Dusk arrived with red clouds swirling across the sky, dyeing the horizon in deep crimson.
Lucien sat calmly, eating Sabaody Archipelago's local specialty. He had been at it for nearly half an hour already. In that short time, he had consumed close to five hundred servings, an amount equivalent to several full meals for a normal adult.
The sharp sound of high heels echoed across the floor.
Stussy appeared, dressed in a pink strapless dress that hugged her curves. Her slender waist swayed as she walked with a graceful, cat-like stride, bringing fresh intelligence.
"Master, the Mad Monk Pirates have landed on the island."
She placed the information neatly beside Lucien.
"Here are the details."
While Stussy began feeding him, Lucien picked up the intelligence report and continued eating as he read.
Urouge, known as the Mad Monk, one of the Supernovas.
Bounty: 108,000,000 Berries.
A native of Sky Island.
A Paramecia-type Devil Fruit user. His specific ability had never been officially disclosed, but it appeared to involve causality.
Urouge's most striking feature was his ever-present smile, whether in victory or defeat. White wings extended from his back, a trait of Sky Island natives. He bore a scar on his forehead, a thick beard, wore gold earrings, and carried a massive necklace of red prayer beads. His tall, muscular frame was wrapped in monk attire.
Unexpected arrival.
Confirmed: secondary villain plus one.
Ten minutes later, Lucien was nearly full. He stood up and left the hotel immediately.
In the lawless area of Grove 6, Urouge was leading his subordinates toward Grove 13.
"Captain, I just heard some news," a pirate wielding a chain scythe said loudly. "Red Flag X Drake, another Supernova with a bounty of 222 million Berries, has been killed. Not a single member of his crew survived."
"Who killed him?" Urouge asked, surprised, as he rested his massive pencil-shaped weapon on his shoulder.
Drake's bounty had even exceeded his own.
"They say it was a six or seven-year-old child."
"Oh?" Urouge stopped walking, disbelief flashing across his face.
"That's what everyone's saying. I don't believe it either."
"How could a child kill a Supernova?"
"If that's true, then Red Flag Drake was nothing special at all."
The laughter abruptly died.
Urouge and his crew frowned in unison as they noticed a child standing silently in their path.
Night was about to fall.
Swish.
A kukri appeared in Lucien's hand.
He stepped forward with his right foot and leaned into the motion. His body hardened instantly, Spreading over his skin until it crystallized.
Golden lightning crackled violently in the air.
Boom.
The ground beneath Lucien shattered, cracks spreading outward like a spiderweb, reaching five, then eight, then ten meters.
Thunder roared as raw power exploded outward in a terrifying shockwave.
"Thunder Breathing, Tenfold Instant Kill."
A flash of blinding gold tore through the darkness, etching itself into the night.
Urouge's hair stood on end. His pupils shrank to pinpoints as an overwhelming sense of death crushed down on his soul.
From Lucien's perspective, time slowed to a crawl.
Urouge and his crew moved as if submerged in water. The fear on their faces deepened with every passing fraction of a second.
Urouge gripped his giant pencil weapon with both hands, swinging it forward sluggishly, unbearably slow.
Crack.
Golden lightning struck.
The earth split open as the attack carved a straight path through the grove. Soil and shattered stone surged outward like a tidal wave. Massive mangrove trees were uprooted as though they were made of paper.
Lucien appeared behind the pirates, still maintaining his forward-leaning posture.
The golden lightning around him gradually faded.
Puff.
Blood erupted from Urouge's neck.
His head separated cleanly from his body, flying through the air before tumbling across the ground, leaving a long trail of blood behind. His eyes remained wide open, disbelief frozen on his face.
The headless body collapsed with a heavy thud.
The stench of blood filled the air.
Lucien had targeted Urouge alone.
The remaining pirates were scattered across the ground, stunned and disoriented.
"Captain!"
The stronger ones finally reacted, their hearts seizing as they stared at the separated body and head.
They had not even seen the attack. One moment everything was normal, the next, their captain was dead.
This child.
This child.
Suddenly, they remembered the rumor.
Red Flag Drake.
Killed by a child.
The kukri vanished from Lucien's hand as he walked toward them.
"S stop," a pirate stammered, trembling as he raised a flintlock pistol.
Lucien stepped forward.
In an instant, he crossed more than ten meters and appeared directly in front of the pirate. His voice was low, calm, and cold, like a whisper from a demon.
"All of you, commit suicide."
Lucien moved past them and stopped beside Urouge's corpse. Reaching out with his right hand, he grabbed at the air.
Urouge's soul was pulled free and absorbed into Lucien's body.
For a few seconds after death, a person's soul had not yet fully dissipated. Aside from extracting souls through Soul Spells, this brief window also allowed direct capture.
Without hesitation, Lucien vanished.
Gunshots rang out.
Blades pierced flesh.
Under the effect of Law Following Speech, the pirates turned their weapons on themselves, dying one after another.
Blood soaked the ground. The metallic stench lingered long after silence fell.
When passersby eventually discovered the scene, Sabaody Archipelago became even more chaotic.
Night had fully fallen. The island was brightly lit and lively, especially in taverns, where discussions revolved endlessly around the words Supernova, Mad Monk, and Red Flag.
"Who do you think killed Urouge? He had a bounty of 108 million Berries."
"Could it have been the Marines?"
"I heard he was killed instantly."
"That's impossible."
"Sabaody feels unsafe lately."
"This had to be the Marines."
"No way. There are no Admirals or Vice Admirals stationed here. Both Drake and Urouge were Supernovas with bounties over 100 million."
The news spread quickly.
The Marines, the Revolutionary Army, and other forces all took notice.
Many eyes were watching the Worst Generation.
Inside the hotel's hot spring, Lucien closed the light screen.
Urouge, secondary villain eliminated.
Dice plus one.
Tenfold Instant Kill remained Lucien's fastest short-distance movement technique, ten times faster than a standard Instant Kill.
Only those with powerful Observation Haki could possibly evade it.
Urouge clearly was not one of them.
At this point in time, most Supernovas had yet to fully awaken Armament Haki or Observation Haki.
The only exception was Monkey D. Luffy.
No one knew what kind of stimulation he had gone through, but he had already mastered all three forms of Haki and even developed his Devil Fruit to Fourth Gear.
Even hormone injections should not work that fast.
With Urouge's Dice roll added, Lucien needed only one more Supernova to reach ten and synthesize a normal luck bonus Dice roll.
"Master."
Stussy, lightly dressed, entered the hot spring and swam toward him.
Water splashed.
Warmth surged.
Lucien enjoyed an exceptionally satisfying night.
As the night deepened, a massive dark cloud drifted over part of Sabaody Archipelago, covering even the crescent moon.
A submarine quietly surfaced and docked in a secluded area of the island.
Before dawn arrived, two additional pirate ships also slipped into the archipelago from different directions.
____
Multiple chapters are already available on my Patreon.
You can check it out if you want to read ahead, there are 100+ chapters on each work, with 2 daily chapters.
👉 Patreon.com/Zphyr