While Sabo and the others faced Caesar's ultimate judgment, Sweet Island also welcomed a few uninvited guests.
"Wonderful! My Germa Army has finally returned!"
At the harbor, Judge stood with extreme excitement, gazing at the familiar Germa warships on the sea.
Beside him stood his children—Reiju, Niji, and the others.
In front of Judge stood a tall, robust, and handsome young man with his arms crossed, his cold eyes fixed on the dozens of giant snail ships slowly approaching.
At the helm of the lead ship stood Vice Admiral Onigumo of the Marine Headquarters.
This hardline "hawk faction" vice admiral wore a sour expression, not even sparing Katakuri a glance.
As the fleet neared the port, he glanced at the large G-5 warship docked at the shore and coldly addressed Katakuri:
"Where's your captain? I need to see Barbarossa Caesar himself!"
Katakuri's gaze remained indifferent as he replied calmly, "A mere soldier isn't worthy of an audience with the emperor. If you wish to see my father, have Akainu come in person."
"Insolence!"
Onigumo roared, his face darkening with fury.
"Katakuri! You're nothing more than one of the former Sweet Commanders of the Big Mom Pirates. Don't delude yourself into thinking you're some kind of god of war! A mere officer of a Yonko dares to speak of Fleet Admiral Sakazuki like that?"
"Since you've delivered the goods, take your trash and leave. Before nightfall—the nights in the New World aren't safe."
Katakuri remained unmoved by his provocation, his demeanor making it clear he didn't regard Onigumo as a threat.
Onigumo gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing with malice, his chest heaving in anger.
After a moment, he snorted heavily and leaped into the air, using the Marine Six Powers' Moon Walk to land on the deck of the G-5 warship.
By now, the soldiers of the G-5 base had gone days without food. The ship had no provisions, and even fresh water was scarce.
Tashigi's lips were cracked, nearly bleeding.
She had heard Onigumo's voice earlier and mustered what little strength she had to salute him.
"Vice Admiral Onigumo, sir!"
"Hmph! A bunch of useless fools! If you know you're worthless, you should just die and spare the Marines the shame of being used as bargaining chips by pirates! I don't know how that idiot Smoker even trained you!"
Onigumo didn't even glance at Tashigi, snorting before waving his hand dismissively.
"Stop looking half-dead and get this ship moving! We're leaving!"
"You bastard! Just because you're a Marine HQ vice admiral doesn't make you hot shit! Why don't you go fight that damn bird bastard yourself?"
The G-5 soldiers were all roughnecks at heart and couldn't stand Onigumo's condescension, instantly exploding in anger.
"Yeah! Easy for you to talk when you weren't there! Do you even know how strong the enemy is? They blew up an island miles wide in one hit! I doubt even the Fleet Admiral could do that! You're just a vice admiral—you might not even beat our boss Smoker! Who the hell are you to act so high and mighty?"
The G-5 soldiers' mockery made Onigumo's face twitch, and he drew his sword with a sharp shing.
Seeing this, Tashigi quickly stepped forward, spreading her arms to block Onigumo as she turned and shouted at the G-5 soldiers.
"Shut up, all of you! Get to work and move the ship! Don't you want to see Vice Admiral Smoker as soon as possible?"
At Tashigi's words, the rowdy G-5 soldiers grumbled but finally got to work.
Then, Tashigi turned back to Onigumo with an apologetic expression.
"I'm sorry, Vice Admiral Onigumo! They're just… very blunt."
Onigumo's grip on his sword was so tight his knuckles turned white. With an angry snort, he sheathed his blade.
"Once I return to headquarters, I'll suggest to the Fleet Admiral that Smoker's rank of Vice Admiral be revoked. His recent performance has been utterly pathetic—defeated and injured by several pirate crews in succession. What a waste of such a precious Logia-type Devil Fruit ability!"
Tashigi's face flushed red and pale by turns as she gritted her teeth and retorted, "Not long ago, we captured the entire crew of the Supernova's 'Monk Pirates,' including their captain Urouge, who was apprehended by Vice Admiral Smoker himself!"
Onigumo curled his lips into a mocking smile.
"Urouge the Monk? Weren't you just picking up the scraps? From what I heard, the Monk Pirates ran into that 'Devil's Heir' and got beaten so badly their ship was nearly sunk."
Tashigi's face burned with humiliation, her chest tight with frustration.
Yet she couldn't deny the truth in Onigumo's words.
"I must work twice as hard, or I'll never catch up to that man," Tashigi silently vowed to herself.
...
Soon, the G-5 battleship set sail at considerable speed, as if fearing Katakuri might change his mind and launch a sudden attack.
The massive warship swiftly disappeared over the horizon beyond Sweet Island.
Only then did Katakuri turn to Judge and the others behind him.
"Judge, go inspect the ships. Check if any critical facilities like the laboratories are damaged and what needs replenishing. On Candy Island, Pica is leading a construction crew working through the night. I believe a new research base will be ready in a few days."
Judge nodded gratefully.
"Understood! We'll begin the inspection immediately!"
With that, he led Reiju and the others onto the war vessels, systematically checking each one.
"Brother Katakuri, is this the legendary Germa 66's war fleet? I've never seen so many giant snails before—the world truly holds endless wonders!" A clear, melodious voice suddenly rang out from a distance, causing Katakuri to pause and turn in surprise.
His eyebrows arched as he spotted a tall, curvaceous young woman approaching down the street.
She wore a sky-blue princess dress and had two short crimson horns protruding from her forehead—none other than Yamato.
She was supposed to have departed for Elbaf with Kaido and Linlin.
However, after having portions of her memories erased the previous night, she'd fallen into deep slumber and only just awakened.
Sanji and Pudding had already left with Kaido and Linlin's group.
Yamato's radiant smile enhanced her already striking beauty, making her appear even more delicate and enchanting.
The princess dress, butterfly hair accessories, and crescent-shaped earrings lent her an air of noble elegance, as if she were royalty.
Katakuri's expression turned peculiar.
He couldn't fathom why Yamato had suddenly shed her wild, untamed demeanor to become so... gentle—no, even somewhat fragile.
Had his father altered her memories?
Caesar hadn't yet informed him about erasing parts of Yamato's memories the previous night, leaving Katakuri with a surreal sense of dissonance at her transformation.
"Heh, indeed, Yamato. Don't underestimate these giant snails. Judge's Germa 66 relies on them to scale the Red Line directly, traversing between seas without needing to coat their ships or pass through Fish-Man Island."Katakuri allowed a slight smile to show, though his mouthful of sharp teeth gave him an unapproachable air.
....
Unbeknownst to him, while he and Yamato were chatting, four tall masked men aboard one of the Germa 66's snail ships silently rose and made their way outside.
"Confirmed. This island only has Katakuri and some small fry. Those troublesome individuals aren't in Totto Land. We can move—make it quick!"