Exactly three years ago, on the night of a new moon, Kuro of a Hundred Plans faked his own death and infiltrated Kaya’s household, officially beginning his long, meticulous scheme to steal the family’s fortune.
One year ago, Kuro successfully murdered Kaya’s parents.
The resulting grief completely shattered the already frail Kaya, leaving her permanently bedridden, pushing Kuro’s grand plan one step closer to absolute perfection.
Today was the first day of the new moon.
Tonight was the Night of the New Moon.
After enduring three agonizingly long years of playing the perfect servant, Kuro finally bared his venomous fangs.
Creak!
Sinan gently pushed open the window and slipped inside.
If anyone had been watching from the inside, they would have simply seen the window open on its own and silently close again, which would have definitely scared the living daylights out of them.
“Phew!
That took quite a bit of effort.
Sneaking into places like this is definitely more of Nami’s specialty,” Sinan muttered softly under his breath.
Even though his invisibility made it impossible for anyone to see him, carefully unlatching the window lock from the outside without breaking the glass had actually taken him quite a bit of time.
The weather tonight was incredibly clear.
Even though it was a new moon, the faint, gentle moonlight spilled through the window onto the young girl’s face.
Sinan could clearly see her brows slightly furrowed, looking as if she were trapped in a bad dream.
Breaking into a young girl’s bedroom in the middle of the night definitely wasn’t the most gentlemanly thing to do, but he genuinely had no other choice.
Silently opening her bedroom door, Sinan slipped out into the hallway.
The lights in the adjacent grand hall were still on!
Because Kuro intended to carry out his massacre tonight, he had already secretly dealt with all the estate’s bodyguards.
The only person left awake was the completely oblivious butler, Merry, who was currently cleaning the chandelier in the main hall.
When Sinan combined his energy absorption ability with his invisibility, the result was incredibly similar to the Black Panther’s vibranium suit, but with full optical camouflage added on top.
Not only was Sinan completely invisible to the eye, but his footsteps were utterly silent, absorbing all kinetic sound.
As Sinan walked right into the grand hall, Merry, distinguished by his iconic sheep-horn hairstyle, remained completely oblivious to the intruder.
While sneaking into the villa, Sinan had done a quick sweep.
He noticed that all the maids and servants had already been dismissed by Kuro, and all the bodyguards had been secretly incapacitated.
The only two people left in the entire mansion were Merry and Kaya.
Watching Merry diligently clean the chandelier, Sinan waited in absolute boredom.
It didn’t take long.
Tap!
Tap!
Tap!
Walking with the silent grace of a cat, stepping only on the tips of his toes, Kuro entered the hall.
His body practically reeked of bloodlust, and he casually carried a bag containing his lethal Cat Claws.
The moment he walked through the door, Kuro immediately asked, playing the role of the perfect, responsible butler, “Where is the young lady?” If you ignored the overwhelming murderous aura rolling off his body, he truly looked the part.
Merry, completely oblivious while wiping the lamp, smiled warmly and replied, “She’s already gone to sleep.
She seemed very tired tonight…” At the mention of Kaya, Kuro immediately thought of Usopp.
Loosening his tie, Kuro complained with faux exasperation, “That Usopp truly is a massive headache!” Hearing Kuro bring him up, Merry chuckled sycophantically, “I know, right?!
And to actually claim that you’re a pirate!
If he’s going to lie, he should at least use his brain!” Hearing Merry’s response, Kuro merely let out a dark, sinister chuckle.
Flashing a highly malicious grin, he habitually used the heel of his palm to push his slipping glasses back up the bridge of his nose.
“What’s this?” Soon, Kuro noticed a beautifully wrapped gift box resting on the table.
Seeing Kuro pick up the gift, Merry said, deeply moved, “Tomorrow is exactly the three-year anniversary of the day you came to work here!
The young lady noticed your glasses are always slipping down, so she personally designed and custom-ordered a new pair specifically for you.
Miss Kaya truly is such a thoughtful and gentle person!” “Anniversary, huh…” Opening the glasses case and taking a quick look, a twisted, highly wicked smile spread across Kuro’s face.
Habitually pushing up his glasses with his palm, he said with an incredibly eerie tone, “Speaking of anniversaries, tomorrow truly is going to be a ‘Memorial Day,’ isn’t it?!
And tonight is the night of the new moon!
Nights like this always make my heart race and my blood boil.” With that, Kuro casually dropped the brand-new glasses onto the floor and ruthlessly stomped on them, crushing both the glasses and the expensive case into absolute pieces.
“Finally couldn’t hold it in anymore, huh?!
My fists have been getting incredibly impatient waiting for you!” Hidden in the shadows, Sinan tightly clenched his fists.
“Ah!
K-Klahadore!
Why on earth did you do that to the young lady’s gift?!” Merry’s warm smile instantly vanished, replaced by wide-eyed shock.
He couldn’t fathom why Kuro would intentionally smash Kaya’s heartfelt present.
Shoving his hands deep into his pockets, Kuro let out a chilling sneer and told Merry, “The gift?
Oh, I’ll be accepting it…
just not this piece of trash.
I’ll be taking this entire mansion!” Seeing Kuro act like this, Merry immediately realized the horrifying truth.
After Kaya’s parents were murdered, Merry had personally taken charge of all the family’s businesses, and he was even the one who designed the Going Merry.
He was by no means a stupid man!
The sudden, highly suspicious deaths of Kaya’s parents a year ago had already planted seeds of doubt in Merry’s mind.
Now that Kuro had completely dropped his facade, combined with Usopp’s desperate warning earlier today, Merry instantly connected all the dots.
“Everything Usopp said was the truth!
You really are a pirate!
You’re the one who murdered the Master and Madam!” Merry gasped in sheer terror.
“Three years…
what an agonizingly long time it’s been,” Kuro sighed with pure, euphoric relief, completely dropping his polite butler persona.
“Miss Kaya, run!” With Kuro’s horrifying confession, tears instantly spilled from Merry’s eyes.
But it was far too late!
Kuro instantly drew his Cat Claws from his bag and lunged viciously to slice Merry apart.
The Cat Claws were a highly unique weapon: long, razor-sharp blades attached directly to the fingertips of gloves, sharp enough to effortlessly slice through solid rock.
With a rapid swing of his arm, Kuro aimed a lethal swipe straight at Merry.
Cats are incredibly sensitive animals.
Kuro, whose every movement mirrored a feline, possessed equally sharp instincts.
Just as he lunged at Merry, Kuro suddenly sensed an overwhelming, lethal crisis locking onto him.
BOOM!
A blinding flash of lightning violently erupted inside the grand hall, instantly blasting straight through the massive glass windows behind Kuro.
CRASH!
The reinforced glass completely shattered, raining down heavily onto the floor with a deafening crash.
Just like Merry, Kuro was forced to dive and roll miserably across the floor to dodge the blast.
“Who’s there?!” With a lingering trace of absolute dread, Kuro shouted toward the seemingly empty corner of the massive hall, but received zero response.
“He actually managed to dodge it?
His reaction speed is insane!
I guess I shouldn’t expect any less from Captain Kuro.
Someone capable of inventing the ‘Stealth Foot’—a high-speed movement technique invisible to the naked eye—is definitely no joke,” Sinan, still fully cloaked in invisibility, couldn’t help but admire.
Aside from his incredibly potent Devil Fruit powers, Sinan was still essentially just a sturdy regular guy.
He absolutely did not want to engage in a brutal, close-quarters physical brawl with a highly skilled assassin like Kuro.
Receiving no response, Kuro’s expression turned incredibly grim.
He couldn’t comprehend what was happening.
Everything had been perfectly set up, yet it had suddenly unraveled into this bizarre nightmare.
An invisible enemy is the most terrifying kind.
Anger and fear began to rapidly spread through Kuro’s mind, but he forcefully steadied his breathing, scanning his surroundings with hyper-alert vigilance.
BOOM!
Another violent lightning bolt flashed out.
Although Kuro anticipated it and scrambled to dodge, the bolt still grazed his right arm.
With a painful scream, Kuro dropped one of his Cat Claws heavily onto the floor.
Half of his body went completely numb from the intense electrical shock, nearly completely stripping him of his combat ability.
This caused Kuro’s rage and terror to completely break past their limits.
Having survived the treacherous seas for years, Kuro was fully aware of the existence of Devil Fruits.
He instantly realized that a powerful Devil Fruit user was hiding in the shadows, repeatedly attacking him.
Merry, who had just narrowly escaped being slaughtered by Kuro, sat on the floor looking completely bewildered.
The sudden, violent lightning strikes, combined with Kuro frantically screaming at thin air, left him utterly confused as to what was actually happening.