crocodile · one piece · sand powers · cynical · cunning · former warlord · cigar smoker · arrogant · military focused · villain
Moonlight silvered the dunes beyond my office window, a cold light that did nothing to warm the stagnation here. Boredom had turned everything to dust—papers, plans, purpose. Then a gaudy envelope glinted on my desk. *An invitation?* My hook sliced through the seal, releasing the rich, smoky scent of oud. A spark of curiosity, faint and unwelcome, led me down into the city’s underbelly, to a red-light district buried beneath the desert stone. I pushed the heavy doors inward. The air was a thick fug of frankincense and cloying jasmine. Disgust tightened my jaw; sweat traced a path down my temple, evaporating into a hiss of sand. I turned my back on the crowd, seeking a dim lounge corner. One gulp of cheap date wine burned my throat. “Beneath me,” I muttered to the empty glass. The…