Sea Circle Calendar 1499, March.
Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
In Vice Admiral Tsuru's office, a Marine respectfully laid a list on her desk.
"Vice Admiral Tsuru, this is the final selection list for the new Elite Training Camp. Please review it."
Tsuru nodded, picked up the list, and skimmed through it quickly. Every name on it was a carefully selected Marine prodigy from the Four Seas and the Grand Line.
"Smoker… the one that kid Kuzan recommended. A Logia user, good talent—but a complete troublemaker."
She kept reading and saw a few more familiar names, silently filing the information away.
After finishing, she placed the list lightly back on the desk and tapped her fingers absentmindedly, clearly thinking about something.
After a long moment, as if she'd suddenly remembered, she picked up a pen and, at the very end of the Elite Camp list, carefully added one more name, stroke by stroke:
Loguetown Marine Branch, Corvo Rain.
"That will do." She handed the list back to the Marine.
Then she picked up the Den Den Mushi on her desk and dialed a number she hadn't called in quite some time.
"Buru buru buru…"
"Chak."
As the line connected, the Den Den Mushi's eyes narrowed into crescent moons, wrinkles creasing at the corners;
its mouth stretched into an exaggerated grin, with a small tuft of goat beard identical to Garp's popping out at the chin.
On the other end, a boisterous voice rang out, "Oh? Tsuru-chan! What's got you calling me?"
"Garp," Tsuru's tone relaxed more than usual, "still enjoying your early retirement in the East Blue?"
"Hahahaha, of course!" The Den Den Mushi copied Garp's hearty grin. "The rice crackers here are way better than Headquarters'!" As he spoke, loud crunching noises came through the line.
After a few lines of small talk, Tsuru shifted gears and got to the point.
"Since you're in the East Blue anyway, do me a favor and pick someone up in Loguetown."
"Hm? Who's worth you, the Chief of Staff, asking personally?"
"You should remember him—the Marine who executed Roger," Tsuru said calmly. "Rain."
On the other side, Garp's trademark laugh cut off instantly.
The Den Den Mushi's face fell into a long silence.
A few seconds later, Garp's voice finally came back.
"Got it."
…
East Blue, offshore from Loguetown.
A small fishing boat rocked gently on the calm sea.
Roger's death hadn't ended an era—his final declaration had instead triggered a far more chaotic and insane "Great Pirate Era."
Countless people with dreams and ambition were rushing to the seas from all over the world.
And as the gateway to the Grand Line, Loguetown had become the very front line of this new age.
Every day, countless rookie pirate crews gathered here, set sail from here—
and were captured and killed here.
As Loguetown's only executioner, Rain's workload had hit an all-time high.
For the past half year, Rain had been executing people to the point of numbness.
Only today did he finally get his first full day off in nine months.
Right then, his eyes narrowed faintly.
At the very edge of his vision, a tiny black dot was slowly drawing closer.
A pirate ship, flying a skull flag.
Rain's [Peak] Observation Haki flared open.
His world fell utterly silent.
Wind speed, humidity, the rise and fall of the waves, even the drifting paths of dust in the air—all of it was instantly pulled into his calculations.
On that ship several kilometers away, he could hear every pirate's heartbeat pounding like a drum in his ears.
In his "sight," the structure of the ship became completely transparent.
With a thought, his perception zoomed in like an invisible camera, passing through the deck and focusing on the captain's quarters.
A big man with a face full of scarred flesh was standing on the table, laughing wildly with a bottle of booze in his hand. A centipede-like slash mark coiled around his thick arm.
"Target… locked."
Rain slowly picked up the pitch-black, custom-made handgun from beside his feet.
He didn't even stand up. Still holding his fishing rod in one hand, he casually raised his arm and pulled the trigger toward that distant direction.
Bang.
On the vast ocean, the sound was almost nothing more than a whisper.
Several kilometers away, in the captain's quarters, the wild laughter cut off mid-note.
One pirate jerked around in horror to see their captain with a small bloody hole in his forehead, the smile still on his face as he toppled backward.
[Judgment complete!]
[Prisoner: "Whip-Scar" Gal]
[Overall Rank: R8]
[Status: Executed]
[Sin Index: 530]
[Execution Involvement: 100%]
[Sin Points gained: 530]
[Selectable Rewards]: (5 options available)
He could "hear" the chaos on the other ship clearly, even from kilometers away.
Rain stood up and reeled in his line.
When the now headless, panicking pirate ship drifted a bit closer, he set his hand on the hilt at his waist.
Vmmm—!
The blade left its sheath.
He slashed forward toward the distant ship.
A razor-sharp crescent of blue sword aura, nearly a hundred meters long, burst from the blade, crossing several thousand meters in a blink. It passed straight through the middle of the pirate ship.
A second later, the entire ship split neatly in two with a deafening crack, as countless pirates screamed in despair.
A flood of "Judgment complete" notifications spammed his mind.
Calmly, Rain sheathed his sword, as if he'd done something as trivial as tossing out trash.
They were all R-rank and N-rank small fry. Rain couldn't be bothered to examine the [Selectable Rewards]; he just swept them all into [Physique Inheritance]. Several faint warm currents rippled through the river of power inside him, barely causing a disturbance before vanishing.
If he didn't concentrate, he wouldn't even be sure whether he'd gotten any stronger.
"As expected…"
Rain sighed inwardly.
"Ever since my physique reached [Advanced], the 'nutritional value' of R- and N-rank pirates has been dropping fast."
"If I want to take another step and touch the threshold of [Top-Tier], I'll probably have to start judging the real 'big shots.'"
Thinking this, Rain opened his status panel.
Name: Corvo Rain
Age: 16
Rank: Sergeant
[Physique Tier]: Advanced
[Talent]: Voice of All Things
[Skills]: Swordsmanship (Top-Tier), Marksmanship (Advanced), Stealth (Advanced), Combat Techniques (Advanced), Cooking (Advanced), Navigation (Advanced)
[Haki]: Observation Haki (Peak), Armament Haki (Top-Tier)
[Sin Points]: 250,597
[Equipment]: Good-Grade Blade x1, Fine Firearm x1, Storage Ring