One Piece: The Living Devil

"You came, Shanks."

As a long, complicated sigh echoed out, something horrifying happened.

The shadow in the corner suddenly twisted like boiling water.

Then the shadows peeled away from the floor, climbing up like black liquid as they gathered together. Gradually, they solidified into a tangible form, becoming Beckman's familiar tall figure.

Seeing his bizarre entrance, Shanks' expression immediately became dark. His hand instinctively rested on the hilt of his sword.

"It seems... I shouldn't have come."

"You think this is some reward I got for betraying my brothers and surrendering to the World Government?"

Seeing Shanks' guarded posture, Beckman laughed at himself.

His face, once always calm and wise, was now filled with the deep exhaustion of someone who had seen through everything.

Then, the next moment, Shanks' Observation Haki didn't detect even the slightest movement of air or muscle contraction.

Beckman vanished directly from his sight.

There was no movement.

No afterimage.

By the time Shanks' brain had just registered that Beckman had disappeared, only half an instant later, a warm hand had already settled silently on his right shoulder.

'So fast!'

Shanks' pupils shrank to pinpoints.

Every hair on his body stood on end like steel needles. The overwhelming sense of danger made his body instinctively prepare to draw his sword.

If it hadn't been a hand on his shoulder just now, but a blade, he wouldn't even have known how he died.

But years of companionship and countless life-and-death battles together finally suppressed Shanks' muscle memory at the last moment.

He released the hilt of his sword, clenched his teeth, and didn't turn around.

He believed Beckman wouldn't harm him.

At least, in such a short time, even Rosse couldn't possibly have brainwashed his first mate that thoroughly.

"Surprised?"

Beckman took his hand off Shanks' shoulder and walked to his side.

He casually pulled a cigar from the pocket on his chest and placed it between his lips.

Without using a lighter, he simply traced a finger lightly through the air.

A faint blue spirit particle spark flashed, and the cigar lit itself.

Whoosh!

Beckman exhaled a cloud of smoke.

"If this had been real combat, with the speed I just showed, even your reflexes would have had trouble making a perfect block."

"What kind of ability is that?"

Shanks clenched his fists tightly, forcing down the shock in his heart. His voice was frighteningly low.

He knew Beckman had never eaten a Devil Fruit.

Nor was that something physical techniques alone could achieve.

That movement hadn't left any trace at all.

"It's called Spirit Particle Shadow Manipulation. That movement technique just now is called Gale Step."

Holding the cigar between his fingers, Beckman looked up at the faint light filtering through a hole in the warehouse roof.

"They're just two very ordinary basic abilities within today's World Government."

"You... what do you mean?"

Shanks' voice trembled.

He understood the literal meaning of Beckman's words.

But everything he believed about the world refused to accept them.

Those two abilities weren't physical techniques at all.

They felt almost like man-made Devil Fruit powers.

And yet Beckman was saying they were commonplace within the World Government.

How could abilities capable of instantly killing pirates worth over a hundred million Beli possibly be considered ordinary?

"Exactly what I said."

Beckman turned to look at his former captain, deep sorrow and helplessness filling his eyes.

"Within the World Government, anyone evaluated as having at least C-rank strength is qualified to apply to learn these two abilities."

"Listen carefully, Shanks."

Beckman emphasized every word, "That C-rank requirement isn't there to separate people. It's simply because anyone below C-rank has a hard time learning them."

His calm yet endlessly wistful voice echoed through the empty warehouse.

Shanks stood completely frozen.

'C-rank?'

Ever since Rosse introduced the strength ranking system, it had spread throughout the world.

C-rank had once been about the level of a Rear Admiral.

Now, even Rear Admirals needed to be around B-rank.

Just this small amount of information from Beckman was already enough to make Shanks feel immense pressure.

"C-rank body enhancement... Besides that, what else?"

Shanks slowly let out a breath. His remaining arm hung limply at his side as he continued questioning him.

Inside the dim warehouse, only the glowing tip of Beckman's cigar flickered in the darkness.

The situation had already fallen into the abyss.

Getting a little stronger, or gaining a few more advantages, didn't seem capable of changing the outcome of an ant trying to shake a tree.

"What else? Heh..."

Beckman flicked away the ash, a complicated self-mocking smile appearing on his lips.

"The World Government promised me that once Luffy leaves the East Blue, I'll become the next Governor-General of the East Blue, overseeing all military affairs, government administration, civilian affairs, and coastal defense across the East Blue."

"What? You? The highest administrator of the East Blue?"

Shanks shot upright, disbelief and shock filling his one remaining eye.

The Governor-General of the East Blue was truly the supreme official of the region.

He would oversee every matter in those seas and even possess the authority to make immediate life-and-death decisions when necessary.

But how could a position capable of reshaping the entire East Blue possibly be handed to a former pirate?

Objectively speaking, Beckman's intelligence and strength made him more than qualified.

But the gap created by his identity should have been impossible to cross.

The East Blue itself was already chaotic, with countless undercurrents.

Putting a pirate who might rebel at any time in charge was like lighting a cigarette on top of a powder keg.

It simply wasn't in the World Government's interests.

"That's right. The top position in the East Blue. Sounds impressive, doesn't it? I also thought the World Government had gone crazy, or rather, that they were bold enough not to care whether I'd betray them or not."

Beckman leaned back in his chair, his gaze vacant.

He recalled his time working at the municipal government of Reverse City.

It had been easy.

And pleasant.

If not for his past, he might genuinely have enjoyed working with those people.

They were unbelievably efficient.

Their knowledge was astonishingly broad.

Compared to them, he felt like some country bumpkin.

Fortunately, he learned quickly and soon adapted to the work.

But just after adapting, transfer orders arrived, assigning him to become Governor-General of the East Blue.

The orders even clearly stated that if his performance as Governor-General met expectations, he would be transferred directly to Mary Geoise, granted Third-Class Status, and truly enter the center of power.

"Why you? Can't Rosse and the others tell you're only pretending to cooperate?"

Shanks couldn't sit still anymore. Irritated, he ran a hand through his red hair.

Rosse sparing Beckman and even accepting him had already been shocking enough.

Shanks had even prepared himself for Beckman to be distrusted and unable to obtain any meaningful information.

But he had never imagined that Rosse wouldn't guard against him at all, and would instead offer terms that could tempt anyone.

Greater strength.

Absolute authority.

A promise of climbing the social hierarchy.

Those three moves alone were enough to make any normal person surrender.

But why the East Blue?

If this were simply to set an example, they could have given him an honorary Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral title, or made him the mayor of some prosperous city on the Red Line.

The status would have been just as prestigious, while making him far easier to monitor under the World Government's watchful eyes.

So why send Beckman back to the uniquely important East Blue?

"Can't figure it out, can you? For the first three days after receiving the transfer order, I couldn't figure it out either."

Beckman stood up, walked beside Shanks, and firmly patted him on the shoulder.

His sigh carried deep helplessness, "Later, after I understood what a Governor-General actually does, I finally understood. The World Government's current system is simply too perfect and too enormous. Even if I secretly wanted to rebel a thousand times over, I couldn't alter the progress of its established procedures."

"In less than a year, the East Blue will be completely assimilated and cleansed, just like the other three seas, becoming another part of the ideal world they've built."

"That's impossible! Unless Rosse plans to completely flatten the East Blue!"

Shanks shook his head without hesitation, his gaze sharp.

"The World Government spent over ten years, maybe even longer, bringing the other three seas completely under control. The East Blue has endured centuries of pirate raids and division among allied kingdoms. Even if today's World Government has shown genuine sincerity, earning the trust of ordinary people still takes time. One year? That's impossible."

Shanks didn't deny the World Government's capabilities.

He understood all too well how terrifying their soft approach had become.

It was a system of benefits and promotion opportunities that could drive ordinary people into a frenzy.

But he firmly believed that changing culture and values required generations.

One year was absolutely impossible.

"Shanks, you're still looking at them with the eyes of the old era. You have no idea what methods the current World Government possesses."

Beckman took a deep drag from his cigar and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, as though trying to drive away the chill in his heart.

"Once Luffy leaves the East Blue, what do you think they'll do? No warships. No cannons. Instead, they'll mobilize nearly one million grassroots government workers, medical personnel, and infrastructure engineers from across the World Government, and deploy them throughout every island in the East Blue."

Seeing Shanks' suddenly contracted pupils, Beckman smiled bitterly.

"I've seen the list of those one million people. Every single one of them originally came from the East Blue. They're all ordinary civilians who spent these past years settling down under the Red Line's system, even starting families there."

"This time, they're returning home as aid workers. The government is paying them generous salaries and benefits, along with performance bonuses, more than enough to make them give everything they have."

"They'll bring back the hope they found on the Red Line to their poor hometowns. Can you imagine that scene, Shanks?"

"One million living success stories returning home in glory. They won't need force. Everyone in the East Blue will accept, and long for, the real World Government."

"And every pirate in the East Blue will be wiped out in a single day. Safety will come to the East Blue."

"Meanwhile, the true history of these past years will be rewritten into simple textbooks and taught to every resident of the East Blue through free compulsory education."

"One year will be enough for every village in the East Blue to raise the flag of the new World Government. This isn't violent brainwashing."

"It's dimensional superiority."

There was no anger in Beckman's voice.

Only a despair so overwhelming it was horrifying.

He had once believed the most terrifying form of rule was the Celestial Dragons' brutal oppression through bloodline and force.

As long as there was oppression, there would always be resistance.

People like Luffy would always have the chance to ignite a prairie fire.

But he had been wrong.

The thing that truly left people powerless was the current World Government's efficiency and rationality, operating like a precision machine.

If the old world had been a struggle between slavery and pirate freedom, then the current world was like a scattered mob crashing headfirst into a highly developed utopia with comprehensive welfare and unified ideals.

The two sides weren't even qualified to be compared.

Here, social class was never fixed.

As long as you had ability, you could even rise all the way to become one of the Five Ministers.

The government encouraged competition.

Even the lowest-born commoner, if they showed enough potential during evaluations, could receive better treatment than the children of nobles.

Because in this world, there was fundamentally only one noble.

Rosse himself.

Below him, everyone was equal.

Even his wives and children did nothing more than pursue the work they enjoyed, rather than occupying positions they didn't deserve.

It was simply that, with Rosse' help, their abilities were usually superior to everyone else's.

This was truly an era where everyone had the chance to rise like a dragon and give everything they had to realize their own worth.

Faced with something so enormous, Beckman couldn't devise even a single workable plan to overthrow it.

In fact...

"Would you believe it? When I looked at my evaluation report, I actually had the ridiculous thought that I'd gladly give my life for someone who truly appreciated my talents. For a moment, I even felt I'd earned the position of Governor-General of the East Blue through my own ability, " Beckman laughed at himself.

His evaluation was straightforward.

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Combat Rating: S

Administration and Strategic Ability: A

System Adaptability and Growth Potential: S

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

"Completely fair. They didn't suppress my evaluation because I was a pirate, nor did they hold back because I might be a traitor. It matched the selection standards for Governor-General of the East Blue perfectly," Beckman sighed.

"To put it simply, Governor-General of the East Blue is just a transitional position meant to build experience. They need a capable local figure with enough authority to keep everything stable during the transition."

"I got the position. Even if there was calculation behind it, my qualifications were entirely reasonable."

"No one who saw it would think there was anything suspicious."

"It was too fair."

"The fairness displayed so openly frightened me."

"And made it impossible for me to refuse."

Shanks fell silent, like a lifeless statue.

He was right.

Wasn't the new world that Dragon's Revolutionary Army, and the Red Hair Pirates themselves, had dreamed of one where the old class system would be broken, allowing ordinary people to live with dignity and freedom?

Now...

Rosse had achieved it.

Not only had he achieved it, he'd done it ten thousand times better than they had ever dreamed.

"Sometimes I stand in front of the windproof glass of Reverse City, looking down at the bustling streets and the countless lights shining from happy homes, and I can't help asking myself..."

Beckman crushed the burned-out cigar beneath his fingers.

His voice became so soft it seemed afraid of shattering something.

"Are we really going to destroy a world like this... just for our own selfish idea of freedom?"

"Hongo has completely integrated into it already. He's now an attending physician at Reverse City's Central Hospital. Every day he uses the most advanced equipment to save dozens of ordinary people's lives. He smiles from morning to night."

"Shanks... if it weren't for the bonds I share with my companions..."

Beckman turned toward the captain he had served for half his life.

Deep sorrow filled his eyes, "I might already have betrayed all of you with complete sincerity."

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