Arthur remained standing atop the half-collapsed rooftop. The evening wind carried the smell of smoke and dust across the ruined village. Below him, the six core members of the Art Pirates slowly gathered together. Their faces were filled with exhaustion. Some were still breathing heavily, while others quietly wrapped their wounds with whatever cloth they could find.
THUD...
Arthur jumped down and He landed directly in front of them. There was no applause, No praise to sky. Only a calm gaze that slowly swept across each of their faces. For several moments no one spoke. Arthur was the first to break the silence.
Arthur: "Good. You won." That single word caught all six of them by surprise.
Arthur: "The two of you made the right decision." His eyes shifted first toward Sabo and Law.
Arthur: "From the very beginning, you understood that your Haki was still far behind your opponent's. That's why you never tried to defeat him with your individual strength alone." Law and Sabo exchanged glances.
Arthur: "You maximized the combination of your Devil Fruit abilities. ROOM, Shambles, Spark, and your Mythical Zoan forms complemented one another perfectly." Arthur pointed toward the destruction surrounding them.
Arthur: "However..." He paused briefly.
Arthur: "You relied on direct clashes far too often." His voice became noticeably more serious.
Sabo: "He was just too fast." Sabo scratched the back of his head.
Arthur: "That's true. As the strategist...your job isn't to prove that you're stronger. Your job is to force your enemy to fight according to your rules." His gaze shifted toward Law and he pointed at Law's chest make Law fell silent.
Arthur: "And you..." Arthur looked back at Sabo who instinctively straightened his posture.
Arthur: "You're still too easily carried away by your fighting spirit." Sabo could only laugh awkwardly.
Arthur: "Several times, you attacked simply because you wanted to attack...not because it was the best option."
The smile slowly disappeared from Sabo and Law's face. He knew... Arthur was right. Arthur then turned toward Kuina and Koala.
Arthur: "The two of you displayed the best teamwork today." His expression softened slightly make Koala smiled shyly but Kuina remained silent.
Arthur: "Kuina. Your swordsmanship is nearly flawless." His eyes rested on Dojigiri, whose blade was still stained with blood.
Arthur: "One slash. One decision." Kuina nodded.
Arthur: "But after you pierced your opponent's heart..." He paused for a moment.
Arthur: "You stopped." Arthur's eyes sharpened make Kuina slowly lowered her head.
Arthur: "In the New World...an enemy is only defeated after their body completely dead."
Kuina: "I understand." Kuina quietly clenched her fists.
Arthur: "Your reflexes saved Kuina's life." Arthur then looked at Koala.
Arthur: "But you also left your back exposed too many times." Koala scratched her cheek with a small smile after hear Arthur word.
Koala: "I'll fix that." Koala nodded make Arthur gave another satisfied nod.
His gaze finally moved toward the last two, Bepo And Sugar. Arthur looked at Bepo for several seconds.
Arthur: "How did it feel fighting hundreds of enemies?"
Bepo: "Exhausting..." Bepo immediately slumped onto the ground meke everyone burst into quiet laughter.
Arthur: "An honest answer." Arthur smiled as well and pointed at the cuts covering Bepo's body.
Bepo lowered his eyes toward his wounds.
Arthur: "As a Mink...your greatest strengths aren't limited to offense." Arthur: "You stayed inside the enemy formation for far too long."
Arthur: "Speed." He raised one finger.
Arthur: "Agility." A second finger.
Arthur: "Electro." A third one.
Arthur: "Use all of them together. Never allow yourself to be surrounded." Arthur patted Bepo on the shoulder.
Bepo: "Yes, Captain." Bepo nodded firmly.
Finally, Arthur stopped in front of Sugar who was still holding her long rifle. Arthur looked at both of her hands.
Arthur: "How does it feel?"
Sugar: "Difficult. Very difficult." Sugar smiled faintly.
Arthur: "Today was the first time you've used three Devil Fruits simultaneously. And you're still alive. The Metal-Metal Fruit demands constant concentration." Sugar nodded once again.
Arthur: "The More-More Fruit expands the range of everything you control." He lifted Sugar's rifle.
Arthur: "Meanwhile...use the Mythical Zoan Gryphon when forces you to close-range combat." Then he gently touched her back where the small Gryphon wings appeared during the battle.
Arthur: "Never try to use all three powers at their maximum output at the same time. Before you master them all." He returned the rifle to her.
Arthur: "Choose one as your primary ability...and let the other two support it." Sugar looked genuinely surprised.
Sugar: "I understand." Sugar slowly nodded.
Arthur finally looked at all six of them together. A faint smile returned to his face and Everyone immediately focused on him.
Arthur: "Your score today...Pass."
Sabo instantly raised both hands in celebration follow by Bepo cheered loudly and Koala smiled with relief. Even Law couldn't hide the faint smile that appeared on his face.
Arthur: "However... If your opponent had been an Admiral...All of you...would have died. Even againts vice admiral."
The atmosphere instantly became quiet again and No one answered. Arthur slowly shook his head Silence once again settled over the ruined village. No one argued Because they all knew, Arthur had simply spoken the truth.
...
As the sun slowly approached the horizon, Robin, Monet, Baby-5 finally returned. Robin carefully carried a massive rolled-up sheet of paper in both hands.
Robin: "We did it." The moment she saw Arthur, A bright smile spread across her face.
Monet: "We also discovered several underground passageways." Monet smiled with satisfaction.
Robin: "But most of them had already collapsed." Arthur immediately understood what she meant.
Arthur: "That doesn't matter. As long as we've preserved its history...that's more than enough."
Robin slowly unrolled part of the parchment. A complete copy of the Poneglyph covered the enormous sheet. He looked at the copied Poneglyph for several moments.
Meanwhile, Hundreds of miles away, At a Marine base somewhere in the New World. A Marine officer rushed into the command room carrying a stack of reports still covered with dust and bloodstains.
MARINE: "Emergency report!" Several officers immediately looked up.
MARINE: "The White Fang Pirates have been defeated. Their entire crew has been confirmed dead." The room instantly fell silent.
A Commodore slowly opened the report and his eyes stopped on the final page. ART PIRATES. He quietly drew a deep breath.
COMMODORE: "So... they've truly entered the New World."
MARINE: "According to the surviving witnesses, they eliminated the entire White Fang Pirates in an extremely short amount of time."
COMMODORE: "Their bounty are beyond our authority." The Commodore slowly closed the report and He handed the documents to the communications officer.
COMMODORE: "Send the complete report to Marine Headquarters immediately."
MARINE: "Yes, Sir!"
The communication Den Den Mushi was activated without delay. A few minutes later, The report arrived at Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
...
Inside Marineford. An intelligence officer hurried through the headquarters' corridors carrying a folder marked Top Priority. He stopped in front of the conference room where the Marine High Command was holding a meeting.
Knock... Knock...
MARINE: "Latest report from the New World."
Sengoku:"Come in." A calm voice came from inside.
The door slowly opened. All Admirals with Vice Admiral Tsuru were already seated in front of Sengoku's table. At the head of the room, Fleet Admiral Sengoku was reviewing several documents. The intelligence officer placed the report on the table.
MARINE: "The White Fang Pirates have been completely annihilated."
Sengoku: "The Art Pirates..." Sengoku opened the final page. His expression immediately turned serious.
The room fell completely silent. Several senior officers exchanged glances. Sengoku slowly closed the folder.
Sengoku : "They're moving faster than we anticipated, not even a year they make moves. Dispatch a reconnaissance fleet to their last known location, The highest priority is confirming their current movements." He stood up and faced the enormous map of the New World covering one wall of the conference room.
Marine: "Yes, Sir!" An officer wrote down the order and leave immediately pass the order to intelligence officer. The order was immediately transmitted to Marine bases throughout the New World.
Sengoku: "So... who want to go?"
Sakazuki: "I will not let them go this time, i will kill them. Good pirate is dead pirate."
The Art Pirates were officially designated as one of the pirate crews under special surveillance by Marine Headquarters, appear in their eyes.