Five years ago, before officially joining the Marine, Michael ate a Devil Fruit.
At the time, he was working on a merchant ship, responsible for guarding the fresh fruit storage.
During a rough wave, the towering pile of fruits collapsed. Fortunately, the storage was lined with shock-absorbing padding, so no damage was done.
But a pure white apple covered in spiral patterns rolled to his feet.
In Michael mind, a faint yet urgent voice cried out:
"Eat it! Eat it!"
And he chose to follow his desire, biting into it without hesitation.
After an indescribable wave of foulness, he became a Devil Fruit user.
Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model : Seraphim.
However, after joining the Marine, when reporting his abilities as a Devil Fruit user to his superiors, he listed his power as the Human-Human Fruit, Ancient Zoan: Winged Human Form.
Aside from flight, he didn't reveal much else about his abilities.
But this time, he couldn't hold back his temper.
Perhaps he had never learned the art of restraint in this life or the last—or maybe it was simply because his blood, still warm, mingled with holy flames and began to burn fiercely once more.
His pure white holy flames consumed eighty-eight men.
After cross-referencing the wanted posters, he realized that the few individuals he had noticed upon boarding were, at the very least, scoundrels with bounties of forty million Berries.
"Couldn't even take one hit? Then you truly deserved to die."
The size of a bounty isn't always determined by strength alone.
Some pirates receive far higher bounties than their actual power due to their cruelty and bloodlust.
High bounties, low strength—such individuals were usually the favorite targets of bounty hunters.
The Marine soldiers who witnessed this on the warship couldn't help but gulp and exchange glances.
"I'd heard rumors that Lieutenant Commander Michael was strong, but this is ridiculous, isn't it?"
"As exaggerated as it seems, isn't it even more absurd that the Lieutenant Commander is only eighteen this year?"
"A lot of people were unhappy about him becoming Vice Admiral Momousagi aide. Well, who'd dare complain now?"
"But these were slaves reserved for the Celestial Dragons… Will we and the Lieutenant Commander really be okay?"
Though Michael hadn't awakened Observation Haki yet, his superhuman physique allowed him to hear every word clearly at this distance.
"Hey, maggots what are you muttering about? Get a doctor over here to treat the wounded!"
"Y-Yes, sir!"
As the storm-bringing clouds were forcibly dispersed by the holy light, sunlight suddenly bathed the slave ship.
Folding his angelic wings, Michael stepped slowly into the now-illuminated hull.
"I am Lieutenant Commander Michael of the Marine Headquarters, stationed at Sabaody Archipelago. You're safe for now."
Safe for now, indeed.
After all, not all slaves were pitiful civilians—some could be ruthless pirates who had met their downfall.
But as Michael ventured deeper, the faint glow from his wings illuminating each cell, he dismissed that assumption.
Every slave reserved for the Celestial Dragons was, without exception, a beautiful woman.
Nearly all were defenseless civilians and more than a dozen were clearly noble-born young ladies at first glance.
He couldn't help but reflect—why hadn't he specifically asked his superior, Momousagi, about awakening Observation Haki?
Relying solely on physical senses was terribly inconvenient.
Before reaching the cell at the end of the ship's hold, Michael focused his gaze.
In the damp corner, a golden-haired girl covered in wounds trembled uncontrollably, her eyes filled with fear, yet she stubbornly shielded several little girls behind her.
"Bastards! You scum! This is a crime!"
Michael rubbed his temples.
This captured woman was perhaps a bit too naive... Provoking criminals even after being kidnapped?
"I'm with the Marines. You're safe now." Michael explained, but the girl emerald-green eyes clearly spelled out two words...
Bullshit!
Left with no choice, Michael spread his Seraph wings once more, amplifying the output of his holy light.
In an instant, the entire hold was illuminated.
The girl finally saw the Marine uniform on the man before her and the other Marines behind him breaking open cells to rescue enslaved women.
For the first time, the seagull insignia and the cloak embroidered with "Justice" gave her an unprecedented sense of...
Relief.
"Big Sister Stella! What's wrong?!"
Seeing the girl eyes roll back as she was about to faint, Michael quickly shattered the cell lock and checked her condition.
"Wait, what did you call her?"
"B-Big Sister Stella."
Michael took another look at the girl named "Stella."
No wonder she seemed familiar—wasn't this the "Golden Emperor" Gild Tesoro little angel ? The one bought right in front of him by a Celestial Dragon before her untimely death?
A background character even in the movie, not particularly memorable.
But the living, breathing girl before him now fleshed out that flat image in his mind.
"Don't worry. Stella just pushed herself too hard protecting you all and the shock finally overwhelmed her."
As he spoke, Michael pressed a finger to Stella forehead. Gentle holy light flowed like water, healing her injuries and fatigue.
Holy light to heal, sacred flames to destroy—mercy and slaughter, the dual nature of a Seraph.
He hadn't yet awakened deeper levels of his Devil Fruit abilities.
As her wounds and exhaustion faded, Stella tightly furrowed brow gradually relaxed.
"Marine-san, is Big Sister Stella better now?" a little girl asked timidly.
"She'll be fine. Just let her rest now." Michael withdrew his finger and ruffled the girls' hair instead.
"She protected you all very well."
Soothing holy light continued to flow, calming their frayed nerves.
Just as Michael said, Stella had shielded these little girls despite her own terror.
Effortlessly lifting Stella into his arms, Michael walked out of the cell, the little girls clinging tightly to his coat tails as they followed.
"Report, Commander! Sweep complete! Total of 260 slaves rescued! All captured from near Sabaody Archipelago and the first half of the Grand Line!"
"Good. Take all victims back to the battleship. We'll handle matters once we return to Sabaody."
"Yes, sir!" The reporting officers paused, then continued "There's one more thing. Aside from the other smuggled goods, we also found a chest in the captain quarters. In addition to the stolen money... there were three Devil Fruits inside!"
"Devil Fruits? Three? These human traffickers really hit the jackpot."
Even Michael was somewhat shocked.
How could these traffickers be so lucky?
Not only did they capture over two hundred female slaves, but they also found three Devil Fruits?
If they had succeeded in this operation, it would have been a nearly one billion Beri deal!
A single, relatively low-risk human trafficking operation would have been worth as much as Katakuri bounty!