Chapter 488 - 327

Chapter 328: CP0 Falcon vs. straw hat Black Leg!The hustle and bustle of Lovers' Lane drifted faintly to the top of the clock tower.For the white figure standing in the shadows of the clock tower, a distance of a hundred meters was no different from being right there on the scene.His golden vertical pupils, hidden beneath a hideous Eagle Mask, were like the eyes of a bird of prey circling high in the heavens, indifferently watching the struggles of ants on the ground, clearly capturing everything happening on the cafe terrace.His white suit was spotless, and the hem of his cloak remained motionless in the breeze, turning him into a cold, emotionless silhouette.Only a few fine golden feathers peeking out from his sideburns, shimmering with a cold, metallic luster, silently proclaimed the inhuman power contained within his body.Codename "Falcon," one of the top commanders of CP0, the "Strongest Shield" of the Celestial Dragons!!!His gaze swept over the blond brat who was fawning over the purple-haired beauty."Black Leg Sanji, the cook of the Straw Hat Pirates. His bounty... how much was it? Oh, a bit over a billion."In Falcon's memory files, this fell into the category of "worth noting but not requiring special attention," no fundamentally different from those Supernovas who frantically emerged in the New World only to be quickly crushed.He saw Sanji serving the purple-haired beauty with dazzling attentiveness.He saw the blatant heart-shaped eyes and the adoration that almost overflowed from Sanji.Beneath Falcon's mask, the corner of his mouth curled into a microscopic, mocking arc."Stupid! Infatuated by beauty, wallowing in a pointless land of tenderness! The nature of pirates is, in the end, lowly and short-sighted!"When several drunken pirates stepped forward to harass them, and Sanji instantly acted, kicking the four of them away with movements too fast for an ordinary person to see, Falcon's golden vertical pupils remained calm and undisturbed."Speed is acceptable, and there's some skill in his power delivery. But in the face of absolute power levels, such street-brawl tricks are meaningless.""Probably... just at the level of an ordinary Vice Admiral? No, maybe a bit stronger."Like a harsh theater critic, he coldly judged the childish farce on the stage.The deep-seated worry and struggle in Violet's eyes, Sanji's subtle shift from flippancy to focus, the low, heavy conversation between the two... in Falcon's eyes, all of this was nothing more than the futile struggles and worthless cries of ants facing a collapsing nest.He heard Violet's suppressed sobs, and words like "Riku Royal Family," "truth," and "request."He also heard Sanji's steady promise, which carried an unquestionable power.A promise?Falcon almost let out a sneer."How naive, how laughable.""The rules by which this world operates were set eight hundred years ago.""The descendants of the Creators sit high atop the Red Line, defining the boundaries of order with their supreme will!""CP0, as the sharpest talons and Strongest Shieldof this will, walks between shadow and light, erasing all existences that attempt to challenge those boundaries.""The Shichibukai system, the Marines, the Four Emperors... even this seemingly independent affiliated nation, Dressrosa, are nothing more than chess pieces of various sizes on this grand chessboard.""Doflamingo is a piece, the Riku Royal Family are pieces long since swept away, and the Straw Hatcrew... at best, they are a few bugs that accidentally hopped onto the board, trying to disrupt the game.""A bug making a declaration to overturn the board to another piece about to be consumed?"Utterly preposterous!!In the Holy Land Mary Geoise, even though he, "Falcon," held a high position in CP0 and possessed strength that earned him a modicum of respect from the Celestial Dragon lords, he was still a "high-level servant" at his core.He had witnessed the majesty and capriciousness of true "gods" and experienced the strict hierarchy under absolute power.But when he set foot on these seas and islands known as the "Lower World," the sense of superiority derived from absolute power—suppressed in the Holy Land—would transform into indifference and arrogance as he looked down upon all living things.Here, Admirals and Four Emperors were opponents worthy of serious consideration, existences capable of shaking the chessboard.Beyond that, pirates with bounties under a billion, non-core Revolutionary Army officers, and even the royal armies of most nations... in his eyes, they were fundamentally no different from weeds by the roadside or lambs for the slaughter.The only difference was that some weeds required a bit more effort to pull, and the bleating of some lambs might be slightly more piercing.For this trip to Dressrosa, the Gorosei had personally issued orders to monitor the struggle for the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, evaluate the reactions of various parties, and "clean up" any Revolutionary Army members or overly volatile unstable factors that might appear if necessary.Sanji and Violet?Unplanned minor nuisances, not even worth his personal intervention. Perhaps he could just have one of his squads deal with them later."The show's over. Boring!"Falcon withdrew his gaze listlessly, preparing to turn away.A faint roar of commotion came from the direction of the distant coliseum.That was where the "main course" was.Although he had some interest in the Four Emperors' officers and that emerging Revolutionary Army member, Sabo, he doubted they could cause enough of a stir to catch the "gods'" attention.He turned slightly, his white cloak brushing against the dusty railing of the clock tower.In that very instant—On the cafe terrace below, the blond cook, who was bowing his head to light a cigarette, seemed to glance toward the clock tower as if by accident.That glance was brief and casual, as if he had been drawn by the sound of a distant bell or was simply scanning the street scene.But the pupils of Falcon's hawk-like golden vertical eyes suddenly contracted a fraction.'An illusion?'No!!!As an Ancient Zoan-type ability user, especially an Awakened One, his five senses—particularly his vision and intuition—had long since surpassed the human realm.He clearly "felt" that in that seemingly casual glance, there was an unmistakable... lock-on.'That guy... found me?'Falcon's movements froze.A tiny sliver of surprise rippled through the frozen lake of his heart.'Interesting. A mere bug can actually sense my "presence"? Is it Observation Haki? He's a bit more sensitive than I expected.'But that's all!!A sensitive bug is still a bug! At most, he's just a more alert kind of bug!Falcon did not intend to change his mind!So what if he was discovered?If a bug spots an eagle in the sky, does the eagle need to descend and confront it?Ridiculous!!His time was precious and should not be wasted on such meaningless interactions.But just as he was about to fully turn around, with his back to the cafe terrace of the moment—Zzt—!A faint but incredibly piercing screech tore through the silence of the clock tower's shadows!Every hair on Falcon's body stood on end within a millisecond!It was a near-instinctive crisis warning, honed by countless brushes with death and the slaughter of untold numbers of powerful experts!Something was coming at a speed that exceeded the limits of his estimation!He didn't even have time to think, relying entirely on his battle-hardened instincts to forcibly interrupt his turning motion.His forearm muscles instantly bulged and hardened, his skin covered by a layer of ink-like Armament Haki!Almost at the same moment he completed his defensive maneuver—A leg shadow, entwined with blinding azure lightning and dark red searing flames, appeared as if out of thin air and slammed hard against his hastily raised left arm!Clang—!!!!!!!!!A visible circular shockwave exploded from the point of impact. The thick stone bricks groaned under the strain, their surfaces instantly covered in web-like cracks as dust cascaded down.The bronze bell at the top of the tower hummed from the vibration, letting out a dull moan.Falcon felt a violent, searing force, accompanied by a strong sense of numbness, surging through his left arm!His body was pushed forward a step by this massive force. His left foot crushed a brick beneath him before he managed to steady himself.A clear ache and numbness radiated from his left arm; the top-tier Armament Haki covering it was actually trembling slightly!He whipped his head around.There, behind and to the side of where he had originally stood, Sanji was slowly withdrawing his right leg, landing lightly on the railing at the edge of the clock tower.His left leg was straight, and his right leg was slightly bent, maintaining his balance after the kick.Those blue eyes, which were usually filled with hearts or playfulness, were now like a frozen Lake Baikal—deep, sharp, and devoid of any warmth.The cigarette dangling from his mouth flickered, and the blue smoke twisted and dissipated in the violent energy aftershocks.There were scorched marks on his right trouser leg. At his bare ankle, fine blue electric arcs and dark red sparks leaped and entwined like living things before slowly dying out.Their gazes collided in mid-air.For the first time, Falcon's golden vertical pupils fully reflected Sanji's figure.It was no longer the indifference of looking down at an ant, but contained a hint of surprise that hadn't yet fully faded, along with a coldness that quietly arose from being offended.Sanji took a deep drag of his cigarette and slowly exhaled.The smoke blurred his currently grim expression."Hey,"He spoke, his voice calm yet carrying a resolute power,"Peeping on someone's date with a lady while carrying such a nauseating aura of arrogance... are all you CP0 guys this rude?"Falcon did not speak.He simply turned around slowly to face Sanji head-on.His white cloak moved without wind, and the air around him seemed to become stagnant and heavy because of his emotions.The numbness in his left arm was fading rapidly. The powerful recovery and constitution brought by his awakened Zoan-type ability made a shock of this level almost negligible."Black Leg Sanji."Falcon's voice came through the Eagle Mask, cold and flat, without any inflection, yet more heart-stopping than any roar,"I take back part of my previous assessment."He paused, the cold light in his golden vertical pupils sharp as needles...