Fate's Correction?

"I'll set out as soon as possible. Search the coast immediately, and report anything unusual at once!"

Upon receiving news of pirate activity, Vice Admiral Tsuru, who had been lying in wait on Swallow Island, decided to act ahead of schedule and led two warships toward Minion Island.

Not only that, she ordered part of the Marines aboard the surveillance ship to go ashore and confirm the situation.

But she did not know that Vergo, the Donquixote Family's mole within the Marines, was aboard that surveillance ship.

He had originally been stationed at G-5 Base in the New World. From there to Minion Island in the North Blue, all he had to do was cross the Calm Belt, so the distance was not great.

Because the Op-Op Fruit transaction was too important, Marine Headquarters had chosen to deploy nearby elites in order to prepare as quickly as possible, and he happened to be sent over.

The moment Tsuru's Marines moved, Doflamingo, who intended to steal from the thieves, immediately received word.

The Donquixote Family's ship had already arrived at Minion Island, so he decided to make his move early as well.

"Find that lucky bastard first and get the Op-Op Fruit!"

With an arrogant swagger, Doflamingo led a group of officers and elite fighters onto Minion Island.

The slaughter began on the eastern coast and rapidly advanced toward the town in the center of the island.

Meanwhile, Van and the other three reached the southwestern coast and found a crooked tree by the cliff.

"What's going on? Where's my boat?"

Rosinante stuck his head out to look below, and his expression grew increasingly grim.

Van had a bad feeling and frowned. "Did you remember wrong?"

"There's no way! It was that tree down there. When I docked, I clearly wrapped the rope around it several times." Rosinante stared out at the sea ahead. "The tree's still there, so how could the boat have drifted away?"

Law had woken up on the way and spoke up as well. "Mr. Cora isn't lying. I remember this place too."

Drake grew anxious and could not help complaining, "You only wrapped it around a few times? That's way too unreliable."

"I was in too much of a hurry. I didn't think that much about it."

Rosinante apologized sheepishly, then picked Law up again and turned his gaze toward Van.

"Now that we don't have a boat, the only way to leave this place is to ask the Marines for help."

"I can keep your secret. Once we reach somewhere safe, you can treat Law's illness. How about it?"

Afraid that Van would refuse, he raised his right hand after speaking and swore with a solemn expression.

So it really wasn't going to be that easy to escape... But was this the world's timeline forcibly correcting itself, or just an accident?

Faced with the boat's inexplicable disappearance, Van could not stop his thoughts from running wild.

In the original story, Law was supposed to eat the Op-Op Fruit, Drake would be rescued by the Marines, and Rosinante would die here.

Now, because of his appearance, all three of their fates had begun to change. Yet with the slightest misstep, everything seemed capable of returning to its original course.

Changing someone else's fate meant bearing the corresponding consequences. This reward would not be easy to earn.

Van took a deep breath and said gravely, "Vergo, the Donquixote Family's first Corazon, is a Marine aboard the surveillance ship. You need to contact Sengoku immediately and have him arrange for other Marines to come pick us up."

"What?"

Rosinante was startled at first, then suddenly understood. "So that was the secret mission Vergo left the family to carry out back then... infiltrating the Marines as a mole."

"You're not much better. Hurry up and make the call!"

Van reached over, snatched Law from Rosinante's arms, and ran toward the western coast.

"That guy's a Marine?" Drake ran after him and asked, "And who is this kid?"

"A pitiful child. There's no time to treat his illness for now. Let's hope we can escape safely."

After thinking for a moment, Van handed Law to Drake again and instructed him, "If anything happens, don't hesitate. Just take him aboard the ship and go to Swallow Island to wait for me."

"I understand." Drake nodded heavily.

"Wait for me!"

As Rosinante ran, he took out a Den Den Mushi and contacted Sengoku.

Just then, the sky changed. Countless white threads shot into the air, weaving into a massive hemisphere that completely enveloped the entire town.

Those threads were tougher than steel. The people inside were like birds trapped in a birdcage, robbed of their freedom.

Even more terrifyingly, the threads could control their bodies, making them slaughter one another while they remained fully conscious.

"Luckily, Minion Island is large enough. With his current strength, he can't seal off the entire island. Otherwise, our location would be exposed soon."

Van withdrew his gaze and urged, "Run faster!"

Drake was utterly confused and could not help asking, "What is that?"

"Doflamingo is here. That should be his ability. The pirates trapped inside will probably all die."

Rosinante explained with a grave expression. Just then, the Den Den Mushi connected, and he quickly explained the situation to Sengoku.

To keep his promise of preserving the secret, he lied that Doflamingo had massacred the pirates on the island because he had obtained the Op-Op Fruit and wanted to eliminate witnesses.

He also said that his undercover identity had been exposed, that he had discovered Vergo's identity as a mole, and that he urgently needed reinforcements.

In short, there was only one message: they had to escape by ship immediately, or Sengoku would be collecting his corpse.

"Vergo... I nearly made a terrible mistake!"

On the other end of the Den Den Mushi, Sengoku was both shocked and furious.

Because half a year ago, he had been the one to approve Vergo's request to be transferred to G-5 Base.

Wanting to promote young talent, Sengoku had personally signed the transfer order for this operation as well, specifically naming Vergo to participate.

I let you earn merit, and you repay me by killing my son to earn it?

In his fury, Sengoku agreed to Rosinante's request and warned him to be extremely careful.

"Done! Once we get there, we can leave by ship. We'll leave the rest to Vice Admiral Tsuru."

Rosinante was delighted and moved to take Law back from Drake, but Van suddenly stopped.

A mushroom-haired Marine with food scraps at the corner of his mouth appeared ahead of them. It was Vergo, the very person they had just mentioned.

He had shown no reaction at first, but the instant he spotted Rosinante, his gaze turned sharp.

"Dark Sin... The third fate anchor must be referring to Vergo, right?"

Van lowered his palm, ready to activate his ability. Drake sensed that something was wrong as well and tightened his hold on Law.

"If we expose his identity as a mole now, we'll be in danger. What should we do?"

Rosinante's scalp tingled as he wondered whether he should take the initiative to greet him.

But to Vergo, Rosinante's silence meant that he was pretending they did not know each other.

"Are you civilians who were kidnapped by pirates?"

Hearing Vergo's words, Van and the other three exchanged glances, all of them somewhat stunned.

Could something this good really happen?

Rosinante quickly gestured with his hands. "Yes! Those pirates suddenly started fighting among themselves, and we escaped in the chaos."

During his time undercover in the Donquixote Family, he had always pretended to be mute, so he did not speak now.