Spatial Ability!

G-2 Branch, conference room.

Vice Admiral Comil sat at the head of the table, with Rear Admirals Ivan and Hina on either side of him and the other branch officers farther away.

Tashigi and Nami were among them as well.

Vice Admiral Comil pointed at the nautical chart on the wall, placing his finger on the waters near Alabasta:

"Everyone, I called you here to arrange the escort mission for this shipment of heavenly tribute across multiple sea areas.

"This shipment is the quarterly heavenly tribute submitted by five countries in the first half of the Grand Line. It is a top-secret Navy mission.

"Of course, we are only responsible for the area around the Alabasta Kingdom, primarily maintaining order in the surrounding waters. The main escort force for the heavenly tribute is led by a Headquarters Vice Admiral.

"For now, I'm counting on you all to do your utmost to clear out the pirates in the nearby waters!"

"Yes, sir!"

When the meeting ended, only Ivan, Hina and Vice Admiral Comil remained in the conference room.

Ivan noticed that even after the meeting, Vice Admiral Comil still looked grave, with no intention of relaxing.

He asked curiously, "Vice Admiral Comil, is our mission that difficult? Why are you so tense?"

Comil took his eyes off the map and looked at Ivan. "N-no, quite the opposite. Our mission is far easier than the one assigned to the Vice Admiral escorting the heavenly tribute."

"But you look anxious. Is something worrying you?"

"Ah..." Comil sighed and shared his concerns with his outstanding junior. "The heavenly tribute always passes through our G-2 Branch's waters. I'm worried someone will raid it."

"Who would be so bold?" Hina looked surprised.

"Who else? Those rats hiding in the shadows, the damn Revolutionary Army. They're short on funds and have raided the heavenly tribute several times before. Several of those raids happened in waters under the G-2 Branch's watch." At that, Comil grew even more worried.

If the heavenly tribute were raided in G-2 Branch waters, he, as the commanding officer, would surely be punished by the Fleet Admiral and might even be held accountable by the World Government.

Hina pressed on. "Vice Admiral Comil, how much Beli is in the heavenly tribute, exactly? Enough for the Revolutionary Army to take such a huge risk to raid it?"

Vice Admiral Comil answered, "The Beli alone amounts to more than ten billion. More importantly, the heavenly tribute also contains Devil Fruits and Seastone. Those are all strategic resources."

Ivan had not cared about the heavenly tribute. He was trying to find a way to make himself more famous and increase Homelander's recognition of him.

But when he heard the words "Devil Fruits," his eyes brightened almost imperceptibly.

It seemed he could try raiding the heavenly tribute too.

Just as oil attracted mold, Devil Fruits attracted Shadow Garden!

The first half of the Grand Line, Water 7.

As a world-famous city on the sea and the city with the most developed shipbuilding industry, Water 7 always attracted people from all over the world.

Some came to travel or sightsee, but more were pirates and merchants from various places. They all wanted to commission a new ship to withstand the Grand Line's terrifying natural disasters.

Ivan had left a Wood Clone to patrol in his place and come to Water 7 himself. Of course, he did not want a new ship. Wood Release made him one of the world's finest shipwrights, so he had no need for anyone else to build him one.

He had come primarily for a particular Devil Fruit User: Blueno, who had eaten the Paramecia-type Door-Door Fruit!

Ever since Ivan learned that killing a Devil Fruit User could also earn him a lottery draw, he had set his sights on Blueno. After all, a draw using the Door-Door Fruit would most likely give him a spatial ability.

Such an ability could not have been more suitable for Ivan, who needed to travel all over the world to stir things up!

Ivan stood outside a tavern and glanced at its sign, which bore the words "Buffalo Bar."

Then, without hesitation, he pushed through the swinging doors and entered.

The noisy conversations paused for a moment as he entered the tavern. Everyone stared at Ivan, particularly the mask on his face. Just as Ivan thought they would flee in terror, he suddenly heard someone laugh.

"Burp, hahahaha! Another guy trying to imitate Shadow Garden. What, are you playing Tanuki this time?"

Ivan was stunned. He had no idea what the man meant.

But when he looked around, he was astonished to find that, aside from him, nearly a fifth of the people in the tavern wore animal masks.

Of those people, more than half wore fox masks, while somewhat fewer wore tanuki masks. A few others wore masks of yellow dogs, white phoenixes and the like.

Noticing Ivan looking their way, they raised their glasses to him. One enthusiastic man even invited Ivan to sit with him.

To find out what was going on, Ivan did not refuse.

As soon as he sat down, the black-haired man grinned. "Brother, you're a Shadow Garden fan too?"

Ivan was a little confused. "A Shadow Garden fan?"

The black-haired man was taken aback. "Didn't you become a fan of your own accord because you admire what Shadow Garden has done?"

That left Ivan completely stunned. He had expected that, as his plans progressed, he would certainly attract a large number of followers.

But he had not expected to have so many fans on the seas already.

Ivan nodded. "That's right, I'm a fan of Tanuki. You're wearing a fox mask. Are you a fan of Fox?"

"That's right. Fox is the one I admire most!"

"Why?"

The black-haired man chuckled but did not answer—or perhaps he did not dare to.

Ivan could more or less guess. The biggest thing Fox had done was undoubtedly assassinating a Celestial Dragon, followed by slaughtering the scum of the East Blue.

Clearly, the black-haired man admired Fox for those deeds, but they were too taboo to speak of openly.

As he talked with the black-haired man, Ivan learned that the fans had privately established a Shadow Garden fan club. They often organized events and collected all kinds of information about Shadow Garden.

The black-haired man in particular hoped Fox would visit Water 7 too. Then Water 7 could have its rotten flesh cut away, just like the East Blue, and their lives would be much better.

Learning what the fans had been doing filled Ivan with warmth.

It meant that what he had done really had improved some people's lives, and that the civilians of the East Blue were living better than before.

Ivan had originally planned to kill Blueno and leave immediately, but after hearing from a fan, he intended to do more.

When the black-haired man invited him to the next fan gathering, Ivan shook his head and declined. "Sorry, I have something more important to do."

The black-haired man was puzzled. "What is it?"

Ivan did not answer. Instead, he stood up and walked straight over to Blueno.

Just as the black-haired man and Blueno thought Ivan was about to order a drink, Ivan asked calmly:

"Blueno, a member of CP9 and a user of the Paramecia-type Door-Door Fruit, right?"

The nearby customers who heard him were taken aback and fell silent. The silence quickly spread throughout the tavern.

When everyone realized what Ivan had said, shock appeared on their faces, including the black-haired man's. "Huh?!"

Blueno's expression changed drastically, and he took a defensive stance!