The night-shrouded clean country was awash with neon lights like tides.
The gentlemen and ladies on the street leaned on their canes, all wearing uniformly gentle and serene smiles without exception.
They all strictly adhered to a certain noble etiquette, unique to the upper class and established by convention.
On such a street, a girl in a crimson robe walked down the center.
She violated both etiquette and the law, so every passerby stared at her as if she were a freak.
"Hey, you!"
Such an anomaly quickly attracted the attention of the guards, who surrounded her with rifles and pistols.
The eyes of those coming and going on both sides of the street held a mocking gleam, as if watching some peculiarly amusing play.
"What is it?"
Sakura lifted her eyes to glance at him.
"Wearing commoner's clothes and walking in the center of the road! This is environmental destruction, a Class 5 crime!"
The guard captain frowned, grabbing his armor and giving it a shake.
The rising temperature made this noble maintainer of order show a hint of embarrassment.
However, as a noble, he had to maintain his demeanor, so he didn't dare remove his armor to cool down.
"This country actually has such a law?"
As Sakura spoke, a violent heatwave instantly swept through.
"You... you don't even know the laws? Are you an outsider?" The guard captain's eyes widened, and he subconsciously took a step back. "You couldn't be an Untouchable, could you?"
The lords and ladies nearby, upon hearing the term 'Untouchable', stirred in panic.
They opened up an airspace around Sakura, using handkerchiefs and folding fans to cover their noses and mouths, lest they be infected by germs from breathing the same air as lowlifes.
"Someone from outside the city?"
"Those Untouchables?"
"What are the guards doing! Aren't they even filthier than the scum from the commoner streets?"
"Kill them!! Kill this lowlife polluting our pure land!"
Coincidentally, outside the high walls of the Goa Kingdom, flames dyed a corner of the sky, casting a malicious crimson upon the residents of the Gray Terminal.
"They've started over there. Is there anyone else trying to escape? Time's almost up!"
Sakura rubbed her hands together and caught the fist the guard captain swung at her.
The steel armor warped under the continuously rising temperature, then melted under the girl's grip.
Bright molten iron flowed to the ground, sizzling.
Even the stone-paved ground couldn't withstand this heat, let alone the guard captain's flesh and blood.
"Aaaaaahhhh!!"
The guard captain coughed up blood and screamed. "You, you, you, you! How dare you! A mere lowlife, how dare you...."
"Shh! Listen, the wails from the hell you created!"
Accompanied by Sakura's soft whisper, the nobles in the deathly silence seemed to truly hear the piercing screams from beyond the high walls.
Crushing the charred remains, Sakura gently raised her hand towards the sky.
Blazing high temperatures transformed into a dazzling, gauze-like fabric draping over her. Bright, high-temperature particles danced merrily around the girl, celebrating the festival.
Pure white flames surged upwards, entwined with astonishing Haki, forming savage and furious beast-like shapes with tangible substance, ferociously baring their claws and hissing.
"So, ladies and gentlemen, the pirates' festival is about to begin!"
"Ahahaha, Ahahaha!!!"
Amidst the girl's hysterical laughter, spiraling white flames shot into the sky, piercing through the lingering dark clouds as if tearing open a rift to another world.
Boom!
The earth shook, hills trembled.
One after another, extravagant and beautiful houses, clean and tidy streets, crumbled and disintegrated amidst the inferno.
The ground's heat rapidly expanded. Strong convective weather stirred up a storm within High Town, with flying sand and stones swallowing the entire world.
At the kingdom's highest palace, Revolutionary Army's soldiers carrying weapons, ammunition, and food supplies looked up, staring dumbfounded at the scene before them.
"It's just like a natural disaster."
Terry Gilteo, who had cooperated with Sakura before, looked at the sky.
His trembling hand struck the flint on his lighter several times before he managed to light his cigarette with the shaky flame.
"Get to work, you brat! Don't waste the time she's buying for us!"
The newly appointed commander of the Revolutionary Army's East Army, Belo Betty, walked over carrying a crate and kicked him in the butt.
Immediately, Terry Gilteo, as if injected with adrenaline, spiritedly began frantically moving supplies.
"Bastards! You bandits, stop this at once!"
A roar rang out, drawing everyone's attention.
In the corner of the palace hall, a man who looked to be in his fifties, wearing a crown and lavish clothes, stood up, his face pale as he berated the Revolutionary Army before him.
"Speaking of which, why haven't we dealt with this guy?"
Terry Gilteo took the cigarette from his lips and blew out a puff of smoke.
"Dragon said to keep him. Probably has some other use for him."
Belo Betty, carrying a crate past him, explained, then kicked him again, activating her Kobu Kobu no Mi ability. (T/N: Pump-Pump Fruit.)
"Tch, he's getting off easy!"
Terry Gilteo, now full of drive, cursed and threw himself into moving supplies.
"You thugs, bandits! Are you trying to destroy our country?!"
The portly man gasped for breath, sweat soaking his clothes.
"The Celestial Dragons are visiting soon! Do you know what kind of disaster your actions will bring upon this place?!"
After moving the last of the supplies, Belo Betty walked up to the king and kicked him back into the pile of royals.
"Don't you worry about that!" Then she turned her head and asked the surrounding Revolutionary Army soldiers, "Get them out of here. Are Morley and the person playing this guy ready?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the palace floor began to writhe. The white marble floor of the palace was pushed aside layer by layer like clay.
A giant with thick lips, his upper body naked and his lower body wearing a red plaid miniskirt and bubble socks, emerged from the bulging ground.
"Betty-chan, were you looking for me~"
The giant, squirming and clamping his arms together, greeted her politely in a feminine tone.
"Potato, after the one outside finishes venting, please go and level the ruins of High Town."
Belo Betty tossed her cigarette butt on the ground and stamped it out.
"Understood~ And stop calling me Potato!"
The giant adjusted his deep green, dome-shaped goggles hat and twisted his massive body, sinking into the ground.
After he left, the Revolutionary Army's member responsible for impersonating the King of the Goa Kingdom also arrived on the scene.
The king, amidst the pile of royals, watched in horror as this man, who bore some facial resemblance to him, gradually transformed into his likeness using the Revolutionary Army's disguise techniques.
"You... what exactly are you trying to do?"
Swallowing hard, the flesh on the king's face trembled.
Then he saw the revolutionaries in the shadows lift their heads, their eyes, tempered in darkness, fixed on him.
Belo Betty stepped out of the shadows, rubbing her thumb, index, and middle fingers together, and smiled:
"Times are a bit tight lately. We'd like to borrow a little money from the generous Celestial Dragons."