"Beelzebul, give me some face."
Borsalino hoped his little brother would consider their friendship and not make things too difficult for him. You called me 'Big Brother' so affectionately; will you give me this face, Beelzebul?
Seven drew the saber hanging from his waist.
"Reasonably speaking, I should give you and the Gorosei some face, but in my life, I hate it most when people call me a commoner."
Of the thousands of possible reasons, Seven chose only one.
He was grateful for Lord Saint Elaine's vigorous cooperation. Without it, Seven's next move would undoubtedly have been the proactive kidnapping of a Celestial Dragon.
But now, it was a forced counterattack.
The difference between the two might not be large, but the nature of the act was completely different.
Proactive kidnapping is a provocation against the World Government, while a forced counterattack is maintaining the dignity of an Emperor of the Sea. As a great pirate with a bounty of three billion, he, Beelzebul, needed to save face too.
However, in terms of speed, Seven was not yet fast enough to capture that pig Elaine right under Borsalino's nose. Therefore, he called in Mihawk for backup.
Seeing Mihawk descend from mid-air, Borsalino's face was full of helplessness.
"A flying Great Swordsman, how terrifying."
Regarding the fact that Mihawk had not eaten a Devil Fruit yet mastered the ability to fly, there were many speculations within the Marine. Some said it was lineage factors, others said it was a racial talent... to this day, no unified conclusion had been reached.
With two Great Swordsmen assembled, Borsalino could only hope that Vice Admiral Garp would arrive as soon as possible. Until then, he had to give it his all.
"Yasakani no Magatama."
Countless brilliant light bullets, as dense as a curtain of rain, covered the area ahead indiscriminately, seeking only to stall Beelzebul and Mihawk for a moment.
Seven flashed into mid-air and reached forward toward Lord Saint Elaine, who was protected behind family guards and CP Agentss.
The Teigu, Shereere: Water Dragon Possession, could control all liquids within a living being, including blood. It was perfect for dealing with a Celestial Dragon pig who didn't even have Armament Haki.
Just as Borsalino was about to go all out to stop the incoming enemies, he suddenly heard cries of alarm from behind him.
"Lord Saint Elaine, what's wrong with you?"
"Lord Saint Elaine!"
Borsalino turned around to see Lord Saint Elaine's face turning purple-red, as if all the blood in his body was rushing to his head. Blood was gushing from his nostrils, eye sockets, and mouth.
Clearly, he wouldn't survive for long.
At that moment, Seven's voice rang out.
"If you don't want him to die, hand him over quickly. You only have ten seconds to consider."
"Ten."
"Nine."
Witnessing such a bizarre scene, Borsalino sighed with a heavy expression. If they continued to fight, Beelzebul wouldn't be able to capture Lord Saint Elaine easily.
But Lord Saint Elaine would bleed to death, which was far more serious than a mission failure.
A mission failure would at most result in his salary being suspended, followed by a few scoldings from Sengoku: 'Borsalino, you bastard, did you go easy on them again?'
But if Lord Saint Elaine died, the impact would be massive. The entire Marine, including Fleet Admiral Sengoku, would be held accountable by the World Government.
Accountability was a minor matter; cutting the Marine's budget was what would be fatal. The World Government controlled the Marine's lifeblood through their funding.
Between mission failure and saving Lord Saint Elaine's life, Borsalino chose the latter.
"Fine." Borsalino raised his hands.
Beelzebul did not kill Lord Saint Elaine directly; he was clearly preparing to use him as a bargaining chip again to demand a ransom from the World Government.
What a greedy fellow.
With such fearlessness, Beelzebul, aren't you afraid of the World Government's retaliation afterward? Or are you certain the World Government will act the same as last time?
Seeing this, Seven walked swaggeringly up to Elaine, casually slicing the resisting guards and agents into eight pieces with two strokes of his blade, then turned back with a slight smile.
"Hurry up and notify the Gorosei, won't you?"
The news that Lord Saint Elaine had been kidnapped by Beelzebul at the Sabaody Archipelago spread as if it had wings, passing through the reports of Marineford and reaching Pangu City.
Holy Land Mary Geoise, Pangu City.
Inside the spacious and bright palace, the Gorosei struck their poses in sequence.
The Gorosei
Satan Saint rubbed his temples: "Just now, Lord Saint Elaine was kidnapped by Beelzebul again. We must eliminate Beelzebul and the Morning Star Pirates as soon as possible."
Saint V. Nusjuro took over the conversation.
"Is there some hidden motive behind this?"
The other three Gorosei exchanged glances, and finally, Saint নাস寿郎, who was cradling the shodai kitetsu, spoke.
"Ask him what he actually wants to do."
Saint V. Nusjuro pulled out a den den mushi, and the moment it connected, he roared sternly.
"Beelzebul, what on earth do you want!"
The den den mushi blinked its eyes helplessly.
"I'm sorry to contact you all this way again. Borsalino is right here; why don't you ask him?"
Before long, a familiar voice rang out.
"It went like this... aba aba... and then, Lord Saint Elaine ordered me to kill Beelzebul..."
Satan Saint snatched the conversation and roared.
"He ordered it, so you just executed it?"
The den den mushi spoke with a tone of grievance.
"Lord Saint Elaine insisted I kill Beelzebul. I can't disobey an order from a Celestial Dragon. And before I even had a chance to act... Mihawk arrived."
"Furthermore, Beelzebul seems to have mastered an extremely bizarre method of attack..."
The tone of the den den mushi changed again.
"Hey, Admiral, don't say such things in front of me."
After a pause, the den den mushi said eerily.
"Lord Gorosei, a small pirate like me just wants to ride the wind and waves with my partners and have adventures on the sea."
"Our Morning Star Pirates haven't attacked the Holy Land Mary Geoise, haven't trespassed into the Room of Flowers, and haven't resisted the World Government. Have I kidnapped any other Celestial Dragons?"
"I haven't."
"An honest and law-abiding pirate like me has been targeted by Lord Saint Elaine time and again, to the point of deploying an Admiral to kill me."
"Isn't this just bullying an honest man!"
Seeing Beelzebul's talk becoming more and more outrageous, even to the point of potentially revealing a certain 'Lord', Satan Saint hurriedly interrupted.
"Beelzebul, state your conditions."
The den den mushi smiled slightly.
"Lord Gorosei, you are a straightforward person."
"I'm not greedy. Let's start with three Devil Fruits, but whatever you do, don't try to fool me with trash Devil Fruits like last time."
"When I get angry, I even scare myself."
"The Morning Star Pirates are preparing to head to the New World; consider these as your sponsorship for an ally."
"Second, bring over the giants Oimo and Kashi, who guard the gates for the World Government. Also, I quite like Lord Saint Elaine's yacht; I'll be taking that as well."
"Those are my only requests."
"We're all friends, after all. If there's anything inconvenient for you to do in the future, just pay a small fee, and I'll be more than happy to help."
Satan Saint was silent for a long while before squeezing out a sentence.
"Deal. Tell Borsalino to make a couple of trips."
"As it should be."
At the Sabaody Archipelago, in front of the Slave Auction House.
Hanging up the den den mushi, Seven looked at Borsalino beside him: "Admiral Borsalino, you heard the Gorosei's words. Could I trouble you to make a couple of trips?"
Borsalino's face slumped into a wretched expression.
"Beelzebul, it's truly just like you."
Extorting the World Government twice, and the Gorosei actually agreed. It was truly astonishing; it seemed that for many years, no pirate had ever achieved such a thing.
Although the matter was a bit strange, Borsalino felt that the best plan for now was to hurry to the Holy Land Mary Geoise to get the ransom and redeem Lord Saint Elaine.
At that time, they would see what choice the World Government would make.
Watching Borsalino turn into light and disappear, Seven picked up the bloody pass and looked at Mihawk.
"Mihawk, let's go wait at the shipyard."
During the flight, Mihawk hesitated several times before asking softly, "Are you really planning to cooperate with the Gorosei?"
"Why not?" Seven said with a smile.
"Before we completely fall out, we can certainly do some win-win things. The World Government is so wealthy; it would be a waste not to make money from them."
"Win-win?" Mihawk raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, as in we win twice."
Mihawk kept reflecting on those words until they reached the shipyard, and only then did he understand what 'we win twice' meant.
As expected of you, Captain... The gates of Impel Down.
The gates of Impel Down
Watching Marine Hero Vice Admiral Garp lead the Marine fleet away, Shiliew stood atop the city gate, a mad smile playing on his lips.
Just now, while accompanying Vice Admiral Garp in escorting prisoners, Shiliew had overheard—
Captain Beelzebul had kidnapped a Celestial Dragon at the Sabaody Archipelago and was demanding a ransom from the World Government. The World Government had specifically ordered the Marine to execute a Buster Call to wipe out the Morning Star Pirates after successfully rescuing the Celestial Dragon.
The Marine fleet executing the Buster Call this time would have at least the combat power of two Admirals, Borsalino and Garp. Akainu, who was still at Marineford, would very likely be deployed as well.
"The dream-like certificate of loyalty is here."
So crazy, yet so captivating.
Shiliew turned and returned to his quarters. After a simple cleanup, with the saber thunderstorm at his waist and a bag on his back, he walked toward a dedicated Impel Down warship.
A passing jailer greeted him: "Sir, are you going on vacation?"
Shiliew bit his cigar and smiled slightly.
"Yes, I'm on vacation."