Agreeing to the Deal

Natsu remained silent for a moment.

Then he reached out and firmly grasped the Whitebeard's arm.

The light from the Flying Thunder God suddenly exploded on the deck, and silvery-white spatial ripples spread outwards like waves, engulfing the two figures.

The next second, all that remained on the deck was the still slightly rippling spatial aftershocks and a group of dumbfounded Division Commander.

Jozu stared, mouth agape, at the empty deck, then at Marco, his expression as if trying to confirm whether what he had just witnessed was some kind of collective hallucination.

Vista reacted the fastest, simply shaking his head slightly with a wry smile that was hard to decipher, whether it was helplessness or admiration.

Marco walked to where his Pops had been squatting, bent down and touched the newly engraved Flying Thunder God Formula on the deck. When his fingertips touched the cold engraving, his expression was both relieved and relieved.

"Turn around, head to Sabaody." He straightened up, brushed non-existent dust from his knees, and ordered the navigator behind him.

"The entire fleet, target Sabaody Archipelago. We must arrive within one day."

Then he looked towards the West Blue, the flames of the Phoenix flickering eerily in his eyes. "Pops, don't keep us waiting too long."

As the light of the Flying Thunder God Technique exploded on the stone brick ground in front of the Naka Shrine, Uchiha Setsuna was leading the patrol team to change shifts.

Before the silvery-white spatial ripples had even dissipated, more than a dozen Uchiha ninjas reacted in the same instant— their Sharingan were activated simultaneously, their Kunai drawn, and their fingers Hand Seals so fast that they were just afterimages.

Without a command or hesitation, more than a dozen streams of dark red Chakra surged from their palms at the same instant, connecting to form a surging curtain of fire that completely enveloped the tall figure that had suddenly appeared in front of the shrine.

The Uchiha Flame Formation is one of the core Barrier Ninjutsu in the clan's defensive system.

Just Setsuna the fire array was about to close, Setsuna caught a glimpse of the shorter figure inside the flame barrier.

A greyish-white robe, black hair, and scarlet Sharingan.

"Stop! It's Lord Natsu Yin!" He suddenly raised his hand, and more than a dozen ninjas simultaneously flipped their hand seals. The surging fire curtain was abruptly frozen less than three meters from the target, and then silently dissipated like the receding tide.

Natsu Setsuna nodded briefly, as if to say hello.

Uchiha Setsuna then shifted his gaze to the enormous shadow behind Natsu, which required him to tilt his head back to see its entirety, and his pupils contracted slightly.

He recognized the face.

Whitebeard, Edward Newgate, the World's Strongest Man.

Captain of the Moby Dick, the top of the Four Emperors, a legendary pirate with a bounty even higher than that of Natsu.

Newgate didn't say anything.

His gaze slowly swept over the dozen or so Uchiha clansmen in front of him who were sheathing their swords, over the Red-and-White Fan emblems embroidered on their chests, and over the crimson light that had not yet completely faded from their eyes.

Every single one of these people—not just a few, but every single one—gave him the impression that they were at least on par with the great pirates with bounties of hundreds of millions of Beli in the latter half of the Grand Line.

Individually, he's not quite as good as the Division Commander on his ship, but the difference isn't huge. If it really came down to a fight, his Division Commander would have to put in a lot of effort to defeat him.

The towering barrier of flames that shot into the sky when they simultaneously formed their formation allowed his Observation Haki to catch a glimpse of a long-lost chill for a fleeting moment.

The fact that he could sense danger meant that if the barrier were fully deployed, it could at least trap an opponent of Marco's Yonko Commander Level.

A dozen or so people. Just a dozen or so people on patrol and changing shifts.

Newgate suddenly understood why the Navy had lost four thousand elite troops at Origin Island.

He had seen countless forces in his life—the remnants of the Rocks Pirates, the former Roger Pirates, the fleets of the Four Emperors, and the elite of the Navy.

But he had never seen a place where so many elite troops could be deployed so casually, like sentries at his doorstep. This wasn't a family; it was an arsenal.

Natsu didn't give Newgate much time to reflect.

"Let's go, the lab is in the shrine's basement." He said, then walked towards the shrine's main hall, stopping briefly as he passed Setsuna.

"Notify Drake Vallen to come to the lab immediately and have him bring all the documents related to the Hashirama Cells transplantation protocol."

This is Whitebeard Newgate.

He agreed to undergo the Hashirama Cells transplant surgery as one of the core conditions for the alliance between the Uchiha and the Whitebeard Pirates.

He paused, then added, "Also, send someone to invite Clan Chief Fugaku to the laboratory."

His eyebrows nearly flew off his forehead in Setsuna, but he didn't ask any questions. He simply responded crisply and turned to relay the order.

Newgate bent down and took the Murakumogiri from the weapon rack at the shrine entrance. He glanced at the height of the gate and silently placed the sword outside.

The image of him crouching down to barely squeeze in is still vivid in my mind. If that Supreme Grade Blade had been brought in horizontally, it would probably have chipped several notches in the door frame.

In the laboratory beneath the shrine, the alloy door slowly slid open.

Drake Vallen was already waiting at the lab bench, with neatly stacked data files for the Hashirama Cells transplantation protocol in front of him.

When he looked up and saw the Whitebeard squeezing through the door behind Natsu, he almost dropped the petri dish in his hand. His expression swung back and forth between "My God, it really is Whitebeard" and "Calm down, you're a professional scientist" several times over.

Finally, she spoke in a slightly trembling voice, "I have prepared the experimental subject data collection form. If it is convenient, please conduct a complete physical fitness test first."

Drake Vallen stood in front of the lab table, his hands trembling slightly.

It wasn't nervousness, it was excitement.

The body before him belonged to Edward Newgate — the World's Strongest Man, Whitebeard.

He spent half his life in the North Blue doing genetic engineering, and his experimental subjects were either lab rats or ordinary soldiers. The most extravagant thing he ever did was to use discarded test subjects from the Vinsmoke Family.

And now, a living Four Emperors is lying on the experimental table, waiting for him to perform the transplant surgery.

He took a deep breath, clearing his mind of those chaotic thoughts, then grabbed the test report on the table and flipped through it again from beginning to end.

All indicators are within the expected range. The transplant plan has been simulated no less than twenty times, and at least two contingency plans have been prepared for each possible rejection reaction.

He drew a faint line next to the signature bar on the last page of the proposal with the tip of his pen, as if drawing a starting line for himself.

"Let's begin," he said.