Alabasta. West Coast. On Pain's ship.
Oden returned to the ship with the injured and unconscious Renoir. After clearing out the Marine fodder on and around the ship, Oden bandaged Renoir and sent him back to his room to rest. Oden walked out of the room and saw three figures approaching the ship in the distance.
The three figures leaped onto the ship in a few bounds. Upon closer inspection, it was Pain, accompanied by Preta Path and Human Path "Kalifa," returning to the ship. Pain's descent into the Human Path this time was intentional. The amount of information in this world was too vast; even with Renoir, who was like a walking encyclopedia, and Oden, who knew the world's secrets, Pain felt that the information he knew about this world was just a drop in the ocean.
The Human Path could extract enemy memories and absorb Souls, and it was immune to physical damage. If they encountered an enemy with Haki, the Human Path could also be sent to fight. Pain had a premonition that killing two World Government members this time was like poking a hornet's nest. The World Government would definitely give special attention to him and the Akatsuki organization next.
The level of future battles would only get higher and higher. Pain understood that with his current strength, facing someone like Oden would undoubtedly lead to defeat, as his current strength was less than one-third of his previous life. Improving his strength as quickly as possible was what Pain wanted to do most at the moment. But Pain was not afraid of strong opponents; he was only afraid of not being strong enough himself.
Pain's descent into the Human Path also had one most important intention: to form an iron triangle with his main body, Preta Path, and Human Path. For physical defense, there was Human Path's physical immunity. For energy-based attacks, there was Preta Path's Sealing Technique Absorption Seal. For offense, there was Pain's main body's Heavenly Dao ability.
The only drawback now was the amount of Chakra. Pain sent Human Path "Kalifa" to her room to change into the Akatsuki uniform, while he walked over and stood shoulder to shoulder with Oden.
"Pain... I admire your decisiveness and calmness... But by letting Kaku go this time, my identity has been completely exposed... The problems we will face next won't be easy," Oden said to Pain with rare seriousness.
"Ah... These are all within expectations... It's not a problem for the World Government to know your identity; at least the World Government cannot leak your information to other forces. If it's just pressure from the World Government, there's nothing to worry about..." Pain calmly analyzed and explained.
"Yes... Well, really... It seems I'm getting old... Always living in the fearful world of the past, I need to learn from you young people..."
"Heh hahaha..."
Hearing Pain's explanation, Oden also relaxed a lot, and couldn't help but sigh that his twenty years of wandering life had indeed made him prone to worrying unnecessarily.
"Oden... What level is your strength in this world?..." Pain asked slowly.
"My strength! How should I put it?... Heh hahaha... Hard to say, hard to say!" Oden habitually touched his unique hairstyle and laughed.
"If I'm fighting one-on-one... Well... There are only a few people who can make me feel powerless!... I'd say I'm upper-middle class in this world..." Oden said modestly.
Pain asked about Oden's strength to compare it with other strong individuals in this world. Oden's answer made Pain realize that there weren't many strong individuals like Oden. On the surface, at least, they could probably be counted on one's fingers.
Pain guessed that if the strong individuals in this world were to be ranked by strength, Oden's level should belong to the "Emperor" class, while a Marine Admiral should be "King" class, with a few reaching "Emperor" class.
"Pain... Actually, there are many old monsters in this world who haven't emerged... Many of these people either look down on fame and fortune and live in peace... Or they are talented but unrecognized and choose to live in seclusion for the rest of their lives... Or they hold high positions and converse with ease..."
"But not everyone is like that... Golden Lion Shiki is someone our organization can try to recruit... What do you think?..."
Oden said this to try and persuade Pain to recruit Shiki, which would avoid a mutually destructive outcome and prevent the Marine from profiting from their conflict.
"About Shiki... I understand... But Shiki's situation is different from yours... He only has two choices with me: death or submission... There's no such thing as cooperation..."
"Oh dear... You do as you see fit... I really can't do anything with you young people..."
"Heh hahaha..." Oden gave a hearty laugh.
"If we really have to fight, then let's fight. Life won't be boring from now on..."
"Should we go find Shiki now?..." Oden asked.
"No... Wait until Renoir wakes up and sails the ship to the East Coast, then transfer the Materials directly to Sky Island..." In Pain's view, no matter what choice Golden Lion made, Sky Island was a must-have.
Holy Land Mary Geoise
Four old men in neat black suits and one old man with glasses in a white robe sat around discussing the intelligence sent by Sakazuki.
One of the old men had completely white hair and a white swallowtail mustache. He looked around at everyone, seeing them deep in thought and silent, and was the first to speak, "This intelligence was obtained by Sakazuki through the sacrifice of two CP0 agents. Everyone is clear on the content. Now, regarding this matter, let's hear your opinions."
"Why didn't we know about this before, and why is the intelligence only arriving now?" the blond old man asked.
"Because it happened suddenly... Before, Sakazuki thought there would be no problem as long as CP0 took action..." The bald, bespectacled old man in the white robe replied.
The other two old men chose to remain silent. They looked at each other, verifying their guesses with their eyes. The Old Man with Swallowtail Mustache watched them exchange silent glances, knowing they must have guessed something from the intelligence, and asked, "Do you two know something?"
One of the old men, with a full head of white curly hair and wearing a hat, answered the Old Man with Swallowtail Mustache.
"Based on these intelligence details... I suspect this person with King's Haki is Kozuki Oden, who was confirmed dead..."
"What!?..."
"How is that possible!?..."
The bald old man in the white robe and the blond old man asked in surprise simultaneously.
"I also want to say it's impossible... But the facial image provided by Kaku and the photo of Kozuki Oden in the database, although more than twenty years apart, are still very similar... And Kaku mentioned that their organization's members call him Oden... Do you all think it's a coincidence?..."
The white-haired curly-haired old man continued to explain.
"If it really is Kozuki Oden... then relying solely on CP0 to carry out the mission would definitely not be enough..." The Old Man with Swallowtail Mustache said calmly, as if Kozuki Oden not being dead didn't surprise him much.
"Everyone, let's make a decision... If this person really is Kozuki Oden, then we must take it seriously!... We need to find him and apprehend him as soon as possible..."
"Then who should we send?... CP0 certainly can't bear this heavy responsibility... How about letting Sakazuki go?..."
"No, Sakazuki, as the Fleet Admiral, must remain at headquarters..."
"Then who is suitable?... After all, this Kozuki Oden possesses King's Haki, and twenty years ago, he even injured Emperor Kaido... His current strength is probably no weaker than an Emperor..."
"..."
The Gorosei discussed among themselves, but ultimately could not come up with a suitable plan.
"Everyone, quiet down... Since we can't make up our minds, let's inform Sakazuki and let him handle it... After all, he is the Fleet Admiral... We'll leave the matter to him, and we just need to be aware of the situation... What do you all think?..." Seeing that no one could come up with a suitable plan, the Old Man with Swallowtail Mustache interrupted their discussion.
"Alright..."
"I have no problem..."
"Okay..."
"At present, this is the only way..."
The Gorosei each expressed their attitudes and finally reached a consensus to proceed with the Old Man with Swallowtail Mustache's suggestion. In fact, this was a typical tactic of the Gorosei to pass the buck. The reason they debated for so long without a viable solution was that no one wanted their plan to be risky.
Success would be everyone's credit, but failure would invite simultaneous criticism from the other four, and if it reached the one above, then... Since someone suggested passing the buck to Sakazuki, everyone was certainly happy to agree.
This matter, which originally demanded the attention of all forces in the world, was thus left unresolved due to the Gorosei's individual calculations, and the responsibility was directly shifted onto Akainu's shoulders...
To be continued...