The Great Angel Didn't Deserve This

Sephiroth walked along the main street toward the center of the island. His Cowboy Hat was pulled low. The roadside stalls grew denser, and the crowds became more and more congested.

A large stage had been erected in front, with an overlaid backdrop displaying the words "Pirate Expo Beauty Pageant".

The audience seats were packed with people, both men and women, and shouts rose and fell.

Sephiroth saw a few acquaintances and stopped at the edge of the crowd.

In the front row of the audience, two heads stood out. Urouge's tall figure completely blocked the view from the back row, and next to him was Shiryu, who was only slightly shorter, with Cigar smoke drifting from the corner of his mouth.

"That won't do, she's too thin."

"This humble monk thinks that the lady in the green dress is very kind."

"You have bad taste. That woman in red over there is quite nice."

"This humble monk thinks... that's too old."

Although Urouge possessed a considerable level of Buddhist knowledge, as a monk who had broken precepts, he had violated the precepts against sexual misconduct, killing, and consuming alcohol and meat.

In his original destiny, Shiryu obtained the Clear-Clear Fruit... Someone asked Oda about this in an SBS. Oda replied that Shiryu also spied on others. So he's a bit of a repressed pervert.

Now, these two have become 'best buddies' in a way.

The two continued their discussion as if no one else was around. The Pirates around them recognized them, their expressions complex. Some were eager to approach and strike up a conversation, while others subconsciously took a few steps back— Road Island's reputation in the Pirates world was currently quite delicate.

The main concern is that they might cause trouble. At the Pirate Expo, apart from the 'competitions,' fighting is not allowed. This isn't an explicit rule, but rather an unspoken consensus to facilitate everyone's enjoyment of the event.

Sephiroth glanced to the side again. Behind a pillar not far away, Sanji was peeking out at the stage, while Gin leaned against the pillar, expressionless.

The host on stage was introducing the contestants, but in addition to all kinds of beautiful women, some relatively common Demi-Human Species, and even ladyboys, had also mixed in.

Sanji's gaze swept over a cross-dresser dressed in fishnet clothing and with a rough, masculine appearance. The man visibly stiffened, almost dropping the cigarette in his hand.

Even though the 'present' Sanji, because of the change in fate, has never been to 'Kamabakka Kingdom,' he still feels a chill of instinct.

Gin moved half a step to the side, giving Sanji more space.

Just then, a scream erupted from the audience.

Cavendish emerged from the side curtain, wearing a white cape, blond curls, and his signature fur-trimmed Cowboy Hat.

He smiled at the audience, and most of the female spectators fainted on the spot, while the rest screamed with joy. Even some male Pirates couldn't help but take a second look.

Sanji was completely devastated.

"What?! You're on stage too?!"

He pointed at Cavendish.

Cavendish tilted his head, a smug smile playing on his lips.

"Oh, who are you?"

"You're just a pretty face--!"

Since the 'Whitebeard Civil War', Cavendish and the Straw Hat Pirates have become more like close friends who are constantly bickering.

The scene was chaotic because many women fainted from excitement. Sanji, out of jealousy, was playfully fighting with Cavendish.

Sephiroth shook his head, stepped back from the edge of the crowd, and continued walking towards the center of the island.

A quick scan with his Mantra detection revealed that the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates were also nearby.

Zoro and Helmeppo were browsing and selecting weapons at the weapon stall.

Souvenir stall. Luffy squats on the ground, in front of him is a pile of strange local products—dolls that look like baby Sea Kings, glowing stones, and seashells that are said to bring good luck.

Usopp was haggling with a vendor, Chopper was holding a cotton candy taller than himself, Franky was trying on a mechanical-style Cowboy Hat, and Jango was fiddling with an ocarina.

They seem quite immersed in the celebration.

... at this time.

Around the lake at the Main Venue, a large number of Pirates were making a ruckus in the stands.

On the three rivers outside the lake, a large number of Pirates ships are converging on the lake.

One of the giant ships, flying the Whitebeard flag, was particularly eye-catching. Its prow was shaped like a white whale, and the flag on its mast was unfurled in the wind.

The surrounding ships instinctively made way for them. Even though Whitebeard was gone, the weight of that flag remained.

Even a starved Camel is bigger than a horse, and the current 'Iron Fist Ace', even if not recognized by the mainstream as a 'Emperor of the Sea', is still considered very strong in the 'Emperor's Right Hand' category.

Ace stood on the bow deck, his hands resting on the railing, looking at the surrounding fleet. The captain of the Fifth Division, Flower Sword Vista, stood beside him, his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Ace glanced around, then spoke to Vista with a hint of self-deprecation.

"It seems that not many people from the other Four Emperors' Crews have come."

He noticed that only some ordinary Mid-Level Officer from the Beasts Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates had come, while no one from Red-Haired' side had shown up at all.

Although they are called the Four Emperors, there is currently no fourth person on the sea who is qualified to be the Emperor of the Sea. Ace himself can only be considered half an Emperor, and he is not widely recognized.

Vista patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't be blinded by temporary fame, Ace. You're still very young."

Ace paused for a moment. Just as he was about to say something, the Broadcast system above the lake blared.

"Fellow Pirates--! Are you having fun at the Pirate Expo--!!"

A deafening roar of cheers erupted from the audience. Ace looked up at the podium.

"I think you all know that at our Pirate Expo, stealing, robbing, and cheating are all allowed without restraint. However, there is only one rule that cannot be broken—"

The Broadcast paused for a moment.

"That means the Navy mustn't find out about this celebration! Any snitch will be hunted down to the ends of the earth by every Pirates crew present!"

The cheers grew even louder.

On the Main Venue stage, a presenter in a Pink tuxedo was deftly rotating her body using a single prosthetic leg. Her left hand was a pincer-shaped metal prosthetic, and her right hand held a microphone.

"I forgot to introduce myself—I'm the host, the recycler ' Donnar Modirat'—next, welcome our special guest—everyone's favorite diva—Ann—!"

Donnar turned and made way for him.

A green-haired girl walked out from backstage. Her fluffy, naturally curly Twin Tails were tied with large Bow Tie. Her deep purple eyes curved into crescents, and her cheeks were covered with freckles.

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Ann wore a white top with green accents, and a white and green striped tutu that swayed gently under the lights. She stood in the center of the stage and waved to the audience around her.

Ann only debuted after the Paramount War. As a singer, she was indeed far inferior to 'Uta'. But she was a 'Pirates'. To the Pirates, she was 'one of their own'. She was the best singer in the Pirates world.

Ace's gaze fell on her and stopped.

Donnar continued to host from the sidelines.

"As everyone knows, Ann is Devil Fruit User-- "

He handed Ann a picture of a red fire dragon. Ann placed her hand on the picture, and Pink light bands stretched out from her palm.

"Phantom Appearance--!"

A huge, translucent fire dragon appeared in mid-air. Its body glowed with a faint pink light as it swooped down from above the stage and spewed a mouthful of flames onto the lake.

A wave of heat hit us, causing a commotion. The fire dragon lasted for a few seconds before dissipating into the air.

"The Illusion-Illusion Fruit allows you to turn what you draw into phantom images. Although they disappear very quickly."

Ace stared blankly at the smiling green figure on the stage.

Vista stroked his mustache and said, half-jokingly.

"What's wrong, Ace? Do you like this girl?"

Ace coughed lightly.

"No... it's just that, I feel that if I had a younger sister, it would probably be like this."

Vista gave him a 'I don't believe you' look.

The Broadcast continued.

"There's a reason why this Pirate Expo, which has been held for the first time in twenty years, is being held on this island—!"

Ace turned his attention back to the podium.

"It is said that before the Great Pirate Era began, the Pirate King 'Gol D. Roger' discovered this island, buried a vast amount of treasure here, and left behind these words—'Bury our answers in the deepest darkness!'"

Ace muttered to himself.

"The answer...?"

... on the other side.

Underground on the island, in the monitoring room.

Shining walked in from the entrance of the passage, her Silver Gray Trench Coat swaying gently as she moved. In the monitoring room, besides the Zaku mechs and the buzzing of the screens, there were two more people.

Two figures dressed in white robes stood waiting quietly not far from the entrance.

One of them was tall and slender, with obvious features of the Longarm Tribe. His white mask had three black vertical stripes on the right side, and a beige 'beard' decoration below the mask. He wore a red and white striped top hat.

The other person was equally tall, with an angry expression on a deep red mask surrounded by a ring of black 'hair' standing up, and his entire body was shrouded in a white robe.

They are CP0, the shield of the Celestial Dragons.

Given that it was a campaign to eliminate Road Island, the World Government provided strong support and also dispatched some CP0 agents to assist.

When Shining walked in, the two of them took a few steps forward at the same time, and then knelt on one knee.

"Saint Reg, I have Major Incident to report to you."

The white-masked man spoke respectfully to Shining.

In this underground monitoring room, there were only robots, no outsiders. That's why he used the title 'Saint Reg'.

"Joseph...?"

Shining snapped his Snap. A set of tables and chairs materialized from the metal floor, and he sat down in the mechanical chair, gesturing for the two to sit down.

"Sit down and answer. I don't want to look up."

The two carefully got up and sat down opposite each other, only daring to sit on the front half of the chairs.

As CP0 members, they knew the general situation of 'Shining'. His identity was indeed very special; to call him Celestial Dragons would be a stretch.

The two men's respectful attitude stemmed more from their awe of power.

"Tell me. Has the plan changed?"

A can of Cola floated to Shining's face. He opened the tab and poured it into his 'brain'. The black Plasma hissed as it Decomposition.

Joseph's respectful voice came from behind the white mask.

"There have been some issues regarding this 'treasure.' These include items related to the 'One Piece.' The Five Elders hope you can retrieve them."

On Shining's 'face', blue Electric Arc outlined a 'raised eyebrow' expression.

Logically speaking, 'The Shining' should be 'unaware' of this.

Joseph's words also concealed a part of his true intentions.

Just a few days ago, Festa suddenly confessed to the World Government that the treasure contained the Laugh Tale Log Pose.

The Five Elders were extremely worried when they found out, and sent CP0 to investigate secretly.

The Five Elders didn't immediately share the information with Shining not because they suspected him. After all, given Shining's strength, if he truly had such intentions, Festa wouldn't have even made a Flower Capital, let alone made the event public knowledge.

Originally, it was just out of caution regarding the 'One Piece' that I didn't want Shining to know.

But it was too late to intervene with Festa. They couldn't find the pointer, and they dared not gamble on its authenticity. Having no other choice, they communicated with Shining.

Shining leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs.

"The One Piece? That Festa kid's up to no good. Could he be secretly colluding with that 'Bad Teacher'?"

Turning the tables and making false accusations.

Joseph lowered his head.

"Saint Reg. That's why we need you to turn the tide."

Actually, the 'Laugh Tale Log Pose' itself isn't a very serious problem. People who aren't 'qualified' won't be able to get anything done even if they go to Laugh Tale.

But that's the problem. This plan is to ambush 'Bondrewd'. Given his outrageous deeds so far, even the Five Elders aren't sure if Bondrewd is 'qualified'.

Upon seeing this, Joseph also broke out in a cold sweat. He suspected that 'it might really be related to Bondrewd.'

"... I am very sorry, Saint Reg, but I also have something I would like to ask you to confirm."

The man wearing a red mask bowed his head, his tone cautious and sincere.

"Excuse me, did you capture 'Ivankov'?"

The Okama King 'Ivankov' is one of the founders of the Revolutionary Army and is also very famous. He has even been in and out of Impel Down.

On the contrary, Koala was inconspicuous. Within the World Government, he was practically unknown, treated as a minor figure within the Revolutionary Army.

"Gismonda, you're meddling in my business... What's wrong with me? Can't I capture them as Slave?"

Shining's expression turned 'weird'.

He had just led the mechs to lock up 'Ivankov' and 'Koala'.

There was no dedicated prison here, so they could only lock them in an underground Warehouse and have the mechs guard them.

"Of course, no problem... I just suspect that the Revolutionary Army might also be after the 'One Piece'."

Gismonda was so frightened that he knelt on the ground, trembling.

A female Legion commander of the Revolutionary Army was captured and given to the Celestial Dragons as a plaything.

Shining doing this isn't really a problem. However...

Beneath the masks, Joseph and Gismonda were both starting to lose their composure—others were capturing 'beautiful women,' but what was this about capturing Okama King?

Thinking about this, they also remembered that, according to the information they had gathered, the 'girl in the red hat' seemed to be quite pretty as well.

Just when the two thought that 'Saint Reg's' main purpose was the girl.

Shining snapped his Snap, sparks flying. He spoke in a suicidal tone.

"Look, what if I had the 'Okama King' turn a rough-looking man into a beautiful woman, and then I gave that beautiful woman to the 'Honor Student'? How about that?"

Joseph and Gismonda exchanged bewildered glances— "Great Angel... surely you don't deserve this?"

... At this moment, in the Main Venue.

The Thousand Sunny sailed into the Main Venue from the river.

Despite some setbacks, Franky still managed to build the ship.

Luffy and Chopper slumped on the deck, both literally 'fat' like balls from eating too much Cuisine.

Jango stood to the side, adjusting his Sunglasses.

Why did you eat like that?!

Helmeppo squatted down to the side and curiously touched the spherical Chopper; it felt quite nice.

"Uh... yue..."

But he almost made Chopper vomit.

"Because it tastes good!"

Luffy's voice squeezed out from between his throats.

Usopp was carrying a bunch of local specialties and wearing a helmet with antlers. Franky, who was helming the ship, was wearing some newly bought blue-painted Rome armor.

Zoro leaned against the mast and yawned, while Gin used binoculars to observe the surrounding Pirates crews.

Sanji squatted in the corner, muttering sarcastic remarks like "Cavendish's face."

Franky turned around and called out.

"We're heading into our home arena! The Thousand Sunny is ready--!"

Luffy instantly returned to his 'spherical' form. Chopper was stunned.

Luffy stretched out his arm and pulled himself to the bow of the ship.

"Oh--! Please! Franky!"

Just then, the island trembled.

A massive whirlpool appeared in the center of the lake. The seawater swirled and was sucked downwards, and several Pirates ships on the edge were unable to turn around in time and were directly sucked in. Screams and the sound of ships breaking were mixed together.

"Oh, oh, oh--!! What's wrong!!"

Luffy shouted excitedly.

Usopp was clinging to the mast.

"... I've developed a disease that prevents me from going to the lake."

A gasp erupted from the audience, followed by a moment of chaos.

A massive torrent of water erupted from the center of the lake, carrying white foam and steam, shooting straight into the sky at an altitude of tens of thousands of meters.

(More tonight)