At The Peak of One Piece

 "Rebecca, want to explore the island? I have business ashore. Join me?" Victor asked the curious girl. 

"Yes! Where you go, I go!" Rebecca beamed, her gaze fixed firmly on the future now. 

"Good. I need to shop, then we'll hit the amusement park." Victor ruffled her hair. 

"Deal! Let's go!" She leaned into his touch, laughing. 

Garp and Tsuru headed to the Marine base for meetings. Unofficial recruits like Victor skipped the formalities—his priorities came first. 'Luck, be kind today.' 

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They walked through Grove 60's bustling streets. Shops lined the avenues; no open brawls or robberies here. Victor pressed on, scanning for auction houses. Souvenirs could wait. 

Crossing the bubble-lined bridge to Grove 0—a buffer zone—Victor's Observation Haki prickled. Multiple eyes tracked them. 'Human traffickers.' Handsome youths were prime merchandise. 

"Victor, we're being followed," Rebecca murmured, hand drifting toward her sword hilt. 

"Small fry. Ignore them for now." His voice stayed flat. 

The watchers scattered, likely calling reinforcements. Easy prey? No. Two armed youths radiated competence. Their boss would handle this. 

────── 

In Grove 10, thugs blocked the path ahead. Footsteps closed in from behind. Victor's lips curved coldly. 'Perfect timing. I need stress relief.' 

"Why surround us? We've never met." Victor's tone was ice. Rebecca stood calm beside him. 

"Just admirers!" A barrel-bellied man with patchy hair and a forehead scar leered. "We offer luxury! Mansions! Fine dining!" 

"Rewards without merit? What's the catch?" Victor mocked. 

Chad "Swift Blade" bristled. Bounty: 45,000,000 Berries. In Grove 10, his name commanded fear. This brat dared smirk? 

"Reject kindness, face consequences. Walk willingly, or we 'carry' you. Your choice." Chad's voice turned jagged. 

Years of society's harsh beatings—fleeing Marines, rival gangs, watching comrades buried at sea—had carved him raw. Now, groveling for a Devil Fruit under a Sabaody boss, he scraped together money. 'So close.' 

Victor's nostrils flared. The stench of rot clung to these men. Time to cleanse. 

"Rebecca, leave the others to me. The leader is yours—test his strength and see how much your training has paid off," Victor said softly to Rebecca. 

"Got it! Leave him to me!" Rebecca's eyes lit up with excitement as she stepped forward, advancing toward Chad. 

Victor remained still for now. Since Rebecca hadn't yet mastered Observation Haki, he needed to watch her back in case she got ambushed. If any fools tried anything, he'd make sure they regretted it. 

"Who the hell are you? Name yourself! I'm Chad of the Rhodes Family, the 'Swift Blade'—I don't waste my steel on nobodies," Chad sneered, unimpressed. Just two random strangers—hardly worth his attention. 

"You don't need to know my name. Ask the King of Hell when you meet him," Rebecca shot back, her sword already drawn as she lunged forward. 

In the blink of an eye, her blade was slicing down toward Chad's head. He barely had time to react, hastily raising his own sword to block. CLANG! The sheer force of the impact nearly buckled his arm, forcing him to strain just to hold his ground. 

Chad's smirk vanished. 'This girl's no joke.' He shifted into a serious stance, his own blade flashing as they exchanged blows. 

The onlookers murmured in surprise. This young girl was actually holding her own against the infamous Chad Swift Blade? That was rare. 

Seeing their leader in a deadlock, some of Chad's underlings grew restless, itching to jump in. 

But before they could take a step, Victor's sword hilt smashed into their skulls, knocking them out cold. Any blades that came near him were effortlessly dodged—Observation Haki wasn't just for show, and his speed left nothing but afterimages in his wake. 

He made sure not to stain his blade with the blood of these lowlifes, opting to incapacitate them with blunt strikes instead. Once he was confident Rebecca had things under control, he cleared out the rest of the grunts with brutal efficiency, then leaned back to watch the duel with mild amusement. 

The pressure on Chad skyrocketed. 'We've bitten off more than we can chew today.' 

The spectators, meanwhile, were loving it. Then again, on Sabaody Archipelago, "normal" people were few and far between. 

Sweat poured down Chad's face. Every instinct screamed at him to run, but he knew the moment he turned his back, that woman's sword would pierce straight through him. 

The girl was one thing—he could still handle her. But that man in the back? That was a different story. He'd taken out all of Chad's men without breaking a sweat. The sheer ease of it was terrifying. 'Even I'd be badly wounded facing that many at once, but he didn't get a single scratch.' 

Rebecca's current strength was roughly on par with a pirate worth around 50 million berries. Against Devil Fruit users, she'd still struggle—but for a teenage girl, that was impressive. The New Era hadn't dawned yet, and Victor wasn't worried about her future growth. 

A true equal, especially one you could fight to the death, was the best way to hone one's swordsmanship. So Rebecca treated Chad like a whetstone for her blade, testing every technique, refining her movements, stripping away the unnecessary. 

But now, she'd gotten all she could out of him. 

No more playing around. 

With a sharp twist, she deflected Chad's sword, stepped in, and—THRUST! 

Her blade pierced straight through his chest. 

Too fast. Too sudden. Chad never saw it coming. 

His eyes widened in disbelief. 'We were evenly matched just a second ago—what the hell?! You were holding back?!' 

With a final, bitter groan, he collapsed. 

"Anyone know who this guy is? Any bounty on his head?" Victor called out to the crowd. 

"Y-Yes, sir! That's Chad Swift Blade—wanted for 45 million berries! Nasty piece of work—even sold off his own aunt. Good riddance!" someone piped up, eager to please. 

"Someone call the Marines. Whoever does can keep the bounty. And tell them to haul all these trash away," Victor said. 

Instantly, the crowd erupted. 

"Me! I'll go!" 

"No, let me!" 

"I'm already on it!" 

Victor rolled his eyes. "Quit yelling. Figure it out among yourselves. Send one guy to report, the rest can keep watch. Split the reward however you want." 

... 

They quickly settled on sending their strongest runner while the others stood guard. 

Victor paid them no further mind, motioning for Rebecca to follow as they continued on their way. 

But as they walked off, one of the spectators quietly pulled out a Den Den Mushi from his coat.