Chapter 45: The Convenience of Power
"Admiral Black Crow…" Magellan breathed, his voice a mixture of awe and sheer relief. This level of power was… absurd. A dozen distinct Conqueror's Haki users, each a legendary tyrant, had just been silenced not through battle, but through overwhelming, spiritual annihilation. It was something Magellan, for all his toxic might, had never dared to imagine, let alone accomplish. Levi had done in seconds what he had struggled to contain for years.
I knew he was strong at the gate… but this? Magellan reassessed the young Admiral not as a peer, but as a force of nature on their side. A legend in Marine history was being forged before his eyes. He felt a profound gratitude that this man wore white, not black.
The "Corrupt King" Avalo Pizarro and the historical terror known as the "Bloody Duchess" were pressed face-first into the grimy floor, utterly immobilized. So was everyone else. The sight was one that would be etched into the memories of every jailer present: a single man, standing calmly, his will alone bending an entire floor of the world's worst to their knees. In a direct clash of supreme Haki, he had not just held his ground; he had erased the opposition.
Magellan and Sakazuki stood amidst the sudden, eerie calm, feeling almost superfluous. Sakazuki's jaw was tight, a simmering mix of professional respect and personal frustration. This is how it's done. Not with careful tactics or drawn-out brawls, but with absolute, undeniable supremacy. A part of him, the part that valued efficiency above all, envied it. The other part, his pride, chafed at being rendered a bystander.
Levi's attention had narrowed to a single point. He walked over to Gion, his eyes fixed on the thin line of red on her arm. "Who made this cut?" he asked again, his tone deceptively mild as he scanned the sea of kneeling, struggling forms. These men, once kings and giants, were now just a field of specimens, their pride and history irrelevant.
"I'm… I'm fine, really," Gion insisted, flustered by the intensity of his focus. A treacherous, illogical hope flickered in her chest. Does he… care?
Levi looked at her as if she'd spoken nonsense. "Is your assessment relevant? If you are incapacitated, who handles reports, logistics, and scheduling? My workflow is optimized around your efficiency. A newspaper without accompanying coffee and pastries is an inferior experience. Adjutant, your functionality is not your own; it is an integral part of my operational convenience."
The flicker of hope in Gion's chest died a swift, cold death. Right. A tool. I'm a high-functioning, coffee-brewing tool. She resisted the urge to sigh. Of course.
"I—" a weak voice croaked from among the kneeling prisoners, a hand feebly raised.
Levi's head didn't turn. A thin, sharpened tendril of black Reiatsu, invisible to most, shot out and pierced the speaker's heart. The man slumped over, dead.
"It was you?" Levi asked the corpse blandly.
The remaining prisoners stared, horrified. The man had clearly been trying to say something, not confess!
"I… I know who did it… it wasn't me. Sorry for the misunderstanding, Admiral…" another prisoner stammered, panic making his words tumble out.
Levi gave a slight nod. "He insulted me. You all heard it."
A collective, internal scream went through every witness. HE INSULTED YOU AFTER YOU KILLED HIM!
Magellan's toxic face twitched. This was… problematic. But the dead were pirates, and rioters at that. The paperwork could be massaged. As long as the body count didn't climb too high, the World Government would overlook it. Levi's value as a deterrent was now incalculable.
"Everyone, fight! Or this demon will pick us off one by one!" a trembling voice cried out from the back. It belonged to a wiry man with scarred hands—a former underworld assassin known as "The Gutter Knife," bounty 1.08 billion berries. He was the one. He'd seen Gion, a female officer, and thought her the weak point in the Marine line. His sneak attack had been precise, meant to kill. Her reflexes had saved her, leaving only the shallow cut. Now, drowning in terror, he sought to rally the doomed.
His attempt to stand, to ignite a final, desperate resistance, failed utterly. His legs refused to obey, locked in place by Levi's will.
"It appears it was you," Levi stated, his perception of the man's guilty, frantic soul signature confirming it instantly.
A coil of dense Reiatsu wrapped around The Gutter Knife and lifted him into the air like a marionette with its strings cut. He hung there, helpless, a prize fish caught in a net of pure spirit.
"A criminal with a bounty over a billion… handled like a child's toy…" Hannyabal muttered, his political scheming momentarily forgotten in the face of such raw power.
Whispers rippled through the prison guards. "Is… is Admiral Black Crow stronger than Admiral Akainu?"
"He just did what Akainu couldn't with a look…"
Sakazuki heard them. He didn't react outwardly, but his internal furnace burned hotter. The novel experience of being someone else's benchmark, the lesser benchmark, was a potent fuel. Have I grown stagnant? he wondered, looking at his magma-coated fist. The thought was unacceptable.
Levi studied the suspended assassin. "Your Haki is decent. A suitable test subject." He extended a hand, fingers moving in minute, intricate patterns. Reiatsu Analysis activated, mapping the man's soul. Then, Levi attempted a new modification—trying to force a somatic expansion, to increase the man's physical mass by altering the spiritual blueprint for his body.
The result was not growth, but catastrophic decay.
A gasp swept the room. Before their eyes, The Gutter Knife began to rot. It started at his feet, the flesh turning grey, then black, crumbling away like ancient parchment. The decay spread upward with agonizing slowness, not consuming him in a burst, but dissolving him layer by layer. His screams were not of pain, but of existential horror, of feeling his very being unmade from the soles up. It took nearly a full minute before the last of his hair dissolved into dust, his final scream echoing in the silent hall.
The remaining prisoners felt a cold deeper than any Level 5 could provide. This was not Magellan's quick, toxic death. This was a violation.
"A failure," Levi noted, disappointed. "Mass alteration via spiritual template seems non-viable. The somatic structure rejects forced inflation, leading to systemic collapse. Interesting." His cool, analytical gaze shifted, settling on another prisoner—a hulking pirate with a missing eye.
"I DIDN'T DO IT!" the pirate bellowed, cold sweat drenching him. He'd faced down fleets, but this calm, curious monster terrified him to his core.
Magellan finally stepped forward, his voice a low, urgent rumble. "Admiral Black Crow… we cannot continue this. The death toll… the Five Elders, CP0… they will be sending auditors. It will be difficult to explain."
Levi looked at Magellan, then back at the terrified pirate. A slow, harmless-looking smile spread across his face, extinguishing the cold anger from his eyes.
"It's quite alright, Warden," Levi said, his tone light, almost friendly. "I won't kill anyone else. I'll be staying here for a few days, as Fleet Admiral Sengoku requested. Consider me… a guest observer. I promise to be on my best behavior."
He waved a hand dismissively. The crushing black Reiatsu blanketing Level 6 dissipated instantly, as if it had never been. The prisoners sagged, gasping, but remained on their knees, too broken and terrified to move.
Levi turned to Domino, who was watching him with rapt, unsettling fascination. "Deputy Warden Domino, if you would be so kind? I believe we were on our way to find more… cooperative volunteers for my research. Preferably ones with strong Haki. The ones here seem a bit… traumatized for now."
He walked away from the scene of his dominance, leaving behind a shattered riot, a deeply unsettled Magellan, a thoughtful Akainu, and an adjutant who was now painfully aware that her primary value was making good coffee and keeping his schedule clear.
The Soul Surgeon's work in Impel Down had only just begun.
(End of Chapter)
✨If you're enjoying this story, consider supporting me on Patreon —
Patreon.com/TofuChan
💕Patreon members get early access to chapters, bonus content, and voting power on future ideas.💕
Every bit of support helps me write more and faster. Thank you so much for reading! 🥰
Bonus Chapter For Every 100 Power Stones
Lets hit the goal of 150 Patreon Members now for 5 Extra Chapters 💕
We are at 136 members right now.
Donate me Stoness!!!
The poll taken in Patreon was Won by Naruto: Path to Godhood with Kamui so please add it to your collection💕