Flame of Revolution

West Blue — Lasgab Town, at the gates of Reverse Mountain.

"The time has come. Today, the captain of the Bide Pirates will be executed in public. A bounty of fourteen million Berries was placed on his head."

"That happens every month. What's new about this one?"

"This time it's different—it's a pirate with a massive bounty! Fourteen million Berries!"

* * *

The tavern echoed with the voices of eager onlookers. It didn't take long before many patrons threw down their coins and rushed outside, heading toward the execution square.

As the town guarding the passage into the Grand Line, Lasgab had become infamous for a gallows erected each month—a grim sight that struck fear into pirates across the entire West Blue.

Any pirate caught by the Marine, if they didn't possess a Devil Fruit ability or weren't of interest to the World Government, would be brought here… to die in public.

The scene repeated monthly, though the number of condemned varied. Still, a familiar pattern played out again and again: someone always tried to rescue their comrades—and ended up walking straight into a trap, only to be captured themselves.

Now, upon the execution platform, Captain Luemi of the Marine's 80th Sub-Base had just finished reading the list of crimes committed by the Bide Pirates—a crew responsible for hundreds of deaths.

Pillaging, after all, was a cornerstone of pirate economy. Not all pirates chased a noble dream like Roger's, nor did they refrain from harming or robbing innocents—as once noted in Oden's memoirs.

Ninety-nine out of every hundred pirates didn't set sail for glory. They did it for gold—and blood.

"Carry out the sentence!"

At Captain Luemi's signal, the Marine standing behind Bide—Kevin—raised his long spear high above his head.

At that very moment, chaos erupted around the square.

"Kill them! Free the captain! For the loot!"

"Crush the Marine!"

"Now's our chance!"

"Boss Felko! We've come to save you!"

* * *

But the commotion had barely begun when it was met by a barrage of bullets, fired in anticipation.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Minutes of relentless gunfire followed. And when the smoke began to clear, Bide—the first to be sentenced—had already been run through. A spear pierced his chest, silencing his final scream.

Executed by spear.

Captain Luemi calmly resumed the reading of charges—this time, for the next condemned: a known leader of the black-market mafia.

Kevin tightened his grip around his weapon, eyes scanning below.

Despite the storm of bullets, someone had broken through the crowd—a lone swordsman charging forward with a long blade, shielding his vital points. Three bullets had already struck him.

As he closed in, his gaze locked onto Kevin—cautious, but fierce.

Then, with a flash, he raised his sword and sent a violent shockwave hurtling toward the execution platform.

Clack!

With one hand and a single motion, Kevin intercepted it—shattering the wave midair with a well-timed thrust.

Whoosh!

His spear launched with blinding speed, impaling the swordsman through the gut and driving halfway into the stone beneath him.

Boom!

The ground shook. The onlooking pirates froze.

'H-How… is this possible?'

'That swordsman… Sir Adin… the one who could cut through waves—defeated in an instant?!'

'The spear… we didn't even see it!'

"Captain Luemi," Kevin muttered, visibly annoyed, "could you pick up the pace?"

He turned his eyes toward the man now kneeling before him—his knees shattered. Another of the mafia's top brass.

"You're surprisingly calm," Kevin said.

The man, dressed in prisoner's garb, kept his head low. "Fate doesn't deal us all the same hand. I gave my people what they longed for."

"Kevin," he continued, raising his head, locking eyes with him. "Release me, and I can give you what your heart desires."

"Money. Women. Nothing is beyond the reach of the Five Great Mafia Families in this sea. No one could stand in your way… not even that second-rate Captain who, just two years ago, was a complete nobody."

Captain Luemi's expression darkened, the words almost choking him. But he said nothing—only glared coldly, like one sending a man to his grave—and resumed the reading of sentences.

When he finished, Kevin drew a fresh spear and drove it through the man's chest.

"What I want… you can't give me."

Half an hour later, the executions were done.

* * *

Marine Base 80 — Subdivision Barracks.

Kevin lay on his bed, his mind drifting into a prison that lay deep within his consciousness—his supernatural ability, the power that had followed him ever since he arrived in the world of One Piece—his so-called "Golden Finger".

A prison not of bars and walls, but one that devoured the mind.

Every person he had executed had their consciousness forcefully drawn into this strange, eternal penitentiary.

At its center rose a towering stone platform, encircled by eight passageways, each lined with countless cells.

Bide—the pirate who had just been executed with a spear—had been deposited into one of the cells along the sixth corridor.

He jolted awake, eyes wide with panic, too terrified to even look away from Kevin, who stood calmly outside the cell.

"Well, that makes over a thousand Evil Points... Enough to open a bronze chest."

"You killed me! How can you be here?! Kevin?!"

"Death isn't the end of the road for those who feed on the blood of the innocent… How many died screaming in your hands?"

Kevin pointed a finger to his temple.

"Think carefully. The laws of this prison should be etched into your mind by now."

He continued in a cold, detached voice:

"You possess the strongest will among today's arrivals. That means you'll be the first to taste the pain."

At that moment, black flames erupted within the cell, engulfing Bide's consciousness in an instant.

"AAAAARGH!!!"

"You… damn… bastard!"

"K-Kill me!"

"No… not the P—PAAAAIN!"

Kevin scratched his ear lazily.

"Same screams as always… Let's begin."

As his words echoed, the wails of torment burst forth from every other criminal executed that day.

Here, they couldn't lose consciousness, couldn't even faint.

The black fire incinerated the deepest core of their evil, devouring every last stain of sin—point by point—until nothing remained. Only then would their awareness be erased from the prison entirely.

And that smoldering evil... was exactly what Kevin sought.

Every 100 Evil Points earned him a wooden chest, 1,000 brought forth a bronze chest, and 10,000 opened up a silver one—and so the tiers ascended.

What the chests yielded varied: some items came from this world, others from different universes, and a few belonged to no world at all. Yet the most basic—and valuable—among them were Attribute Enhancement Cards

.

Two years ago, Uncle Kuma had sent him to this place. Since then, Kevin had used the execution platform at Sub-Base 80 of the West Blue to unlock a sizable number of chests.

Wooden chests had given him tools like kunai and shuriken from the Naruto world, or flintlock rifles native to One Piece.

Bronze chests rewarded him with a Clone Jutsu card from Naruto, and even a modern pistol from the Jackie Chan Adventures universe.

As for the silver ones...

Well, because of a certain bad habit, he'd never managed to save up enough for one. He kept spending his points on the lower-tier bronze chests, never experiencing the thrill of a silver pull.

Still, the Attribute Cards had significantly enhanced his physical stats and reflexes.

Now, he could effortlessly shatter a flying sword slash or drive a spear into solid stone—without breaking a sweat.

There was something else, too: the Clone Jutsu he had obtained no longer drained chakra—instead, it drew energy directly from his body, much like a Devil Fruit power.

"Four new criminals entered the prison today. That one I executed without a formal trial only had 300 Evil Points. So the total haul is 3,200, which, when added to the previous balance... brings us to 32,400."

After a quick calculation, Kevin stared at his palm, hesitant.

"Should I open three silver chests now? Or save up for gold?"

But then...

'I've never even opened a single silver chest…'

His fingers twitched with longing.

'Just one… just one! The rest I'll save, I swear!'

With that, the glowing counter above the prison's central platform dropped from 32,400 to 22,400.

A shimmering silver chest materialized instantly at the heart of the arena.

Kevin rubbed his hands together with anticipation and stepped forward.

In a blink, the swirling images inside the chest froze.

And what emerged… was a yellow cloud.

"…"