In front of the clothing shop.
Mieko, dressed in a blue-and-white shirt with black casual pants, strode out the door looking refreshed—only to suddenly spot a squad of Royal Army soldiers sprinting this way at top speed.
"They finally came? Perfect timing..."
Mieko's lips curved into a faint smile. His body moved, and he sprang straight up onto the rooftop of the shop across the street. Under the stunned stares of the residents and the Royal Army soldiers, he bounded a few times and vanished from everyone's sight.
"What are you standing around for?! Chase him!"
The patrol captain panted as he hurried over. Seeing his men frozen in place, his anger flared and he barked a furious order.
"Yes! That brat ran toward the beach—move, move!"
"We absolutely cannot let him escape..."
...
On the beach, Mieko looked at the ruins of his little house—now completely flattened—and couldn't help shaking his head.
"He's over there, hurry!"
Twenty to thirty soldiers in Royal Army uniforms quickly closed in, raising their oddly shaped weapons and aiming them at Mieko.
"Brat, I'll ask you—was Enel killed by you?" A middle-aged man stepped forward, face icy, eyes burning as he stared straight at Mieko and questioned him coldly.
Mieko chuckled, nodded without a care. "Enel? Yeah. I killed him."
"Then that settles it. Never thought you'd actually survive a place like Birka Forest, where vicious beasts run wild..."
The middle-aged man's gaze grew darker, his voice turning grim. "By the laws of the Birka Kingdom, a murderer must be executed. If you come with us obediently, you might suffer a little less."
"Just you lot want to arrest me?" Mieko crossed his arms, the corners of his mouth lifting in amused mockery.
"Hmph. Don't get cocky, kid. I know you survived in Birka Forest for three whole months..." The man snorted. "Sure, you've got some tricks. But if you think that makes you invincible, you're dead wrong!"
With a wave of his hand, a Royal Army soldier hurriedly presented him with a nearly two-meter-long, strangely shaped cone-tipped spear.
He loosened two buttons on his uniform, revealing solid, well-defined muscle. Holding the spear steady in one hand, he stared at Mieko with a chill in his eyes.
"I'll ask one last time. Are you going to surrender quietly... or do you want me to do it myself?"
"Then let me see what you, the patrol captain, are really capable of." Mieko shrugged, answering with a light laugh.
The man's eyes sharpened. "The criminal refuses arrest—dead or alive!"
As soon as the words fell, he slammed a foot into the ground. His tall body shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, crossing several meters in an instant as the cone-tipped spear stabbed straight at Mieko, and he shouted:
"Yes!"
The other soldiers raised their bizarre guns, aiming at Mieko, ready to fire at any moment.
"You do have a bit of skill, but..." Mieko shook his head, rubbing his chin casually. In a flash of lightning-fast movement, he appeared right in front of the middle-aged man and sneered. "You're still too weak!"
BOOM!!!
Almost at the same instant, the middle-aged man looked as if he'd been struck by a heavy blow. He flew backward like a sandbag and slammed into a chunk of Island Cloud stone behind him, embedding deep into it.
"Captain...!"
The remaining soldiers' eyes widened. They stared at their captain being blasted away in an instant, shouting in disbelief.
"Fire!"
An officer snapped his gun toward Mieko and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
"WHOOOSH...!"
A massive tongue of flame exploded from the muzzle, pouncing on Mieko like a raging dragon.
"WHOOOSH! WHOOOSH!"
The others followed, faces twisted as they pulled their triggers. One scorching jet after another erupted from their guns, searing hot.
Flames shot sky-high, instantly turning Mieko's area into a sea of fire. Heatwaves rolled, and large stretches of Island Cloud were charred black.
"So they're guns fitted with special Flame Shells... not bad."
"If an ordinary person stood in that firestorm, they'd be charcoal in an instant, huh?"
As the sea of flames gradually faded, Mieko stood in the same spot, completely unscathed—not even a corner of his clothes had been touched. Wearing an amused expression, he swept his gaze over the Royal Army soldiers.
"H-how is that possible?!"
"He was clearly surrounded by fire...!"
"Not a single injury?!"
The soldiers gaped, shocked out of their minds, yelling in disbelief as they stared at Mieko.
"Bzzzt..."
Mieko flicked his right hand. In an instant, countless dazzling arcs of electricity condensed, bleaching the surroundings in stark white. The screeching crackle of electricity wove together, buzzing and hissing.
"Chidori Stream..."
Under the terrified eyes of the Royal Army, streaks of ferocious current shot out like wild horses breaking loose, instantly drowning the surrounding area.
"Zzzt—zzzt—zzzt...!"
"BANG! BANG! BANG...!"
Lightning flashed. In the blink of an eye, more than twenty Royal Army soldiers were swallowed by the powerful current, their bodies scorched black and smoking as they collapsed onto the beach—life and death unknown.
"AAAH!!! You villain!"
The middle-aged man—who had been kicked into the Island Cloud earlier—roared as he burst back out. When he saw the other soldiers all down on the ground, unmoving, his eyes instantly turned bloodshot as he glared at Mieko in fury.
"You could've just played dead, you know?" Mieko looked at the raging man, lips curling in amused ridicule as he chuckled. "Why force me to do it?"
"Lightning... you're actually a legendary Devil Fruit user?"
The middle-aged man held the cone-tipped spear horizontally before him. A heavy seriousness flickered through his blood-red eyes—then he forced himself to calm down.
"Oh? You've got some knowledge, huh..."
Mieko stood casually on the slightly charred Island Cloud, smiling with mild surprise.
"Hah!"
The man didn't waste any more words. He charged straight at Mieko, the cone-tipped spear whirling like a gale as it thrust toward Mieko's heart. A powerful shockwave burst from the spear tip and shot at Mieko at terrifying speed.
"An Impact Dial?"
Mieko's body turned into lightning. He slipped past the spear at what was practically teleportation speed, appearing on the man's left side as his right leg snapped out like a flash.
BAM—!!!
That shocking speed became a horrifying force in the next instant. The middle-aged man flew like a cannonball, launched away so violently he didn't even have time to scream—blood already blasting from his mouth—before he slammed heavily into the thick cloud layer, as solid as an island.
BOOOOM—!!!
A deafening explosion followed. The Island Cloud, hard like stone, shattered into fragments and collapsed with a thunderous crash. The middle-aged man lay there drenched in blood, stiff and unmoving—his fate uncertain.
"Next, we head to the Royal Palace!"
(End of Chapter)
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[[email protected]/Zukooo]
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