Half an hour later, Louis stood alone on the bloodstained deck of the warship, holding the lifeless body of the Rear Admiral in his arms, lost in thought.
"Is this really the East Blue?"
The corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
He recalled the overwhelming presence he had sensed within the storm earlier. His expression stiffened.
"So the Haki in that storm… was that Garp?"
In his understanding, there was only one figure who frequently appeared in the East Blue with that level of power. Aside from Vice Admiral Garp, few others of such strength wandered these waters.
More importantly, something about the Marines' movements felt wrong. A Rear Admiral should not normally be deployed here in the East Blue.
"What exactly happened here recently? Why are so many warships sailing in the same direction?"
After leaving the sinking vessel behind, Louis resumed his course. Along the way, he encountered several more warships, each commanded by officers of similar rank.
The pattern unsettled him.
Had the Fleet Admiral lost his mind, deploying so many Rear Admirals to the weakest sea?
"Is it a Buster Call?"
Louis casually tossed the dead Rear Admiral's body into the ocean, but soon shook his head.
The ships he had seen were standard Rear Admiral-class vessels. None bore the scale or configuration associated with Vice Admiral command, let alone the overwhelming presence of a full Buster Call fleet.
After exhausting his thoughts without resolution, Louis flicked the blood from his spear and turned toward the nearby island where the ship had been headed.
As he walked, a faint golden radiance began to emanate from his body. Bathed in that mysterious light, he appeared almost angelic.
Particles of light drifted outward like fireflies in the night sky, settling onto the battered warship beneath his feet.
Then it happened.
A subtle glow rippled across the hull.
The warship shuddered.
For a brief moment, it displayed the signs of life.
This was one of the abilities granted to Louis by the Paramecia-type Life-Life Fruit he had obtained on the Sky Island.
Beyond healing external injuries without side effects, it allowed him to temporarily bestow life upon inanimate objects.
Unless destroyed or unless Louis withdrew the vitality himself, they would continue to function.
He had experimented further, even attempting to infuse life into bacteria and viruses within the human body. The results had been… unpleasant. Effective for torment, perhaps, but of limited strategic value.
Naturally, he could also strip life from other living beings.
Unlike Charlotte Linlin's ability, the life Louis granted did not come with consciousness. These creations possessed no independent thought, only obedience and instinct.
However, Louis suspected that once he awakened his Devil Fruit fully, he might truly create life in the purest sense.
Beings with emotion, lifespan, the capacity to reproduce and survive as a species.
Once he entered the ship, the revived warship responded automatically. The sails adjusted. The vessel turned and began moving in the direction Louis intended.
Inside the Rear Admiral's office, Louis leaned back against a half-destroyed chair. He closed his eyes, allowing his body to recover from the strain of sustained supersonic flight.
Moments later, his eyes snapped open.
He sat upright abruptly.
"A human hunt."
The realization struck him.
If so many warships were converging on the same destination, there was a strong possibility they were cooperating with the Celestial Dragons in sealing off an island for a hunting event.
Louis's expression became unreadable.
If his guess was correct, should he contact Arkulton on the Sky Island and the old muscle-bound elder deep within the Calm Belt through a relay Den-Den Mushi, and let the Celestial Dragons learn a lesson?
Participating in such an event carried extreme risk. But if successful, the rewards would be immense.
They could eliminate participating Celestial Dragons and avenge fallen kin.
They could seize rare Devil Fruits coveted by the nobles.
In the era before their suppression, just years before the World Government, the Marines, and CP forces surrounded and attacked them, a powerful woman had emerged from Louis's tribe. She intercepted a Devil Fruit the Celestial Dragons had coveted.
With that fruit alone, she rescued many of their people and relocated them to two refuges: the Calm Belt and the Sky Island.
Louis remembered her clearly.
A few years ago, the elderly woman had placed high hopes upon him and told him the story of her battles.
One year ago, she passed away peacefully.
Louis and several tribe members secretly buried her beneath a cliff near the Red Line.
Before her death, she sensed that Louis did not wish to remain on the Sky Island. She instructed him to retrieve the Devil Fruit she had once consumed after her passing.
She described it as a dual-type Devil Fruit, one that could change the course of war even in the hands of someone not overwhelmingly powerful.
Returning to the present, Louis began searching through the Rear Admiral's office for clues.
Minutes later, he found something.
A letter containing official orders.
Once stripped of its bureaucratic phrasing, the contents were simple:
Proceed to the Kingdom of Jacob. Cooperate with Vice Admiral Gummir. Escort an individual of Oni lineage to Mary Geoise.
Louis fell silent.
After a long moment, he set the letter down.
He dismissed the idea of calling for reinforcements.
Instead, he quietly increased the warship's speed to its limit and drifted into sleep.
…
Several hours later, the Den-Den Mushi on the desk began ringing suddenly, startling him awake.
A sharp glint flashed in Louis's eyes. Without hesitation, he grabbed the snail and threw it out of the room before closing his eyes again.
Hours later, he rose slowly, stretched, and yawned. Grabbing his weapon, he stepped outside.
After restoring his strength in the warship's mess hall, Louis unfurled his wings once more. Flames ignited behind him in midair, and with a thunderous roar, he shot into the sky.
At the same time, the animated figure he had left inside the ship entered the ammunition hold and triggered the explosives strapped to its body.
Boom.
The magazine detonated.
Flames soared skyward as the entire warship was torn apart. The shockwave traveled across several nautical miles with the sea wind.
…
Inside a large Vice Admiral-class warship, a Marine officer saluted a middle-aged man standing with arms crossed.
"Vice Admiral, report. The three warships ordered to the Kingdom of Jacob have lost contact. It is presumed they have been destroyed."
The aging Vice Admiral, dressed in a red suit with a receding hairline, frowned deeply.
Silence lingered.
At last, he spoke.
"Send a telegram to Headquarters. Inform them that forces beyond the Marines appear to be involved. Three Rear Admiral-class warships are missing."
"Yes, sir."
The signal officer bowed respectfully.
The Vice Admiral left the communications room and turned to his waiting adjutant.
"Increase speed. Inform all crew. We must secure the target before the other factions arrive."
"Yes, sir."
The adjutant, a gentle-faced man with short black hair named Dorr, nodded and departed, his Justice coat billowing behind him.