Shanks froze the instant that voice slid into the air.
"Hello… Shanks."
It wasn't loud. It didn't need to be.
The sound itself seemed to warp the world around it—soft yet heavier than thunder, carrying a gravity that made the sky feel like it was pressing down on them all.
Shanks' breath caught in his throat. His mind screamed move, but his body wouldn't listen.
His boots dug into the dirt as his legs quivered. The air itself felt thick, syrupy, clinging to his skin. His vision blurred at the edges.
Then the pressure deepened.
Bones creaked. Sweat dripped down his spine.
And his knees… gave way.
He hit the ground on one knee, teeth clenched, head bowed low.
"...Saint Lakeman," he forced out, the words tasting like iron.
'Gods… this pressure. This is just his haki. If he wills it, we'll all be dust before we blink.'
Around them, every villager had already collapsed, bodies strewn like broken dolls across the dirt. Not one stirred. Their chests rose and fell faintly—barely alive, trapped in nightmares they couldn't wake from.
Only Shanks, his crew, Makino, and Luffy were still conscious… if it could be called that.
His crew were on their hands and knees, faces pale, eyes wide with silent panic.
Benn's lips moved as if whispering something to himself, maybe a prayer.
Lucky Roux's hands trembled so violently that the meat bone he always carried had rolled forgotten into the dust.
Yasopp was biting down on his tongue just to stay awake, every vein standing out on his neck.
'If this goes on… they'll snap. We all will.'
Luffy stood frozen beside Makino, tiny fists clenched, his round eyes wide and shaking. He didn't understand what he was feeling, only that the air hurt to breathe.
Makino's arms wrapped around him tightly, as if her embrace could shield him from the weight of the world. But her own lips trembled. Her heart thudded painfully.
'Don't move. Don't speak. Don't even breathe too loud… please, she begged silently, clutching the boy closer.'
At the center of this silent devastation stood Lakeman.
Unmoving. Effortless. Like a god carved out of shadow and bloodlight. His eyes gleamed like molten rubies as he finally spoke, each word slicing the silence like glass.
"Tsk, tsk… Shanks. How bold of you. To raid a CP9 ship… and steal the Nika Fruit."
Shanks' stomach twisted.
' He knows. Of course he knows. He's known from the moment we stepped foot here.'
Lakeman's gaze drifted toward Luffy, sharp and lazy, like a predator idly noticing its prey.
"And it's this boy who has eaten it, isn't he?"
Luffy flinched at the weight of that gaze, his small body trembling despite the fire in his eyes. Makino's arms tightened around him, but her heart skipped in terror.
'He's just a child. He doesn't know. Please don't…'
Lakeman's voice lowered, soft as falling ash, yet it made the earth tremble.
"You do remember… the entire Cipher Pol is mine. Every branch. Every agent. They serve me alone."
His eyes glinted with dark amusement.
"So tell me… how should I punish you?"
The pressure pulsed once, harder, and several of Shanks' crew groaned aloud. The earth cracked under Shanks' boots as he gritted his teeth, his heart hammering painfully.
'If he wants… he can crush Luffy in an instant. No… focus. Think. I can't let him see fear…'
"If you must…" Shanks rasped, words scraping his dry throat, "kill me. But leave the villagers. They are innocent. And Luffy… he's just a child."
Lakeman didn't even look at him.
Instead, he turned—and the suffocating pressure softened just a fraction as his gaze fell on the woman kneeling at his side.
Mirana.
She was poised, beautiful… and utterly alien now. Not the shy sister Shanks once remembered. There was nothing familiar left in her eyes, only an unsettling hunger as she leaned into Lakeman's palm like a worshiper basking in sunlight.
"What do you think, Mirana?" Lakeman murmured, fingers drifting through her silky hair.
"What punishment does your brother deserve?"
Mirana's lips curved into a slow, wicked smile. Her voice purred like silk over knives.
"Let me torture him until I am satisfied… and then kill him, Master."
Her tongue flicked out as she drew Lakeman's fingers into her mouth, sucking them languidly while gazing up at him with adoration.
Shanks' chest clenched painfully.
'She's gone. He took her from me… and she's never coming back.
There was no room left for anger. Only grief.'
Benn stared in silent horror, his eyes darting between Mirana and Shanks.
'That's… his sister. And she… she's smiling.'
Even Yasopp swallowed hard, bile rising in his throat.
'If he can do that to her… what chance do we stand?'
Beside them, Luffy's small fists quaked. Makino clung to him desperately, but he was trembling with fury now, every childish instinct screaming at him to fight.
"Who are you, bastard?!" Luffy shouted, voice cracking, eyes blazing with tears and rage.
"How dare you humiliate Shanks—and his sister!"
"Luffy, no!" Makino gasped, reaching for him, but he tore free.
"Gomu Gomu no… Pistol!"
His arm snapped back and then shot forward like a whip, cutting through the air with a sharp crack. The crew gasped. Even Shanks' heart lurched.
No—!
Lakeman didn't blink.
He merely glanced at Luffy—and the world crushed him flat.
A wave of unseen force slammed him face-first into the dirt. The impact left a crater around his small body. He didn't even scream—just hit and stayed down, pinned as though the sky itself had fallen on his back.
"Luffy!" Makino screamed, stumbling forward.
"Luffy!!" Shanks roared, veins bulging as he strained to rise, rage and terror surging through him.
The ground beneath him splintered, cracks webbing outward with each effort—but his limbs wouldn't move. Not one.
His heart pounded like a war drum.
'Move. Please—MOVE—!'
But Lakeman's conqueror's haki held him like an insect beneath a god's heel.
Lakeman's crimson eyes swept lazily across the scene.
Then, as if the tension crushing the air meant nothing to him, he turned away from the broken pirates and addressed the women standing a short distance behind him.
"Robin, Stussy, Shakky, Lily… all of you," he said calmly. "Go take a look at the Goa Kingdom nearby. Enjoy yourselves. Do some shopping. Be back before nightfall. Mirana and I will stay here."
The women exchanged quiet, knowing looks.
They glanced at Mirana, then at Makino kneeling in tears, then at the trembling Shanks still pinned to the dirt. A few of them smiled faintly — sly, amused, like they already knew what their master intended.
"Enjoy yourself, Master," Robin murmured with a teasing smile as they began to walk away.
"Have fun," Shakky added in a sing-song tone, tossing a wink.
Lily gave Makino a brief, pitying glance, then giggled softly as she followed the others.
They left in a swirl of perfume and silk, their laughter fading into the trees.
Lakeman watched them go, lips curving faintly.
'These girls… they've grown bold. Once, they trembled at the sound of me… now they tease and smirk as if they've forgotten who stands above them. Humph. They need more spanking… and pile-driving until they remember.'
He turned back.
Makino knelt in the dirt, cradling Luffy's small, battered form. Her shoulders shook as she wept quietly, her tears streaking the boy's dusty face.
Lakeman began walking toward them, each step silent yet carrying the weight of inevitability.
Mirana followed close behind, her hips swaying, her eyes glinting with eager cruelty. She understood his desire without a word — and she was willing to play the villain to make her master happy.
As Lakeman halted a few steps away, Mirana stepped forward. A sharp click of her heels echoed through the dead-silent village.
She raised one leg… and pressed the black heel — coated with armament haki — down onto the back of Luffy's head.
The boy let out a strangled cry as the dirt cracked beneath his face. Blood trickled from his nose, his body trembling under the unbearable pressure. Steam hissed off his skin as he strained futilely.
"Damn it… stop…!" he gasped, teeth gritted, eyes burning with rage and pain.
"Damn you, Mirana! Let him go!" Shanks roared, voice raw with fury. His red hair stuck to his sweat-soaked forehead, his eyes bloodshot.
'I can't move… I can't even lift a finger… damn it…'
"Saint Lakeman, just… kill me and my crew," he rasped, despair cracking through his voice. "But let him go!"
Lakeman gave him a sidelong glance and chuckled darkly.
"When did I ever need trash to tell me what to do?"
He ignored Shanks' pleas and looked down at the trembling figure of Makino, who now slowly rose to her feet before him. Her eyes were red, tears streaming as she clutched Luffy protectively.
"Please… sir…" her voice shook, yet she forced the words out, "save Luffy… spare him…"
She lowered herself again, knees sinking into the dirt.
Makino bowed deeply, her palms pressed to the ground as tears fell. Her shoulders shook with quiet sobs.
'He's going to kill him… I can't let him… even if it costs me everything…'
Behind her, Mirana continued to grind her heel against Luffy's head, carefully inflicting agony without pushing far enough to kill him — obeying her master's unspoken order delivered through their silent bond.
Lakeman slowly crouched before Makino. His hand rose — long, elegant fingers trailing possessively across her trembling lips.
His crimson eyes gleamed.
"What," he murmured, "can you give me… in place of the strongest Devil Fruit in the world — which this idiot has eaten?"
Makino froze, her breath catching as his fingers tilted her chin up. He gripped her jaw gently but firmly, making her rise to her feet as he straightened.
Shanks' eyes widened.
"Damn bastard, let her go!" he roared, his voice breaking. His whole body trembled violently as the air around him crackled with sparks of conqueror's haki, lashing out wildly under the storm of emotions ripping through him — rage, jealousy, helplessness, grief.
'I don't care if he's turned my sister into his plaything… but Makino… Makino… she's…'
'She's the one I… I haven't even told her…'
The haki around him spiked, fracturing the ground even further — yet still he could not move an inch, trapped beneath Lakeman's will like a chained beast.
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