One Piece: Saving Hancock with the Batto Batto no Mi

Dressrosa Kingdom, Lovers' Lane.

Sephiroth, dressed in a crisp white Marine uniform that contrasted sharply with the romantic ambiance around him, strolled casually with his hands in his pockets. On both sides of the bustling street, a myriad of flowers bloomed wildly, their sweet, intoxicating fragrance constantly in his nose. He watched the couples on the street, loving, laughing, and embracing, and felt his solitary figure out of place here. He quickened his pace, eager to leave this spot, to find other distractions.

After checking into the Royal Palace, the Military School Students were informed by Zephyr that they had half a day of free time in the afternoon to rest and relax, and could engage in leisure activities. However, starting tomorrow, they would enter a state of readiness to face the Pirate Alliance that could appear at any moment—a warning that snatched away their holiday joy.

Upon learning that they still had a precious half-day off, the Military School Students immediately cheered and rushed out of the Royal Palace, eager to explore this "Country of Love and Passion." Among them, most of the Military School Students hurried towards the Bullfighting Colosseum, wanting to witness the famous gladiator competitions.

Sephiroth thought about it repeatedly but couldn't understand the appeal of watching gladiators fight. Those people weren't truly strong, and their fighting techniques didn't offer much to learn. Moreover, Dressrosa's current gladiator competitions weren't as cruel and bloody as they were during Doflamingo's rule, and the content wasn't very stimulating. Now, gladiators used unsharpened weapons, aiming to hone their swordsmanship and combat skills. Even if they lost, they wouldn't die; at worst, they would suffer injuries, and at most, broken bones.

Given the abnormally high average physical fitness in the One Piece world, broken bones and the like would mostly recover after a few weeks of rest! However, recovery didn't mean there wouldn't be hidden injuries and chronic ailments. When they were old and frail, these things would slowly devour their bodies like maggots on bone—a harsh reality often overlooked.

Suddenly!

"Hmm...!"

Sephiroth's footsteps paused momentarily. The bats he had detached to observe the Dressrosa terrain sent a vision to him, and one of the bats spotted two pirate ships! A bad premonition spread through his mind.

Dressrosa South Coast.

At the chaotic pier, the crowd had completely descended into disarray and panic, and many people had fallen to the ground, their lives or deaths unknown. Screams and cries of fear filled the air.

"Damn it! Princess Scarlett has been kidnapped!!!"

"It's pirates!"

"Where are the guards!?"

"They've all been taken care of by the pirates!"

"Something terrible has happened!!! Quick, someone help!!!"

"The Princess has been kidnapped!"

Crack!

Under the slightly stunned gazes of the surrounding people, the blade of the Butcher's Blade suddenly appeared in the air, splitting open a spatial door. A silver-haired youth in a Marine uniform, with a handsome and somewhat devilish appearance, held the Butcher's Blade and pushed the air door open to step out, appearing out of nowhere amidst the chaos.

Seeing the two pirate ships sailing on the now panic-filled sea, Sephiroth muttered: "This distance... Kenbunshoku Haki can still sense..." Immediately after, the Butcher's Blade in his hand swung swiftly, cutting open an air door, and he promptly pushed the door open and entered, vanishing in the direction of the pirate ships.

Sephiroth didn't care about the Doa Doa no Mi's ability being exposed. Using that ability carelessly could actually serve as a cover for his Vampire Fruit—a cunning strategy. After all, that butcher's knife had been stored in Marine warehouses for decades, and others had tried to use it before, so many people knew it was a cursed Saber that was incredibly difficult to master.

The Marine's head scientist, Vegapunk's, technique for combining Devil Fruits was still in the stage of merging weapons with Zoan-type Fruits; there was still no clue on how to combine Paramecia-type Fruits with weapons. Therefore, no one would suspect that the spatial ability Sephiroth displayed actually originated from the butcher's knife. Instead, based on their preconceptions, everyone would subconsciously assume that this was the power of his own Devil Fruit.

In this way, Sephiroth successfully misled the public, coupled with the fact that he never displayed his specific ability to absorb blood and extract life force in front of others. Unless someone was intimately familiar with the Vampire Fruit, it would be difficult for anyone to know what kind of ability user he was—a significant strategic advantage.

On the turbulent blue sea, on the deck of one of the escaping pirate ships.

Scarlett, wearing a pink dress and with pink hair tied in a ponytail, looked uneasily at the pirates on the ship's deck who had cynical smiles on their faces, their eyes full of lust. The pink-haired girl with the single ponytail retreated slightly, leaning against the ship's rail, and her gaze involuntarily drifted towards the turbulent sea. Clearly, Scarlett was unwilling to be kidnapped by pirates like this, and the thought of jumping into the sea to escape had already formed in her heart—even if it meant death.

"You'd better behave yourself!" One of the pirates standing on the deck immediately saw what the pink-haired girl was thinking. He quickly grabbed the girl's wrist, pulling her, causing the girl to stumble away from the ship's edge for some distance.

"Let me go, quickly!" Scarlett struggled desperately, fiercely scratching the pirate's hand with her nails, causing him pain and making him immediately release her, wincing.

Seeing this situation, the pirates all raised their weapons—swords, cutlasses, daggers, pistols—forcing the pink-haired girl not to act rashly, surrounding her.

"Anyway, no one's coming to save you..."

"How about we use her to extort King Riku first, then sell her directly!"

"Hehehe! That's a good idea!"

"Exactly! Exactly! This true princess will surely fetch a high price!"

"The Seven Captains will definitely give us a big reward..."

Just as Scarlett was considering whether to jump into the sea to escape, even if it meant a cold death...

Crack!

Suddenly, an air door appeared out of nowhere on the deck. A silver-haired youth, handsome as a devil, holding a sword, stepped out from within the door, his presence vibrating the air.

"Hey, hey, hey! You lowly pirates, do you only know how to bully weak girls?" A cold smile played on Sephiroth's lips, and his tone was full of disdain, contemptuous.

"He's a Devil Fruit user!"

"Kill him!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!...

Gunshots rang out one after another. Sephiroth dodged most of the bullets as if taking a leisurely stroll, his movements as smooth as silk, and the bullets he couldn't avoid were directly split by his Butcher's Blade.

However... Seeing the situation, one of the pirates on the ship's deck became vicious and fiercely fired his gun towards the pink-haired girl.

Damn it!

Sephiroth cursed inwardly. He immediately shot forward, blocking in front of Scarlett.

Whoosh!

Splashes of blood erupted from the silver-haired youth's chest, staining his white Marine uniform bright red. Seeing this situation, the pirates retaliated and continued to shoot at the pink-haired girl, preventing Sephiroth from dodging. He could only use his body to withstand the bullets that his Butcher's Blade couldn't block, allowing his body to become a shield.

Although Sephiroth could use Busoshoku Haki to cover his entire body and increase his defense, doing so would also significantly reduce the defensive power of his Busoshoku Haki. At that point, his Armament Haki could at best only dampen the bullets' kinetic energy, making the resulting wounds not so deep. This approach was completely unnecessary for him, who possessed super-fast regeneration! Rather than doing such futile work, it was better to save his Busoshoku Haki to enhance his attacks, a pragmatic decision. In truth, from any perspective, it happened because Sephiroth had only developed Busoshoku Haki for a very short time, only about half a year. The quality of his Busoshoku Haki wasn't yet strong enough to completely ignore bullets—a crucial detail.

"No! Stop! Stop!!!"

Seeing the youth, whom she had never met before, using his body to shield her from bullets, Scarlett's tears immediately streamed down her face. Waves of self-blame and guilt rushed into her heart, suffocating her.

Sephiroth looked at the seven bullet wounds on his body and muttered: "Right!... Compared to protecting others... it seems I'm more suited to killing..." This situation wasn't suitable for opening a door with the Butcher's Blade to escape. The butcher's knife's Doa Doa no Mi ability could only open doors at the point where the blade made contact, in front of Sephiroth, and couldn't open doors in reverse in front of him where he couldn't see. Therefore, he couldn't divert bullets fired towards Sephiroth's front by opening a door, and when he opened a door, the bullets would hit the pink-haired girl without being touched at all, creating bloody holes. Scarlett wasn't as strong as he was; she could die on the spot if a bullet hit a vital point—a risk he couldn't take.

With that thought, Sephiroth could only quickly sheathe his Butcher's Blade, turn around, and with an almost princess-like embrace, tightly hug the pink-haired girl. Immediately after, a pair of black fleshy wings suddenly spread from his back, startling the pirates, and he stomped on the ship's deck with his right foot, carrying Scarlett into the air, flying away from danger.

Sephiroth was also quite helpless with the reality that he could only open air doors by swinging his Butcher's Blade at present. Recently, he had been contemplating other ways to open doors, such as folding doors, spatial wormhole erosion, and so on. However... All of these revolved around precise control of the ability. His half-developed techniques couldn't yet be used in practical combat; he still needed to undergo long training—a limitation he loathed.

Scarlett, whom he carried, saw Sephiroth's white Marine uniform soaked in blood and immediately panicked, saying: "Ahhh! Marine-sama, are your wounds alright!"

"It's fine, I won't die... just a little pain!" Sephiroth replied, his voice calm despite the injuries.

Amidst the still-raining bullets, Sephiroth hugged the pink-haired girl and quickly flew to Dressrosa's south coast. After putting her down, he was about to turn and leave, unwilling to waste time.

"Wait! Marine-sama, don't leave yet, quickly treat your wounds first!" Scarlett immediately reached out and grabbed the silver-haired youth's wrist, her voice filled with urgency and concern.

"I'm fine... Don't worry!" As he spoke, Sephiroth's body split into a swarm of black bats and shot towards the two pirate ships on the distant sea. More than a dozen blood-stained bullet heads fell to the ground with a "Clink~!" sound, leaving the pink-haired girl utterly stunned, unable to believe what she had just witnessed.

After reconstituting his body, Sephiroth swiftly flew through the air in just a few breaths and returned to the pirate ship he had just left.

"Yo! Pirates, now... Round two... begins!" A cold smile appeared on Sephiroth's lips, and he drew the Butcher's Blade hanging at his waist, its blade glinting under the moonlight.

The next moment.

The cold glint of the blade flashed repeatedly. With lightning speed, his figure was like a phantom, cutting down the pirates one by one on the deck, blood staining the ship's wood. In the midst of his slaughter, he suddenly remembered that these people might be connected to the so-called Pirate Alliance, and he needed to leave a few alive for interrogation to gather information.

So, he had to sheathe his Butcher's Blade again and switch to close-quarters combat, with dark Busoshoku Haki wrapped around his hands, turning his fists into deadly weapons. Like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, Sephiroth incapacitated the pirates with single blows, breaking their bones and knocking them unconscious, causing them to immediately collapse onto the deck.

After quickly dealing with this pirate ship and dropping its anchor to stop it, he spread his large wings and chased after the other pirate ship that had sailed away. He repeated the process, defeating all the pirates on board, a brutal and efficient demonstration of power.