All he could say was... he was mentally shattered.
Who the hell would've thought Big Mom wanted to have a baby with him!?
Darren's mouth twitched, his face filled with helpless exasperation.
Sengoku, nearby, looked just as distressed. After a long pause, he asked,
"So what exactly happened?"
Darren casually replied,
"I killed Charlotte Perospero and Charlotte Daifuku, and then Big Mom showed up… yeah, had a fight with her."
Sengoku: "…"
The surrounding Marines collectively gasped, eyes bulging in disbelief.
Commodore Darren… killed Big Mom's two sons right in front of her!?
"Stop standing around!"
Suddenly, Sengoku stood and barked sternly,
"Increase speed! Return to Marine HQ immediately!"
"There are too many prisoners onboard—get them to Impel Down without delay!"
Startled by his commanding voice, the Marines straightened up and saluted:
"Yes, Admiral Sengoku!"
The battleship's speed surged, its engines clearly pushed to full power.
Sengoku stood at the prow, staring into the seemingly endless sea. The calm from earlier had completely vanished.
"Staying in the New World…"
He muttered darkly,
"...just doesn't feel safe anymore."
…
New World – Unknown Sea
A streak of blue-green flame swooped down from the sky, wings spread wide as Marco the Phoenix landed gracefully atop the colossal Moby Dick, shaped like a white whale.
"It's Marco!"
"Marco's back!!"
"Hahaha! Did you get it!?"
"…"
"Diamond" Jozu, "Flower Blade" Vista, and several others walked over grinning, ready to greet Marco.
Dusting soot from his hair, Marco shook his head with a weary sigh.
"I didn't get the More-More Fruit."
Meeting Whitebeard's curious gaze, he added with a hint of lingering dread,
"Both the Big Mom Pirates and Beasts Pirates showed up. King the Wildfire and Charlotte Perospero were there. And besides them… Admiral Sengoku and the Golden Lion were also present."
The crew fell silent in shock.
"Golden Lion!? That guy's been off the grid for ages—and he's back now!?"
"Then again, it is the More-More Fruit…"
"Wait, Marco—don't tell me it fell into Golden Lion's hands!?"
"That'd be real bad…"
Everyone broke into chatter.
Sure, Sengoku was strong, but Golden Lion's unpredictability and powers made him far more dangerous. No one believed the Marines could secure the fruit.
"No…"
Marco shook his head.
As if recalling the terrifying sight of a thousand cannons firing in unison, he swallowed hard and said with difficulty:
"You all remember that Marine Commodore we ran into before?"
The crew blinked.
"You mean the 'King of the North Blue'?"
"I think his name was… Rogers Darren?"
"The guy who took down Byrnndi World?"
Realization struck them all at once. They turned toward the stern of the ship.
There stood Kozuki Oden, who had been drunk and quietly polishing his blade. Now he rose abruptly, the haze of alcohol gone from his eyes—replaced with sharpness and a burning will to fight.
Marco glanced at him and nodded.
"Yeah. He was there too."
"He used his Devil Fruit to manipulate all the metal on the island…"
He paused, then delivered a line that struck like thunder.
"—He single-handedly destroyed Golden Lion's Flying Pirate Fleet."
Dead silence fell over the Moby Dick's deck.
The pirates stared at Marco, stunned, disbelief written all over their faces.
"Hey… Marco, you're not joking… are you?"
"No way…"
"That's the invincible Flying Fleet we're talking about…"
"…"
But Marco's grim, serious expression slowly silenced their doubts.
A sense of indescribable shock… even fear… began to surface deep in their eyes.
An entire fleet—dozens of warships, tens of thousands of men—just… gone?
Kozuki Oden stood frozen, as if struck by lightning.
He knew full well: Golden Lion Shiki was a legendary pirate, a man who stood shoulder to shoulder with Whitebeard.
And yet, even such a titan… had fallen to that Marine?
…
New World – Wano Country
Kuri Region, Military Factory
A massive black pteranodon burst through the clouds, diving down and landing atop a factory roof.
King reverted to human form, knelt on one knee before the demonic figure seated at the building's edge, and reported in a low voice:
"Kaido-san, the mission failed."
Kaido didn't reply right away. He grabbed the sake gourd beside him and began chugging deeply.
Rich liquor spilled down his beard, soaking the ground with its pungent aroma.
"The More-More Fruit… I'm guessing that bastard Shiki got his hands on it?"
With a heavy thud, he slammed the jug down. His eyes gleamed blood-red as he growled:
"That ambitious bastard Shiki… No way he'd pass up that kind of power."
"It's fine, Arber. I don't blame you for this—"
"—The More-More Fruit fell into the Marines' hands," King suddenly interrupted.
Silence.
"Impossible!!"
Kaido whipped around, stunned.
King sighed.
"The Marines moved too. Sengoku led the operation himself…"
Kaido growled in disbelief:
"Sengoku's strong, sure—but there's no way he could wrest it from Shiki!"
King bowed his head.
"Rogers Darren was there too."
"He used his Devil Fruit to control all metal on the island… and destroyed Golden Lion's fleet."
Kaido froze.
The moment he heard that name, crimson blood vessels began creeping across his eyes.
"That damn Marine brat!!!"
He roared to the heavens, his Conqueror's Haki exploding in an apocalyptic storm that shook the world.
Under the impact of his fury, slaves and laborers across the military factory collapsed, unconscious from the sheer pressure.
Black-and-red lightning crackled violently through the air.
Kneeling, King gritted his teeth, struggling to withstand the storm.
He knew all too well.
Ever since that last encounter, Kaido had harbored seething hatred for the Marine named Darren. Sometimes, drunk out of his mind, he would rage and scream the name… and take it out on Queen.
"So… the More-More Fruit fell into Darren's hands?"
Kaido's voice was guttural, glowing red eyes like those of a demon.
King gave a slow, difficult nod.
Kaido paused—then suddenly drew his giant black kanabo and leapt off the rooftop.
His furious voice echoed across the entire Kuri region.
"QUUUEEEEEN!!! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE!!"
What followed were waves of desperate wails and pitiful screams.
…
And so it was.
The "Coin Island Incident" dropped like a bomb into still waters—setting off a tsunami across the seas.
Countless factions, nations, and pirate crews had no choice but to take notice of one name:
Rogers Darren. Marine Commodore.
If they had once dismissed him as a "lucky brat," now they fully understood his terrifying force—
The King of the North Blue.
A monster of Marine HQ.
A man who single-handedly destroyed Golden Lion's Flying Pirate Fleet.
All of the living "legendary pirates" in this sea—had suffered humiliating blows at his hands.
The world was in uproar.
---
To be continued...