"What…?"
The words left Vinsmoke Judge in a hoarse whisper. His hand clutched the Den Den Mushi, his knuckles pale.
"You said… the Heavenly Gold was robbed?"
His voice cracked, disbelieving, desperate. "Impossible!"
The color drained from his face as Stussy's cold report rang in his ears.
For months—no, for years—he had schemed for this day. Every experiment, every raid, every coin squeezed from the Germa Kingdom had been for one goal, legitimacy. He had raised the Heavenly Gold at a crushing price, even bartering away future expansion, sacrificing nearly everything Germa had.
He had relied on Stussy's connections, curried favor, pulled every string.
At last, his efforts bore fruit. The World Government had nodded. The Celestial Dragons had nodded. Germa 66 had finally stepped into the sunlight as a recognized member state.
And now—
The Heavenly Gold was gone.
Stolen.
The very foundation of that recognition had vanished overnight, turning all his sacrifices into dust.
His head spun.
"Who… who would dare?"
A shadow loomed in his thoughts.
"Could it be… Rosen?" Judge muttered under his breath. The suspicion stabbed at him, but just as quickly, he shook it away.
"No. Impossible."
For Rosen, the rising star of the Navy, to rob the Celestial Dragons' tribute—it was unthinkable. Such an act would brand him an enemy of the very World Government he served. It would destroy his future, no matter how invincible he was now. Why risk everything… just to bring down Germa?
The idea collapsed beneath its own weight.
But if not Rosen—then who?
Judge's teeth ground together.
"Damn you, Joker!" His roar echoed against Germa's steel walls. "It's all because of you! You set the precedent—plundering tribute meant for the Celestial Dragons! You showed the world it could be done! And now every filthy pirate imitates you!"
His chest heaved. "My Heavenly Gold… my money!"
It was a wretched cry, part fury, part grief.
Germa was not yet the iron empire it dreamed of becoming. Not yet the mercenary legion that would one day send nations trembling.
At this time, Judge's army was confined to the North Sea, harried and suppressed by Doflamingo until Germa was on the brink of retreat.
That Heavenly Gold had been everything. The culmination of years of plunder and sacrifice. He had liquidated centuries of wealth, stripped his kingdom to the bone, and bled it dry to scrape together the tribute.
And now it is gone.
The foundation beneath his feet was crumbling.
…
A laugh rumbled through the square.
"The king of a member state of the World Government?" Douglas Bullet tilted his head, his grin vicious.
"Not anymore."
His voice cut Judge like a blade. Every flicker of despair on the king's face was reflected in Bullet's eyes like a cruel spectacle.
He was certain now—this was no coincidence. Rosen's hand was behind it. Too perfect, too precise. Even the robbery itself smelled of Rosen's control.
Who else but Rosen would time such a strike to tear away Judge's last shield?
And if not Rosen, then surely one of his hounds—perhaps even the infamous Doflamingo, who had experience in robbing the Heavenly Gold and the ruthlessness to do it again.
Judge's body trembled. His voice cracked as he shouted into the Den Den Mushi:
"I—I can pay again! Another shipment of Heavenly Gold! I'll gather it, I swear!"
His words spilled out in panic.
But Stussy's reply was colder than ice. "Do you even have the money?"
The silence that followed said more than words.
Judge's throat worked. The answer was on the tip of his tongue, but the truth crushed it before it could leave.
One tribute had already emptied Germa. To raise another would mean bankruptcy.
Collapse.
No army, no experiments, not even food for his clone soldiers. They were flesh and blood, after all, not machines. Even loyalty could not stave off starvation.
And if the army withered, Germa would wither with it.
Stussy sighed softly. "I thought so."
Her voice sharpened, final as a guillotine. "Then the Germa Kingdom's application for membership is rejected."
The line cut with a sharp snap.
Judge froze. The silence that followed was deafening. The Den Den Mushi drooped in his hand, lifeless. His body trembled, the last vestiges of color draining from his face.
For Stussy, there was nothing left to say. Her loyalty belonged not to him, but to Cipher Pol and the World Government. And now, with Rosen rising like a storm in the North, even CP0 would bow its head.
The era of Germa's ambition was over. The North Sea had only one voice now—the voice of Rosen.
…
Bullet stepped forward, his shadow swallowing Judge where he stood.
"It's time to move, Vinsmoke Judge."
His words were simple, inevitable.
Judge's head jerked up. His despair twisted into something sharp and savage. Anger, hatred, pride—emotions warred across his face before hardening into a single expression: ferocity.
"FIRE!"
The king's roar split the air.
In an instant, the clone army obeyed. Their rifles flared, muzzles spitting fire as a storm of bullets tore toward Bullet in a blinding wave. Gatling guns roared, artillery thundered, explosives shrieked through the air.
The sky itself seemed to darken under the torrent of metal and fire.
But Bullet did not move.
He stood firm, grinning wide, as his body darkened under a sheen of Armament Haki.
The bullets struck.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
Sparks danced as if the man himself were forged of steel. Not one round pierced his flesh.
Explosions bloomed all around him, flames swallowing his massive frame, smoke billowing in thick black waves. Shrapnel and shockwaves ripped through the courtyard, the earth itself trembling under the barrage.
For a moment, the world was on fire.
But when the guns fell silent, and the soldiers reloaded—
The smoke cleared.
And Douglas Bullet stood unscathed, towering amidst the flames like a war god descended.
Judge's breath caught in his throat. One word slipped past his lips, raw and unbidden:
"Devil…"
The truth crashed over him. He was not fighting a man. He was facing a monster that Germa's science could never hope to match.
Bullet shook the ash from his shoulders, eyes cold.
"So this is Germa 66's famed technology?" His lip curled in disdain. "Pathetic."
His gaze swept across the trembling ranks of clones. "I had expectations for you. The Admiral told me you'd be useful. But your weapons, your toys…" He snorted, disappointment etched in every syllable. "They aren't even as good as what I've made myself."
The courtyard fell silent under the weight of his contempt.
For Vinsmoke Judge, the proud king who dreamed of ruling the seas, it was the final humiliation.