"What an overwhelming presence…"
As the sound of footsteps echoed through the hall, every standing person regardless of strength collapsed to the floor, eyes rolled back, unconscious.
A display of Conqueror's Haki, mastered to terrifying perfection.
Crack… crack…
Violent bolts of black and crimson lightning surged across the room, writhing like living creatures as they climbed and twisted into the air.
Even the rhythm of everyone's heartbeat seemed to fall in sync with those echoing footsteps.
That suffocating feeling of one's very life no longer in their own hands…
"No empty seats, huh? Looks like everyone gave me face today."
A voice, calm and magnetic, echoed through the hall.
Those seated oppressed by the sheer weight of the atmosphere instinctively turned, heads bowed in reverence, toward the shadowed entrance beside the high dais.
"You've gotta be kidding me… This kind of oppressive, suffocating pressure? This is the next generation's king? I thought the rumors had to be exaggerated…"
"I can barely breathe. How could someone like this even exist?"
"No wonder they say he crushed an entire era on his own…"
"With a monster like that roaming the seas, how did the other Emperors even manage to survive?!"
From the shadows of the entrance, two silhouettes emerged, each step heavier than the last, as if shaking the hearts of those present.
"Is that…?!"
"The strongest swordsman of the new generation, a man said to have a real shot at becoming the world's greatest his right hand…
Dracule Mihawk!"
"And beside him, that monster who can stir up sandstorms like a natural disaster…
Crocodile!"
As those two legendary figures stepped forward, another figure emerged behind them, hands in his pockets, walking casually from the shadows yet his identity was beyond doubt.
At that moment, everyone in the room stood up.
Some were so shaken that their legs trembled, barely staying upright by holding onto their tables.
Even Rayleigh, seated casually with a bottle in hand just moments ago, gave Ozz his due respect setting down the drink and rising to his feet.
Dressed in a deep crimson suit, a black overcoat draped across his shoulders, and Ace's saber at his waist, Ozz entered the hall with a gentle, affable smile.
But despite that approachable expression, the crimson lightning crackling around him twisted and hissed like a beast unleashed making it all too clear just how terrifying this man truly was.
The floor beneath his feet cracked with each step, and the tables groaned under the pressure, on the verge of collapse.
Still smiling, Ozz stepped between Mihawk and Crocodile. As the oppressive lightning faded, he surveyed the room with satisfaction, lowering both hands.
"No need to be so formal. Everyone, sit."
At his words, an invisible force swept across the room, and everyone's body moved on its own, compelled into their seats.
As for the unconscious guards and lackeys sprawled on the ground they vanished without a trace.
"That… that's the rumored teleportation fruit? One of the strongest Paramecia on the seas?!"
"Yeah… With just that ability alone, he can project absolute deterrence. Even the most defiant kingpins of the underworld would kneel!"
"Lately, there's been a heated debate across the seas: Which is more terrifying the Quake-Quake Fruit or the Teleport Fruit?"
Many of the underworld's top brass, meeting Ozz for the first time, were now reevaluating their assumptions about him in the face of such overwhelming strength.
And with that, any reckless ambitions they may have harbored were quietly extinguished.
Everyone now sat up straight.
Despite being titans in the world of crime dealing in the dirtiest, bloodiest trades right now, they looked like obedient schoolchildren, staring respectfully at the man on the stage.
No one dared ask what had happened to their subordinates.
Ozz cleared his throat. He didn't feel nervous after all, he was merely addressing a group of subordinates.
This was just a warm-up.
Beside him, Mihawk and Crocodile stood with arms crossed, cold and distant, but equally curious to hear what Ozz had to say.
Under the weight of every gaze, Ozz finally spoke. His voice was calm, his eyes steady.
"Gentlemen, I believe… this world shouldn't be like this."
His voice wasn't loud, but somehow it carried conviction perhaps because Ozz was just that powerful.
"Look at the way you people do business. Murder? Theft? Turning on each other for scraps?"
"Stop wasting your strength on this pointless infighting!!!"
As Ozz's eyes swept across the room, many who had dabbled in such treachery felt a chill crawl up their spines as if he somehow knew and they quietly lowered their heads in shame.
"Since the heads of the underworld have sincerely asked me to take charge of the situation…"
Right on cue, the lights focused on the eight ruling giants of the underworld including Samee and Doflamingo, Ozz's true inner circle.
"…then I will draw the lines for this chaotic and blood-soaked industry.
Step over them and you're done."
He went straight for the jugular.
With those words his voice sharp and cold as steel an even more terrifying burst of crimson lightning erupted across the hall.
Aside from Rayleigh and a few others, everyone else felt like they were suffocating under the crushing force, their spirits pushed to the very brink of collapse.
One step further and they might shatter.
"I also understand that sometimes, the promise of profit is enough to make men risk even their lives. So come on, try me!"
Dominance.
Arrogance.
A complete disregard for anyone in the room.
As Ozz's words rang out and his aura bore down on them, his name crashed down upon the hearts of the underworld like a mountain.
They understood if they made any more reckless moves, he would truly kill them without hesitation.
Unlike the World Government whose power came with politics and compromise, always weighing consequences before acting Ozz had nothing to hold him back.
If he was provoked, he didn't need to weigh the cost of losing a kingdom or a region. He could simply erase it.
With the support of the eight underworld kings, Ozz was already the most powerful figure in the criminal world and he possessed the power to kill everyone in this room, instantly.
He didn't need threats.
Even if he destroyed the Sabaody Archipelago or wiped out the Kingdom of Dularmos it wouldn't harm his foundation.
It would only enrage the king.
And if that happened, the forces behind whoever provoked him down to the worms in their soil would be crushed into paste.
No one was foolish enough to become that sacrificial pawn.
When Ozz laid out his rules and the new distribution of power, respecting everyone's current shares, no one dared speak up.
Even when he announced a mandatory tithe just a small percentage of net profits none of them objected. They simply glanced at each other in silence.
No one wanted to be the one to say no.
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The tides are shifting, and secrets linger in the dark... Step into the shadows early on P@treon, where the next chapter awaits before the world sees it.
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