"Boss Boros, aside from Katakuri who hasn't had time to return yet, all of the top-tier and high-ranking combatants are present…"
King spoke with deep respect toward Boros. At the same time, Perospero tactfully withdrew from Cake Castle.
Though he was the eldest son of Charlotte Linlin, within the Cosmic Dark Matter Pirates he was nothing more than a mid-level combatant.
And in Boros' eyes—who judged subordinates purely by their strength—a mid-level fighter was hardly different from cannon fodder.
King finished his report but received no reply. Still, he showed no dissatisfaction, keeping his head lowered and waiting for Boros' orders. Unfortunately, Boros' attention wasn't on him at all.
"Oh? So you've got this kind of ability too, huh? That's really unexpected. I thought you were just a berserker who only pumped out 'damage build'."
In a psychedelic mental realm, Kizaru's stand, Flash, clicked his tongue in amazement at Boros' spirit form.
This mental realm was "created" by Boros himself. Within it, he could use his mental energy to communicate with anyone he had previously come into contact with.
In a sense, this was practically a divine support skill. Especially when fighting alongside allies, Boros could exploit the timeless nature of this space to share intel on the enemy or even coordinate battle strategies.
Still, having such a supportive skill appear on a battle maniac like Boros felt rather out of place.
"It's just a simple application of mental energy. What do you want from me?"
Boros' spirit form spoke in a cool, detached tone. Not because he had anything against Kizaru—it was simply his nature.
Unless he was fighting a worthy opponent, Boros remained in this nearly emotionless state.
"Nothing much. Just here to let you know—our plan has to move ahead of schedule."
Kizaru's stand-in placed a hand on Boros' shoulder. Although he would've preferred to prepare a grand "surprise" for Mary Geoise, the Five Elders weren't willing to cooperate. So Kizaru had no choice but to let Boros launch the plan earlier.
Another factor was something he hadn't anticipated: the sheer rallying power of two Emperors of the Sea joining forces.
In just one month, Totto Land had gathered more than 250,000 pirates in total, with countless more still pouring in from every corner of the New World.
Even with Kizaru and Morgans stirring the pot behind the scenes, the speed of this snowballing momentum was astonishing.
At this rate, it wouldn't be surprising if nearly every pirate in the New World—and even those merely aspiring to be pirates—seized the chance to join in the chaos.
Granted, the vast majority of these new recruits were little more than small fry.
No one knew exactly how many sleeper agents from various factions were buried within, but the sheer number alone was terrifying.
Even if their leader, Boros, was in fact an insider willingly cooperating with Borsalino to wrap things up, handling the situation would still be an enormous headache.
Not even Impel Down—despite the cells freed up after the great breakout—could possibly contain such a vast number of pirates.
If even just one-tenth managed to escape, the destruction inflicted upon every town and nation within an entire sea region would be catastrophic.
"At long last!"
Boros's spiritual body finally bared his teeth in a dangerous grin.
He had had enough of this dull, meaningless routine. Now it was time for the natives of this planet to witness the majesty of the cosmic overlord, Boros!
"Well then, I'll leave the rest to you. When you run into those five old dogs, make sure to give them a proper greeting on my behalf!"
With a pat on Boros's shoulder, Borsalino's Stand flickered away from Cake Castle in a flash of speed.
Other than being unable to use the Glint-Glint Fruit and the three types of Haki, Borsalino's Stand was essentially another version of himself.
And since there was no range limit, theoretically as long as they were on the same plane, Borsalino and his Stand could appear anywhere at any time.
After relaying the updated plan to Boros, Borsalino's double—"the Flash"—didn't hurry back to Marineford.
Back when Boros had gone to Wano to subjugate Kaido and the Beasts Pirates, Borsalino had already begun arranging for the Marine top brass to take turns going "on leave."
The purpose was simple: to prevent his intended future team from being thrown onto the battlefield as cannon fodder against Boros by the Gorosei.
Kuzan went on vacation to Sky Island. Garp returned to the East Blue for who-knows-what. Even Vice Admiral Tsuru, usually so stiff and proper, went off to Gran Tesoro to try her luck and relax a little.
The only regret was that Akainu and his fellow hawks in the upper ranks of the Marines had flat-out refused Borsalino's goodwill.
Not only did they skip the chance to take leave with the new Fleet Admiral in office, they doubled down on overtime under Sakazuki's lead.
Fortunately, the hawk faction didn't make up too large a portion of the Marines, and most of them were branch commanders anyway. Borsalino couldn't make it too obvious.
"Kuzan… Garp… Tsuru… Gumir…"
In just a few minutes, Borsalino's Stand zipped across all four seas and the Grand Line, personally confirming the locations of every high-ranking Marine currently on leave.
He also tampered with each of their personal Den Den Mushi, ensuring that no one but himself could contact these officers directly.
This was, of course, only a precaution—if all went well, the Gorosei would never even have the chance to call on them.
In theory, there weren't even a hundred officers in Marine HQ qualified to be called "high command." Aside from a few exceptional rear admirals, only vice admirals and above counted as part of that circle.
Subtract Sakazuki and his hawkish followers, and the number of officers Borsalino's double had to worry about came down to just a few dozen.
"Dalmatian… Finally done. Now there's only one left…"
After planting signal jammers on all of the officers' Den Den Mushi, Borsalino's double vanished once more. This time, when he reappeared, it was inside Vegapunk's laboratory.
To many, Vegapunk was the strongest scientist alive—the man with the "greatest brain in the world."
And indeed, as the wielder of the Brain-Brain Fruit, Vegapunk possessed the largest brain in existence; even giants would pale in comparison before him.
His enormous head had long since become his most iconic trait, and as his knowledge continued to expand, the brain itself kept growing—so much so that it had already become quite the burden.
Fortunately, Vegapunk had later separated his brain.
He named it "Punk Records" and stored it on Egghead Island, while keeping himself linked to it through the apple-shaped antenna atop his head.
That way, aside from the tongue still ridiculously long compared to an ordinary human's, Vegapunk now looked like nothing more than a plain, scruffy old man.
"Amazing precision in the craftsmanship… how was this even done… incredible! Simply incredible!"
When Borsalino's Stand found him, the head of the Marine Special Science Unit was marveling over an exceptionally intricate mechanical leg.
He held a small hammer in his hand, tapping at exposed sections where no armor plating covered the limb, as if trying to judge the internal structure by sound alone.
For most people this would have seemed absurd. But anyone who knew the name Vegapunk wouldn't doubt for a second that this scientist—five hundred years ahead of the current age—could pull it off.
Borsalino's Stand glanced around the lab, confirming there were no cameras, before casually snatching the hammer out of Vegapunk's hand and waving it before his eyes.
"…The Clear-Clear Fruit? You actually managed to find this place… huh?"
At first Vegapunk blinked in confusion at the hammer floating in midair. Then he muttered under his breath, pulled out what looked like a pair of protective goggles from his pocket, and slid them on.
Through those lenses—which mimicked Observation Haki and could expose many forms of invisibility, even that of the Clear-Clear Fruit—Vegapunk peered at Borsalino's Stand… and immediately cried out in shock.
Even with this anti-stealth technology, he could not perceive so much as a trace of the intruder's figure.
"Hold on! Let me at least try to track you down!"
Just as Borsalino's Stand was about to lower the hammer and reveal himself, Vegapunk eagerly dove onto his workbench, rummaging through a toolbox.
He even urged the invisible guest not to show himself just yet—he wanted to use his own methods to locate him.
Knowing full well how Vegapunk's mind worked, Borsalino simply crossed his arms and floated in midair, waiting patiently as the scientist indulged his research itch.
Light detectors, sonic scanners, gravitational meters…
Vegapunk pulled out one instrument after another—mere "gadgets" to him, but enough to make someone like Caesar break into a cold sweat—each designed to try and pinpoint Borsalino's double.
Every attempt failed. In the end, not wanting to admit defeat, Vegapunk even waved his hands through the air, grasping for any trace, but found nothing.
Against a Stand—a power born of will, free to choose whether or not to interact with reality—no number of material-based detection methods would work.
If Vegapunk truly wanted to find Borsalino's double, he would have been better off simulating higher-level, perhaps even ultimate forms of Observation Haki. Only then might he have glimpsed something.
"…Come out already. I can't find you!"
°°°
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