Kong furrowed his brow and fell silent, watching the footage continue to play.
The images flashed by—
Luo Tian had Zephyr on the back foot in battle. Black slashes clashed with pitch-black fists, and every exchange sent tremors through the air.
Tsuru, trying to support the transport ships, was restrained in midair by an invisible force. Her body twisted like a puppet on strings—the effect of "Universal Pull."
The next moment, the dragon-shaped sword slash was already before Tsuru's eyes.
At the last possible moment, Tsuru used the Wash-Wash Fruit's "Purify" ability to break free. She weakened the slash with "Purification Wall," then blocked it with Rankyaku.
But Luo Tian's slash was simply too powerful, and Tsuru was still injured.
"Great Swordsman-level swordsmanship, a Devil Fruit ability that touches the laws of space, and a cool head..."
Kong slowly let out a breath.
"And all of this comes from a young man?!"
He remembered the report Sengoku had submitted. It mentioned that before joining the Rocks Pirates, Luo Tian had once driven off the officer Ochoku during a clash.
Ochoku was infamous, but his strength was ultimately a cut below core officers like Whitebeard, Shiki, and Charlotte Linlin.
Yet in a matter of days, Luo Tian had grown strong enough to overpower Zephyr and seriously injure Tsuru!
More terrifying still, in the latter half of the recording, Luo Tian fought Garp in a clash so earth-shattering that he had not fallen behind in the slightest!
Kong's expression grew even more grave.
This young man could no longer be described as a "Supernova" in terms of the threat he posed to the Marines.
He was a "disaster."
A "monster" powerful enough to shake the Marines to their foundations—and even change the balance of power in the New World...
"Luo Tian must be eliminated as soon as possible."
Kong stared at Luo Tian's figure on the screen, his voice heavy.
"Put out a bounty for him."
"Based on what he's shown so far, set his bounty at... 2.5 billion Beli for now."
"2.5 billion?!"
Garp jerked his head up, surprise flashing in his eyes.
"Fleet Admiral, that kid's a handful, but 2.5 billion for his first bounty? Isn't that too high? That's already close to Whitebeard's!"
Whitebeard's current bounty was 3 billion Beli, the highest among the three core officers of the Rocks Pirates.
"Too high?"
Kong gave Garp a cold look.
"He held off Zephyr and Tsuru at the same time, fought you head-on without falling behind, and turned the tide of battle by himself, completely wrecking the Marines' carefully laid plans to encircle them—"
"Do you really think 2.5 billion is too high?"
Garp was at a loss for words.
"And this is only the beginning."
Kong's expression remained grave.
"At the rate he's growing, we may have to raise his bounty again by the next time we meet."
Silence fell over the office once more.
After a long while, Sengoku spoke up helplessly.
"Fleet Admiral, about the Heavenly Tribute... How are we supposed to explain this to the World Government?"
Garp, Zephyr, and Tsuru all turned to look at Kong. This was the most pressing problem at hand.
The theft of the Heavenly Tribute did not merely affect the Marines' reputation; it also involved the interests of the Celestial Dragons, the World Nobles.
Those lofty nobles would never let this go.
"Hmph!"
Kong glanced at the four of them and said coldly,
"We have no choice but to report the truth to the Holy Land."
"But there's more than one way to tell it."
He rose and walked to the window, turning his back to the four of them.
"I didn't brief the Five Elders in detail about the operation beforehand. I only told them the Rocks Pirates might raid the Heavenly Tribute and requested troops to reinforce its escort."
"So, in the report, this wasn't a failed encirclement. It was a failure to protect the convoy."
"We weren't going after the Rocks Pirates. We were reinforcing the escort for the Heavenly Tribute.
But the Rocks Pirates were far stronger than expected, and that newcomer, Luo Tian, had a bizarre ability. As a result, the escort fleet suffered heavy losses, and the Heavenly Tribute was stolen."
"As for Garp and Tsuru..."
Kong looked at Sengoku.
"Say you noticed something was wrong and dispatched them to help at the last minute, but they arrived too late."
Sengoku's eyes lit up.
That way, although the Marines would still have to take responsibility, the nature of the incident would be completely different.
It would go from "launching an attack and suffering a crushing defeat" to "mounting a defensive response but being outnumbered."
It would still be a failure, but the latter was far less humiliating and would be much easier for the World Government to forgive.
"Just as I'd expect of the Fleet Admiral..."
Tsuru murmured in admiration.
Kong waved a hand, his expression still heavy.
"But the truth won't stay hidden forever. The Five Elders aren't fools. Sooner or later, they'll learn what really happened."
"So seize this chance to make up for it with a victory."
Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
The World Government headquarters—the center of power in the world.
The Celestial Dragons strolled at their leisure among the white buildings, dressed in finery and surrounded by slaves.
On the top floor of the Government Building, in a spacious office—
"Bang!"
The blond, short-bearded Five Elder slammed his hand on the table and shouted,
"What did you say?! The Rocks Pirates stole the Heavenly Tribute?!"
"Damn it! What exactly are you Marines doing?!"
The other four Five Elders also wore grim expressions.
The Five Elders.
The highest authorities of the World Government, five men who stood at the very top of the world. They could be called second to none and superior to all.
At that moment, their fury was enough to wipe an entire country off the map.
The Marines had been attacked in the open, and the Heavenly Tribute had been stolen.
It was tantamount to slapping the Celestial Dragons, the World Nobles, across the face—and trampling eight hundred years of the World Government's authority into the dirt.
Sengoku, Zephyr, and Tsuru stood before the Five Elders and gave an honest account of the battle.
They had prepared their story in advance, reporting in detail the version Kong had laid out—that the escort had failed—and attaching footage recorded by the Visual Den Den Mushi.
Of course, it had been edited.
As the Five Elders berated them, all three lowered their heads and said nothing, keeping their posture as humble as possible.
Why wasn't Garp there?
Because Garp had always hated the Celestial Dragons and was deeply dissatisfied with some of the World Government's actions.
To avoid a confrontation—and to keep Garp from losing his temper over the Celestial Dragons' arrogance and overbearing ways—Kong, Sengoku, and the others had agreed not to bring him.
It was better to have him reflect in Marineford than cause trouble here.
"The Marines represent the dignity of the World Government! Now that the Heavenly Tribute has been stolen, both sides have lost face!"
"Assigning blame now won't change anything. Our top priority is dealing with the Rocks Pirates."
"Indeed."
The bald Five Elder, who held Shodai Kitetsu, slowly opened his eyes.
"The Rocks Pirates are growing stronger by the day in the New World. They've already become a serious threat to the balance of power.
Their forces were already formidable, and now they have a monster of a newcomer like Luo Tian...
If we let them continue to grow, they'll pose a grave threat to the World Government's control over the seas."
"Exactly. If that kid named Luo Tian is allowed to grow unchecked, it's only a matter of time before he surpasses Rocks."
"So we can't let the Rocks Pirates continue to grow any stronger."
The five men took turns speaking.
Before you continue