Vivi’s voice wasn’t loud; it sounded a bit dry due to her headache, but the sound itself was insignificant in this process.
The key was transforming her spirit into an invisible shockwave of energy through her own determination.
The shockwave didn’t pause for even a second, sweeping out in all directions with Vivi at the center.
The five men beside her were the first to fall, followed by the townspeople, soldiers, and pirates along its path, whose eyes rolled back into their heads as they twitched and collapsed to the ground.
This move had a massive range; even Van Auger, who had set up his long rifle two streets away and was preparing to snipe, was greatly affected.
As one of the world’s top snipers, his willpower, tempered on the edge of life and death, was enough to prevent him from being knocked out by the spirit Vivi emitted.
However, he was momentarily stunned, letting the coin he had tossed fall to the side, and looked toward the center of the plaza with a strange expression.
“No way!…Is this?
Is this the King’s Aptitude that only one in a million can awaken?…What does it mean for such a person to appear before me…”
Van Auger couldn’t bring himself to continue that line of thought.
Was King’s Aptitude that casual?
Could he just run into one while strolling down the street?
If it wasn’t a random encounter, then it must be fate’s design!
He was certain of this.
If it were a normal person, they would certainly think, “I can’t afford to provoke them, so I’ll stay out of their way.” But Van Auger was not a normal person, and his way of thinking was relatively peculiar.
“Let everything be arranged by fate, my lady.
I wait for your brilliance to fully bloom.
I have a premonition that our third meeting will be in the not-too-distant future.” He swiftly stowed away his long rifle, Senri, turned into a side alley, and quickly disappeared.
“Huh???
What am I doing?” At this moment, Vivi, standing in the center of the plaza, had three question marks appearing over her head.
She looked around blankly.
Whether old or young, man or woman, every single person was strewn across the street.
All the passersby within her line of sight had fainted.
The stones, trees, and houses of Loguetown seemed to whisper to her that a large crowd of people in the distance had also passed out.
“I did this?
Holy crap!!
Wahahahaha!!
I’m actually this awesome!!”
Vivi looked at the “Conqueror’s Haki” that had appeared under the “Haki” tab on her panel.
She was excited at first, but then felt speechless.
There was no level marker like “Lv” after this skill; it just appeared there on the panel, all alone, looking very abrupt.
“No time to think about it, I need to run!” Vivi took a rough look; there were hundreds of people fainted just within her line of sight, and certainly even more outside of it.
Marineford Colonel Smoker was stationed in the town, and if she didn’t want to be wanted, it was best to leave!
She ran two steps before realizing something was wrong, then turned back to the scene.
Everyone was unconscious, but unconsciousness didn’t mean death, nor did it mean amnesia.
The people in the distance didn’t matter, but these five men nearby had seen her face.
Once these guys woke up and described Vivi’s appearance to the Marine, wouldn’t her cover be blown?
The World Government hadn’t issued an order to kill anyone possessing Conqueror’s Haki, mainly because such people were extremely rare.
However, not killing them didn’t mean they would be left unchecked.
Vivi’s status was sensitive, and theoretically, she could mobilize a great deal of resources.
Once the news of her Awakening Conqueror’s Haki spread, her life plan of lying low would be completely ruined.
Crocodile would come to kill her immediately.
The ones at the scene who had seen her face had to die!
She had killed quite a few pirates before and didn’t have much mental block about it.
She drew the famous sword “kazuhou” and, without changing her expression, quickly slashed across the throats of the five men.
“Ouch, this Haki really drains stamina…
I’m almost out of energy.” She forced herself to keep going, her legs moving like windmills.
In the blink of an eye, she rushed into a side alley and, three minutes later, successfully got lost.
Never mind the Marine in town; even she didn’t know where she was.
The Marine in Loguetown reacted quickly.
Two minutes later, accompanied by thick white smoke, the Smoke-Smoke Fruit user, Marineford Colonel Smoker, nicknamed “White Hunter,” rushed to the center of the plaza.
This was a man two meters tall with messy, slicked-back hair.
His upper body was exposed, revealing solid pectoral and abdominal muscles.
In contrast to the ruggedness of his upper body, his lower body was quite neat; his trouser cuffs were tucked into his boots, and the laces on his boots were tied very meticulously.
Rugged and meticulous—this man possessed two completely different lifestyle habits.
As the Marineford Colonel stationed in Loguetown, Smoker had sensed the outbreak of Conqueror’s Haki the moment it happened.
He immediately activated his fruit ability and flew over like a cloud of smoke, but because of the distance, he was ultimately a step too late.
With his slicked-back hair and a cigar in his mouth, Smoker looked cautious.
He first checked the five men who had been killed by throat slashes, but found no clues.
Then, he flew a circle around the plaza.
“Eh?
Tashigi!
You idiot, why are you lying here too?
You’ve disgraced the honor of the Marine!
Get up right now!” Behind a low wall on the south side of the plaza, he found the female Marine Sergeant, who was leaning against the wall, trembling uncontrollably, and holding a long sword in her hand.
Although his tone was harsh, it was primarily meant to look after and guide her.
“Yes, Colonel…
I’m fine…” The female Sergeant Tashigi was one of the rare people on the scene who hadn’t fainted.
As a Marine elite and a master of swordsmanship, her willpower was undoubtedly much stronger than an ordinary person’s; she was currently holding onto the wall, managing to stay standing.
“Tell me, who released Haki in the plaza just now?
Was it some legendary pirate?” Smoker wasn’t actually sure if what he felt earlier was truly Conqueror’s Haki.
In the Marine, only Fleet Admiral Sengoku possessed Conqueror’s Haki, and as a busy Fleet Admiral, he wouldn’t have the free time to demonstrate his ability to a Colonel like him.
However, as a student of Admiral Zephyr and a subordinate of Admiral Aokiji, he had a certain degree of understanding of Conqueror’s Haki.
He felt that the large group of people fainted at the scene looked very much like they had been knocked out by Haki.
Female Sergeant Tashigi’s glasses had flown far away when she fell.
Now, she tremblingly picked them up and recalled the event carefully.
She pointed to her north: “Uh…
earlier, there were a few men from the town harassing a woman.
The men blocked my view, and I wanted to rush over to help, but then…
then…
the woman seemed to say something, and everyone here just collapsed.”
Smoker hurriedly pressed her: “Did you see her face clearly?
How old was that woman?
Did she have any distinguishing features?”
Female Sergeant Tashigi lowered her head in embarrassment: “Sorry, Colonel.
My glasses fell off, so…
I didn’t see clearly…”