"Who's next?"
At the center of the burning ruins of Grey Terminal, amidst the smoke and fire, Iggy stood atop a shriveled corpse. His eyes locked onto Bluejam, whose stare flickered with unease despite his usual cruelty.
In the Goa Kingdom, Bluejam had always ruled the slums with fear. His right-hand man, Porchemy, had slaughtered countless people with ruthless speed.
But today—just minutes into a fight—he had watched Porchemy fall to a nameless kid.
"What are you all standing around for?! Cut this brat down!!" Bluejam roared, trying to mask his panic with fury.
His men obeyed, charging at Iggy with swords and clubs raised high.
"Kill him!!"
Iggy didn't wait. He stepped over the dead and sprinted toward the incoming mob.
He slipped past the first man's clumsy slash, countered with a brutal hook to the gut.
"Ugh—!"
The pirate gagged and vomited bile. Iggy snatched his sword and, in a single motion, rammed it backward into the man's chest—blood spraying as the blade punched clean through his back.
"Die."
Before he could react, another attacker slashed Iggy across the back. He stumbled, gritted his teeth, and closed his eyes.
He activated Observation Haki.
The chaos around him vanished into silence. The world slowed. Enemies turned into black silhouettes.
Iggy sidestepped a sneak attack and kicked backward, crushing a pirate's knee with a sickening crunch.
"Ah! My leg!"
Taking advantage of the enemy's stagger, Iggy spun and raised his blade. With a swift upward slash, he severed the man's neck and shoulder in a single stroke—sending his head flying.
Without pause, Iggy hacked into another pirate beside him. The blade embedded in the man's skull, stopping at his eyes.
The weapon stuck. Iggy let it go, kicked the corpse away, and jumped into the air—just as five enemies struck from below.
One blade caught his leg, slicing it open.
"Rankyaku!"
Mid-air, Iggy unleashed a blade of compressed air with his leg—a sharp blue arc sliced through the air like a crescent moon.
SLASH!
Three pirates were cleaved in two. Two more collapsed with mangled limbs, a deep trench gouged into the ground behind them.
Landing lightly, Iggy dove back into the fray.
From a distance, Ace held up the unconscious Luffy, watching Iggy move like a demon through the enemy ranks.
He remembered how Iggy had always been a bit too rough when they hunted beasts together—but this… this was something else entirely.
"Iggy… what happened to you?"
Ace looked over the battlefield littered with mangled bodies. Iggy wasn't just fighting—he was enjoying it.
Luffy, wide-eyed and silent, was frozen in place. The brother he once laughed with now seemed terrifying.
But Iggy wasn't thinking about any of that. Blood soaked his clothes, but each drop made his heart pound faster.
Wounds closed. Strength returned. His senses sharpened.
Every motion—his feet, his fists, his gaze—flowed together in perfect rhythm.
He was intoxicated by the thrill of battle, overwhelmed by the raw feeling of power.
Bluejam fired wildly into the crowd, but none of the bullets hit their mark.
"Shit! Where is he—"
Before he could finish, a hand clamped around his throat.
His eyes widened in horror.
In his last moments, all Bluejam could see was Iggy—face blank, eyes burning—with only the three brothers left alive amid the flames.
"It's people like you that make the world rot."
Iggy's grip tightened like a vice.
Bluejam struggled, coughed up blood. His eyes bulged, half out of their sockets.
"You… you monster…"
Crack.
With a final squeeze, Iggy crushed his windpipe.
Bluejam's body hit the ground lifelessly.
Disgusted, Iggy looked at his blood-covered hands and wiped them on the ground.
He turned to face the sea of corpses.
He raised his head, arms open, feeling the heat and the fire swirl around him—as if even the flames bowed to his rage.
"Mom… did you see that?"
"Your son is one step closer to avenging you."
Her face flashed in his mind—the moment of her death. That memory, that pain—it fueled his wrath like an endless tide crashing against his soul.
In that moment, Iggy understood something deeply:
The weak don't get to choose their fate.
Only the strong have that right. Only the powerful can shape the lives of others… or end them.
From a distance, Ace and Luffy didn't cheer.
They stared in silence, watching Iggy lost in the bloodshed, consumed by it.
"He's… changing," Ace muttered.
"He's chasing....power"
"Ace! Iggy! Luffy!"
A voice rang out—familiar, urgent.
Dadan burst through the smoke, leading a group of bandits. They'd fought to put out the fire and clear a path.
Finally, they found them.
"Thank God you're safe!" she cried, rushing toward them.
Tears welled in her eyes as she pulled the boys away from the blaze, checking them over.
But Iggy pulled away.
"I'll be there in a minute," he said quietly.
He sat down among the corpses, breathing deeply, the adrenaline fading.
Looking over the battlefield, he felt… empty.
____
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