The meeting concluded, and the attendees began filing out of the room.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"
A Marine Vice Admiral suddenly called out.
Sengoku turned around, curious. "Yes? What is it?"
The rest paused, turning their heads as well.
The Vice Admiral lowered his head, voice choked with emotion. After hesitating, he finally asked, "Is it true… about Vincent?"
Hearing the question, Sengoku slowly removed his glasses and held them in his hand. His fingers trembled slightly, and a complex emotion flickered in his eyes. He replied quietly, "Yes. It's all in the report."
Shutting down any trace of personal sentiment, Sengoku turned and walked away without another word.
The Vice Admiral remained rooted in place, staring at the floor. The others silently departed, offering neither comfort nor conversation.
Some had grown numb to such losses. Others simply didn't care. And a few, like him, buried their grief deep, letting their actions speak louder than sorrow.
This Vice Admiral had faced countless battles. Even when a pirate's blade tore across his chest, he hadn't flinched. But now, tears fell from his eyes. He clenched his fists, shook his head to clear it, wiped away the tears, and left the room with a gaze more resolute than ever.
On the table, someone had forgotten to take a classified intel document. At the bottom was a single, chilling line:
Marine Headquarters Captain Vincent perished in the New World while pursuing the Reaper Pirates. Fell into a trap. Recommend increasing the bounty on Reaper George. Alert all allied personnel.
The sea breeze swept through the room, carrying away the last wisps of grief.
Outside Marineford, countless warships lay docked. Massive cannons lined the fortress walls.
In this era, Marines sacrificed their lives endlessly for peace on the seas.
Some were wounded. Some maimed. Some bled, and wept.
They were the real heroes.
But heroes… are often forgotten.
Still, the departments at Marine Headquarters ran as usual. Officers boarded their ships, venturing out into the deep, unforgiving ocean.
─────────🏴☠️─────────
Sabaody Archipelago – Marine Subdivision Base
In a small office, Luffy and Robin lounged on a sofa, sipping tea and chatting idly.
Before long, the door opened.
A Marine entered, carrying a black briefcase. With a respectful bow, he placed it on the coffee table in front of Luffy.
"Luffy-sama, this is your bounty reward. Please inspect it."
"Haha, no need, no need," Luffy chuckled casually.
He grabbed the case but suddenly shifted tone, grumbling, "But seriously, you guys are so slow. It's been nearly a month, and this is just the first payout."
The Marine quickly apologized. He certainly didn't want to offend this powerful man. "Truly sorry, Luffy-sama. Each bounty needs verification, and the cash must be withdrawn from HQ. There are a lot of bureaucratic steps. But next time, we won't keep you waiting so long."
"Alright then, if there's nothing else, we'll be heading off."
Luffy walked out of the Marine base, carrying his 100 million Berries reward in the black case. Back at the cozy little house he shared with Robin, he opened the case and took out 20 million, handing it to her.
"Robin, can you run an errand for me? Go and grab the latest bounty list. Also—"
He lowered his voice, speaking gently, "If possible, try to find out… anything about the Celestial Dragons."
Robin's pupils contracted, but she nodded. "Understood."
After she left, Luffy was finally alone.
"System, how much gold do I have now?" he asked eagerly.
[Current balance: 1,536,480 gold coins.]
Luffy blinked. He could hardly believe it, had he really gotten this rich without realizing?
Staring at the golden numbers projected onto his retina, he almost didn't dare blink, fearing they'd vanish.
But gold, he knew, was only useful if converted into strength.
"System," he thought, "exchange for one Evolution Gem."
With over 1.5 million gold on hand, Luffy could afford to evolve the X-Gloves twice.
Still, he wanted to test the result of one evolution first.
[Ding! Purchase successful. The Evolution Gem has been placed in your inventory.]
A third of his gold vanished instantly. Just moments ago he'd felt wealthy, clearly, that was a fleeting illusion.
"Money burns fast," Luffy muttered.
He opened his inventory and mentally summoned the Evolution Gem.
A small, pink crystal appeared in his hand. Luffy examined it closely, aside from being pretty, it didn't look much different from a regular diamond.
"System, how do I use this?"
[Simply place the Gem with the item you wish to evolve, then open the Equipment Interface and select 'Evolve'.]
"So I have to use the menu? Got it."
He removed the black gauntlets from his hands, which immediately reverted into simple white gloves.
Laying the gloves beside the gem, he opened the Equipment Interface. As expected, the X-Gloves now had an "Evolve" option.
He willed it into action.
The Evolution Gem lit up with a dazzling white glow, a holy radiance like something out of a divine revelation, enveloping the gloves completely.
The light lasted for over five seconds, filling the entire room.
Strangely, it didn't cause Luffy any discomfort. In fact, he could see the transformation clearly as it unfolded before his eyes.
The cotton gloves shifted back into gauntlet form. The outer shell began to crack under some mysterious power, breaking apart to reveal a new design.
Where once only the fingertips gleamed silver, now all ten fingers shone with that same metallic brilliance. The signature "X" on the back shattered, then reformed, reborn in the center as a sky-blue circular gem, clear and serene like the open sky.
Within the gem, a faint, blurry pattern emerged. Luffy could swear he saw the silhouettes of Zoro, Nami… and Robin.
[Ding! Upgrade complete. Please review your new equipment.]
Luffy picked up the upgraded gloves. The moment he slipped them on, power surged up his arms and settled into his heart. An uncanny calm washed over him, even dulling his excitement over the transformation.
─────────🏴☠️─────────
[X-Gloves Ver.V.R]
Origin: Reborn! universe.
Evolved from the original X-Gloves.
Now capable of emitting Sky Flame at 1.5x mental strength.
Also capable of releasing Lightning Flame at (Stamina + Mental) × 2, extremely explosive, hard to control, and consumes massive stamina (500 stamina per full-power burst).
Through training, the wearer can unlock "Zero Point Breakthrough: First Edition", a technique that converts the flame into super-compressed negative energy, producing Dying Will Ice. This ice can only be melted by high-level Mental Power energy.
─────────🏴☠️─────────
"Stamina and mental strength multiplied by two?! And… Zero Point Breakthrough?!"
Luffy's eyes went wide, staring at the newly upgraded X-Gloves Ver.V.R, unable to believe what he was seeing.
In that moment, it felt like he stood at the very pinnacle of the world.
Invincible... is such a lonely thing to be.
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