A few days later, aboard Sakazuki's warship.
Carlo walked over with a report in hand. "Vice Admiral, the latest intel just came in."
Sakazuki casually blocked one of Bullet's strikes, then slammed him to the floor with a quick throw.
"Oh?" he said. "What's the situation?"
Glancing at the two sparring men, Carlo read from the report.
"Knox really took a beating this time. He was attacked by an enraged Big Mom and the Golden Lion, and a lot of his territory was gone. But those two are just too powerful. The whole thing shook the rest of the seas.
"No one knows what kind of deal Knox struck with the other pirates, but a bunch of new-generation pirates stepped in to help him. In the end, he gave up a massive amount of treasure to calm things down. That's the only reason the New World isn't still burning.
"Now, only two-thirds of his original territory remains. The rest, mostly islands near the borders with the other two powers, have been destroyed. Many of Knox's underground operations like shipping and weapons were also split up and handed over to the new-gen pirates.
"It's become a buffer zone between the factions. The old three-way balance in the New World is broken now. The new generation took the chance to band together and seize the center. There's going to be plenty of trouble in the future, but from our point of view, it's a perfect result."
Sakazuki raised a hand to stop Bullet's next move.
"Not bad. Keep building your Haki," he spoke, then turned to Carlo.
"Chaos is good. Pirates in chaos are easier to control. There won't be any major issues for now. All eyes are on the Roger Pirates anyway. They have made their goal pretty clear. The legendary final island."
He paused for a moment. "By the way, what's the situation with Dragon?"
"According to HQ reports, he's currently on leave."
Sakazuki let out a quiet laugh. "On leave, huh… what about the scholars?"
Carlo answered, "Most of them got away. Looks like Rear Admiral Dragon helped them disappear. If we had captured them all at Jaya, we wouldn't be dealing with this now. Trying to catch them again will be much harder. Plenty of people have been swayed to help them hide, even resist us. There've already been casualties among the Marines."
Sakazuki went silent for a few seconds, then took a deep breath.
"Keep watching them. Later, make some single-page leaflets and age them. Leave them around for those scholars to 'find'. Also, have Enel record and mark their magnetic fields. Sometimes Observation Haki might not work well, but magnetic fields are obvious in his eyes."
In the original work, Enel used electromagnetic fields to monitor his entire Sky Island kingdom. Now that he was studying under Vegapunk, his abilities could only grow stronger.
After thinking for a bit more, Sakazuki added, "If you ever run into Dragon, be careful. Don't expose yourselves. Tell Enel that his anti-Observation Haki clothing must stay on him at all times."
Carlo nodded. "Anything else, Vice Admiral?"
"If any of the new bounty posters have pirates with the letter D in their names, let me know immediately. That's all. You're dismissed."
"Yes, sir."
* * *
Grand Line. Drum Kingdom. Snow Island.
Snow Island was located on the outer edge of the Drum Kingdom's sea territory. It was sparsely populated and was one of the many under the kingdom's rule.
In the middle of heavy snowfall and giant mushrooms, a sturdy child crouched in a corner, eyes fixed on the hazy glow in the sky. His thoughts drifted far away.
He remembered the terrifying laboratory, the monstrous jaws that swallowed him and his two sisters, and the madman who laughed wildly.
Hatred surged through him, uncontrollable and sharp. He slammed his fist into the ground.
After taking several deep breaths, he slowly calmed down. The revenge had already been taken.
Then he recalled the madman's final words, and stared at his hands. If that lunatic hadn't been lying, he might really have the power to possess more than one Devil Fruit.
The price of this ability was the fusion of his two sisters with his body.
But… he couldn't take risks. He had to find that fruit.
He reached out and pulled a newspaper from beside him. On its cover was an old article about Knox.
It was from a few years ago.
In the mind of the young Marshall D. Teach, only this major figure with a vast dark influence in the New World could have the opportunity to acquire that fruit.
The one labeled in the encyclopedia as the most evil of all Devil Fruits.
"I have to set sail!!!"
If he could truly hold multiple Devil Fruit powers...
Then he had to find and control the Munch-Munch Fruit that once belonged to the now-dead mad scientist.
* * *
Months later.
Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
In the Fleet Admiral's office, Kong was reviewing documents while puffing on a cigar.
Just then, Garp pushed the door open, biting into a doughnut as he walked in.
"Bwahahaha! Fleet Admiral, I'm taking another vacation!"
Kong's face darkened as he looked up from the paperwork. With a sharp snap, the pen in his hand broke under pressure.
Snap!
He slammed the broken pen on the desk.
"You bastard! How many times has it been this year?! Are you even planning to do your job anymore?!"
Garp scratched his head. "Haha, it's not a big deal. You've still got Sengoku and Sakazuki around, right? Besides, this time it's because of my son. I haven't heard from Dragon in a while, so I thought I'd go look for him."
Kong grunted. "What's going on with him anyway? Dragon's been acting strange. He's been disappearing off and on for months now. And you, as his father, don't know a thing?"
Garp responded, "I just found out too. It's completely unacceptable. But don't worry, when I find him, I'll give that kid a good beating. So it's settled. I'm on leave starting now! Bwahahaha!!!"
Without waiting for a response, he turned and rushed out the door.
Bang!
The sound of the door slamming shut echoed through the office.
Kong looked at the whirlwind that was Garp and sighed. 'So exhausting...'
He opened a drawer, pulled out a new pen, and went back to his work.
* * *
North Blue. A kingdom at the edge of the world.
There were no Marines here. No pirates. No control from the World Government.
On this island, every citizen wore a smile and chatted with one another. Everything seemed calm and peaceful.
But the moment Dragon set foot on the island, his heart trembled. Because the price of this peace… was that almost no complete humans could be seen anywhere.
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