"That man... is actually a Marine!!"
Ten thousand meters underwater, Fish-Man Island.
Jinbe stared at the newspaper, his eyes filled with incomparable shock.
"Mr. Jinbe, what news has shocked you so much?"
The eldest prince of Fish-Man Island, Fukaboshi, approached with a swish of his tail.
Before joining the Sun Pirates, Jinbe had been the captain of King Neptune's royal guard. Later, to rescue his comrades captured by the World Government, he became one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
Now stationed permanently at Fish-Man Island, he was deeply respected by the royal family.
...
Fukaboshi's expression changed drastically when he saw the contents of the newspaper.
He held great respect for Whitebeard, who protected Fish-Man Island, and often asked Jinbe to share stories about his experiences with the Whitebeard Pirates.
The problem was...
Due to his position as a Warlord, Jinbe had always maintained secret connections with the Whitebeard Pirates.
"How could this be... Mr. Jinbe! Could he have betrayed you to the Marines?"
Jinbe's expression darkened slightly as he shook his head: "I don't know... but I don't think he's the type of man who would play with schemes and conspiracies."
"Why would he do something like infiltrating Pops' ship..."
——
——
Above Fish-Man Island, at Sabaody Archipelago.
Shakky's Rip-off Bar.
Rayleigh sat in his usual spot by the window, holding a newspaper in one hand while adjusting his glasses with the other.
A bead of cold sweat faintly appeared on his forehead.
"To grow to this level without anyone noticing..."
"I really hope my intuition is wrong..."
Shakky handed him a drink. She rarely saw such an expression on Rayleigh's face and asked: "What's wrong?"
Rayleigh let out a long sigh and smiled wryly: "It's nothing. Even if it is what I think, there's nothing I can do about it now."
Roger had surrendered himself to ensure the World Government wouldn't pursue his other crew members.
If Rayleigh continued living his retired life as before, the Marines wouldn't bother causing him trouble - the cost would far outweigh the benefits.
But if Rayleigh wanted to make a comeback...
That would be a different matter entirely. The Marines wouldn't allow a top-tier combatant to act freely, even if it meant paying a heavy price to eliminate him.
...
During the Battle of Nine Serpent Island, the Marines had chosen to retreat, losing face completely, but this also allowed them to discover Rayleigh's weakness.
Using their agreement not to attack Nine Serpent Island as leverage, they demanded that Rayleigh remain in retirement.
"Don't think too much about it. Our era has already ended."
Shakky smiled faintly: "Leave the matters of the future to the new generation."
...
The new generation...
Our generation had to face Garp, and the pirates of this new era aren't having it easy either...
——
——
Following the three-point line, above Sabaody, at the Holy Land Mary Geoise on the Red Line.
...
"He's alive!! Lord Griffin is indeed still alive!!"
In the Celestial Dragons' gathering place, within a magnificent palace, Saint Shalria was extremely excited as she turned to look at her hideous brother.
"Brother Charlos! Let's go down to the lower world! To find Lord Griffin!!"
...
Charlos stopped whipping his slave and turned to speak discontentedly: "Shalria, you're becoming less and less like a noble Celestial Dragon."
"How dare you address a lowly commoner as 'Lord'... How utterly degenerate!"
Shalria snorted coldly: "You'll understand when you see him with your own eyes. Are you coming or not!"
"No!"
Among the Celestial Dragons, Shalria was one of those who most enjoyed visiting the lower world, but he had restrained himself from going down for several years now.
"Have you forgotten that you were nearly killed last time you went to the lower world! It's too dangerous down there. I'm not going, and you shouldn't either!"
"Otherwise I'll tell Father!"
...
"Hmph! Lord Griffin will protect you, you fat pig! Just stay here and play with your slave games!"
"What!? How dare you speak to your own brother like that!! I... I'm going to tell Father!!"
...
...
Meanwhile.
In the Room of Power where the Five Elders resided.
"The Whitebeard Pirates' chef tends to cook with heavy seasoning..."
"Marco the Phoenix's private savings are hidden under the seventh treasure chest in cabin four."
"Diamond Jozu, the Third Division Commander, occasionally takes on porcelain work..."
"Flower Sword Vista prefers women older than himself..."
...
Slap—
Saint Saturn threw the report in his hand to the ground and snorted coldly: "He spent two and a half years undercover in the Whitebeard Pirates, and this is all the intelligence he brought back!"
"Despite climbing to a high position, we don't even expect him to know Whitebeard's weaknesses, but he doesn't even have information on the Whitebeard Pirates' deployments or the combat capabilities of Commander-level fighters!"
...
"Enough, as long as he's willing to return."
Saint Nusjuro said calmly: "The report also mentioned that Whitebeard was deeply suspicious of him. Although he became the Second Division Commander, he couldn't access classified information."
"Moreover... we all know why he stayed with the Whitebeard Pirates."
"Using the world's strongest pirate crew to temper his strength - that's exactly what someone with Conqueror's Haki would do."
...
"He's excellent in all aspects, it's just a pity he possesses Conqueror's Haki..."
"That shouldn't matter, right? Sengoku also has Conqueror's Haki, and he's doing quite well."
"Saint Saturn, can that thing Vegapunk created really achieve the expected results?"
...
Saturn leaned on his wooden cane and said calmly: "I conducted live experiments with several of them... the results weren't ideal."
"Several physically weak slaves couldn't withstand the mental consumption of those eyes, and the few who could withstand it showed minimal improvement."
"The slight enhancement in dynamic vision wasn't worth the mental energy consumed."
"According to Vegapunk, we lack the crucial usage method, which is why I forcibly recalled Uchiha Griffin."
...
"Could it be another failed product... Have we tried combining it with the Lunarian bloodline factor?"
Saint Saturn shook his head: "We tried. Even with Vegapunk's intellect and mine combined, we couldn't achieve it."
"The Sharingan has low compatibility and replication difficulty, but contrary to logic... it shows extreme rejection toward other bloodline factors."
"We'll need Uchiha Griffin's participation to understand the details."
...
"Hmm... Regardless, we've seen his strength. If we can truly mass-produce the Uchiha clan for our use..."
"We could solve all our problems without disturbing that person!"
—
—
—
New World, Marine G-8 Branch Base.
Griffin stared intently at the White Wolf at the port, examining every detail.
Well maintained, and it seems to have been equipped with an acceleration system too.
When we reach Punk Hazard, we'll have Vegapunk add some black tech upgrades.
Back when he first commanded this super luxurious warship, fate had kept them apart for so long that Griffin often thought of it while aboard Whitebeard's ship.
The Moby Dick is nothing compared to my White Wolf!
...
"Hey! Have you gone blind after two years away? Can't you see me?!"
Doll stood with her hands on her hips, fuming with anger.
Griffin still didn't look away: "Your temper has grown quite fierce after all these years. I'll beat you up later when I have time, no need to rush."
...
Doll took a deep breath to suppress her rage, glared viciously at the White Wolf, and threw a badge at Griffin.
"I heard from Vice Admiral Tsuru that as long as you return to participate in the assessment, Headquarters is considering directly promoting you to Vice Admiral. Why didn't you go?"
Griffin casually stuffed the Rear Admiral badge into his pocket and said lightly: "Too much trouble. Mainly because Vice Admirals and such have too much old man smell."
"Wouldn't it sound cool to jump directly from Rear Admiral to Admiral later?"
...
...
"Still as arrogant as ever..."
"If you don't want to get beaten up by me, explain what you mean by 'too much old man smell'."
...
The corner of Griffin's mouth lifted: "I could smell your stinky smoke from hundreds of meters away..."
A tall man with white short hair approached, two cigars dangling from his mouth.
——
G-8 Branch Base Commander, Marine Vice Admiral, White Hunter Smoker!
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