"Did you hand it over?"
Marine Headquarters. Inside Vice Admiral Garp's room, the Marine hero—bandages all over his body—was munching on donuts when Sengoku walked in.
Garp spoke while reading the newspaper. Sengoku nodded and said, "Yeah. Judging from that shard alone, the Shikon Jewel probably really can grant wishes."
During the battle at God Valley, Garp grabbed a piece of the shattered Shikon Jewel. But unlike pirates, they were an organized force with strict rules, so keeping something like that was out of the question.
Besides, Garp wasn't the type to care about such things. He handed it over without a second thought. It was first given to Fleet Admiral Kong, who then ordered Admiral Sengoku to personally escort it to the Five Elders at Mary Geoise. Now that Sengoku was back, it meant the shard had reached them safely.
"Even if it really can grant wishes, in its current state, even the World Government would find collecting all the shards impossible."
Garp didn't care much. Most shards were scattered who knows where, and anyone who could get them now would surely be a powerhouse of the seas. Especially the World Government, Roger, Whitebeard, and Shiki—if they kept collecting shards, anyone who wanted the full Shikon Jewel would have to steal from them. If you're strong enough to do that, what wish can't you fulfill on your own?
"That's true." Sengoku sat down beside him, speaking in a serious tone. "But that's not why I came here. I came because of you."
"Me?" Garp put down the newspaper, his big eyes staring at Sengoku before he burst out laughing. "What are you talking about? What's there to worry about with me?"
"I'm not worried about you," Sengoku said bluntly. "I want to ask about the Nine-Tailed Fox's power inside you. Is it fading?"
"Oh, that…" Garp nodded. "Yeah, it is. I ate the Nine-Tails' flesh, and that power got absorbed by my body, which gave me that strength. But to put it simply, its effect is about the same as the Shikon Jewel shard."
Sengoku had already known Garp could enter a Nine-Tails state, but neither of them reported this power to higher-ups. Garp didn't care, and Sengoku didn't want to send his old comrade to a lab when nothing seemed wrong.
It was an unspoken agreement between the two. But during the battle at God Valley, Sengoku noticed the Nine-Tails' power in Garp weakening, so he came to check. If that power could disappear completely, that would be best.
Garp might be weaker without it, but that was better than him turning into the Nine-Tails. Sengoku would rather have Garp weaker than risk that happening.
"It'll fade away eventually." Garp said softly. "You and I both know the Nine-Tails' power comes from hatred. When the grudges fade, its power will vanish."
He didn't care if the Nine-Tails' power left him. If anything, that would mean he no longer bore those grudges.
"But as long as the darkness in places like Sabaody Archipelago remains, those grudges will never end. Sooner or later, the Nine-Tails will return." Sengoku now understood these so-called demons better—they draw their strength from negative emotions. As long as darkness exists in this world, they will never disappear.
They killed the Nine-Tails before, but a new cycle of hatred gave birth to another one, which appeared again at Mary Geoise. It was much weaker than before, but it was still the Nine-Tails' power.
It was alive—just weaker for now. But that weakness wouldn't last. One day, it would take shape again as a massive vessel of hatred, ready to spew its poison and destroy everything.
"The so-called 'Invisible Empire'… it's talking about them. They've always been here with us. They live inside us—in the negative feelings everyone carries. They're always by our side, but we can't see them. That's why it's called the 'Invisible' Empire. Isn't that mocking us?"
"This world has been at peace for nearly eight hundred years. Will it reach its turning point in our era?" Garp laughed. He looked at Sengoku, and like Roger, they both knew this world was heading toward a brand-new age.
Whether it's demons or the Shikon Jewel, these were things unheard of for hundreds of years, and now they're showing up one after another. Maybe that means a new age is coming with them.
"Whether it leads to light or darkness, we're the ones who'll witness this history." Sengoku's cloak bore the word "Justice" on the back, but whenever he thought about the Nine-Tails, those two characters felt painfully ironic.
He stood up and walked out the door, disappearing from Garp's sight before long.
Garp munched on his donuts, picked the newspaper back up, and looked at the shifting map of power across the New World. After Rocks' fall, the sea was being reshaped by the rise of other great pirates.
......
"This fragment does carry a strange power."
At the same time, inside the great council hall of Pangaea Castle in Mary Geoise, the Five Elders gathered together, examining the fragment of the Shikon Jewel that Sengoku had sent to them.
"Something like this must be kept firmly in the hands of the World Government."
"Mobilize both the Marines and CP, and all allied nations within reach. The more fragments of the Shikon Jewel we gather, the greater the benefit to us."
"We could even let these fragments take the place of some of the Celestial Tribute."
"Not a bad idea."
"Should we report this to Lord Im?" one of the long-legged Elders suddenly spoke, and the room fell silent.
Would that true ruler of the world, Im, already know something about the Shikon Jewel fragments?
The Elders might be the highest visible authority of the World Government, but in truth, they were only a front for that one master.
"Lord Imu must already know what has been happening. Until an order comes down, we only need to carry out what we should."
"Then… we'll move as planned. First, gather as many fragments of the Shikon Jewel as possible."
And so, with the five of them in agreement, the next step for the World Government was decided. Through these repeated incidents, they had caught a whiff of something unusual. In the past, no matter how powerful a pirate appeared, their strength and abilities were always within the Five Elders' control. But now…
The world was becoming strange to them. And that was not good news.
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