirates... these were pirates specially hired by "young master" to create chaos, just to give me a chance to make a merit! Though his mind was racing, Vergo still saluted the youth.
"Reporting Brigadier General Sephiroth!" he said loudly. "I am Vergo, a recruit in the logistics department, and I was ordered by my superior to go out and buy something, and... I suddenly encountered a pirate attack!"
He was lying! Sephiroth instantly felt Vergo's emotional change through his Observation Haki. This was a trick.
"Do you know the origin of these pirates?"
"I don't know!" Vergo quickly shook his head.
He was still lying. Thinking of Vergo's undercover identity, and the sudden appearance of these pirates, Sephiroth's face remained calm, but his heart was filled with realization. Oh, so you deliberately set all this up for a charade!?
"Recruit, you don't need to participate in the battle with these pirates. Just collect the corpses and handle the aftermath!"
"Report! Brigadier General Sephiroth, I am strong," Vergo retorted, his tone slightly raised.
"Obey orders, otherwise, military law will handle it!"
"Yes!"
Sephiroth's hand flew swiftly with his sword, cutting down all the pirates who were looting the street. Standing beside Sephiroth, Vergo watched as a pirate with a 44 million Belly bounty died with his neck severed by Sephiroth's Butcher Knife. Regret swept over him. Too late! If only I had acted earlier, the merit of capturing that pirate would have been enough to promote me directly from recruit to petty officer. That way, I wouldn't have to clean toilets every day!
After his recruitment period, Vergo was assigned to the logistics department, which strangely meant being responsible for the Marine Base's sanitation. He didn't understand why he was assigned to such a painful position, even though he was clearly the best in fighting, shooting, and physical fitness among all recruits. Every day he had to wallow in piles of filth! He even tried hard to find out the reason. He knew that it was actually Sephiroth, the base commander, who gave him that special position. Vergo scratched his head, puzzled as to why Sephiroth treated him like this. Could that guy be jealous of me? For this reason, he even contacted Donquixote Doflamingo, hoping to find an opportunity to get rid of Sephiroth.
Sephiroth paid no mind to what Vergo was thinking. Strongly flapping his black wings, he crossed the connecting bridge between Island 55 and Island 7. In his Observation Haki, he continuously identified the marauding pirates, cutting them down one by one to their deaths.
Island 7, specifically in the lawless zone, a slum area with large wooden houses, was now engulfed in a raging sea of flames, with thick black smoke continuously billowing high into the sky.
"Put out the fire if it's burning!"
"The pirates are all here to plunder, why are you trying to save them? Run quickly!"
Sephiroth didn't want to keep flying in the air and inhaling the suffocating black smoke. So, he put away his black wings and landed on the ground. With unhurried steps, he walked through the ghetto streets, swinging the Butcher Knife in his hand, indiscriminately cutting down the pirates who were burning and destroying.
"Doflamingo! Truly capable of making a mess," Sephiroth muttered to himself.
Suddenly, he heard the faint cries and whimpers of a girl from a half-collapsed, burning wooden house on the side of the road. Sephiroth frowned slightly. Unconsciously, he put his Butcher Knife into its scabbard and rushed towards the wooden house. Dark Armament Haki enveloped his entire body, resisting the raging flames and scorching heat.
Sephiroth held his breath. Inside the blazing wooden shack, he ran quickly following the direction of the sound, searching every corner. Soon, he saw the body of a middle-aged woman pinned under a pile of collapsed boards and beams, amidst the raging fire. In the woman's arms, there was a girl with orange-red hair who was weeping uncontrollably. Several wooden boards from the roof had caught fire, and the mother had used her body to protect most of the girl's body. However, the girl's right arm and right side of her face were still burned by the flames.
"Mom, it hurts so much!! Woohoohoooo..."
The severe pain from the burns on her body made the girl continue to cry in the burning house. However, her mother, who was pressing down on her body, no longer moved. When the beam fell, the mother had died in an attempt to protect her daughter.
Sephiroth quickly grabbed the burning boards, lifted the large beams of the house, and threw them aside. Immediately afterward, he pulled the girl from her mother's body, hugged her tightly, and rushed out of the fire-engulfed wooden house. The girl's consciousness slowly blurred from inhaling too much smoke, and she fainted.
It was only after he had fully reached the street that Sephiroth could breathe normally again. Looking at the burned girl in his arms, he couldn't help but frown. A steady stream of vitality he channeled from his palm into the girl's body, helping to stabilize her injuries so they wouldn't worsen further.
Sephiroth spent another minute or two ensuring all the rebellious pirates were dead. Only then did he open another Dimensional Door, carrying the girl, and appeared at the Marine Base playground. His eyes glanced at the hundreds of Marines standing tall in the playground. Quickly, he raised the long knife in his hand and pointed it to the other side of the Dimensional Door.
"Everyone!" he commanded sternly, "Go to Island 7 and Island 55 at full speed for post-disaster handling!"
"Yes!" hundreds of Marines shouted in unison.
As soon as the order was given, the already lined-up Marines rushed through the Dimensional Door towards Island 7, where they began to extinguish fires and evacuate the crowds. After all this, Sephiroth, still carrying the orange-red haired girl, stormed into the hospital.
"Brigadier General Sephiroth!"
A medical officer who was about to come over, dressed in a white coat, immediately saluted upon seeing Sephiroth. The silver-haired youth laid the burned girl on the white hospital bed while giving rapid orders:
"Go and prepare me burn plasters, anesthesia, oxygen bottles, ice water, towels...."
"Yes!" the medical officer agreed, and immediately brought some female nurses from the hospital to fetch supplies from the pharmacy next door.
After the medical officer and nurses brought the items, Sephiroth began to clean, peel off dead skin, and bandage the girl. A middle-aged female nurse, who was assisting him, couldn't help but gasp after seeing the large burn scars on the girl's face and right hand.
"Alas~! This child is so cute..... I'm afraid she'll have serious scars on her body after she recovers later, huh?" she sighed.
"Alas."
Hearing that, Sephiroth, who was bandaging the girl's right hand, paused for a moment. He looked at the burn that occupied almost one-third of the girl's arm skin, and mused.
"Her burn scars can still be removed...."
The middle-aged female nurse was slightly startled, opening her mouth. "Brigadier General Sephiroth, this shouldn't be possible, right? No matter how compliant the treatment, it will definitely leave traces."
"I happen to be researching a new beauty ointment recently," Sephiroth replied casually. "If it can be brought out, it should completely heal her burn scars."
"Really? That's great," the nurse was delighted.
"Tell me when she wakes up," Sephiroth instructed. After bandaging the teenage girl, he greeted the middle-aged nurse and left the medical ward.