At this time, in the first half of the Grand Line.
A small village by the sea.
"Boss, do we really need to rob again?"
A pirate minion asked with a hint of fear.
Right now, Neo Navy recruitment ships were everywhere.
Although their main purpose was to recruit soldiers, eliminating pirates along the way was simply a convenient task.
It was said that each of those warships was led by a powerhouse with at least the rank of Vice Admiral.
In most parts of this sea, powerful forces were present.
"I've run out of food, of course I have to rob!" the pirate captain snapped viciously. "I don't want to work. I'd rather rob for money. That makes me happier!"
After hearing that Caelan had declared war on the World Government, he and his men went into hiding.
At first, they lived indulgently and enjoyed themselves.
Given their level of consumption, they could survive by robbing, using what they wanted, or simply taking without giving. But now, their seclusion was unsustainable.
Still, none of them wanted to work and only wanted to take without giving anything in return.
Now, like dogs who couldn't change their bad habits, they were going back to their old ways.
"Don't worry, this will be the last time. Nothing's going to happen." The pirate leader tried to reassure both his crew and himself. "My luck can't be that bad. After this one, I'll never rob again. I'll be a good person."
Whether or not this was truly the last time, no one could say.
"The captain's right. We'll stop after this. No more chances to turn things around!"
"Hurry up! Once we kill them all, no one will know it was us!"
Some minions were blinded by greed, and their hearts gradually filled with bloodlust.
Dozens of pirates, their eyes red with murderous intent, approached the village.
At that moment, the villagers noticed the approaching group of pirates who weren't even trying to hide.
"What's going on?"
"It's pirates! Pirates are heading for the village!"
"Run!"
The villagers screamed in terror.
Although they hadn't encountered pirates on this scale before, they'd heard plenty about other villages being attacked.
Many villagers who went out to sea to fish were killed by pirates each year, so they understood how terrifying pirates could be.
"What do we do? Call the Navy?"
"What the hell for! They always show up afterward, they'll never make it in time!"
"Besides, those Navy officers are all parasites. Most of them ran away long ago!"
"So what now? Are we just waiting to die?"
"My wife just gave birth to a son, and he's still so little…"
"My daughter isn't even married yet. She can't die!"
For a moment, many villagers were in tears, retreating in despair.
They couldn't outrun the pirates. They couldn't defeat them. All they could do was wait to die.
Among the crowd, a sturdy man leaned on a cane, eyes closed, and sighed softly.
As the others stepped back, he stepped forward to face the pirates.
The pirates looked at him with sneers, but there was fear in their eyes.
This man wasn't dodging or hiding. He must have some confidence.
"You villains deserve to die."
His lifeless eyes rolled upward, and his voice was filled with disgust.
"He's blind!"
"Because he's blind, he's not afraid."
The pirates let out a breath of relief, but a wave of nameless anger surged in their hearts.
They were the ones used to seeing civilians tremble and run. They enjoyed that fear.
Yet now, they'd been frightened by a blind man. They felt humiliated.
"You blind bastard, who are you trying to impress?" The captain grinned maliciously at Fujitora. "Since you can't see fear, I'll let you hear the wails of the dead! Let's see if you beg when that time comes!"
"I can't see, but I can still see your sins." Fujitora smiled at them as if he could still see clearly. "The wicked shall be buried here."
A purple energy wave surged into the sky. Meteorites from space responded to his power.
A meteorite entered the atmosphere from outer space, the friction creating a red tail flame.
Boom!
"Heavens, what is that?"
"A meteorite?"
The pirates looked up, drawn to the strange disturbance in the sky.
A tiny dot grew larger in their eyes until its full image appeared.
A meteorite with a blazing tail was plummeting directly toward them.
"It's too fast! We can't dodge it at all!"
"That blind man did it! Why are we so unlucky!"
"Damn it! This was supposed to be our last robbery!"
The pirates screamed in fear.
The meteorite fell at such speed that, by the time they saw it, death was already inevitable.
At the last moment of their lives, regret washed over them.
If only they'd picked a different village, they might not have run into such a terrifying man.
Boom!
The meteorite crashed down, colliding violently with the ground. The entire island trembled.
The pirates' location was instantly obliterated, reduced to molten debris by the high heat, leaving only a meteorite three meters wide embedded in the ground.
Though not large, a meteorite falling from space carried enough force to kill those pirates dozens of times over.
Fujitora stood quietly, unfazed by the devastation.
"So strong! He really summoned a meteorite from space?"
"All the pirates were wiped out instantly!"
The villagers stared in shock.
They never imagined that the blind man who usually lingered among them doing nothing was actually such a formidable figure.
But thank goodness he was here. Without him, the entire village would have been slaughtered.
"Still hiding? Agents of the World Government."
He stood calmly, smiling as he spoke.
He may have been blind, but his Observation Haki was more effective than sight.
He hadn't used sword techniques. Instead, he used his Devil Fruit powers to send a message.
"Of course not, Mr. Fujitora."
Several CP agents stepped out from behind the trees, stunned.
They had known Fujitora was powerful, but seeing it firsthand still shocked them.
This man was definitely Admiral-level, a powerhouse equal to someone like Aramaki.
If they could recruit him, it would be a huge success.
"What can a nobody like me do for the World Government's big shots?"
He smiled, his expression calm.
"We're here on the orders of the Elders to invite you to join the World Government," the lead agent said respectfully. "If you agree, the World Government will grant you the rank of Navy Admiral. After retirement, you can live in Mariejois as a Celestial Dragon."
This was the sincerity of the World Government. If not for the pressure from Caelan, they would never offer such benefits.
"Haha, so the World Government is recruiting dogs now." Fujitora refused without hesitation. His expression remained unchanged. "I have no intention of joining. It's too filthy."
Before the Battle of Marineford, he might have been interested in joining the Navy to fulfill his ideals.
But after the battle, the truth of the World Government was revealed, and the Navy fell into chaos. There was no reason to join anymore.
In fact, the Neo Navy under Caelan seemed more aligned with his ambitions.
"Please reconsider. The World Government has ruled the world for 800 years. We will be the last ones standing." The CP agent forced a smile. "Everything Caelan said is just necessary darkness. This has been the way for 800 years."
"When darkness becomes routine…" Fujitora stopped walking and sighed. "Then I truly need to think this through."
"You'll consider it?"
The agents were overjoyed.
Swish!
He drew his sword and, in a single strike, killed them all.
Their eyes widened in disbelief. Shocked not only by the sudden attack, but also by his terrifying swordsmanship.
"When darkness becomes the norm, light becomes all the more precious."
He smiled softly to himself and walked toward the beach, facing the sunlight.
He had made his decision.
He would join the Neo Navy and seek out that precious light.
After eight hundred years of darkness, how beautiful would a single ray of light be?
In that moment, Fujitora even regretted blinding himself.
Who could have imagined that in this land stained by centuries of evil, such light would suddenly appear?
(To be continued.)