The masked man had no time to think—
an irresistible force shoved him aside.
Yet instead of panic, a strange sense of relief washed over him.
"He didn't kill me?
So this guy is probably just a high-quality imitation…"
With his confidence renewed, the masked man was about to step forward and argue,
but suddenly noticed all the surrounding pirates staring at him with pure terror.
His confidence swelled.
"You lot—go kill that impostor for me!"
"AHHH!"
But instead of obeying, the pirates screamed.
Some scrambled blindly out of the guild;
others collapsed onto the floor, limp as boneless fish.
Seeing this, even the masked man grew uneasy.
His voice sounded strange to his own ears,
and his vision doubled—
the entire world tilting at a sickening angle.
"W-what… what's happening to me?"
He forced himself toward the counter mirror—
and froze.
His mask had been split apart.
A thin line of blood ran from his brow straight down to his crotch.
His entire body looked like a lotus root chopped cleanly in half,
held together by nothing but that single trembling bloodline.
"I… I'm already dead?"
The thought crystalized in his mind—
and immediately, the bloodline snapped.
His body tore apart, the two halves falling to either side.
"No—no! I don't want to die!!"
He clutched both halves of his head,
desperately pushing them together—
a sight so grotesque that many pirates shrank and instinctively felt warmth spreading between their legs.
With a final thud,
the split corpse collapsed completely—
lifeless.
Seeing the impostor finally die,
the remaining pirates let out long, shaky breaths.
Death was something they were used to…
but this?
This half-dead, half-alive abomination exceeded even a pirate's psychological limit.
And now, every pirate who had failed to escape
slowly turned toward the man sitting at the front desk.
Such a bloody, supernatural means of killing—
it could only belong to the traveler said to walk straight out of Hell:
Demon-Blade Apophis.
If earlier they admired Apophis because of his legend,
now they feared him
because they had seen his methods with their own eyes.
This was fear carved directly into the soul.
At this moment,
even if the real Apophis truly wanted to recruit,
none of them would dare approach him again.
They desired a strong and ruthless captain—
but Apophis had transcended every definition of "ruthless."
"Information."
The single cold word froze the air again.
"H-huh? What?"
The bald-headed branch manager blinked in confusion.
Then, remembering the impostor's fate,
his face instantly turned corpse-pale.
"Yes! Yes! I'll… I'll bring out all the information immediately!"
He staggered toward the back like a drunk,
barely keeping his legs under him.
As he passed a mirror,
he mustered all his courage to glance at his reflection.
"Nose… eyebrows… eyes… mouth…
All still here—I'm alive! I'm alive!"
He nearly cackled in relief,
his footsteps so light he ended up smashing straight through a thin wall.
None of the pirates watching laughed.
In his place, they would have reacted far worse.
After all, many of them were still sitting in puddles they dared not move from.
Meanwhile, the reception girls were on the verge of tears.
Move?
Don't move?
Everything felt like needles—
ten thousand times worse than the worst kind of cramp.
"I-I'm coming! I'm coming!"
Afraid Apophis would grow impatient,
the manager shouted before even leaving the archive room.
Moments later he rushed out, wearing a fawning smile.
"Lord Apophis!
Per guild rules, a four-star hunter may only browse missions up to four stars.
But I've taken the liberty of bringing out every file we have.
Please read as much as you like!"
Apophis showed no reaction,
quietly flipping through the files.
Relieved, the manager exhaled heavily.
As long as he could get this demon out the door, anything was worth it.
Besides, this branch only had information up to five stars.
Considering Apophis easily slaughtered a pirate worth 92 million,
labeling him a five-star hunter early was more than justified.
The Hunters' Guild's star system was simple:
1-Star: anyone registered
2-Star: killed a pirate worth 10 million+
3-Star: 30 million+
4-Star: 50 million+
5-Star: 100 million+
6-Star: 300 million+
7-Star: killed a great pirate acknowledged by the Marines & Government
As for how one killed the target?
Anything went—assassination, poison, traps, opportunistic steals—
all that mattered was bringing the head.
In some sense, the Hunters' Guild was a method for the World Government to recruit lone wolves, offering fame, status, and hidden perks to keep powerful freelancers working, indirectly, for the Government.
Those hidden perks came in two categories:
intelligence and merit.
In a world like this, information was priceless.
Without intel, even the strongest could fall to the likes of the Ghost Fruit, Toy-Toy Fruit, or Luck-Luck Fruit.
For powerful loners, the guild's intel network filled the gap caused by refusing to join any major faction.
Merit, on the other hand, could be exchanged for things impossible to buy normally—
rare Devil Fruits, Great Grade blades,
or discarded Government weapons still invaluable elsewhere.
"Skull-Crusher Buffet."
The moment Apophis uttered the name in his emotionless tone,
the manager produced the correct dossier with record-breaking speed.
"Skull-Crusher Buffet—
a former pirate active in the Grand Line,
bounty 120 million berries.
Ten years ago he withdrew to the West Blue
and built a mafia empire spanning multiple nations.
Drug trafficking, casinos, brothels, human trafficking, weapons smuggling—
he controls all of it.
His influence radiates from West Blue across all Four Seas and even back into the Grand Line.
Prefers to manipulate events from the shadows."
"The man is a pure physical combatant—
a single punch can flatten a small mountain.
Weapon: a triple-headed flail.
Headquarters located in the Kingdom of Aitfi, West Blue."
Apophis accepted the dossier
and opened the large case.
Inside lay a blood-drenched human head,
the face twisted into a grotesque expression of pure terror.
"F-Flesh-Eater Barlo!"
The manager gasped.
As a branch chief, he recognized instantly the infamous, child-eating monster feared even among pirates.
Yet even such a savage beast
had died with terror frozen on his face.
Just what horrors had he endured?
The thought alone made the manager shiver uncontrollably.
"This 92 million berry bounty—
I'll immediately—"
Before he finished speaking,
Apophis shoved the case forward
and walked out without a word.
The manager's first instinct was:
I'm dead.
He snapped toward the mirror—
and sighed in relief when he saw all his body parts were still attached.
To further ensure his continued existence,
he raised his voice deliberately:
"Harry!
Record the bounty under Lord Apophis's account—
and round it up to a full 100 million berries!"
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