"Hey, you there. You're not from around here, are you? This isn't your seat. Move it. You're in the way," said a muscular man with short blond hair, sunglasses, and a cocky attitude, wearing a jacket.
"Yeah, hurry up and give your seat to Lord Bellamy. You wanna die or something?" a nearby thug chimed in.
The tavern atmosphere turned cold in an instant.
"Bellamy? As in the Hyena Bellamy with a 55 million bounty?"
"Shh! Keep your voice down. You trying to get us killed?"
"But what's he doing here?"
"That outsider's in for it now."
The bearded man munching on cherry pie let out a hearty laugh as if he'd heard something funny.
Kaguya, sitting nearby, remained completely unbothered, continuing to devour her plate of roasted meat.
"What the hell are you laughing at?" Bellamy's face turned dark.
"This cherry pie's just too good," the bearded man laughed.
Bellamy's expression grew stormy. He walked over, grabbed the man's hair, and slammed his face into the pie on the table.
BANG!
A loud thud. The bearded man's head hit the table with such force that it cracked.
Bellamy sneered. "Not laughing now, huh? Go on, laugh again."
The bearded man lifted his head and picked up the ruined pie. "What a shame... Such a delicious pie, wasted."
Bellamy's face twisted with rage. He grabbed a bottle and smashed it over the man's head.
Crash! Glass shards flew everywhere.
Just as some of the shards were about to hit Kaguya, an invisible gust of wind formed a barrier and deflected them.
"What? Not gonna fight back? Just a wannabe pirate showing off in a dive bar," Bellamy sneered. "Fools giving up real riches to chase some imaginary dream. What's there to be proud of?"
The bearded man brushed shards off his shoulder. "Boss, what's with all the flies in here? There's a lot of them."
"What did you say?" Bellamy growled, veins bulging on his forehead. He raised his hand to strike.
"Boss, I'm done eating." Kaguya placed some money on the counter and headed toward the door.
"Huh?" Bellamy turned and stepped in front of her, blocking the exit. "I don't remember giving you permission to leave, miss."
Kaguya halted, a faint frown on her face.
"You're clearly not local. How about a bet?" Bellamy said, pulling out a die and grinning. "If you win, I'll let you go. How about it?"
"Move," Kaguya said coldly.
Bellamy laughed angrily. "Feisty, huh? Looks like you need a lesson."
He reached out to grab her.
A sharp glint flashed in Kaguya's pale golden eyes.
Just then, the tavern doors swung open. A group of men entered.
"Hey boss! Got any top-shelf liquor? Bring it all out! We're celebrating tonight!"
"But boss, didn't you just say too much booze makes you feel sick?"
"You idiot. A day like this—how could we not drink? Haha!"
The man leading the group had red hair, a scruffy beard, and a rugged look—but carried an air of maturity that commanded attention.
Bellamy's eyes widened suddenly, his expression darkening. "Y-You're... Shanks?"
But Shanks paid him no mind and led his group directly toward the bar counter.
Bellamy's face grew even uglier, but he dared not act rashly. He may have been bold in front of others, but the man before him—Red-Haired Shanks—was one of the Four Emperors of the sea.
To everyone's surprise, Shanks approached the bearded man and gave a faint smirk. "Didn't expect to see you here... Blackbeard."
Blackbeard.
Bellamy's eyes narrowed. He'd heard that name before—wasn't he one of Whitebeard's crew?
Whitebeard's men weren't to be trifled with. If they clashed, Whitebeard wouldn't let it go so easily.
But instead of feeling relieved, Bellamy felt humiliated.
What, he wasn't even worth their attention?
Damn it!
Gritting his teeth, Bellamy grabbed a bottle and hurled it at Kaguya's head.
Clang!
A flash of sharp black light swept across his arm.
Splurt!
Blood sprayed into the air. A severed arm spiraled upward before hitting the floor with a dull thud—it was Bellamy's.
Bellamy's pupils shrank.
"Aaaaghhh!"
An anguished scream rang out. Bellamy clutched his bleeding stump, drenched in sweat and writhing in pain.
Kaguya shot him a cold glance and turned toward the exit.
"Stop right there!"
Bellamy's lackeys immediately surrounded her, guns drawn.
But before they could react, Kaguya moved—a blur of motion. Her black-red blade flashed like a streak of lightning.
Clang!
Steel met steel. Sparks flew as blades clashed.
Standing before Kaguya was none other than Red-Haired Shanks.
"You're going to stop me too?" Kaguya asked, her gaze cold.
"Isn't it unnecessary to go this far for a few weaklings?" Shanks replied with a calm smile.
Kaguya sheathed her sword and said nothing. She walked past him and pushed open the door.
Shanks watched her disappear into the distance, his gaze narrowing slightly.
What incredible swordsmanship.
He'd never seen anything like it. No—he had seen it once before. Someone else had that terrifying technique. But it wasn't her.
Strangely, though, the feeling she gave off was remarkably similar. If their appearances weren't so drastically different, he might have thought they were the same person.
"Hahaha! Saved! I'm saved!" the bearded man laughed joyfully.
Shanks gave a faint smile. "You really think so?"
Walking through the streets, Kaguya felt an unusual calm in her heart—like the still surface of a lake. There was a cold detachment in her gaze, as if nothing in the world truly concerned her. Yet if anyone dared provoke her, she would not hesitate to strike with deadly force.
This was a stark contrast to her usual demeanor.
Could this be the influence of her transformation?
Kaguya couldn't be sure, but she didn't dislike the feeling.
Being decisive in killing wasn't necessarily a bad thing. In the past, she'd been too softhearted, which had brought her many unnecessary troubles.
Mercy toward enemies was cruelty to oneself—a truth she'd long known, but until now had been too kind to act on.
Now she understood: words like weakness and kindness had no real place in battle. They were liabilities that only led to difficult situations.
One drawback of the transformation card was that all previously held abilities were temporarily sealed. She couldn't use them again until she returned to her original form.
But this didn't matter to Kaguya. The whole point of transforming was to conceal her identity. If she used her usual powers, she'd risk exposure—defeating the entire purpose of disguise.
Still, it brought certain inconveniences. For one, Black Saber couldn't fly. Her Invisible Air wasn't yet strong enough to support long-term airborne travel. On the vast ocean, she had no choice but to use a ship.
That night, Kaguya stayed in an inn at the town, and set off the next morning. Her destination: Impel Down. Her plan was to release the high-level criminals held there and create chaos, disrupting the plans of the World Government and Navy.
Before, she might have hesitated—worried about harming acquaintances in the Navy. But now, she believed any method that achieved her goals was valid. There was no right or wrong in war. Besides, she would eventually face the Navy head-on.
So, Kaguya unapologetically seized a Navy warship. But after tossing the crew into the sea to feed the fish, she realized—she didn't know how to sail.
Not only could she not steer the ship, but she didn't know how to adjust the sails either. All she could do was stare blankly at the endless ocean.
In her own era, sailboats didn't even exist. And even after arriving in this world, she usually traveled through the air. On the rare occasions she sailed, others handled the ship.
Now, things were a bit more complicated.
To make it worse, she'd unknowingly entered the Calm Belt—an area with no wind, stifling heat, and limp sails. Without wind, her warship had no power and drifted aimlessly.
Boom!
A thunderous explosion echoed. A piercing black slash split the surging sea in two.
The massive sea king ahead was instantly cleaved in half like butter. The slash didn't stop there—it tore through another sea king farther away, sending fountains of blood into the air like a crimson rain.
"Wh-What is that...?!"
On a distant Navy warship, marines stared wide-eyed in shock. On the opposing Kuja pirate ship, the crew was equally stunned—jaws slack in disbelief.
A single slash—just a seemingly ordinary black arc—had annihilated more than a dozen massive sea kings along its path.
It was truly terrifying.
Kaguya leapt down from the body of the sea king, gracefully landing on the deck of the ship after a few agile bounds. In her hand was a large chunk of sea king meat.
Just then, someone on the nearby Navy warship recognized her.
"That's her! She's the one who hijacked the warship and threw all the naval officers into the sea!" a furious marine shouted from the railing.
"Oh, it's her?" a slow, drawling voice replied from the deck.
A tall, thin man with dark curly hair, wearing a yellow-and-white striped suit and sunglasses, stood casually. He was one of the Navy's three Admirals—Kizaru.
"Scary stuff," Kizaru said, smacking his lips.
Meanwhile, on the Kuja pirate ship, the mood turned tense.
"Sister, another Navy warship has appeared. The one who just killed the sea kings was someone from that ship," said a green-haired woman solemnly.
"Hmph. Just the Navy? Nothing to fear," replied a stunningly beautiful woman.
Her silky black hair flowed like ink, her fair skin glowed with a delicate radiance, and her light makeup accentuated her striking features. Deep blue eyes gleamed under slender brows, and snake-shaped earrings hung from her ears. Tall and curvaceous, she exuded a seductive charm.
She was none other than Boa Hancock—the Pirate Empress, and captain of the Kuja Pirates.
It appeared, just like in the original story, she had become the ruler of Amazon Lily.
"Still..." her sister Sandersonia began, sounding hesitant.
Just then, perhaps sensing their gaze, Kaguya—who was grilling sea king meat on the deck—suddenly turned around. Her eyes flashed, and she casually tossed the meat aside. Leaping forward, she skimmed across the surface of the water, swiftly heading toward them.
There must be real food over there.
Kaguya hated eating sea king meat the most. The strong fishy stench made it nearly inedible. Even after becoming Black Saber and no longer being picky, she still couldn't tolerate the taste.
Seeing Kaguya rapidly approaching over the sea, chaos broke out on the Navy ship. Marines rushed to aim cannons at her, while others gripped their rifles tightly, standing at the ready.
Many aboard were the same sailors she had thrown into the sea before—and they knew all too well just how terrifyingly powerful she was. None more so than Vice Admiral Momonga, who had found himself completely powerless against her despite his rank.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The cannons roared from the Navy warship, thick smoke filling the air. Cannonballs rained down toward Kaguya like a deadly storm of shrapnel.
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