Yellow Monkey's Conjecture

The ocean waves rose and fell in an erratic rhythm.

On the deck of the warship, Sengoku paced back and forth, his expression grave and his hands clasped tightly behind his back.

Snowflakes drifted from the sky, settling on his hair and military uniform, yet he was too preoccupied to brush them away.

Splash, splash...

Accompanied by the surging of the waves, heads began to emerge from the surface of the sea—it was the diving unit.

"Reporting to Admiral Sengoku, the official ship has been completely destroyed. Most of the wreckage has been scattered by the currents; we could not find any significant remains."

"However, it is certain that the hull was destroyed in an extremely short amount of time. The shells and gunpowder stored in the hold were ignited, triggering a massive fire and subsequent explosion."

A member of the diving unit, dragging his sodden body, quickly climbed onto the warship and saluted Sengoku to deliver his report.

So, it really came to this?

Sengoku's heart sank.

Although he had already guessed this would be the outcome based on the traces left on the sea, one always harbors a sliver of hope.

Sengoku frowned and looked toward the CP0 agent standing silently to the side.

"What about the surveillance Den Den Mushi on the official ship?"

"If I recall correctly, according to standard regulations, all World Government official ships are equipped with surveillance Den Den Mushi to ensure the personal safety of the Celestial Dragons."

The CP0 agent pondered for a second without speaking, then simply turned and walked toward the cabin.

Sengoku was stunned for a moment, instantly realizing the implications, and quickly followed.

Once they entered the cabin and closed the door, ensuring no one else was around, the CP0 agent slowly pulled an image-projecting Den Den Mushi from his robes and placed it on the table.

"The official ship was indeed equipped with surveillance Den Den Mushi."

"Under normal circumstances, anyone who boards the ship is captured in the Den Den Mushi's surveillance footage immediately."

The CP0 agent spoke in a low voice, his eerie, patterned mask staring hollowly at Sengoku, which made the latter feel an inexplicable sense of discomfort.

"This is the live recording from that time."

Sengoku instinctively reached out, intending to activate the Den Den Mushi to play the footage.

The CP0 agent suddenly stepped forward, pinning Sengoku's hand down, and said coldly:

"This footage involves the privacy of the World Government and the World Nobles. Regardless of what you see, it must not be leaked."

Sengoku glanced at him.

"I am well aware of that."

Only then did the CP0 agent withdraw his white-gloved hand.

As the projection from the Den Den Mushi activated, a dim, pale light filled the dark cabin.

Several surveillance feeds from different angles appeared before Sengoku's eyes simultaneously.

The first thing to come into view was a harbor shaped like a white crescent; due to the clearing of the area, the once-bustling port appeared desolate.

The sky in the background was a hazy gray, with heavy snow falling, casting a bleak and sorrowful atmosphere.

From one of the surveillance feeds, Sengoku saw several CP1 members in black suits carrying heavy crates into the main cabin.

Immediately following them, Saint Childers, the Celestial Dragon wearing his glass bubble helmet, strutted onto the official ship with an arrogant air, escorted by several CP1 agents.

The sails on the ship's mast snapped and billowed, catching the sea breeze as the vessel pulled out of the harbor.

Across the various angles of the surveillance footage, Sengoku watched.

He saw a young girl with eyes red from crying, her hands and feet shackled, being roughly dragged into a separate cabin by CP members, where she curled up in a dark corner, desperate and helpless.

He saw the CP1 members on deck, looking relaxed, smoking and joking with one another.

He saw the mountains of gold and treasure piled up in the main cabin.

He saw the Celestial Dragon, accompanied by the music of a saxophone, torturing a woman with a long whip while dancing in a state of manic excitement.

In these few short frames, he witnessed both heaven and hell on earth.

Extravagance and bloody cruelty, Glittering splendor and icy despair, Separated by nothing more than a single wall.

The starkly contrasting images were presented to Sengoku all at once.

He did not notice that his fists had clenched tightly at some point.

Suddenly, the surveillance footage froze, then dissolved into a screen of static.

Sengoku stood frozen in shock.

"What about the rest of the surveillance footage?"

He finally regained his composure, took a deep breath to suppress the discomfort in his heart, and asked in a stiff tone.

A hoarse, chilling voice emanated coldly from beneath the CP0 mask:

"This is all the surveillance footage."

"The signals from the Den Den Mushi monitoring the government ship were cut off in a single instant, and the image vanished completely along with them."

Sengoku's heart skipped a beat, and he blurted out:

"You mean to say that in less than a second, the entire government ship was sunk and everyone on board was killed?"

The moment the words left his lips, even he found them hard to believe.

Given the extensive distribution of surveillance Den Den Mushi on a World Government ship, the possibility of anyone infiltrating it was completely eliminated.

Even if someone dared to lay a hand on the Celestial Dragons, they would still have to face the obstruction of the CP members on board.

Although CP1 was primarily responsible for intelligence gathering and analysis within the CP hierarchy, they were, after all, elites trained specifically by the government; if nothing else, every one of them possessed combat power not inferior to a field-grade officer of the Marine Headquarters.

With them standing in the way, no matter what, the surveillance Den Den Mushi should have at least captured the attacker's face or silhouette.

Yet, the footage before him cut off in an instant.

With Sengoku's breadth of experience, he could only think of one reason that could cause such a result.

--Before anyone could even react, the attacker, from a distance beyond the recording range of the Den Den Mushi... destroyed the entire government ship in a single moment.

The CP0 did not speak.

But silence was the best answer.

Sengoku's eyes immediately turned incredibly gloomy and grave.

"Someone capable of such strength..."

He crossed his arms, his brows furrowed deeply, and fell into contemplation.

Destroying an entire ship in an instant... and an attack from a distance...

There were not many people on this sea capable of such a feat, though they were not exactly rare either.

At the very least, by the standards of Marine combat power, even a Headquarters Vice Admiral could not do this easily.

In a flash, a series of thunderous names and fearsome, domineering faces flickered rapidly through Sengoku's mind.

"According to our CP department's analysis of the remaining wreckage of the government ship... the ability used by the attacker was not swordsmanship."

At this moment, the CP0 suddenly spoke up.

So, the possibility of a master swordsman acting was ruled out?

Sengoku was slightly stunned, but then he shook his head.

"That doesn't settle the matter. Long-range slashes could indeed achieve this, but powerhouses of that level generally possess a variety of different attack methods."

"Whitebeard and Golden Lion are the best examples."

As if remembering something, he took out a Military Den Den Mushi and dialed the Headquarters' communication line.

In less than three seconds, the connection was established.

Sengoku spoke into the Den Den Mushi with a serious expression:

"Hello, Tsuru, this is Sengoku."

"Yes... I am investigating the attack on the World Nobles. Help me check the movements of Whitebeard, Roger, and Golden Lion over the last three days."

"What? You say none of them have appeared in the North Blue in the last three days?"

Sengoku was silent for a moment.

"Alright, I understand. Thank you, Tsuru."

He put away the Den Den Mushi and began pacing back and forth in the dim cabin, muttering to himself:

"It wasn't those guys?"

"Then... analyzing the situation at the scene, the possibility of someone attacking the Celestial Dragons, and so on... the most likely attacker... should be..."

Sengoku's stern expression suddenly turned somewhat strange.

"Byrnndi World?"

A long-range attack that instantly destroyed a large government ship;

Cruel, ferocious, and acting recklessly against the World Government and the Celestial Dragons;

The location happened to be in the North Blue...

If the timing of the incident hadn't coincided exactly with his own operation to hunt down Byrnndi World, Sengoku would have already been certain that the "World Destroyer" Byrnndi World was the attacker.

Has the trail gone cold again?

Sengoku rubbed his temples.

At this moment, Knock, knock, knock...

The sound of knocking rang out abruptly.

Sengoku froze, using his Observation Haki to sense who it was, confirming that it was Borsalino at the door.

He hesitated for a moment, switched off the visual Den Den Mushi, and replied.

"Come in."

Borsalino pushed the door open and entered.

"Admiral Sengoku, I might have guessed who attacked the Celestial Dragons' official ship..."

He strolled into the cabin at a leisurely pace.

The CP0 agent raised an eyebrow.

Sengoku's eyes lit up upon hearing this.

"What are your thoughts?"

Borsalino wore a beaming smile, puffed out his chest, and said with a straight face:

"Sea Kings."

He held his head high, looking incredibly proud of himself.

Sengoku: ...

CP0: ...

The next second, Sengoku's thunderous roar erupted from the cabin, shaking the entire warship.

"Get out of here, you bastard!!"

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Seeking all forms of support, I am eternally grateful.