The Changing of the Guard

Drake had been feeling deeply frustrated lately. He had finally climbed to a fairly high position in Kaido's Beast Pirates, only for Rune to suddenly appear before him and knock him senseless with a single punch.

Then he had been locked up in a Marine base.

Thanks to his status in the special forces, he had not been sent to Impel Down. But there was no way he could return to Kaido's pirate crew now.

Years of Drake's efforts had essentially gone to waste. How could he not be furious?

"Rune left the Whitebeard Pirates?"

Rune's Dream Pirates had yet to make much of a name for themselves on the seas, but news of his departure from the Whitebeard Pirates had spread.

"If that's the case, perhaps there's a chance to arrest him..."

Thinking this, Drake planned to find an opportunity to return to the New World and avenge this humiliation.

"Oh? Aokiji became Fleet Admiral."

Rune looked at the newspaper drifting down from the sky, somewhat surprised. Sengoku had retired from the Marines, and Aokiji had taken his place as the new Fleet Admiral.

Akainu had been demoted to Vice Admiral at Headquarters.

Meanwhile, Momousagi had filled the vacant Admiral position.

That did surprise Rune a little. He had thought Green Bull would take that position instead. It seemed that, at this point in time, Green Bull was not as eager as Fujitora to join the Marines.

If Aokiji became Fleet Admiral, perhaps things would be a little better than if Akainu had taken the role. Still, as Fleet Admiral, he would learn far more than he had as an Admiral.

Given Aokiji's personality—

Either he would be unable to tolerate the current Marine leadership and the Celestial Dragons and simply walk away, or he would endure the humiliation and use his position to secure some protection for those who needed it.

No matter what, it would be better than having Akainu as Fleet Admiral.

"Why does it feel like your attitude toward Aokiji is completely different from how you treated Akainu?"

Tashigi sat beside Rune, reading the newspaper with him. She had not contacted the Marines for quite some time. Even something as major as the change in Fleet Admiral had reached her through the newspaper.

"Aokiji and Akainu are different kinds of people. I don't like Akainu's methods, but Aokiji... I have a pretty good impression of him."

Rune smiled faintly. "At least he wouldn't bombard a civilian evacuation ship."

Tashigi had nothing to say. She had learned many things from Rune that she had never known before. The longer she stayed aboard his ship, the more she doubted whether the "justice" upheld by the Marines was truly right.

"But that has nothing to do with us. We should think about where to find a reliable ship's doctor."

Rune wanted to recruit Trafalgar Law, but he had killed Blackbeard and changed the course of the world. He had no idea what kind of future Trafalgar Law would encounter this time.

Perhaps he could visit Dressrosa after some time had passed. Maybe he would get the chance to recruit him there. Even if not, the odds of finding a reliable ship's doctor there were not low.

"Finding someone with superb medical skills who also isn't weak is too difficult."

Tashigi shook her head. "Even if such a person exists, they might not be willing to board our ship."

"Oh? You're already saying 'our' now?"

"Your ship! Happy now?"

Tashigi glared at Rune. Ever since he had realized that she agreed more with his justice, he had teased her at every opportunity. Yet Tashigi had no way to refute him. After all, Rune had never really done anything bad.

Of course, according to the Marines, Rune was a former Whitebeard Pirate, a heinous criminal who had killed Kuma, defeated Akainu, and massacred islanders. But Tashigi had been following Rune all along and knew exactly what the truth behind those supposed crimes was.

That only made Tashigi doubt even more whether those deemed villains by the Marines were truly villains.

"Hey, it was just a joke. Don't be mad."

Rune stood and lightly patted Tashigi's shoulder. Ignoring her pretty face puffed up with anger like a little bun, he went down to the lower deck and looked at Shirahoshi, who was diligently training with Yamato.

Shirahoshi had improved quite quickly over the past few days. She had already gained an initial grasp of Armament Haki and Observation Haki. Still, she needed more time before she could use them proficiently.

Shirahoshi was also becoming more and more like a pirate of the New World. For a pirate in the New World, if you did not even know Haki—

You would be embarrassed to call yourself a New World pirate.

"Rune, there's an island about fifteen nautical miles ahead. Let's dock there and resupply."

Kuma's voice came from nearby. Until they found a dedicated navigator, Kuma was serving as the ship's temporary navigator.

"Sure. Yamato, Tashigi, and I will go ashore. Kuma, Bonney, and Shirahoshi, stay aboard and protect the Dream."

Rune quickly assigned everyone's tasks, then headed up to the deck. The Dream sailed quickly, so fifteen nautical miles would not take long.

Before long, Rune and Yamato landed steadily on the beach by the island's shore. Tashigi was a little slower, but nothing went wrong.

Tashigi often sparred with Rune these days. Though she was always the one getting beaten up, her strength had improved quite rapidly.

"The town on this island looks abandoned. Let's take a look and see whether there's anything useful we can bring back."

With Rune's Observation Haki, he could not sense a single person on the island. Either there was no one here at all, or someone with Observation Haki far stronger than his was present.

But the latter was unlikely. Rune's Observation Haki was not as powerful as his Conqueror's Haki, but it had still reached a respectable level.

It was probably somewhere between Luffy's and Katakuri's two years from now.

The three arrived at the abandoned town together, and Rune discovered that it had already become ruins. Mushrooms had even begun growing amid the wreckage.

Perhaps because it had been abandoned for so long, there was not much stench of decay. Still, the air was thick with rot.

"This place... it looks like the town was destroyed because two pirate crews fought each other."

Tashigi followed beside Rune, examining their surroundings. Among the many broken white bones on the ground, weapons were embedded everywhere.

There were no flags, but some pirate clothing remained. It was only as the three ventured deeper into town that they saw what had truly destroyed it.

"Heh. The Marines."

Rune glanced at Tashigi and looked at the enormous shell casing bearing the Marine emblem. It seemed to have been a massive poison gas shell, fired into the center of the town.

Neither the pirates who had been fighting nor the civilians living here had escaped from the island.

Tashigi's face reddened slightly. By now, she was no longer as sensitive whenever Rune mocked the Marines. After all, she had already witnessed quite a few of the ugly things happening within the organization.

"Rune, there's a hidden door here."

Yamato suddenly spotted something and turned to wave Rune over.