"So, what did you want to see me about today?"
Aokiji asked while pulling on his clothes.
Kiiro felt a pang of disappointment and said,
"Perhaps you haven't noticed, Lord Aokiji, but your fan base has already grown enormous."
"Really?"
Aokiji honestly hadn't paid any attention.
All he did these days was Cultivate or beat Monsters to fill his progress bar.
Lately, wherever Monsters showed up, he went.
He'd visited more than a dozen cities, and his progress bar was about to Breakthrough 10%.
Before, he'd still scroll through videos for fun.
Now, the clearest thrills were the power he could sense growing and the steadily climbing progress bar.
"Without an official social-media account or any management, a fan group this large is bound to cause chaos online."
Kiiro was putting it mildly.
Even entertainers
with professional teams running their accounts and keeping fans in line
sometimes ended up paying for their fans' mistakes.
"If you don't mind, I can arrange a management team."
Aokiji wasn't interested,
but since future progress bars might hinge on it, he agreed.
After hashing out the details, Kiiro left, rather reluctantly.
Bang had sat on the sofa throughout without joining in.
Now he struck the pose of an elder eager to gossip about a junior's love life:
"The girl likes you. What are you going to do, Aokiji?"
"Nothing for now." Aokiji sank into the soft cushions. "My only goal is to get stronger."
This world is dangerous.
With just the aokiji template he could count as strong, but nowhere near strong enough to relax and enjoy life.
Only after he was truly invincible would he think about anything else.
Still, if a future progress bar demanded something similar, he wouldn't refuse.
He just couldn't think of any top-tier pirate whose creed matched.
"…I sensed it earlier," Bang said steadily, the calm of age in his voice. "Your obsession isn't about chasing a higher Realm; something is forcing you to grow stronger."
"If there's trouble, don't shoulder it alone. Heroes can lean on others too."
"Besides, I'm a hero as well."
He finished with a playful wink.
Aokiji couldn't help laughing.
The old man really was amusing.
He'd flash a V-sign during photos and crack jokes while meteors fell.
"Relax. If I can't handle it, I'll be the first to run."
His urgency came from the helplessness he'd felt during Transmigration when disaster struck,
and from knowing his current strength couldn't handle every threat.
Anxious? Not really.
'Brrring-brrring-brrring—'
A goofy ringtone sounded.
Bang blinked. "What's that noise?"
Aokiji pulled out his phone. "Just my custom ringtone."
It was Sitch calling.
He tapped accept—
'Click-clack!'
"Hey, Sitch, Monsters somewhere?"
"No, Mr. Aokiji."
The voice was distorted, but Sitch's grave tone came through.
There was a pause before he continued:
"Just now, multiple patrolling heroes in the cities were attacked."
"The attackers were all human, retreated fast; the few beaten by heroes took poison and died… the mastermind is still unknown."
Heroes attacked at the same time?
Aokiji immediately thought of the Monster Association.
But the attackers were human,
and judging by the timeline the Association probably didn't even exist yet.
"According to our reports, every hero who's performed well these past few days was targeted. You weren't hit?"
Bang's phone chimed too.
After a glance his aura sank.
"My dojo was also broken into, but Garou and the other Disciples drove them off."
Aokiji activated Observation Haki.
A crushing pressure twisted the very air.
An instant later, with a sonic boom, he vanished.
————
Kiiro, who had left only moments earlier,
was blocked on the street.
She stepped back, warily eyeing the people who had appeared out of nowhere.
They looked utterly ordinary in face, bearing, and dress—
the kind you'd forget at once in a crowd—
yet their sudden appearance was blatantly abnormal.
"Who are you? Why are you stopping me?"
She edged backward, ready to scream for help.
The group stayed eerily silent,
then each drew a weapon from beneath plain clothes
and rushed her!
Kiiro's heart hammered at its limit.
She opened her mouth to shout, but they were already on her—
and faster still came a biting chill!
"Ice Age—"
The running figures froze solid mid-stride!
Light dimmed as a reassuring figure stepped in front of her.
"Aokiji…"
she whispered, electricity racing through her body.
Moments later he brought her, still clinging to his back, back to the villa.
Assuming she was simply shaken, he paid it no mind.
He lifted his phone again:
"Send people to my place to collect the ice statues outside. I left them alive—remove the poison from their mouths before you interrogate them."
After a second thought he decided that wouldn't do.
The Association was too slow and might get nothing.
"…Forget it. Get me Watchdog Man's contact; I'll handle it myself."
"I'm coming too,"
Bang said, expression stone-cold,
radiating the savage air of his younger days.
Aokiji didn't refuse.
He had Association personnel escort Kiiro to Bang's dojo for shelter,
then, using Moonwalk, he and Bang leapt onto the Association's waiting plane.
——Q City——
Watchdog Man lay atop a stone plinth in the square.
Several motionless bodies lay nearby,
their purple faces showing they too had taken poison after defeat.
The lounging Watchdog Man suddenly lifted his head toward the sky.
A military aircraft streaked overhead.
Two figures jumped out,
tiny at first, then growing larger—
BOOM—!!!
Aokiji waved away the dust, ice crackling over him, white mist swirling.
Bang landed lightly, yet the ground split evenly beneath his feet.
Straight to business after their no-chute drop.
"Watchdog Man, you can sniff out where they came from, right?"
"Mm." Watchdog Man's tone was flat. "The stench of blood is strong."
...
[Throw some stones]