The sun rose as usual, shining down on the Red Line.
Saint Rosward had woken up early, planning to take his family to the Sabaody Archipelago for an inspection, and, while there, pick up a few new slaves at the auction.
He hurried with quick steps toward the family treasury, intending to fetch his favorite golden gun.
But when he opened the final gate, the sight before him left him stunned.
The vault that had been filled to the brim with treasures just yesterday was now completely empty overnight. Even if rats had come, they would've left behind a few tears.
Rosward immediately called in the guards. Pointing at the barren vault, he roared, "What the hell is going on here? Where are my precious treasures?!"
The guards, seeing the empty treasury, were dumbfounded. Trembling, they dared not say a single word.
Just then, the Den Den Mushi in his pocket rang.
"Hello, Saint Charlos? What's so urgent this early? …What?! Your family's vault was robbed too?! Even Saint Jalmack's treasures are gone? …Fine, fine, I'll be right there!"
Stuffing the Den Den Mushi back into his coat, Rosward turned to the pale-faced guards and said coldly, "I'll report this to the World Government. You're dismissed for now."
Even if he wanted to execute every single one of his elite guards, protocol dictated he report to the Five Elders first. Too troublesome. He couldn't be bothered for now.
Besides, the whole thing was far too strange. This was clearly a premeditated, well-organized heist, the likes of which hadn't happened in over 800 years, an absolute humiliation.
Rosward had already decided: together with the other families, he would pressure the World Government to find the culprits and recover their accumulated wealth.
Before long, the Five Elders themselves learned of the mass robbery of the Celestial Dragons' treasuries.
But even before they could act, the heads of all the Celestial Dragon families had gathered.
"This is utterly outrageous! You owe us an explanation! How could filthy peasants from the seas break into Mary Geoise so brazenly?
Don't tell me the World Government itself had a hand in this?!"
Rosward, already furious at the Five Elders' failure, now felt both humiliated and terrified.
If thieves could empty his vault under his very nose, what stopped them from one day cutting off his head just as quietly?
The other Celestial Dragon patriarchs, emboldened by his words, began shouting their own accusations at the Five Elders. Some even seemed ready to lash out physically.
The Five Elders sat in silence for a while before one of them finally said, "We will conduct a thorough investigation. Such a vast fortune cannot simply vanish overnight.
Every ship that passed through the Grand Line in the past month will be scrutinized. We ask for your patience. The World Government always safeguards your interests."
Rosward felt a small measure of relief at their assurance, though he quickly added, "You must also strengthen the defenses of Mary Geoise.
I don't want to wake up in the middle of the night and find a thief standing beside my bed!"
"Of course. We'll see to it immediately."
"Good. And since our vaults have been stripped bare, you must replenish them. I don't care who the thief is, I only want my treasures safe and sound!"
Rosward expected the Five Elders to ease their predicament somehow. After all, he was now penniless, was he supposed to go into debt at the auction?
"Rest assured," the Elders replied. "We'll urgently gather the Heavenly Tribute from the four seas."
The solution was already clear in their minds.
Rosward was naturally satisfied, and the other patriarchs all sighed in relief as well.
The Five Elders then declared the incident the most serious crime in history and immediately notified the Marines, while deploying the Cipher Pol organizations to scour the seas.
From now on, any suspicious individuals would be purged.
At Marine Headquarters, Marineford, Fleet Admiral Sengoku arrived as usual to handle paperwork.
But before long, he received a direct call from the Five Elders and learned of the audacious theft in the Holy Land.
"Summon every officer of vice admiral rank and above to my office, immediately!"
The order went out at once.
Soon, everyone was present except for Garp, who was still in the East Blue.
Kizaru, as usual, looked sluggish and bored. Aokiji yawned as though he'd just rolled out of bed. Only Akainu's stern, disciplined presence satisfied Sengoku.
"What happened?" asked Tsuru, arms crossed, puzzled at the sudden urgency.
Sengoku let out a heavy sigh. "A catastrophe. The treasuries of all the Celestial Dragon families have been raided. Their treasures vanished overnight, every last piece."
"Hmm?! Who could pull off something like that? Don't tell me this isn't just a farce staged by the Dragons themselves?"
Tsuru curled her lip, clearly skeptical of Sengoku's report.
"No. The Five Elders are furious. There's no way they'd allow the Celestial Dragons to orchestrate such a stunt."
"And what exactly do you expect us to do? This isn't the work of one or two people. That was centuries' worth of treasure, literal mountains of it! Without inside help, it would be impossible.
Those vaults were reinforced with seastone, no Devil Fruit user could possibly use their abilities inside!"
Tsuru's disdain was plain; she had no love for the Celestial Dragons.
Sengoku turned to the three admirals.
"This will fall on your shoulders. The Five Elders demand that every ship that passed through the Grand Line in the past month be searched, every last one."
"What?! Every single ship? Are you kidding me? Or did I not wake up properly?"
Kizaru was the first to complain, clearly unwilling to take on such a troublesome task.
But Sengoku repeated firmly, "We have no choice. We must go all out. Cipher Pol agents are already sweeping the seas, and we cannot stand idle.
This crime is a direct challenge to the Navy's justice!"
"Fine, fine. I'll go. So scary, huh…"
Kizaru waved lazily, but gave his assent.
"Guess I'd better get ready too. This'll be a massive project," Aokiji muttered with another yawn before dragging himself out of the room.
Akainu, silent the whole time, left at once with his subordinates as soon as Sengoku finished assigning tasks.
"Those three are all such headaches," Sengoku grumbled.
"And Garp, of all times, he's off wandering the East Blue. I called him, and the idiot threw his Den Den Mushi straight into the sea. That old fool will be the death of me!"
He took off his glasses, polishing them as he vented his frustration to Tsuru.
"I'll head out too," Tsuru said calmly, standing by the window and gazing toward the distant harbor. "I suspect this might be Doflamingo's doing. Gion will come with me."
"Very well. Doflamingo is extremely dangerous, and he does have the means.
Whoever's behind this, we must act. If those treasures aren't recovered, the burden will ultimately fall on the ordinary people of the seas."
At those words, Tsuru narrowed her eyes, then left without another word.
Sengoku knew she held nothing but disdain for the Celestial Dragons and had no desire to serve them. Everything she did came from her own sense of justice.
But reality was what it was. Even Sengoku had no choice but to obey the Five Elders, serving those swine-like Celestial Dragons.
That was the world's system: individual strength was simply too insignificant.
---------------
Guys do leave some power stones and reviews.
🤞pa treon . com / plotplanner🤞
Remove all the spaces in between and then search.
If you guys enjoy this story, you can support me on Patreon and get access to 30 Advance Chapters, it really helps me to work on new chapters.