Os scrambled to his feet, eyes wide with horror as he stared at the pirates lining both sides of the street, still reeling from the shock.
Klein pulled out his Den Den Mushi and called the person in charge of the slave auction house.
"Moshi moshi, this is Klein."
"I've got a big haul—captured quite a few pirates over here!"
The voice on the other end audibly swallowed in shock, stunned. "How many?? A few thousand pirates???"
He was completely floored by the number.
In just two or three days, Klein's "business" alone had nearly matched an entire year's worth of pirate slave quota!
A wholesale pirate slaver?
You're supposed to be a Marine!!
He was a bona fide Pirate Slayer!
In just a few days, he'd swept clean the Sabaody Archipelago, a living, breathing Grim Reaper!
The Den Den Mushi mimicked the wide, giddy grin of the person on the other end.
"Lord Klein, please wait a moment! I'll be there shortly with a team to do a full count!"
"We'll get there as fast as humanly possible!"
Hearing they were about to be sold to the slave auction house, the pirates' faces twisted in utter despair.
It was like being swallowed by an abyss of darkness.
They'd reached… the darkest moment of their lives.
The thieves' hearts shattered.
Ripper Jack's heart felt like shattered glass. "Damn it, damn it! Why did we run into such a monster?"
"They say monsters run rampant in the New World—but we're not even there yet and already met one. How terrifying must the New World be!?"
Black Crow Edward, captain of the pirate crew, roared,
"We trekked across the seas, overcame hardship after hardship, beat all sorts of strong enemies, and now—now we didn't even get a chance to fight back before getting crushed. Damn it! DAMN IT!"
Gerard the Longarm Warrior:
"Didn't even get to see the New World before hitting a wall … must be karma from eight lifetimes ago!"
"This is just so damn unfair!!"
"How can the gap be so huge? We're strong—damn strong—but in front of him…"
"We're smaller than ants. Humans… how can humans be this powerful!?"
Just stepped out of the tutorial village, and boom—final boss.
Guys… who else can relate?
Klein's appearance and overwhelming power had been a literal dimensional collapse for them.
Unlike Kizaru, who always went "Scary scary~" while casually kicking away Supernovas, Klein?
He delivered MVP-tier performance—
While Klein's record was 1-0-0—and that "1" was a Marine.
So technically, his pirate score was still 0-0-0?
Kizaru that lazy bastard barely lifted a finger.
But Klein? Klein's anti-pirate track record was fully verifiable.
Not the same. Not even close.
You can't measure Klein with just numbers.
Becoming a slave… was a fate worse than death. A torment worse than execution.
Klein raised his left hand to his ear.
Followed by a warm farewell.
"Goodnight, everyone~!"
"Sleep tight, or you'll be having nightmares!"
A red light flickered in Klein's pupils, and black-red lightning crackled out in all directions.
With a thunderous sweep, every pirate dropped like flies!
Like dominoes, they collapsed in perfect unison.
"Hehe—" Klein chuckled, not taking the pirates seriously in the slightest.
"Conqueror's Haki really is handy for scrubs."
"Doesn't damage the body—makes them sell better!"
"Conqueror's Haki is the best. Gotta unlock it. Every strong person needs it. You'll know once you've used it."
Of course, he knew full well that being sold into slavery was a terrible end for these pirates.
But Klein was no saint.
Still, he thick-skinnedly praised himself:
"At least I'm living up to the word 'Justice' on this cape."
The auction house manager arrived and took one look at the unconscious sea of pirates. Dozens of pirate captains with tens of millions in bounties.
He gasped again and again, scalp tingling with disbelief.
They were unharmed—so why were they all out cold?
Could it be… a Devil Fruit power?
He didn't dare ask. He just ordered his men to bind the pirates immediately.
The pirate captains were shackled in steel cuffs, steel leg irons, even steel chains.
Iron cages were rolled out—though there weren't enough, so only the captains got the luxury of a deluxe single-cell suite.
They were tied up skewer-style, like candied hawthorns.
Thousands of pirates—it was quite the spectacle.
Not a single one of them resisted. The slave traders were shaken to their core.
Naturally, Klein called in reinforcements from his own Marine squad as well as the Sabaody base to assist.
The manager worked up a sweat handling it all.
Several hours later, after the count was done, he reported to Klein:
"Lord Klein, the total value of these pirates comes to 500 million Berries. Will that be acceptable?"
It was a very fair price. After all, most pirates weren't worth much—only the bounty holders had value. Orıginal content can be found at 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩•𝗳𝗂𝗋𝖾•𝕟𝕖𝕥
"Good. Also, help me sell their ships and the supplies on board," Klein ordered.
The manager nodded immediately, "Yes sir. Here's 300 million Berries for now—couldn't prepare more on short notice. I'll get the rest to you within the day."
Os, under Bill's supervision, finished tallying up all of Ayer's hoarded assets.
Only about 100 million Berries remained.
The rest? Ayer had blown it all on wine, women, and reckless spending.
Klein clicked his tongue again in disdain:
"Just how flashy was this guy's life? Living in the money-soaked Sabaody Archipelago for years and only saved 100 million?"
"Man… that used to be the life I dreamed of!!"
He used to dream of staying in the Four Seas Branch, marrying seven or eight wives, and living like some shameless local tyrant.
"Come on, Os. Time to unwind!" Klein clapped him on the shoulder and headed for Sabaody's most luxurious bathhouse.
The "precious (black)" spear was forged through tempering.
Time to slowly help Os get over his problem of blushing and fainting from contact with women…
Os tensed up immediately. "L-Lord Klein, I-I think I'll pass…"
"You're going. No arguments!" Klein threw an arm around his shoulders and called out to the Marines behind him,
"You all go have fun. The tab's on me today—Young Master Klein's treat!"
"Thank you, Lord Klein!!"
Klein and Os were both shirtless, enjoying professional massages.
The one massaging Os was a male masseur.
Klein knew you had to take it slow—jumping straight into the deep end might worsen Os's aversion to women…
Worse yet, he might develop gynophobia… or even turn gay.
And that would be his fault. A huge sin.
This way was easier to accept.
"Mmm—reminds me of the old days, giving massages in school just to make ends meet." Klein reminisced.
Those were hard times…
Working his fingers to the bone for 5,000 Berries a session, pouring all his earnings into games at the end of the month.
He never got to enjoy a thing himself.
Tragic… and yet he still had fun.
That's what growth meant.
Since going to sea, he'd raked in nearly 1 billion Berries in just a few days.
Now this was the good life—
The ocean was the true destiny of every real man!
Klein muttered in his heart,
"Damn… if only the system had awakened earlier…"
"I could've caught the early wave and become a Marine Admiral at age 8!"
In anime style: like little Ace, Luffy, and Sabo in tiny suits, draped in Justice capes.
They'd probably need ultra-mini custom uniforms. They'd look up at pirates with tiny round heads.
Still, kind of cute, honestly.
Meanwhile, Os couldn't stop thinking about Klein wiping out thousands of pirates with just a look.
That overwhelming power…
That earth-shattering scene haunted his mind.
Back then, he had a single thought—This is what a Marine should be!
Looking back, what frustrated him most was that—
As Klein's subordinate, he couldn't help at all.
He'd just been protected the entire time.
It left a bitter taste in his mouth.
"Lord Klein, c-could you… teach me how to get stronger?" Os turned his head, eyes burning with determination.
Klein opened his eyes, meeting Os's gaze with a smile.
"You wanna get strong, huh?"
Os's voice rang out with conviction—filled with yearning for strength.
"Being a sniper and becoming top-tier… that's pretty tough."
Klein's mind drifted to the likes of Van Augur, Yasopp, and Usopp.