Night fell, silent and still.
Longinus, lying on his bed, calmly opened his eyes, sat up, and the Seven Star Sword, glowing with a faint green light, emerged from his palm, its blade humming softly.
"It's been three years, and you still haven't given up? Every time I use your power, I relive the nightmare from three years ago, but… you should know, Allen is a part of me… but I am not Allen!"
"He is just a part of my soul. Demi… I will find her, but only with power that I can control myself!"
The faint green light gradually dimmed, and the humming faded until it was barely audible, then the sword re-merged into Longinus's body.
Longinus didn't mind; compared to three years ago, this demonic weapon was much more obedient. After all, it was just a mindless brute.
Currently, he possessed an absolutely rational main personality, and two sub-personalities completely controlled by the main personality.
The sub-personality formed from Allen's soul fragments was called the Benevolent Personality, which was his reliance for daring to join the Marines. When it came to acting, who could be better than a true self?
Moreover, in the Benevolent Personality state, he could perfectly utilize the body's innate talent.
That was the innate Observation Haki, similar to Aisha of Skypiea and Queen Otohime of Fish-Man Island. When the opponent was unprepared, he could even see through their heart.
Although it couldn't compare to Big Mom's exaggerated talent, it was still considered a top-tier start, no matter what.
And the soul from another world, transcending time and space, not only informed him of this world's future trajectory but also served as the host for the Seven Star Sword, possessing an extremely terrifying killing intent, which he called the Slaughter Personality.
This personality was also the root of his power, because… the lives slain by the Seven Star Sword, even their life force and souls, would be devoured and ultimately fed back into Longinus's body.
The biggest reason he was able to increase his physique to the point of being able to contend with Zoan Devil Fruit users in just three short years was… the surrounding Sea Kings had been killed to near extinction by him.
This was also the main reason Longinus did not intend to eat a Devil Fruit. Since there was a stable and reliable source of power, why abandon the entire ocean for one Devil Fruit?
After all, Longinus knew that near Fish-Man Island, thousands of meters beneath the sea, there were super-giant Sea Kings measuring thousands of meters in length. They were his greatest reliance for reaching the pinnacle of the world.
As for souls… the effect of Sea Kings was far inferior to that of humans. Of course, this mainly referred to the souls of strong individuals.
Therefore, Longinus had set his sights on Impel Down and wanted to find opportunities for slaughter as a Marine.
And the main personality, possessing absolute rationality, could not only switch soul states at any time, allowing him to use alternate identities in the future, but even the most profound Observation Haki would be unable to see through his disguise.
Moreover, under the triple soul pressure, the main personality had an effect similar to a leader's aura. Otherwise, those cadets would not have held his words as gospel.
Although this ability, similar to a leader's aura, only worked on those whose soul will was much weaker than his own, Longinus believed it eliminated his last concern about joining the Marines—the World Nobles.
Longinus was well aware that unless he defected from the Marines like those transmigrated predecessors who frequently rebelled, the issue of the World Nobles was a major problem that every Marine could not avoid.
With the suppression of his soul, at least he wouldn't have to worry about killing a World Noble out of impatience.
In Longinus's view, unless the World Government could be overthrown, killing a World Noble would be completely useless and would only make things worse. Even if the killer was strong enough to escape the pursuit of a Marine Admiral, those he "saved" would suffer even greater hardship due to retaliation.
Longinus did not consider himself a good person,
but he disdained becoming a hypocrite who did evil deeds under the guise of being good.
In short, he had no intention of killing the World Nobles. However, if his alternate identities did the killing, it would have nothing to do with him.
After all, Hiroki once said that legally, an alternate identity and the main body are two independent entities!
…
The next day, golden sunlight tore through the clouds and illuminated the sea, and a gentle sea breeze swept across everyone's smiling faces.
Those who had experienced life and death were always stronger than before. Although the shadow of death had not yet dissipated, being able to survive the Giant Rhino Pirate Crew, and even staging an extreme counter-kill, they were already fortunate enough compared to the towns massacred by the Giant Rhino Pirate Crew.
And all of this was thanks to one person, thanks to a former outsider!
"Longinus, we truly owe you a great deal for yesterday!" the mayor said, half-ashamed and half-grateful. "Or rather, we've owed you a great deal for these past three years!"
"If it weren't for you, Mayor, and everyone else saving me three years ago, I would have died from exhaustion battling the waves. How could I have waited until today?" Longinus shook his head, not taking credit.
"Indeed!" the mayor sighed. "The luckiest thing for Maple Leaf Town was bringing you, a person in distress, back to town from the coast three years ago."
The townspeople gathered here, not only to continue yesterday's celebration but, more importantly, because of Longinus's departure.
"Big Brother Longinus, you must come back to visit us often in the future!" a snot-nosed little kid said reluctantly.
"What are you talking about! Big Brother Longinus is a man who will become a Marine Admiral. Such a great person must be busy capturing evil pirates every day. How would he have time to play with a little kid like you?" Buggy waved his hand. In his concept, a Marine Admiral must be a great hero who dedicated every moment of his life to justice.
Longinus merely smiled, not breaking his beautiful illusion.
"Then I… then I'll join the Marines when I grow up too, and fight like Big Brother Longinus, and protect everyone like Big Brother Longinus!" The little kid wiped his snot and waved his small hand, saying "heroically."
To the blessings of the townspeople, Longinus smiled freely: "Well then… everyone, I'm leaving now. If nothing unexpected happens, I should join Marine G2 Branch. You can come find me there if you need anything in the future!"
Almost all the townspeople were waving goodbye with tears in their eyes: "Longinus, you must work hard to become a Marine Admiral! Although Maple Leaf Town is not your hometown, we will always be proud of you!"
Longinus waved his hand and walked towards the sea without looking back.
The few pirates who had fortunately survived by operating the ship followed Longinus nervously and boarded a ship that originally belonged to the Giant Rhino Pirate Crew.
The sails were lowered, the rudder was controlled, and the ship carrying Longinus gradually disappeared over the horizon.