After leaving the casino in the southern part of the city, Vivi—about to head east to collect debts—suddenly paused and turned back, "looking" toward the south.
In her perception, a streak of fiery red light plummeted from the sky, crashing less than ten miles behind them. She could hear faint exclamations echoing from the distance.
"Where is that place?" she asked Ain, the swordswoman walking beside her.
Ain blinked. "We just left and now you're asking where we came from?"
Still, out of respect for the princess's pride, she answered with some hesitation. "That should be the same casino we were just at, right?"
Vivi nodded thoughtfully. "Oh... he's that mad? I'm thirteen, young and impulsive—it's natural to get upset when cheated. But a fifty-something uncle losing his temper like that? Tsk, unbelievable. Anyway, let's go east and collect debts. It's not easy earning hard cash. Those casino rats dared to scam me!"
Disguised as a blind girl in a cloak, bamboo stick in hand, she strolled leisurely. Yet inwardly, she reflected on the "hint" skill she'd used earlier—realizing her delivery had been crude and clumsy. She needed to polish that technique.
News of the meteor strike on the southern casino spread city-wide by midday.
Nothing travels faster than misfortune among rivals. Other casino owners across Lulucia's capital quickly heard of the disaster. As for the reason? A meteor is a force of nature—chalk it up to bad luck.
Vivi didn't find the eastern casino as planned. The panic and confusion from the meteor incident threw off her navigation. She stubbornly blamed passersby for misdirection, refusing to admit she'd gone the wrong way.
Eventually, she ended up at a casino in the western district.
This time, her credentials were flat-out denied—her "hint" didn't even get a chance.
"Hahaha! Blind girl trying to con money from us? You fool!"
Faced with such filth, Vivi didn't waste time arguing. They had mocked her for a week and treated her like a joke—it was time to collect interest.
Raising her katana, Huazhou, its blade cloaked in black Armament Haki, she readied herself. Her Observation Haki made her hyper-aware of her surroundings—the air flow, the architecture, every structural weak point.
She saw the building's bones, its flaws, its vulnerabilities.
With her strength fully charged after more than ten seconds of focus, she slashed down.
"Weiguo!"
A massive black slash, sharp and infused with overwhelming kinetic energy, tore through the ground. It was her modified version of Elbaf's Spear: Sovereignty—weaker than when used by the giants, lacking their earth-shattering momentum, but still devastating.
Vivi's current power had grown considerably thanks to scavenged "giant" attributes, but she was still far from the real thing. "Sovereignty" could crush nations. "Weiguo" could only rattle cities. Hers was just Level 1, yet still far more than enough to annihilate a single casino.
The dark blade carved a trench a meter wide, two meters deep, and over 100 meters long.
The casino and a few shady shops attached to it were obliterated. The western district trembled.
Vivi didn't even flinch. She pointed her blade at the stunned staff. "Your boss is gone. Will you now return the Baileys I left with you?"
"B-But... the account books... you destroyed everything…"
"What was that? I didn't quite hear you."
"I'll return it! Repaying immediately!"
---
Boom! Another meteor descended.
"Weiguo!" Vivi unleashed her finishing move again, obliterating a second casino.
Boom! A third shooting star blazed overhead.
"Weiguo!" Vivi's slash landed with terrifying force—teaching another arrogant casino owner a lesson in humility.
They tore through Lulucia's casino network and the criminal syndicates lurking behind them.
Most of their attacks targeted infrastructure. People could run, buildings couldn't. The slashes looked terrifying, but few lives were lost.
Panicked, the kingdom's nobles called on the Navy for help. They wanted the attackers captured.
But Admiral Zefa, stationed at G2 base, understood exactly what had happened. Just because he loathed pirates didn't mean he'd condone other injustices.
Zefa held no high office, yet the G2 base's Vice Admiral had once been his student. On his word alone, the Kingdom's request for help was tossed into the trash. Not even a response was sent.
Meanwhile, Vivi and the middle-aged man in the lavender kimono completed their sweeping purge of the capital's corruption. Then, with unspoken timing, they "coincidentally" reunited by the roadside.
Vivi's mission was complete. Having awakened her Haki and crushed the kingdom's black market, she was now set to travel to Torrance Town in the Kingdom of Prodence to hunt for Devil Fruits.
Before departing, she invited the man to dinner.
He requested soba noodles. They found a modest roadside shop.
Vivi no longer disguised herself. Now wearing a light blue plaid shirt and white trousers, she looked every bit the swordswoman. She bore no resemblance to the blind girl she'd impersonated, but the man in the lavender kimono remained truly blind.
They shared a deep, silent camaraderie from having faced evil together, but neither had yet revealed their full identities.
Vivi could recruit Duddy, deceive the giants, maybe even convince Zefa to help Alabasta—but she had no way to influence the man before her.
He was a wandering powerhouse, far above her family's "small temple."
She asked, "Uncle, what's your next move? Lulucia probably won't want you back, and the Navy clearly has opinions—about both of us."
The man smiled faintly. "I'm just a humble drifter, like duckweed on the sea. Wherever the wind blows, I'll follow."
They chatted idly. Then, at last, shared names.
Vivi confirmed her suspicion. This man would one day become an Admiral. Though he didn't yet bear the title Fujitora, he introduced himself simply as Issho—which meant "Smile."
He had little reaction to her name—it was natural. Instead, he asked about her Haki awakening and praised her daring ruse of pretending to be blind to "seek excitement."
Originally, Vivi had hoped to spar with him and perhaps steal some attributes, but quickly realized the old man's guard was ironclad—impenetrable even during a meal.
For now, they were simply kindred spirits—nothing more.
And when two powerful strangers part ways with mutual respect and no promises, that's when fate begins to stir.