The Furious Vice Admiral Momonga, the Astonished Van Augur

The man leading them had only made two moves—one Water Release to block the cannonball, and one kick to cripple Kuro—but Van Augur could clearly tell that this man's strength had likely already reached the threshold of a Marine Headquarters vice admiral!

How could such a group of monsters suddenly appear in the Four Blues?!

Van Augur's mind raced, his heart pounding wildly in his chest. What kind of place was the West Blue?

It was the most chaotic of the Four Blues, yet also the sea with the greatest lack of top-tier fighters. A Headquarters captain-level combatant could already run rampant here, while pirates with bounties exceeding one hundred million were few and far between.

Yet now, in this desolate, uncharted sea with no fixed routes, more than a dozen elites had suddenly appeared, each at least Headquarters captain level, along with a leader at Vice Admiral Level?

It was utter nonsense!

His gaze swept over the red-and-white fan clan crests embroidered on the backs of those black-clad figures in his scope, and his brow furrowed tightly.

He had roamed the seas for many years, leaving his footprints across the Four Blues and the first half of the Grand Line. He had seen the emblems of countless pirate crews, gangs, and the Revolutionary Army, yet he had never seen this strange fan insignia.

These people seemed as if they had sprung out of thin air. There was no intelligence, no rumors. They had silently hidden in this uninhabited sea for an entire year.

Those pirate ships, slave ships, and even Marine patrol vessels that had vanished one after another... it had never been sea monsters or gang conflicts. It had all been done by this group!

Who exactly were they? What was their purpose in hiding in this isolated wasteland of a sea?

As Van Augur pondered this, the black-clad man at the head of the group suddenly raised his head in the scope. His scarlet pupils swept toward Van Augur's hiding place without warning.

Even across three nautical miles of sea, even with reefs and morning mist concealing him, that gaze still fell precisely upon him like an ice-tempered blade.

Van Augur's breathing stopped instantly, and the blood throughout his body seemed to freeze at that very moment.

Almost instinctively, he held back every trace of his presence and pressed himself flat against the deck, not daring to move even a finger.

He was one of the world's greatest snipers, and hiding his tracks was what he did best. Yet the instant that gaze swept over him, he clearly felt that he had been seen through completely.

Only after more than ten seconds, when the man withdrew his gaze and turned to order his subordinates to bind the captives and inventory the ships' supplies, did Van Augur slowly unclench his fist. His clothes were already soaked through with cold sweat, sticking to his skin.

He did not dare linger for even half a second longer.

These people's perception was more terrifying than that of any Observation Haki expert he had ever encountered. If he stayed any longer, he would definitely be exposed.

Van Augur carefully put away Senriku. Using the shadows of the reefs, he silently rowed his small sailboat away. Like a swimming fish, it slipped noiselessly deeper into the reef zone. Only after he had completely left the range of their perception did he abruptly raise the sail, turn the bow around, and race madly toward the isolated island where the Blackbeard Pirates were hiding.

The sea wind made the sails flap loudly. Standing at the bow, Van Augur's eyes still held lingering shock and wariness.

He had to tell the captain this earth-shattering intelligence, enough to overturn the entire balance of the West Blue, immediately.

What lay hidden in this seemingly tranquil, uninhabited sea was not some mysterious force at all, but a group of unprecedented monsters capable of tearing apart the entire order of the West Blue.

At West Blue 74th Branch, the air in the combat conference room was cold enough to freeze.

Vice Admiral Momonga wore a crisp Marine coat of justice, the stars on his epaulets glinting coldly beneath the pallid lights. Sitting at the head of the table, he gripped a thick stack of documents in his fingers, his knuckles turning pale from the force.

The long table before him was covered with disappearance reports from his jurisdiction over the past year. Yet no matter how many times he flipped through them, there was nothing beyond a long list of cold ship names, disappearance times, and last-known coordinates. The enemy's numbers, abilities, base, and motives were all blank.

"An entire year."

Momonga slammed the report in his hand onto the table. The dull boom made Colonel Rolf, standing across from him, shudder from head to toe. He lowered his head even further, cold sweat running down his cheeks as he did not dare breathe too loudly.

"Nearly a hundred ships have vanished into thin air in your jurisdiction. Even two standard Marine patrol vessels have been lost. And the request for reinforcements you submitted to Headquarters contains nothing but these lists, which are worth less than waste paper?

Who are they? How many people do they have? Are they Devil Fruit users, or some other force? You haven't uncovered even the slightest clue?"

Rolf opened his mouth, his voice dry as sandpaper scraping. "Vice Admiral, we have searched the surrounding waters no fewer than ten times, but those ships seem to have vanished into thin air. We couldn't find even a single plank or corpse.

Any patrol team we sent out that got close to that core area never returned. We... we simply can't find any trace of them."

Momonga closed his eyes, suppressing the surging fury in his heart.

Of course he knew that most colonels in these West Blue local branches could only handle ordinary pirates with bounties below ten million. When faced with an unknown force this bizarre and powerful, they had no ability to fight back at all.

Continuing to berate them would not change the current situation.

He opened his eyes again and heavily tapped the sea map, where the core disappearance zone had been marked with a red circle. His voice was steady, carrying an unquestionable command. "From this moment on, all branch patrol teams will pull back their lines. Guard Laskamp Island and the surrounding ports.

Tomorrow morning, I will take two Headquarters main warships and personally make a trip to those waters.

I want to see exactly what kind of monsters have dared to hide under the Marines' noses for an entire year."

At the same time, on the uninhabited island where the Blackbeard Pirates were hiding, the morning mist had long since dispersed, and the noon sun had heated the reefs until they burned.

Van Augur's small sailboat slipped silently into the sheltered bay like a black shadow.

He practically stumbled as he jumped off the boat. Without even having time to put away his beloved rifle, he strode quickly toward the campfire, his face carrying a gravity never seen before.

Teach, who had been guzzling from a barrel of liquor, looked up at him. He set the barrel down and raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Van Augur, looking at that expression, did you find something interesting? Zehahaha! Don't tell me there really are some trash daring to play tricks in the West Blue?"