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The next morning, on the streets of Fish-Man Island, Baron Tamago and Pekoms were in the middle of a shopping trip. They were buying a variety of sweets to bring back as a gift for Big Mom.
Suddenly, before they could even react, the two were attacked. Several identical copies of Speed appeared in the sky, drawing their bows.
"Phantom: Burst Arrow!"
Countless arrows rained down, bombarding the two with explosions. The arrows were clearly explosive-tipped. Speed landed on the ground, and the phantoms created by her Teleport-Teleport Fruit disappeared, but the damage was very real. Her clones weren't just illusions.
Her equipment had also been significantly upgraded. The longbow in her hand was crafted from fresh Adam Wood branches from Elbaf—it was so tough that she couldn't fully draw it yet. Her arrows were special, manufactured by the Fuen Government Research Institute, with different types for armor-piercing, explosives, electromagnetism, smoke, and flash.
She also wore blue, bar-shaped goggles for reconnaissance and target locking, which were similar to a Pacifista's scanning system. In addition, she was equipped with many combat tools developed by Judge and his two companions. Even her clothes and shoes were made of shape-memory metal, which, while not a full combat suit, was still very useful. The woman looked heroic and refreshed.
"The poor rely on mutation, the rich rely on technology!"
The Hoenn Government's technology was developing rapidly, and it was only natural to put it to use. Speed's previous equipment was admittedly quite shabby.
"Damn it, who did that?"
Baron Tamago burst out of the smoke, covered in multiple injuries. Pekoms, who was behind him, was unharmed due to his Turtle-Turtle Fruit ability, which gave him a good defense. They both stared at Speed furiously. As fighters under Totto Land, they had almost forgotten what it felt like to be injured.
"You're… Speed of the Beasts Pirates!"
"And Jinbe!"
"What is the meaning of this?!"
Speed stood with her subordinates, and Jinbe stood beside her. He apologized, "I'm sorry, Baron Tamago, but I have joined the Beasts Pirates. Captain Daichi has ordered us to drive you out of Fish-Man Island!"
"This island now belongs to the Beasts!"
"What?!"
Baron Tamago's face darkened. He had just finished a promising conversation about cooperation with King Neptune, and now the Beasts wanted to seize Fish-Man Island! If they retreated now, what would happen to Big Mom's reputation?
"Pekoms!"
"Understood!"
Pirate conflicts must be resolved through battle!
Meanwhile, at Fish-Man Bay, Sanji knelt by the shore, crying loudly, "Waaahhh! I found it! This is All Blue!" He was staring at the mermaid ladies playing in the bay, his mind filled with excitement.
"So pathetic," Daichi said with disdain. "They're just mermaids. What's all the fuss about?"
Kikara ran up from a distance, holding a stack of newspapers. "Daichi-sama, the newspapers you wanted have been found."
"Good," Daichi replied, taking a newspaper with a smile. "Sanji!"
"What do you want?" Sanji asked warily. He needed to get back to Sabaody Archipelago to meet his crew, which was the only reason he had boarded the Groudon. His male intuition told him that Daichi was quite dangerous.
Daichi slapped the newspaper onto Sanji's face. "See for yourself."
"Luffy?" Sanji said, surprised.
The newspaper reported that Luffy had arrived at Marineford two days prior and had rung the Ox Bell. It seemed like he was mourning Ace, but Sanji knew that wasn't like Luffy. The "3D2Y" tattooed on his arm made Sanji realize what the message truly meant. The meeting time had changed from the agreed-upon three days to two years later!
"Luffy, it's good that you're okay," Sanji said, his heart finally settling. Since Luffy had sent them a message, it meant he had recovered from his brother's death.
"Alright, I've decided!" Sanji's eyes blazed with fire. "I'm going to settle here and go to Sabaody in two years!"
Thump!
A fist smashed onto Sanji's head, knocking him down. Daichi's fist was smoking, and he cursed with a vein throbbing on his forehead. "Can't your brain think of anything else? Do you think staying here will improve your strength?"
"Of course!" Sanji bounced up, blood gushing from his nostrils. "Beauty is the greatest motivation for a man to move forward!"
"This guy is hopeless," Daichi muttered, rubbing his forehead. He had wanted to bring Sanji back to his fortress to train him as a quartermaster. Sanji's cooking talent was excellent, and he had the potential to become a high-level combatant. Daichi was already looking down on the Tobiroppo, and he was only interested in people who could reach the level of the All Stars. Sanji had that potential.
Daichi knew that too much could change in two years, and given Straw Hat Luffy's recklessness, he would likely provoke him on his own. "He'd just kill him then," Daichi thought. "Once the Captain is gone, the Straw Hat Pirates will also fall apart. Alliances and relationships are two different things, and pirates make that distinction very clear."
Daichi looked at the lust-filled Sanji and said with a dark expression, "Come back with me. In just two years, your strength can increase by 100 times!"
"Heh!"
"Oh, and Amazon Lily is right next to my Hoenn Fortress!"
"Nani?!" Sanji's heart pounded. Amazon Lily, the legendary country of women. A golden, plus-version of All Blue!
"I heard Jinbe say that the Fish-Man race really wants to have friendly exchanges with humans," Daichi said, stroking his chin. "So, before we leave, let's tell Neptune that I plan to open a Fish-Man settlement near my fortress and bring some mermaid ladies to live there."
"I'll go with you!" Sanji's nostrils flared with smoke.
"Such an easy fool to deal with," Daichi chuckled, shaking his head. He then walked over to a nearby mermaid cafe and sat down, continuing to read the other news in the newspaper.
"New Seven Warlords of the Sea: 'Thousand-Face Buggy'!"
"Germa Kingdom stripped of its World Government affiliated nation status!"
"Sengoku and Garp retire to the sidelines!"
"Next Fleet Admiral, former Admiral Akainu Sakazuki!"
"World Government Grand Conscription!"
All of these were shocking world news.
"Akainu became Fleet Admiral?" Daichi looked at the newspaper, a bit bewildered. What was going on? The war had only ended half a month ago. How was Akainu confirmed as the successor so quickly? Where was Aokiji?
Did he manage to save his other leg?
The World Government Grand Conscription wasn't surprising. The Marines' war with him had caused their casualties to increase significantly. Many injured who could have survived had drowned, and nearly half of the one hundred thousand officers had probably perished. Conscription was inevitable.
But Akainu's ascension seemed too eager. "Wait, could it be that I forced it?" The more Daichi thought about it, the more he felt it was true.
Originally, the Marines had defeated Whitebeard. Although the losses were great, they were within acceptable limits. Blackbeard wasn't too big of a threat either; he was just a traditional pirate. But Daichi was clearly aiming for world domination, and his threat level to the World Government was immeasurably higher than that of the Four Emperors; even the Revolutionary Army couldn't catch up to him!
Whoosh!
A bounty poster slipped out of the newspaper. "Daichi the Disaster," with a bounty of 4,120,000,000 Berries!
"4.1 billion Berries!"
Daichi looked at his bounty poster with a wide smile. "Kikara, what was Red Hair's bounty again?"
"4,048,900,000 Berries!"
Daichi's bounty was higher than Red Hair's! Such a high bounty was previously only held by the Four Emperors, which meant the Marines were treating him as one.
"Jiehahaha!!!"