Meanwhile, tens of thousands of miles away at the Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
The lights in the Fleet Admiral's office were still bright. Facing a mountain of documents, Sengoku took off his glasses tiredly and rubbed his aching temples.
He shook his head and looked at the solemn Marine officer standing before his desk.
"That frost fairy... has any new information been discovered recently?"
"Reporting, Fleet Admiral."
The field officer stood at attention and saluted, his voice steady and powerful. "We have received intelligence from Whiskey Peak."
Sengoku put his glasses back on, his gaze behind the lenses as sharp as a hawk's.
"Speak."
"According to reports obtained from Whiskey Peak, it has been confirmed that Crocodile of the Seven Warlords of the Sea is dead."
The officer's voice sounded exceptionally clear in the silent office.
Sengoku's hand, which was rubbing his temples, suddenly froze. He slowly raised his head, and a look of pure bewilderment surfaced once again on his usually calm face.
"What did you say? Crocodile?" He repeated the question, enunciating each word to ensure he hadn't misheard.
"Yes, Fleet Admiral."
Fine beads of sweat broke out on the officer's forehead. He gulped and continued his report.
"The report states that Crocodile's body was found in the ruins of the town at Whiskey Peak, and his death was gruesome. Based on the traces at the scene and witness testimonies, it was an overwhelming battle."
Sengoku stood up abruptly from his seat. The immense pressure he exerted caused the officer to instinctively take half a step back.
"Can it be confirmed that it was that guy who did it?"
The Seven Warlords of the Sea were one of the three great powers of the Grand Line, pawns used to counterbalance the Four Emperors. Every Warlord was a great pirate who commanded respect in their own right, their strength was beyond doubt.
Crocodile was a user of the Logia-type Sand-Sand Fruit.
According to Kizaru's report, while Ryoma's ability itself was troublesome, he didn't seem to have learned Armament Haki yet. And now, Crocodile had actually been killed.
This led Sengoku's first thought to be that the Four Emperors' forces were meddling in the shadows.
The officer's voice became increasingly strained, tinged with a hint of uncertainty. "We only know that the person is very young and seems to possess freezing abilities."
"The frost fairy... is it?" Sengoku muttered to himself, his brow furrowing deeper.
He hadn't expected Ryoma's growth rate to be so staggering.
How long had it been?
Not only could he escape from Kizaru, but he now possessed the strength to kill a Warlord. His danger level had to be raised once again.
"Pass down the order."
Sengoku issued his command. "Have the men set up tight surveillance on the islands surrounding Whiskey Peak. Report any suspicious news immediately."
"Yes, sir!"
The officer took the order and quickly ran outside.
The Marine officer's figure disappeared behind the door, which was gently closed, sealing off all outside noise.
Only Sengoku remained in the office. He leaned back tiredly against his chair, staring at the ceiling in silence for a long time.
The fall of a Warlord meant the fragile balance of the sea would be shattered, inevitably leading to unpredictable chain reactions and chaos.
Sengoku's knuckles unconsciously tapped the desk, making a dull rhythmic sound.
Meanwhile, in another office at Marine Headquarters, a figure radiating a violent, magma-like aura suddenly stood up.
Akainu finished listening to his subordinate's report, his rugged face filled with fury.
"Useless! You can't even keep an eye on a single pirate!"
He slammed his fist onto the desk. The desk was instantly melted through, leaving a large hole emitting billowing black smoke.
"Pass my order! The Warship sets sail immediately! Target: Alabasta!" Akainu's voice contained an uncompromising will.
"This kind of evil spark must be completely extinguished with the utmost speed!"
He didn't want to wait for Sengoku's orders at all. In his view, any hesitation when dealing with an extremely dangerous criminal like Ryoma was a desecration of justice.
...
On the Grand Line, in Little Garden, as the blazing sun rose to the middle of the sky, the entire primeval jungle steamed with patches of white mist.
Brogy let out an earth-shattering yawn and then sat up from the ground. He rubbed his head, which was somewhat swollen from a hangover, and immediately saw Ryoma doing morning exercises in a nearby clearing.
"Gabababababa! Ryoma! You sure got up early, kid!"
Brogy's loud voice was like a thunderclap, instantly waking Dorry, who was still snoring on the other side.
Dorry also sat up while rubbing his eyes, grumbling dissatisfiedly, "So noisy! Brogy!"
Ryoma stopped his movements and looked back at the two giants who had just woken up.
"Are you well-rested? Can the special training begin?"
"Of course."
Brogy leaped up, his massive body stirring up a gust of wind. He grabbed his giant battle-axe leaning against a rock, shouldered it, and roared with high fighting spirit, "Let me test your mettle first! Ryoma!"
Shouldering the axe, he strode over to Ryoma. The shadow cast by his massive frame completely enveloped Ryoma.
"Are you ready, little guy?"
Brogy grinned, revealing a smile full of pressure. "I won't go easy on you just because you treated me to drinks."
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Ryoma's reply was concise and powerful.
His figure appeared incredibly small before the giant, but his composed demeanor did not falter in the slightest.
"Gabababababa! You've got guts!" Brogy shouted, wasting no more words.
He gripped the thick axe handle tightly with both hands. The axe was raised high above his head and then swung down toward Ryoma's position with a sharp, air-tearing whistle.
Before the axe even landed, the violent wind it generated kicked up sand, stones, and grass from the ground, forming a visible white airwave that rushed toward Ryoma like a bursting flood.
An ice lotus instantly appeared beneath Ryoma's feet. His figure shifted sideways just a split second before the shockwave arrived, narrowly avoiding this heavy opening strike.
Boom!
The axe slammed into the spot where Ryoma had been standing. The earth let out a groan of pain, and a huge crater over ten meters in diameter formed instantly, with countless spiderweb-like cracks spreading frantically in all directions.
"Nice reaction!"
Brogy grinned in praise, but his movements didn't stop for a second.
The knotted muscles on his arms bulged again. With a sudden burst of power from his waist, the heavy axe swept out horizontally, making the air let out a dull boom wherever it passed.
Facing Brogy's mountain-splitting sweep, Ryoma's expression didn't change at all.
His goal was clear: not to defeat the giant before him, but to use this immense pressure to pry open the door called Observation Haki.
In a flash of thought, an incredibly thick ice wall rose from the ground, its crystal-clear body blocking the path of the axe.
Boom!
The axe collided violently with the ice wall, the resulting roar making the entire jungle tremble. The seemingly indestructible ice wall quickly let out a groan of being overwhelmed under Brogy's pure strength, its surface becoming covered in dense cracks.
The next instant, the ice wall shattered. Countless ice shards carrying immense force flew in all directions, while the residual power of the axe remained unabated, heavily striking Ryoma's arms, which he had hastily crossed over his chest.
Bang!
An irresistible, terrifying force struck him, sending Ryoma flying back.
Ryoma traced a parabola in the air, smashing through seven or eight towering trees in succession before crashing heavily into the jungle a hundred meters away, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Cough..."
Ryoma stood up from the wreckage of broken wood, spitting out a mouthful of bloody saliva. He felt his arms go numb, and his internal organs felt slightly displaced.
Is this the strength of the Giant Race?