'Clang! Clang! Clang!'
Utilizing his Silent Step, Kuro blurred into a series of afterimages, launching a relentless assault from every conceivable angle.
If the Marines' Soru was an expression of instantaneous explosive power, then Kuro's Silent Step was far more focused on technique.
For example, if one were to travel twenty meters from point A to point B, the results of using Soru versus Silent Step would be entirely different.
Soru was akin to blasting oneself from point A to point B; you could not change direction or stop mid-flight. Most importantly, it could only move in a straight line.
Silent Step, however, was different. It was more like a series of rapid, minute steps—a pure application of skill rather than a mode of movement driven by raw violence like Soru.
To get from point A to point B, Silent Step could follow a straight line, a curve, or even pivot mid-way to head elsewhere, or simply come to a dead stop.
In terms of versatility, Silent Step was undoubtedly superior to the Six Powers' Soru, though its top speed could not match the sheer velocity of the latter.
Each had its own merits.
Of course, that only described the basic Silent Step. As for Kuro's advanced application—Nuki Ashi—that was a different story entirely.
While retaining the versatility of Silent Step, Nuki Ashi could elevate his speed to equal that of Soru.
However, Nuki Ashi had its own drawback. Because the speed was so extreme and the movements so erratic, Kuro himself could barely keep up with the momentum, making precise control impossible.
The result was that after activating Nuki Ashi, he could only perform indiscriminate attacks, unable to distinguish friend from foe.
After several attacks failed to land, Kuro leaped back to create distance.
To be honest, from the start, he hadn't paid much attention to the boy. Despite holding the rank of Commodore, the youth looked no older than fifteen or sixteen.
On the contrary, it was the boy's Captain adjutant who had radiated a truly lethal threat.
'To have such a powerhouse as an adjutant, this kid must be the descendant of some big shot, sent to the East Blue to polish his reputation, right?'
But now, Kuro realized his judgment had been completely, utterly wrong.
At this age, with this level of strength... this boy was definitely not some useless brat sent here for a title.
"Who exactly are you?"
"Me? I'm the new Branch Head of the East Blue's 16th Branch, Sean Campbell!"
"Campbell? So it's you!"
Kuro's eyes widened.
Indeed, from the very beginning, Kuro had felt that Sean's face looked familiar, but he couldn't recall where he had seen it. Because Sean looked so young, he hadn't thought much of it, assuming his intuition was simply mistaken.
Now, he knew exactly why that face was so familiar.
It was that little brat from four years ago!
At that moment, a scene from four years prior flashed through Kuro's mind.
'''
Four years ago...
About 300 nautical miles east of the Conomi Islands, the Black Cat Pirates encountered a lavishly decorated yacht.
One look told them it belonged to a noble, and based on the sheer opulence, it was certainly no ordinary aristocrat.
A spark of inspiration hit Kuro, and he conceived a brilliant plan.
In truth, this was Version 1.0 of his "legitimization" plan; the one seen in the original history was Version 2.0.
But before Kuro could make a move, the yacht opened fire on the Black Cat Pirates.
The sudden attack left everyone stunned.
In the end, the outcome remained the same: every guard and crew member on the yacht was slaughtered by the Black Cat Pirates, leaving only the Campbell Family alive.
The guards, who spent their days boasting but were actually nothing more than bullies to the weak, were no match for these vicious pirates.
That was the first time Kuro had met Sean. Though only twelve years old, the boy's arrogance and domineering attitude surpassed every noble Kuro had ever encountered—he was practically on par with the Celestial Dragons.
Incidentally, it was this little brat who had ordered the yacht to fire upon the Black Cat Pirates.
As for the reason... apparently, it was because the pirate ship looked "dirty."
Good grief, a textbook Celestial Dragon attitude.
Of course, none of that mattered. What mattered was that Kuro wanted to use this family to scrub his record and legitimize himself.
The process was simple: he had Zango perform hypnosis.
Zango rewrote the memories of the forty-two-year-old Ross Campbell to believe that the twenty-five-year-old Kuro was his illegitimate son. He then completely erased the appearance of the Black Cat Pirates from the memories of the three family members.
Finally, after disposing of the corpses and all traces of battle on the yacht, Kuro even had Ross Campbell contact the Marines of the 16th Branch, claiming they had suffered a shipwreck and required immediate rescue.
After that, Kuro only had to follow the plan and wait for Ross Campbell to find him.
After all, during the hypnosis, Zango had already implanted the location of where the "illegitimate son" was living.
If the plan succeeded, Kuro could shed his pirate identity and step directly into the ranks of the true nobility—and a high-ranking one at that.
However, an unexpected variable occurred.
Kuro lived in a village for several months, but Ross Campbell never appeared.
Logically, this should have been impossible.
When Zango performed the hypnosis, he had suggested to Ross that he loved his illegitimate son dearly, and even desired to legitimize his status to replace the original Sean Campbell.
Left with no choice, Kuro sent Zango and the others to investigate.
The results reached Kuro shortly thereafter.
The 16th Branch had indeed gone to the area. But when they arrived in the relevant waters, they found nothing but some fragments of the yacht's wreckage. As for the Campbell Family...
They found nothing.
Presumably, they had all ended up in the bellies of sea creatures.
'What the hell...'
He had meticulously planned everything, only for it to be a total waste of effort?
What infuriated him most was that subsequent, more detailed investigations revealed that even the 16th Branch's account was likely a lie.
In the end, the Campbell family fortune had been carved up and divided among various other nobles and factions.
In other words, everything he had schemed for had ended up benefiting a bunch of trash!
'''
Kuro stared deeply at the Sean standing before him.
Then, what was the deal with this guy?
Was that powerless, arrogant child from back then really him?
"How on earth did you survive?"
"Hmm? Was that incident from four years ago somehow connected to you?"
'Right, he doesn't remember me.'
That meant Zango's hypnosis from back then was still in effect.
Observing Sean's reaction, Kuro nodded silently to himself.
Little did he know that while the man standing before him was indeed Sean Campbell, he was not the same Sean Campbell he had encountered years ago.
At that moment, Sean's eyes narrowed slightly.
According to Marine intelligence, Kuro had been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Marines over the years.
Initially, Sean had intended to kill him on the spot, but he had since changed his mind.
After all... it seemed this man knew far too much.