I the King of bandits of the East Sea

"Kuro!"

A dense, engine-like rumbling roar burst from his chest as Sig growled softly:

"Don't force me to draw my sword!"

As Sig finished speaking, he firmly accepted the spiked mace handed to him by one of his subordinates.

"Kuro, you're really overthinking things. I have no intention of fighting you."

"If you retreat now and leave this island immediately, there's still time."

As Sig spoke, he fumbled through his coat with unhurried movements and took out a small vial. Quickly removing the stopper, he poured the colorless liquid directly onto his spiked sword.

He was worried Kuro might suddenly make a move, leaving him no time to react, so he prepared himself completely.

The emperor-like rumbling roar and the momentum that surged up around Sig made Kuro, who was still trembling at the edge of the ruins, freeze for a moment.

He suddenly felt as if Sig's figure had expanded infinitely, becoming like a towering giant. The heavy pressure almost crushed his courage to fight.

"The gap between us is... this overwhelming..."

But when he raised his head to look at Sig, he caught sight of the scene where Sig was pouring liquid onto the spiked sword. His heart sank completely, and his entire body trembled.

"You're this ruthless?! Even though you're so much stronger than me, you're still planning to torture me with poison?"

Kuro felt a wave of dread.

"This is not poison," Sig said without lifting his head, continuing to pour the liquid onto the spiked sword.

"It's just that I like things to be clean. Every time I use my sword, I make sure to wash it."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a faint "hiss" from the ground near his feet.

Looking down, he saw the colorless liquid dripping off the sword onto the grass below. The grass was corroded at a visible speed, with wisps of faint white smoke rising.

Kuro's last sliver of hope shattered. He let out a furious roar, his earlier façade of humility utterly gone.

"Wasn't it you who kept forcing me, Sig?!"

In a flash, Kuro's figure flickered and disappeared from where he stood!

Screech!

The ground was instantly torn with long claw marks, but Kuro's figure was still nowhere to be seen.

Boom!

Deep claw marks appeared suddenly on the ground, one after another. Trees were cut into pieces and fell with heavy crashes.

The next moment—

"Ahh!!"

In the midst of screams, one of the fleeing pirates was enveloped in a flash of blood and fell into a pool of his own blood.

"Ahhh..."

One after another, the fleeing pirates fell. Kuro moved like a silent, invisible ghost, unseen by anyone, slaughtering his allies at a frantic pace.

"You forced me into this, Sig!"

Kuro's cold voice echoed from all directions.

"Once I use this move, even I cannot control it!"

Sig coldly surveyed the forest, now utterly unrecognizable, but a strange calm settled in his heart.

As he finished enchanting his weapon with justice, the once-frantic pounding of the heartbeat had already slowed.

"Is that so? Perhaps I can help you control it."

Lifting the spiked sword in his hand, Sig swung it downward toward the seemingly empty space in front of him.

A simple movement.

At the very moment the spiked sword slashed downward, a blurry figure rushed at him at an incredible speed.

It was Kuro!

His eyes were wide open in shock as he stared at the rapidly expanding spiked sword in his vision.

But what truly filled him with terror was that his own hands, seemingly out of his control, had raised high, as if guided by a will of their own, to meet the spiked sword head-on.

"Ahhh!"

A chilling and piercing wail echoed through the forest.

This sharp and miserable scream instinctively made the pirates, who had been running for their lives, stop in their tracks and look back.

And then, they froze completely.

The captain, Kuro, who had been madly slaughtering his own men, was now half-kneeling in front of Sig at some unknown moment.

What was even more shocking was that Kuro's hands were raised high, blocking the downward strike of the spiked sword.

Not with the bladed claws on his hands—but with his bare palms!

The most terrifying sight was the faint white smoke rising from between Kuro's palms.

The clawed gloves he had been wearing on his hands were being corroded at a visible speed. Next, it was the skin of Kuro's palms...

Clang. Clang.

The clawed gloves completely disintegrated, and the ten blades attached to them fell to the ground one by one.

"That looks... painful..."

Witnessing this scene, the pirates felt a chill deep in their hearts, as if their own palms were in searing pain.

"That Sig... not only can he keep up with the captain's speed, but he can also subdue the captain in one move?"

This thought surfaced in the pirates' minds, and their faces changed drastically as they fled back the way they had come at an even faster speed.

"I already told you, Kuro, don't force me to draw my sword. I didn't want to."

Sig looked at Kuro, who was now half-kneeling before him, and sighed softly.

"You... You monster! Are you a Devil Fruit user?"

Kuro panted heavily, his whole body trembling.

His palms were now festering, blood gushing out uncontrollably, his entire body unable to move. Beads of sweat as large as beans dripped down from his forehead.

"How about this? If I let go of my sword right now, as long as you stop opposing me, I'll let you leave."

Sig spoke softly.

"... Deal!"

Kuro's eyelids drooped, but deep within his pupils, a faint cold glint flashed.

The moment Sig lifted his sword and Kuro regained control of his body, he endured the pain in his hands and picked up one of the blades that had fallen to the ground.

But in the next moment—

Clang!

The blade fell back to the ground again.

"Ah..."

Kuro let out another cry of pain. His now mangled palms, nearly devoid of intact skin, uncontrollably slapped against the spiked sword once more.

"I knew it..."

Sig sighed softly.

"But I'm a rather merciful person. I've never killed anyone before, so I'm willing to give you one last chance to choose."

With an expressionless face, Sig looked down at Kuro, who was half-kneeling under his sword:

"Submit to me, or die."

Almost as soon as Sig's words fell, Kuro shouted:

"Boss Sig! I will follow you for the rest of my life!"

Kuro's forehead was still dripping with large beads of sweat, but he managed to force a flawlessly humble smile onto his face.

This lightning-fast change of expression left Sig, who considered himself something of an acting genius, momentarily stunned.

"Very good."

Sig withdrew his sword. This time, Kuro did not try to retaliate but collapsed onto the ground entirely, staring at his now disfigured hands.

"Take Kuro back to the ship, clean him up, and bandage his wounds."

Sig ordered coldly:

"Of course, if he tries anything... Do I need to say what to do?"