Aokiji's Deliberations

"Mm... an unfamiliar ceiling."

Lowett's eyes half-opened, blurry and unable to make out anything clearly, but the stench of decay and mold his nose caught told him he was still in the cell.

"But at least I survived."

Massive blood loss and hypothermia had unfortunately given him a high fever, his head groggy and heavy. Mages were monsters where spirit reigned over flesh, allowing him to remain calm and think even in this state.

A faint coolness came from the wound where his left arm had been severed. Without looking, Lowett knew that compared to the crude bandaging before, a professional doctor had clearly treated him properly.

This was a fatal wound!

If he could have survived on his own, Lowett wouldn't have chosen to gamble like this.

Blood loss, wound infection—even without the added misfortune of spending half the night soaking in the sea afterward, this frail body might not have held out.

He needed a doctor.

So he'd rather drag his dying, broken body without rest to perform a second hypnosis on Monka... As the battle hero who arrested "Hundred Schemes" Kuro, Monka's attitude, even if it couldn't change the Navy high command's thinking, could at least secure him some preferential treatment at Branch 153.

At the very least...

They definitely wouldn't let him die.

As for... what if the Navy high command refused to acknowledge his merit of "atoning for crimes by good deeds" and still insisted he was a pirate?

"Heh..."

Lowett curled his lips and let out a soft laugh.

All he sought was this period of rest and recuperation, to get through the toughest moment.

As long as he recovered even a sliver or half a sliver of his spellcasting ability, as a Necromancer, Lowett truly didn't think he couldn't survive in the East Blue, the weakest of seas.

"Hm? He's awake?"

The soft laugh wasn't obvious; to outsiders, it sounded more like an unconscious groan.

The two Navy soldiers in charge of guarding the cell exchanged glances. One of them suddenly stood up and filled a cup with water.

"Are you crazy? The higher-ups haven't decided what to do with him yet!"

His companion stopped him in surprise.

He paused for a moment, then shook his head and stepped past the obstruction: "Since I'm in charge of guarding the cell, I can't just watch a prisoner die in here... unless he's a death-row convict."

A bounty criminal worth 1 million Berries clearly wasn't in the death-row category; the wanted posters all said "Dead or Alive."

His companion said no more. He knew that this man's older brother had been on that very warship.

After a fierce battle, even though they successfully arrested the Great Pirate Kuro, only two people from Branch 153's entire ship, including the branch captain, survived out of over a hundred...

One was a private second class, the other a bounty criminal.

Disbanding the branch wasn't possible; each branch's geographical location was set after careful consideration by the higher-ups. But returning to its former state would take a long time.

"Let it be, then. Time for us to be willful."

Shaking his head with a bitter smile, the man turned away and dozed off.

Meanwhile, on the Grand Line, on an island within the Triangle of Great Whirlpools.

The island's buildings were distributed east-west. Near the Calm Belt was a family town, where most of the headquarters soldiers' families lived.

To the east was a vast harbor, warships lined up on the sea, banners standing tall, exuding iron-blooded military might.

This was Marine Headquarters!

The Navy's headquarters, which shook all directions and upheld peace on the seas in the name of "Justice"—Marineford!

At the island's core stood a tall, majestic fortress shaped like a trapezoid. On the fortress's pure white front wall, large black brush characters read: "Justice." It had stood here for centuries. No matter how hard or troubled the times, Marineford, like this fortress, remained unshakable.

Now, the renowned Three Admirals of the Navy, along with the battle-hardened Fleet Admiral "Sengoku the Buddha," were stationed here. Added to that was the "Hero of the Marines," "Iron Fist" Garp, who was publicly credited with personally arresting Roger, making this place a hopeless dead end for countless villains.

In the middle of the fortress, inside a spacious office.

"So... in the end, Branch 153 in the East Blue only successfully arrested Kuro with the help of a pirate, is that right?"

As a pirate with a 1600-million-Berry bounty, he might be a bit of a name in the East Blue, but across the vast sea, he was just a name—not enough to stir a high-ranking headquarters vice admiral, especially a veteran among veterans like Momonga.

The main issue was that Branch 153's losses this time were too severe, which was why he needed to handle this personally.

In the past, comforting the families of fallen soldiers and then heavily rewarding meritorious officers—this routine was second nature to Momonga. But... how did a pirate get involved?

"Y-yes! He really is a pirate."

The Den Den Mushi transmitted the East Blue officer's nervous reply. Then, from somewhere nearby, a faint muttering could be heard: "It's not like he willingly became a pirate."

But soon, a sharp crack sounded, the door slammed shut, and the speaker was, predictably, kicked out.

That someone supported the pirate didn't surprise Momonga. Before he took over handling this matter, someone had already prepared all the relevant materials.

To be honest, well done!

Momonga fully supported Lowett's actions.

But...

The key wasn't whether he had grievances, but his current identity.

Pirates!

Pirates—branded as such by the World Government for attacking a government official!

The World Government's authority brooks no challenge, and the current stability of the seas is inseparable from that authority. So even if it's wrong, they have to swallow it and call it right.

Not to mention...

As a Marine, there's no changing the World Government's mind.

Momonga had a massive headache. Why did it have to be a pirate?

If this matter wasn't handled well, it could become even more serious than the instability Kuro had caused.

"Hold position for now. Let me think it over..."

As he spoke, Momonga suddenly set down the receiver, stood up, and saluted: "Admiral Aokiji!"

The one who had arrived was none other than the current one of the Three Admirals, a monster in the eyes of the world—Admiral "Aokiji" Kuzan!

Aokiji was tall and lean, but unlike Kizaru's sleazy impression, he wore a blue shirt and a white vest, giving off a refreshing vibe.

A mop of fluffy black hair was piled on his head, and perched atop it was a pair of emerald green... frog sleep mask?

Momonga's mouth twitched. He chose not to comment.

With his own purple sausage-like Mohawk hairstyle, he figured he had no room to talk anyway.

"No need to stand on ceremony, Vice Admiral Momonga. Uh... what was I trying to say?"

Yawning lazily, Aokiji rubbed his hair with one hand on his hip. After a moment, realization dawned: "Oh, right... The Fleet Admiral wants you to head to Alabasta. Things have been a bit unsettled there lately, and he suspects pirates are stirring up trouble."

"Alabasta? Understood."

Momonga's eyes turned cold as he nodded.

When "Warlord of the Sea" Crocodile had set up shop in Alabasta back then, it had caused an uproar within the Marines. Momonga was one of those who firmly believed Crocodile was up to no good.

And now this?

"But... why are you the one informing me?" Momonga asked curiously. Since when did a simple reassignment require a full Admiral to deliver the message?

"Oh, that... I was heading home to sleep and just happened to pass by..."

Aokiji rubbed the sleep from his eyes, answering nonchalantly.

Momonga: "..."

Well, that was very Aokiji.

"Speaking of which, I overheard you discussing the East Blue. What's going on there?"

With an Admiral's keen Five Senses, Momonga wasn't surprised he'd been heard through a wall. He quickly explained the situation.

"Hmm... that is indeed tricky!"

Aokiji sat down on a nearby chair, propping his chin on his hand with his elbow on his knee.

On one side, the morale of the soldiers; on the other, the government's face.

It was no wonder Momonga couldn't make up his mind.

But leaving it to Sengoku to decide would be too troublesome—that would mean forcing an order, which clearly neither of them wanted.

Aokiji's sense of justice held that different people had different views on justice, so he was used to putting himself in others' shoes and seeing things from their perspective.

Even their own: "The Marines."

The justice of the Marines in his eyes now was nothing more than the justice of the World Government.

"What about that official?" Aokiji suddenly asked.

Momonga was taken aback, then quickly replied: "He's already been secretly recalled."

After all, this was an embarrassment to the government's face. It couldn't be made public, nor could he be left in the East Blue to continue disgracing them.

To put it bluntly, even the strict order for the Marines to pursue Lowett was to prevent the news from spreading and causing a bad influence.

"Then it's simple. Make the two of them... vanish into thin air!"

Aokiji clapped his hands together, looking at the stunned Momonga.

"Vanish" here was certainly not a verb, so Aokiji's meaning was clear as day.

Momonga was utterly astonished, then gave a thumbs-up, flashing his bright white teeth.

"Understood!"

The book's release time yesterday was off—6 PM, the editor had already clocked out. I didn't contact my previous editor in advance, so it didn't pass review until 2:30 PM today [manual blood-spitting]

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