Blackbeard, kneeling before Staff Officer Tsuru, proved himself a formidable schemer who knew when to bend and when to stand tall. He merely gave a few sheepish chuckles.
"...Zehahaha... This was an accident."
Haki began surging through Blackbeard as he tried to dispel this "ability effect," but it had little success.
Bioelectric interference with the nervous system was a "consequence caused by an ability," rather than "the effect of the ability itself."
That meant Haki could not directly undo it.
Defending with Haki beforehand, however, was perfectly possible, and it was even somewhat easier to defend against than an "ability effect."
That left Blackbeard in a rather awkward position.
For a few seconds, the scene seemed frozen in place.
Cold sweat ran down the back of Blackbeard's head. At last, sensation gradually returned to his limbs, and he immediately rolled across the floor and scrambled up in a decidedly undignified manner.
"Enough. Whatever trouble you were causing earlier, now..."
Tsuru swept her gaze around the round table.
There was the aloof Hawk-Eye and the irreverent Flashlight.
Kuma remained silent, like a statue.
Blackbeard slunk over to a chair and sat down.
"I hope you can all at least cooperate 'appropriately.'"
Tsuru sat opposite the Shichibukai, her hands folded on the tabletop.
She had said "appropriately," not "wholeheartedly." She knew perfectly well that getting the Shichibukai to show up and do anything was already good enough.
The other four vice admirals took their seats on either side of her, forming a nominal opposition to the Shichibukai present.
"What about the other three?"
Hawk-Eye's tone was cold, though hardly malicious.
Staff Officer Tsuru glanced at him, her gaze calm.
"Hancock accepted the summons. She said she dislikes meetings and will arrive later."
Tsuru knew the details of that as well.
The Empress's