Night fell.
That night, G-17 Branch was unusually quiet.
Nelson didn't come to bother them again. He was probably too busy moving troops and setting up tomorrow's death trap to waste any more time pretending to be friendly.
Inside the suite, the lights were dim.
No one spoke.
Gion sat by the window. In the moonlight, she slowly drew her famous blade, Konpira.
The polished steel gave off a cold gleam under the moon, reflecting a face that no longer held even a trace of doubt.
Aiden leaned back in a lounge chair, resting with his eyes closed.
His Observation Haki spread out like a vast, invisible net, covering all of Gold Crown Island.
Under the cover of night, he could sense heavy cannons being pushed quietly into position. Squads of fully armed soldiers were hiding in their assigned firing points.
It was a huge trap.
A death trap with its jaws wide open.
But Aiden felt no fear at all.
With his current power and abilities, even he didn't know exactly where his limit was.
This so-called "Crystal Duke" was just some nobody who had appeared out of nowhere. There was nothing to worry about.
...
The next morning.
When the first sunlight cut through the thin mist over the sea, the entire G-17 Branch was jolted awake by the low, heavy blast of a ship's horn.
Aiden opened his eyes.
He walked to the window and looked toward the harbor.
At the edge of the horizon, a massive ship was slowly sailing in.
The whole ship was built from a special crystal-like material. Under the morning sun, it threw off a blinding shine.
It looked like a moving crystal palace, casting a huge shadow over the water.
Sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows and into the velvet suite.
...
Knock, knock, knock.
A sudden, slightly frantic knock broke the silence in the room.
Aiden gave Smoker a look.
Smoker, cigar in mouth, walked over and pulled the door open.
Standing outside was Nelson, wearing a wide smile.
"Oh! Sorry to bother you! So sorry!"
Nelson wiped the cold sweat from his forehead as he squeezed past Smoker's large frame. He looked eagerly at Gion inside the room.
"Commodore Gion! There is an emergency! An important noble from a member nation has arrived ahead of schedule! He wasn't supposed to arrive until next week, and by then you might already have left, so I didn't mention it before."
Gion was sitting on the sofa cleaning Konpira. She paused and slowly looked up.
"Now?"
"Yes, yes! I just got the notice myself!" Nelson rubbed his hands together, sounding urgent. "That lord heard that the famous Commodore Gion from Headquarters happened to be here on inspection. He specifically told me that I must invite you over for a chat."
He glanced at Gion's expression, then pressed on.
"After all, he represents the face of a World Government member nation. If you could meet him, it wouldn't just show him respect, it would also be a great chance to display the dignity and authority of Marine Headquarters."
It was an obvious trap.
By using diplomacy and the reputation of Headquarters as an excuse, he made it hard for Gion to refuse.
Aiden stood by the window, watching Nelson's awful performance. He laughed coldly to himself.
He really was trying hard to lure them out.
"Since he is a noble from a member nation, we really shouldn't be rude."
Gion slid her sword back into its sheath and adjusted her Justice coat.
She stood up and looked at Nelson. "Then please lead the way, Commodore Nelson."
"It's an honor! Truly an honor! The car is already waiting downstairs." Nelson was overjoyed and quickly stepped aside.
...
The car drove away from the busy main port.
The surroundings quickly grew quiet and empty.
"This way, please, Commodore Gion."
After getting out of the car, Nelson walked ahead, leading everyone toward the rear of the base.
"That special guest's ship is quite unusual and rides low in the water. On top of that, because of his status, we arranged for him to dock at the private pier in Area D to avoid any unnecessary trouble."
"Area D?"
Smoker followed behind, his eyes carefully scanning the surroundings.
The path became more and more isolated. High, steep rock walls rose on both sides.
There was only one narrow trail leading forward.
The area was full of abandoned warehouses and shipping containers. It was dead silent.
The terrain was boxed in, with mountains on three sides. The only open side faced the sea.
It felt like a natural execution ground.
Gion and Aiden exchanged a glance.
They both knew exactly what was happening. This was the trap that had been prepared for them.
But neither of them stopped.
Instead, they walked even faster, stepping straight into the middle of the ambush.
After passing the final checkpoint, the view suddenly opened up.
In front of them was a wide bay.
In the center of that bay sat an enormous ship.
The hull was coated in a crystal-clear material. Under the direct midday sun, the entire ship looked like a giant diamond, throwing rainbow light in every direction.
By now, the stairs on the side of the ship had already been lowered.
A rich red velvet carpet stretched from the stairs all the way down onto the pier.
A tall figure slowly walked out.
The man was tall and lean. He wore a perfectly tailored white suit.
Over his broad shoulders hung a white velvet coat that fluttered in the sea breeze.
His skin was sickly pale, almost translucent under the sunlight.
Over his left eye, he wore a gold-rimmed monocle. Behind the lens, his pale gold eye shone with a cold light.
In his hand was a cane made entirely of transparent crystal, with a dark blue diamond the size of a fist set at the top.
As he stepped down,
crackle, crack.
With a faint, sharp sound of crystal forming, the red carpet beneath his feet instantly lost its softness. It hardened and turned transparent right before their eyes, becoming bright red crystal.
Behind him stood two tall figures in black suits wearing strange masks: CP0 agents.
"D-Duke!"
The moment Nelson saw Viktor, he looked like he had just found his savior. His humble attitude vanished instantly.
He rushed forward a few steps, pulling as much distance as possible between himself and Gion's group. Then he dropped low and quickly hid behind a pile of sandbags being used as cover.
"It's them!!"
Nelson pointed at the three of them standing in the middle of the open ground. His face twisted with fear and excitement as he screamed at the top of his lungs, "These three traitors intend to assassinate a noble of a World Government member nation!"
The lie came out smoothly. He didn't care that there wasn't actually any noble from a member nation there. He just wanted to brand them as criminals on the spot.
Viktor Hugo raised his eyelids slightly. Through his monocle, his cold golden eye swept over the three of them.
"Are these the 'prey' you mentioned on the phone, Nelson?"
Viktor's voice was calm and smooth.
"I am here now. You can begin."
With someone backing him up, Nelson showed a cruel smile. He slammed his arm down, not wanting to give Gion even a single chance to speak.
"Execute these traitors!!"
"Fire!!!!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The heavy cannons that had been ready for a long time roared at once. Rapid gunfire merged into one continuous thunder!
Cannonballs filled the sky, and a dense wall of bullets poured down like a storm.
In an instant, every path Aiden and the others could have used to dodge was sealed off.
"Hahahaha! Die! All of you, die!!"
Nelson hid behind cover. Watching the three of them get swallowed by fire and explosions, he laughed like a madman.
His eyes were bloodshot with frenzy.
"This is what happens when you cross me!!"
However,
in the very next second,
his laughter stopped cold, as if an invisible hand had grabbed him by the throat.
Bzzzt!
A harsh electrical screech tore across the battlefield, instantly drowning out the cannons.
Inside the smoke and dust, there were no screams.
The cannonballs and bullets flying through the air suddenly stopped a few meters away from Aiden's group.
They hung there in midair as if they had slammed into an invisible wall.
The whole scene looked frozen.
"T-This is..." Nelson's pupils shook. His mouth hung open, but no sound came out.
Standing at the very front, Aiden slowly raised his head.
Blue-white sparks swirled around his body. He looked like a living storm.
The bullets and cannon shells suspended in the air began to glow red.
Under the terrifying heat, the metal melted in an instant. It turned into boiling liquid iron that rained down and burned black pits into the ground.
This was the power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
It didn't just mean destructive lightning. It also meant complete control over electromagnetism and heat.
Aiden didn't even spare the Marine soldiers a glance. He simply raised his right hand, still crackling with electricity, and snapped his fingers.
Snap.
"Since you're done shooting, put your guns down."
BZZZZT!!!
A visible blue ring of electromagnetic force burst out from Aiden and swept across the entire Area D pier in an instant.
"Ah!!"
"Hot! It's burning!!"
"My gun!!"
Hundreds of Marine soldiers hiding behind the surrounding cover screamed one after another.
To their horror, the guns in their hands and the heavy cannons beside them turned red-hot in a split second. Internal parts melted and burst apart on the spot.
The soldiers cried out and threw their weapons away. Clutching their burned hands, they collapsed to the ground in pain.
One move.
He hadn't killed a single soldier, but he had destroyed every weapon in the ambush in an instant.
The trap was finished just like that.
Aiden ignored the ordinary soldiers who had already lost the ability to fight. He had no interest in slaughtering people who were simply following orders or being misled.
His eyes passed over the crowd and locked onto the brilliant ship, the Diamond Queen.
Without saying a word,
Aiden raised a finger.
BOOM!!!
A colossal pillar of blue lightning blasted straight toward Viktor and the giant crystal ship behind him, carrying enough force to erase everything in its path.
This strike was meant to wipe out both the man and the ship at once.
Facing that destructive wave of lightning, enough to vaporize a battleship in a second,
Viktor calmly raised his left hand, still covered by a white glove.
"Crystal World."
The dust and moisture in the air instantly froze, fused together, and reformed in front of Viktor's palm.
A massive transparent crystal prism made of countless perfect geometric faces appeared out of thin air at the bow of the ship, directly between the lightning and the Diamond Queen.
CRASH!!!
The violent lightning slammed into the crystal shield.
But the explosion everyone expected never came.
The lightning that should have shattered everything was refracted and split apart the moment it struck the prism's countless faces.
The concentrated bolt instantly scattered into tens of thousands of smaller arcs. They shot in every direction, crashed into the sea, and sent huge sprays of water into the air.
The dust cleared.
The Diamond Queen was completely unharmed.
Viktor still stood at the front of the ship, looking at Aiden through his monocle.
Clap, clap, clap.
Viktor lightly clapped his hands. The sound was crisp in the quiet harbor.
"Impressive. Truly impressive."
The corner of Viktor's mouth lifted into an elegant but cruel smile.
"That wild Logia power... if I'm not mistaken."
He looked at Aiden through the monocle.
"The 'Thunder God' who wiped out Mock Town some time ago... that was you, wasn't it, young Marine?"