One Piece: Pirate Code

The sizzling sound of seared flesh followed as the red-hot katana pierced into the body, releasing a burnt odor from the wound.

"I'll kill you!" roared Barbarossa with a twisted face. Although he had been stabbed, he had already drawn his sword.

Barbarossa, a ruthless man, didn't back off despite being stabbed. Instead, he took a step forward. William tried to withdraw his blade, but Barbarossa, sweating profusely from the pain, gritted his teeth and used his left arm to hook the katana with his iron claw. Immediately, he swung his scimitar upward toward the katana.

A crisp clang echoed as the weakened, fire-heated katana broke apart. A glowing fragment of the blade spun upward between the two.

On one end stood William, his expression grave. On the other, Barbarossa grinned viciously.

"Do you think you can beat me just because I haven't used my Devil Fruit ability!?"

As the broken blade reached their eye level, William, who had kept his lips tightly shut, suddenly spat out a mouthful of strong liquor he had been holding. The alcohol ignited into flames upon contact with the glowing fragment, erupting in a blaze that struck Barbarossa's face.

Caught off guard, Barbarossa let out a cry of pain. The fireball William spat wasn't particularly lethal; while it singed Barbarossa's beard and hair, a quick pat was enough to extinguish the flames. As for the burns on his face, for a hardened pirate like Barbarossa, such injuries were minor.

What made Barbarossa scream was the injury to his one good eye. Despite his reflex to shut it tightly, the sudden blaze had scorched his sensitive eye, rendering him momentarily blind.

The pain and sudden blindness threw Barbarossa into panic, causing him to swing his scimitar wildly in William's direction. William dodged by rolling to the ground.

In the captain's cabin, sparks flew as William narrowly avoided the deadly strike. Behind him, the massive swing cleaved through the wall, leaving a gaping hole.

William, still sprawled on the floor, quickly moved to Barbarossa's legs. Without hesitation, he slashed at Barbarossa's ankle with the broken blade, severing one of his feet.

With a loud thud, Barbarossa dropped to one knee. William wasted no time, maneuvering behind him.

Hearing the movement, Barbarossa swung his scimitar in an arc behind him, but William blocked his right arm at the joint and drove the broken blade into Barbarossa's wrist, severing the hand that held the scimitar.

"This is for Valon!" William growled as he grabbed Barbarossa's scimitar from the ground. He swung the oversized weapon down, severing Barbarossa's left arm clean from the shoulder.

Barbarossa let out a blood-curdling scream as he collapsed to the ground. Blood poured freely from his severed limbs.

The flying embers had already ignited the room. Flames spread from the bookshelves to the curtains and the wooden walls. Amid the growing inferno, William knelt beside the wheezing Barbarossa.

"I killed Hairedin and Reis," William said, his bloodshot eyes reflecting the flames. His face, streaked with blood, made him look terrifying. "From the day I boarded this ship, I've thought about how to kill you. But don't worry—your brothers won't be lonely. I'll send Arcadio and Roy to join you."

Barbarossa writhed on the floor, his remaining hair and fur starting to squirm. Facing life and death, he desperately activated his Devil Fruit power to shield himself.

William sneered, flipping a flaming curtain over Barbarossa.

"Who the hell are you?!"

Barbarossa's fur armor, impenetrable to blades, ignited instantly. Now ablaze, he screamed in agony, rolling helplessly on the floor.

A final thud ended his cries.

Like an executioner, William raised the massive scimitar high and brought it down on Barbarossa's neck. The pirate's hideous head rolled across the floor before coming to rest under William's foot.

"You can think about it on your journey to the afterlife," William said coldly.

Mastermind: "Redbeard" Barbarossa. (Deceased)

The message from Fate Square flashed before William's eyes. He closed them, taking a deep breath to steady himself. He picked up the blood-soaked, contorted head, examined it briefly, then tied it to his waist by its hair.

As the flames engulfed the room, William didn't linger. He opened the iron chest and retrieved the Devil Fruit, carefully placing it in his pocket.

After glancing at the burning desk, he noticed the ship's logbooks were aflame. Regretting their loss, he quickly left without looking back.

On the deck, William turned to look at the captain's cabin, now consumed by fire. He pulled the Devil Fruit from his pocket.

His gaze fell on the small, strange-looking fruit. Its value was astronomical—100 million berries and practically priceless in the East Blue, where many considered it a myth.

No matter how hard William tried, he couldn't comprehend how consuming this fruit granted extraordinary powers. But he wasn't a scientist and had no interest in unraveling its mysteries. All that mattered now was the choice before him: eat it or not.

Thinking of Barbarossa's fatal weaknesses caused by the fruit's powers, William hesitated briefly. But after just two seconds, he bit into the Devil Fruit.

Though Devil Fruits had their flaws, Barbarossa's infamy in the East Blue was built on the power of this fruit—a temptation William found impossible to resist.

Even with the assistance of Fate Square, William remained baffled by its origins. It felt like suddenly receiving a suspicious fortune; anyone would feel uneasy spending it.

For William, the Devil Fruit was insurance, despite its drawbacks.

Grimacing at the fruit's bitter taste, William forced himself to finish it, swallowing even the skin.

Even with his resilience, William found himself on his knees, clutching his mouth to keep from retching.

Aboard Redbeard's pirate ship, a few pirates who had been secretly observing William from afar noticed a brief cloud of mist rising from the Swordfish Pirates' ship's bow before quickly dissipating. It almost seemed like an illusion.

Leaning weakly against the ship's railing, William muttered to himself as if in consolation, "Suffer through the hardships, and you shall rise above all men..."

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