Before leaving Water 7, Luo Xing casually swept the area with his Observation Haki—and discovered that Rob Lucci was still alive.
As the Beast Pirates' threat continued to grow, the World Government had also been scrambling to strengthen its forces.
Aside from hunting for Ancient Weapons, they had begun aggressively stockpiling Devil Fruits.
As a result, most of CP9 had already consumed Devil Fruits.
Lucci himself possessed a monstrous physique to begin with. Combined with the enhancement of the Cat-Cat Fruit, Model: Leopard, he had managed—barely—to cling to a final breath even after Who's-Who's brutal slaughter.
Luo Xing suddenly thought of the strongest zombie on Thriller Bark—the demon giant Oars.
It was still missing a truly powerful shadow.
Rob Lucci… would do nicely.
Call it recycling waste.
So Luo Xing stopped Who's-Who from finishing him off and ordered Lucci brought along instead.
To prevent Lucci from struggling if he regained consciousness, Who's-Who calmly severed all four of his limbs.
Thus ended the life of the man once hailed as CP9's strongest agent in eight hundred years—a killer who lived only to slaughter others.
From this moment on, he would exist solely as a tool.
A living shadow.
A motionless puppet.
Luo Xing did not return to Alabasta.
Instead, he went straight to Thriller Bark.
Shockwaves Across the World
With his departure, two earth-shattering events rapidly spread across the seas:
Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords, was dead—along with the complete annihilation of Baroque Works.
CP9, the World Government's top intelligence agency, was completely wiped out in Water 7.
Either incident alone would have shaken the world.
Together, they sent the entire sea into chaos.
Yet most people didn't even know who had done it.
Luo Xing had moved too fast, too cleanly.
Those who had actually seen him could be counted on one hand.
Among them—Blackbeard.
Somewhere in the First Half of the Grand Line
"Zehahahahaha!"
Blackbeard laughed wildly after receiving the news.
"That Fifth Emperor Luo Xing… ruthless doesn't even begin to describe him! Not only did he kill a Warlord—he wiped out the government's spy dogs too!"
"Captain!" Burgess chimed in excitedly. "The World Government won't swallow this! They'll definitely launch a Buster Call against him!"
"Not so fast."
Blackbeard shook his head.
"They'll be furious, sure—but whether they dare start a full war with the Beast Pirates? That's another matter."
"And don't forget—our plan is to ignite a war between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Navy."
"If the government moves against the Beast Pirates now, they risk facing two Yonko-level forces at once."
Even the World Government—the greatest power on the seas—couldn't afford that.
Winning such a war would come at an unbearable cost.
And that would threaten the Celestial Dragons' rule itself.
Blackbeard could feel it.
The world was accelerating toward chaos.
The battle for the throne of the seas was drawing closer.
And he, Marshall D. Teach, would not be absent.
"Men!" Blackbeard roared. "Let's go deliver Ace to the Marines! The future belongs to me!"
Marine Headquarters — Marineford
Fleet Admiral Sengoku stared at the report in his hands, utterly stunned.
Crocodile… dead?
CP9… completely annihilated?
Impossible.
A chill ran through his entire body.
The situation had spiraled far beyond his expectations.
The decisiveness—and cruelty—of the Beast Pirates was something he had grossly underestimated.
In his shock, Sengoku didn't even feel anger.
Only confusion.
Crocodile was a Warlord. His death demanded a response.
CP9 was a direct arm of the World Government. Their annihilation demanded revenge.
But against whom?
Jack? Who's-Who?
No.
The true mastermind was Luo Xing, the Beast Pirates' son-in-law.
And if the Navy moved against him—
The entire Beast Pirates crew would erupt.
With their current strength, Sengoku could not predict the outcome of a full-scale war.
Just as his head began to ache—
Another report slammed into him like a thunderbolt.
A Marine officer shouted:
"Former Whitebeard crewmate Marshall D. Teach has captured Portgas D. Ace! He's requesting to replace the deceased Crocodile as one of the Seven Warlords!"
"And he claims—Ace is the son of Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King!"
Sengoku froze.
Roger… had a son?!
The shock was so great that he didn't notice—
In the same office, Garp, who had been casually munching on rice crackers, dropped one straight onto the floor.
Unlike Sengoku, Garp wasn't just shocked.
He was panicking.
Ace… that damn brat—how did he get caught?!
Meanwhile — Thriller Bark
While the Navy drowned in chaos, the man responsible remained completely unbothered.
Luo Xing arrived quietly at Thriller Bark.
Gecko Moria personally came to greet him, accompanied by Absalom and Perona.
After some time, Moria seemed to have worked through many things.
When he addressed Luo Xing as "my lord," the stiffness was gone.
He'd also lost significant weight—his frame once again resembling the fierce pirate who had challenged Kaido years ago.
Clearly, Luo Xing's earlier one-shot defeat had shaken him to the core.
Especially after Absalom had knelt for him…
After Perona had begged for his life…
Moria had finally woken up.
He stopped obsessing over zombies and began training himself in earnest—with tangible results.
Luo Xing was satisfied.
Another thing that pleased him—
Perona was still wearing the support garment he'd given her last time.
She'd… grown noticeably.
He decided to personally measure it later that night.
Perona caught his gaze and nearly jumped out of her skin.
She floated away in a panic, pouting.
"This man is scary and bad! W-why does a cute girl like me have to suffer like this?! That's so unfair!"
She sniffled dramatically.
No one paid her any attention.
Underground Prison — Thriller Bark
Under Moria's guidance, they returned to the cell where Oars' body was sealed.
Who's-Who tossed what remained of Rob Lucci onto the ground.
Moria frowned.
"This guy's really strong enough to be Oars' shadow?"
Who's-Who grinned.
"Don't let his state fool you. He's no weakling."
"If I hadn't eaten the Monster Cell given by our young master, taking him down wouldn't have been easy."
Moria hesitated, then cut Lucci's shadow free and inserted it into Oars' body.
The next second—
Oars' eyes snapped open for the first time in decades.
A bestial roar shook the entire prison.
Impressive.
But not enough.
Luo Xing stepped forward, pulled out a massive Dragon-grade Monster Cell, and tossed it into Oars' mouth.
His eyes gleamed with anticipation.
"Eat it."
"Let me see how far you can go… Demon Giant Oars."
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