BZZZT!
At the very instant Burgess' Shockwave Elbow, was about to smash into Ain,
The unremarkable, cool pendant resting on her chest, the one carved with an unfamiliar flower, suddenly released a faint ripple of pale gray light.
The ripple spread outward silently, forming a small domain several meters wide, completely enveloping Ain, Monet, and the nearby marines.
A… miniature Sloth Domain.
Inside the domain, everything seemed to lose the will to move.
Burgess felt it instantly.
His right arm, packed with all his strength and Haki, sank as soon as it entered the domain!
It no longer felt like his strike was hitting a slender woman, but plunging into a thick, suffocating swamp.
The violent shockwave energy, the power that could pulverize a boulder, the moment it touched the domain, it was as if its "soul" had been drawn out.
Its force decayed.
Then weakened further.
Until finally, it dissolved into a faint breeze incapable of lifting even a speck of dust.
"Wha…?!"
The grin on Burgess' face froze.
For the first time, shock and disbelief filled his eyes.
'What?'
"Using force is such a hassle."
"Hitting hard is so tiring."
And then simply… became too "lazy" to work.
Even Burgess himself was dumbfounded.
Inside the domain, Ain was also stunned.
She could feel it, that terrifying power that would've crushed her moments ago had suddenly turned harmless.
Like spring snow melting away.
She looked down at the now-warm pendant, her heart quaking violently.
'This is what he called a "not too troublesome" gadget?'
'Not troublesome?!'
'Th-This was a miracle!'
But a heavy wave of exhaustion washed over her instantly.
As if every drop of her energy had been drained in that single instant.
Her vision went dark, and she collapsed backward, completely losing consciousness.
"Ain-sama!"
"Ain!!"
Monet and the marines rushed to catch her.
"Heh… interesting."
"What an interesting little toy."
Burgess shook his numbed arm.
He didn't understand what had just happened, but he was certain of one thing:
the blue-haired woman and her companions could no longer fight.
His gaze passed the group and locked onto someone further away-
Because of the distance, Rehn hadn't been within the domain's protection.
He was struggling, trying to get up, his body covered in wounds.
A cruel smile resurfaced on Burgess' face.
"Looks like we still have a fish that slipped through the net."
He began walking toward Rehn, step by step, eager to finish him off.
…
Meanwhile, Hundreds of nautical miles away from the Patnia Kingdom.
A peaceful, calm blue sea.
On a quiet beach, Two luxurious beach chairs sat side by side.
Kizaru, wearing sunglasses, was enjoying a sunbath while using light particles to build a sparkling model of Marineford in the sand.
Beside him, on the other chair, Renzo was in deep, isolated sleep, completely cut off from the world.
A soft towel covered him; his breathing was slow and steady.
A small trail of drool at the corner of his mouth suggested he'd been dreaming of some delicious dessert.
Warm sunlight.
Gentle sea breeze.
Soft waves lapping the shore.
Everything was peaceful.
Quiet.
Serene.
Until Renzo's body suddenly jolted.
"Hmm?"
His previously calm breathing faltered.
For the first time, a faint crease formed between his brows, a man who never frowned.
"Oi oi, Renzo, having a nightmare?"
Kizaru drawled lazily.
"Don't tell me Sengoku canceled your afternoon tea… or Sanji's cake got burnt?"
Renzo didn't respond.
He suddenly sat up, so fast that even Kizaru paused in surprise.
Those usually half-open, sleepy blue eyes were now fully open.
Gone was the laziness.
In their place, a silent, abyssal cold.
Without looking at Kizaru, Renzo turned sharply toward the direction of the Patnia Kingdom.
The distance was far.
Too far for normal senses.
But he felt it.
The pendant he had crafted himself, housing a sliver of his Sloth essence,
had just been activated.
And then gone quiet.
Its owner, his overly serious, stubborn, slightly adorable adjutant, was now in extreme danger.
Something ancient stirred inside him.
A volcano waking after a thousand years.
A top-tier "trouble"… had appeared.
For the first time, a cold, deathly silent rage rose from the depths of the Slothful Admiral's heart.
Even the air froze.
The wind stopped.
The waves halted.
Kizaru's light-sandcastle collapsed without a sound.
An invisible, crushing pressure exploded from Renzo, warping the very air around him.
"Ehh…?"
Kizaru's smile disappeared.
He stood up, gaze grave.
He had never felt this aura from Renzo before.
No laziness.
Only an ancient, terrifying stillness,
a presence that wanted to drag the world into eternal silence.
"Something happened."
Renzo's voice was quiet.
Cold as eternal ice.
"Kizaru," he said without looking away from the distance, "come with me."
It wasn't a request.
Not even an order.
It was a statement.
Kizaru didn't ask. Didn't joke.
Because in Renzo's eyes, he saw something he had never witnessed- Killing intent.
A pure, icy killing intent that sought to erase anything that dared to move.
"…Got it."
Kizaru replied instantly.
His usual lazy tone was gone.
The next moment, Renzo vanished.
Leaving only a faint afterimage.
[Sloth's Decree, Space Jump]
Kizaru turned into a beam of golden light and followed.
Two top Marine powers tore through space itself, racing toward the kingdom drowning in despair.
Their speed was overwhelming, leaving a massive trench carved across the ocean surface behind them.
…
Patnia Kingdom , Ruined Port
Burgess stepped toward Rehn with a twisted grin, ready to finish the job.
Rehn closed his eyes in despair.
His last thought was of his little sister, Lily's smiling face.
But just before Burgess' fist fell-
A killing intent colder than the deepest hell swept across the entire port.
Burgess' battle-hardened body froze without warning.
He snapped his head upward.
A gray silhouette appeared out of thin air.
No explosion, no shockwave, just appeared.
Its movement wasn't fast, almost leisurely.
But the deathly stillness around it made Burgess' instincts scream.
He felt overwhelming dread.
The figure stared at him.
A young, handsome face.
Expressionless.
Emotionless.
Blue eyes like a frozen abyss, no anger, no hatred, just a suffocating, pure silence.
He looked at Burgess the way one looked at a piece of trash to be swept away.
And in a calm, almost bored tone, he said:
"Where did this bug crawl out from?"
"How dare you lay a hand on my people?"
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu