Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
Admiral Shirozou's private office.
Longinus sat upright in his chair. Before his desk, two figures stood ramrod straight.
One was a Marine with an X-shaped mark on his chin and a black eye mask, a man named Drake, currently a vice admiral at Marine Headquarters.
The other wore a black-and-white spotted hat and had dark circles beneath his eyes: Trafalgar Law, also a vice admiral from the North Blue.
"The most significant recent event in the New World is that Kaido intended to launch a surprise attack while the Whitebeard Pirates were short on fighting power. However, Red-Haired stopped him, and the two pirate crews even fought a battle because of it. The situation of the war remains unclear," Drake reported.
Why did it feel like Red-Haired was evolving into the world's police force...? Longinus cast aside the stray thought and turned to Law.
"In a peculiar town called Suigu Town, traces of the Great Pirate Lone Red seem to have been discovered. By the time nearby Marines went to investigate, he had already vanished from the town, leaving behind only a legend about vampires," Law reported.
"Lone Red? After all these years, had he finally given up hope on Pure Gold?" Longinus lightly tapped the desk with his index finger, the crisp thudding echoing through the room.
"Vampires? Could he really have obtained that fruit?" Drake asked in surprise.
"Very likely." Law nodded. "Lone Red has been missing for so many years. There were rumors that he had been searching for that fruit all along. Now that he had suddenly appeared and left behind a legend about vampires, it seemed he had truly succeeded!"
The Bat Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Vampire Form—a rare fruit capable of draining blood to restore youth. Even among Mythical Zoans, it was