A few days earlier. Inside Pangaea Castle, after watching Kuro and the others depart, Fleet Admiral Sengoku spoke to Admiral Zephyr with a heavy expression.
"The gate at Red Port that Kuro and the others will use is not the one leading to the West Blue. It is the one facing the New World," Sengoku revealed.
"Our orders are to attack the divided Silent Step main group and capture the officers, along with Nico Robin," Sengoku continued grimly.
"Ridiculous!! That is nothing but a cowardly ambush!! Do you think the marines will accept such a thing!!?" Zephyr shouted.
Even though this is the Holy Land—the home of the Celestial Dragons—Zephyr slams his fist into the wall hard enough to crack it.
After waiting for the tremor to settle, Sengoku continued. "The World Government apologized and paid a great price. They must settle this matter properly."
"And the one who made that possible was him!!" Zephyr retorted.
"I know that! But the truth is that he chose to leave the World Government!!" Sengoku insisted.
"He fought the Golden Lion for the sake of the Government! He risked his life countless times for the marines!!"
In the navy, ranks are absolute. Normally, an Admiral opposing the Fleet Admiral is unthinkable.
But Zephyr, the special Admiral, steps in with such force he could have strangled Sengoku.
"…Like I told you before, Zephyr. Kuro proved his value too much. That is why the Government fears him and is now taking drastic measures."
"If they keep doing this, the Celestial Dragons will return to treating even Government members like toys! Have you forgotten the state of the marines who came back!? Are you pretending the ones who never returned never existed!?" Zephyr demanded.
"That is why we must capture the Silent Step crew—by the hands of the navy, not the Government!"
When he hears "by the hands of the navy," Zephyr's anger pauses for a moment.
Sengoku uses that opening.
"The Government… or at least the Five Elders… understand Kuro's value. They want him stopped before he gains more influence. That is why the navy must get them first. Kuro, Nico Robin… especially—the guard girls…" Sengoku specified.
"…!"
The guard originally would have been sold as marine slaves.
In other words, they were people the Celestial Dragons tried to buy.
Now that they escaped and became pirates, it is not surprising the Celestial Dragons want them back.
"…So we cannot overturn the order to attack Silent Step?" Zephyr asked.
"That is correct."
"And the Celestial Dragons want them?" Zephyr pressed.
"…You heard it from Garp too. Someone held a secret auction for Silent Step behind the Government's back. We must move faster than the Celestial Dragons," Sengoku revealed.
"…So sending them out of the Holy Land was to keep them away from the Celestial Dragons," Zephyr realized.
"That is right."
Even so, Zephyr still cannot accept it.
He clenches his teeth so hard they might crack, but he stops himself from crossing the final line.
Not because he is an Admiral…
But because—
—I understand.
He remembers the words he exchanged with the pirate just before parting.
—No matter what happens on the sea ahead, I will protect Hina and take her safely to the West Blue.
And in return—
—I have something to ask of you…
A promise between men.
"Kuro… he expected this…?" Zephyr murmured.
"…It was one of the possibilities he mentioned before," Sengoku confirmed.
Now that he has calmed a little, Zephyr notices Sengoku's hands.
They are clenched so tightly, they are bleeding.
"He told me not to worry," Sengoku whispered.
"…!"
The face of the young girl he assigned to Kuro flashes in Zephyr's mind.
"Why did you allow Hina to go with him?" Zephyr demanded.
"..." Sengoku remained silent.
"You believed he would keep her safe, and if he broke through a blockade, she could become a bridge between him and the navy!?" Zephyr exclaimed, finally grasping the strategy.
"…Yes," Sengoku admitted softly.
"Sengoku!!" Zephyr shouted, finally losing control and grabbing Sengoku by the front of his uniform.
"What are we… what have we become…?" Zephyr asked desperately.
Attacking a superior officer is a serious crime.
Yet Sengoku says nothing. He simply looks into the eyes of the man many marines call "sensei."
"For what do we marines fight!!?" Zephyr pressed.
"…For the world's…" Sengoku began, looking down.
"For the order of the world… Zephyr," he finished, pulling himself free.
--
Inside a large office filled with expensive furniture, Spandine was sitting at his desk.
But he is not working. He is only drinking.
"Damn it… The higher-ups are insane… Things were better when Kuro was still around…" he slurred.
Several empty bottles lay on the floor. It was enough to make a normal person pass out, yet Spandine's face was only a little red.
"Damn… I can't get drunk at all. This is supposed to be good liquor…"
He grabs another bottle, drinks straight from it until it's empty, and tosses it onto the desk. Then Spandine reaches blindly for the next one.
"Don't hate me for this, Kuro… We are officers of the World Government…"
"And you're a pirate…!"
--
"To think that helping the Government so much only made them afraid of me… What was the point of everything I did…?"
Ah, right. I'm a pirate. For a pirate, this is normal, I guess.
Well, I've taken almost everything I wanted anyway.
The Government only moved like this because they fear me—and my crew.
Even though this is a huge surprise test for me and probably for Daz and the others, from the view of growing my influence, it's not actually bad.
More than anything, the fact that the navy attacked like this means their connection with the Government has returned—at least on the surface.
That means things probably won't get worse or chaotic all at once.
Not bad.
Yeah… Not bad.
If Daz and the others and I survive this test, that is.
"Hyah!"
I kick open the locked door and find a group of marines left tied up on the floor.
These are all marines who have had some contact with me… So whose idea was this?
If they really wanted to crush me, they would have sent Government-leaning marines.
So this must be…
Sengoku's doing. I still haven't finished decoding the message, but I need to organize things—
"Kuro!" Hina shouted, running in from the deck.
"A navy headquarters fleet is here!"
Yeah… I figured.
"How many?" I asked.
"Ten ships!!"
"They're going all in…" I muttered.
"What do we do!?"
"First, go free the marines."
Before preparing to fight, I need to know what the marines left here want to do.
Still—
I've thought about this over and over again… Neither the Government nor the navy has anything to gain from this. There is no benefit, no logic, no reason to attack me. Yet they still chose a surprise attack. That means the navy didn't want this.
Then the Government ordered it… But would the Five Elders do something this direct?
There's a lot I disagree with about them, and I'm certain our views will never match… but their plans always make sense in their own way. I can follow their thinking, even if I'm disgusted by what they do.
But the Five Elders I know wouldn't make such a blunt move.
Especially Saint Warcury—he would choose something far more sneaky.
Yeah, this almost confirms it…
I'm sure of it now.
There is someone above the Five Elders in the World Government… a true king of the Celestial Dragons.
Who that person is, and what they want… that can wait.
"The question is—what gave birth to this operation?"
If I can understand the reason—the logic behind this—I can build a counterplan after surviving.
But if the reason is something else—
"Ideology…? Or maybe—"
Or maybe… emotion?
If it's that, then this is really bad.
And if it comes from an eternal being—one that never changes—then there may be no clear way to solve it.
Well… what should I do now?
"…For now."
First, I need to check the situation.
I can't plan anything without knowing the sea around us or what supplies we have.
So first—
"I guess I should tie floaters to these guys and toss them into the sea," I decided, looking at the CP agents stuck in the walls all over the ship, unable to move.
There are older ones, people my age, even younger ones… Sorry, seriously.
They were fast, and Spandine probably saw them as trump cards.
But they are nowhere near the level of sparring with Mihawk and Rayleigh at the same time.
"Don't hate me for this, Spandine."
"After all—"
"I'm a pirate."
--
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