Garp stopped the pursuit.
The tomes inside the Tree of Knowledge are unique and priceless; they must not be destroyed. Row after row of books held the knowledge of every trade and craft across the world. Professor Clover looked at Sharn — he had no idea what this pirate intended.
"You can kill me, but do not destroy these books. They are humanity's treasure," Clover said.
Treasure of humanity? Then what of the final island, Laugh Tale?
"Do you want to see the future?"
Sharn cleared the kitchen in one sweep, eating with his usual greedy haste. A faint glimmer appeared between his brows as a meatball-shaped memory popped out of him — a memory-projection from the Meatball Fruit.
Garp did not appear. Sengoku did not appear. Yet outside, marines had limbocked the Tree of Knowledge. From the Navy's point of view, Sharn had taken Professor Clover and the archaeologists hostage. Inside, however, the atmosphere was oddly calm.
"That can't be true, can it?" Clover was sweating. He had seen the memory Sharn had shown — a vision of Ohara's destruction. The Five Elders would order Sengoku to execute the purge; Akainu and Aokiji would personally act. The supposedly indestructible Tree of Knowledge would burn.
Clover stood dazed — Sharn had shown him the memory and then withdrawn it, a sign the Meatball Fruit could project and retract memories. It also meant Sharn's Devil Fruit development had taken another step.
"Don't you trust the people outside who say they'll protect you — who will, in the end, kill you?" Sharn asked. "Ohara—if it's targeted like God Valley—will be razed too." He offered, "If you like, I can also remove that memory from your mind."
Sharn stacked a dozen sandwiches and ate them, downing grape juice in gulps. The food accelerated his recovery; he had stored energy for this. He ravaged the kitchen supplies — once, an animal-type could just eat for fullness; now, with the Devour-Devour Fruit, food becomes a reserve of HP.
"No," Clover said, face grave. If the ancient texts were decoded, would Ohara be destroyed? He had just translated a fragment of the Poneglyphs describing an advanced ancient civilization — far beyond present technology. Why did such a civilization vanish? The Five Elders were hiding something deadly; touching the truth meant death. "History must be decoded. If it is sealed forever, the truth will die with it." He grabbed Sharn abruptly. "Treat today as though it never happened. I will not stop deciphering. If the day comes, you must preserve the translations and documents."
Before Clover finished, Sharn nodded. "Understood. They're humanity's treasure."
Clover laughed with relief. "You trust me?" he asked.
Sharn glanced at the clock. Food done, now to wait. "Trust is proven by future steps," Clover said, and headed for the main gate. He called back to those inside, "Until next time!" — buying the pirates the time needed; that choice would later be crucial to saving Ohara.
Bang! As the gate opened, Bogard burst toward the back of the institute. Sharn had slipped out another way, sunlight spilling into the doorway and warming the blood-dusted pirate. Someone awaited him there — not Garp or Sengoku, but Dragon.
"Long time no see. Want to sail with me?" Dragon asked.
Sharn readied a meatball bounce, prepping the launch that would whisk him away. "If you're here, it means Professor Clover drew heat for you. I won't stop you rescuing those he wants saved," Dragon said, eyes meeting Sharn's.
"Then why — revisit old ties?" Sharn smiled wickedly. "I want to invite you to build a new force: neither pirate nor navy nor a hypocritical justice under the Celestial Dragons. A third path — justice that isn't under the Tenryuubito, freedom that isn't lawless; true balance between fairness and liberty."
Dragon wore a dark green robe over his uniform. His skin looked wan, but his gaze was unusually steady. "I'm no savior," he answered. "Your invitation means nothing to pirates. But I respect you, human Sharn. Build strength first, Dragon."
Sharn bounced himself — Dragon stayed still. The two had their first direct face-to-face since God Valley. Wind whipped Dragon's cloak; the pressure cannon followed. Even a brief meeting became an elemental clash: Nature (wind) versus Superhuman (meatball) power. Dragon hadn't expected Sharn to progress so fast; in a few days Sharn had mastered full-body Armament Haki and even adapted his black-dragon Zoan form to produce condensed air-shock waves — effectively neutralizing Dragon's storm advantage.
"Dragon — you can't stop me now," Sharn said. "I want to see what you would do."
Dragon felt conflicted. Once he'd been a young, impulsive idealist searching for justice; meeting Sharn had caused him to rethink. But now he was stuck in a navy he no longer wholly believed in. "Ask not the wind, but the world!" Sharn declared. He would not leave everything to chance.
Whoosh! Sharn vanished.
"Where'd that bastard go?" Garp and Sengoku arrived at top speed. "Ask the world," Sharn's words echoed. Dragon, like a gust, vanished. Garp fumed — Dragon had already decided to keep his options and build his own path; he would eventually break away.
Sharn's crew recovered from the bounce sequence and the meatball's recovery effect: compress → project pain/fatigue → recover; their hybrid physiology meant they needed no sleep and their recovery loop was fast. Meatball removes pain and fatigue, the Zoan grants recovery, Devour stores energy — together with the mutant trait, Sharn had become a catalyst of change. A butterfly wing now, a storm later — he had ignited the flame of civilization's future and set a human whirlwind in motion.
They pierced cloud layers and flew beyond the Western Heaven Summit. After a long ride, Sharn crashed into a bank of clouds. "Captain! We waited so long!" came a cheerful voice. "I caught a female pirate!" "Vice-captain's out cold, cadet too. Wolf fell into the forest below."
A cloud parted like a draped veil; Molly — smiling shyly — revealed herself. They were on a giant vine-covered cloud — maybe the base of a golden bell inscribed with historical texts: the Shandorian Bell. The woman Molly had captured was the archaeologist Olivia.
The Devil Fruit compass spun; a faint glow slid into Sharn's body as his choice completed. [Fishman traits + Mutant Exoskeleton] — the rewards landed.
Sharn had no time to gloat; his body began a new mutative progression.
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