Under the cover of night, the lights at Navy Headquarters blazed brightly.
The sounds of activity did not fade with nightfall. As a new shift of personnel reported for duty, Headquarters—the command center for millions of Marines—continued to operate at peak efficiency. Beneath the bright lights, the line between day and night was not so clear.
Conference room.
A cool night breeze drifted in through the window. Vice Admiral Tsuru's face showed a hint of worry, and she let out a deep sigh.
That was too blunt!
Sakazuki was still the same as ever, with a temper as rigid as could be. He had no idea how to be tactful. He had risen from the lowest ranks of the Marines all the way to Admiral through sheer, undeniable accomplishments, taking one step at a time and steadily climbing to higher positions. No one could hold him back.
Otherwise,
even the Marines, who prided themselves on justice, would not be free of power struggles.
If Sakazuki's rise were written down, it would make a splendid story!
"The New World... Of course I'd like to return, if possible," Sengoku replied calmly to Sakazuki's question. He looked up at the enormous map hanging on the opposite wall and said, "The New World has been in turmoil for a long time, Sakazuki. You know about Rocks, don't you?"
Sakazuki maintained his expression, hard as steel, and said nothing.
Sengoku didn't mind Sakazuki's lack of courtesy and continued, "The Marines' control over the New World has never been stable. Rocks, Whitebeard, Golden Lion, Big Mom, Beast, Red-Haired... and the monsters from even further back. That meat grinder called the New World always produces troublesome characters.
"Whenever a powerful pirate rises, the Marines' influence contracts. But when the pirates' power wanes, the Marines take control of the New World again..."
"Fleet Admiral, are you saying the pirates' power is about to weaken? Sorry, but I don't see that future. Whitebeard, Big Mom, Beast, Red-Haired—they're all alive and well." Sakazuki bluntly refuted him, cutting Sengoku off.
"As Marines, saying this is... an utter disgrace. But anger cannot change the facts. As long as the balance among the Four Emperors holds, the Marines have no way to return to the New World. Advancing there now would only bring pointless casualties."
Sakazuki was rigid in his principles, not reckless.
To complete a mission, he could unhesitatingly treat his comrades and ordinary civilians as targets to be eliminated. But that came with one essential condition—
That the mission could be completed.
As long as he believed he could complete it, he would do whatever it took, even if it meant sacrificing his own life. In his eyes, every cost was worthwhile if the mission succeeded. But without that certainty, all the sacrifices would amount to a gamble on an uncertain outcome.
Sorry,
he wouldn't do that.
Sacrifice was acceptable, but pointless sacrifice was intolerable.
That was all there was to his weighing of costs and benefits.
"Sengoku, do you think this young man can shake up the balance of the New World?"
Tsuru asked.
A photograph was pinned beneath her fingers.
In it, Aleus spread his black wings and soared through the sky. The elegant angle could only have come from a professional photographer—and indeed it had. Morgans had deliberately circulated this photograph along with the news that Umit had been killed.
The document they had just received included this photograph.
"He's already shaken up the balance of the New World," Sengoku replied.
"But, Sengoku, you understand that as long as the Four Emperors don't make a move, there's no room for further improvement in the situation."
"That doesn't stop us from preparing in advance." Sengoku calmly lowered his head and looked at the extra copy of the photograph in his hand. "Tsuru, Sakazuki, what unusual details do you see in this picture?"
He raised the photograph in his hand. Tsuru and Sakazuki each had an identical copy.
"Hey, Sengoku, you bastard, don't act like I'm not here! You're the one who called me to this meeting, and now you're ignoring me... Damn it, I'll eat all your rice crackers!" Karp said, pulling a packet of rice crackers out from under the table. He tore it open and began crunching away.
Vice Admiral Tsuru looked utterly helpless.
Even Sakazuki merely frowned, leaving the unconventional senior alone.
Only Sengoku was so furious that he bristled and pounded the table as he argued with Karp. Their familiar exchange played out once more: "You bastard, you stole my rice crackers again!" "What do you mean, stole? I walked right in and took them in broad daylight!"
"Is there anything unusual about this? He looks like nothing more than a Zoan User."
After looking for quite a while, Vice Admiral Tsuru, known as the Great Staff Officer, frowned and interrupted Sengoku and Karp's back-and-forth.
"What? What is it? Tsuru, let me see too!"
Karp craned his neck curiously.
"Hmm, so this brat's the one who killed that Umit fellow. He looks really young! Is this... a Mythical Zoan User? Looks like another troublesome guy!" Karp muttered to himself, completely oblivious to the astonishment and confusion in Vice Admiral Tsuru and Sakazuki's eyes.
"Your damn intuition really is frighteningly sharp!"
Sengoku folded his arms and sat back down.
"Sengoku, Karp, how did you... figure out from this photograph that the kid is a Mythical Zoan User?" Vice Admiral Tsuru demanded.
"Huh? Well, you can tell at a glance, can't you?"
Karp continued eating rice crackers.
Vice Admiral Tsuru gave Karp a helpless look and sighed softly. She had to admit that an idiot's intuition sometimes seemed sharper than rational thought. That was... not exactly a pleasant realization!
There was no point expecting Karp to say anything that made sense, so she could only pin her hopes on Sengoku.
Sure enough,
after a few seconds of thought,
Sengoku spoke. "I don't have any definite proof. It's just that, as a Mythical Zoan User myself, I can sense that there's something different about him, even from a photograph. Mythical Zoan Devil Fruits... are special."
"...If he really is a Mythical Zoan User, he'll certainly be troublesome."
Sakazuki scrutinized the photograph in his hand a few more times. At last, he stopped opposing Sengoku.
At some point, a saying had spread across the seas: that there were no useless Devil Fruits, only useless Devil Fruit Users... That wasn't entirely accurate. The same Devil Fruit could shine differently in different hands, and a User's qualities naturally affected how well they could wield its power.
But—
Devil Fruits came in different grades.
The clearest examples were the superior and inferior Logia Fruits: the Magma-Magma Fruit and the Mera Mera no Mi, the Ice-Ice Fruit and the Snow-Snow Fruit. It was plain proof that Devil Fruits could be ranked.
Three of the four people present were Users. They knew very well what kind of influence a top-tier Devil Fruit could have.
Sakazuki had changed his attitude for that reason. He wasn't making a fuss over nothing; he was doing his duty.
In this world,
Devil Fruits were synonymous with power.
Look at the powerful figures active in this era. How many of them were Users? How many had no powers? The former were as numerous as cattle, while the latter could be counted on one hand. Never underestimate the impact a top-tier Devil Fruit could have on this world.
"Sengoku, what do you plan to do?"
Tsuru asked again.
"Well! To be safe, I think we should observe this 'Black Prince' up close." As he spoke, Sengoku looked at the single-minded bastard eating his treasured limited-edition rice crackers. There couldn't be a better touchstone.
"Besides that, how we should respond to the coming upheaval in the New World is another important topic. Whether or not the Black Prince can shake the balance among the four powers of the New World, he's already thrown the lower levels into chaos. If things aren't kept under control, this turmoil could even spill over into Paradise."
The meeting proceeded in an orderly fashion.
Meanwhile,
the world slowly began to change.
I'm completely exhausted today, so this one's a bit short. I'll try to make up for it tomorrow.
Before you continue