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Kurozumi Orochi froze at those words.
"I know the situation is urgent, but… are you sure we should just leave Lirisk alone?"
For someone of such importance to suddenly vanish, this could never mean anything good.
Orrick rose to his feet, shaking his head.
"As long as he's alive, that's enough. I'll find him myself, and I'll get the answers out of him."
He paused, his gaze hardening. "But right now…"
Orrick's voice lowered into a thoughtful murmur before he continued, "Wano Country will be entrusted to you, General Kurozumi. Inform Kaido to pick up the pace. Between Marine's recent moves and now this mess, our forces are stretched far too thin."
Orochi frowned deeply. "You intend to go alone?"
"What's this? Do you suspect me as well?"
"That's not it," Orochi replied, waving dismissively as he leaned back in his chair. "But you'd better think this through carefully. That place houses both the Marines and a Sea King. For you, that's exceedingly dangerous."
"Heh… if I can't win, it's not like I don't know how to run." Orrick's mouth curved into a confident grin. "Besides, I won't be giving them that chance."
…
Wano Country – A Hidden Cave
"Senior officer!"
The moment the Den Den Mushi connected, Dante's calm, steady voice came through.
Rowen nodded slightly. "Where are you now?"
"We're currently deep within the New World, seventy nautical miles north of Red-Hair's territory…" Dante reported crisply, then lowered his tone. "Do you have a mission for me?"
"That's right. You've already heard about the Red Line, haven't you? The Fleet Admiral is tied up and can't make a move. Take my identification and immediately notify Vice Admiral Momousagi to return and await the Fleet Admiral's orders."
As commander of the Assassination Force, Dante had actually known about the Red Line disturbance even before Rowen. But since Fleet Admiral Akainu had chosen to handle the call personally, Dante would never overstep.
"Notify Vice Admiral Momousagi…" Dante drew in a sharp breath. "Wait, you mean?!"
To deploy Pluton?!
"That's right. Any problem with that?" Rowen asked, voice utterly calm.
Dante hesitated, then straightened and snapped a salute. "None, sir!"
For a soldier, defying an order was unthinkable. And ever since the Marines had begun secretly preparing Pluton, they had already betrayed the World Government in spirit.
Now to actually use it, this was nothing less than declaring open defiance.
What consequences would follow…?
Truthfully, no one knew.
"Then carry it out!" Rowen's command cut through the silence like a blade. He then added, "By the way, Koby is with you, isn't he?"
"Yes, sir."
Dante steadied himself before continuing. "However, during the last assassination attempt there was… an incident. Rear Admiral Koby was injured in action. He's still recovering."
Not every assassination could succeed.
Especially not operations on this scale. The Beasts Pirates' officers were already jumpy and hyper-vigilant, exhausting every resource to guard against them.
Injuries were inevitable.
But, "As long as he's alive, that's fine. Send him to Wano. I want him to escort a prisoner in secret."
"…"
Dante's expression froze.
"…Understood. I'll inform him immediately."
Better the disciple than the master. If he didn't send Koby, this mission would surely fall to him instead.
And traveling from their current position to Wano and back to Headquarters would be anything but peaceful.
"Since you've rejected our offer, then go reflect on it in prison."
Rowen snapped the line shut and turned his gaze toward the man chained against the cavern wall. Lirisk sat there with eyes closed, conserving his strength.
Rowen shook his head slowly.
"The Sea King has moved. And by your own admission, your father can't control her. That makes his next move all too easy to predict."
He leaned forward, his voice low and deliberate. "Didn't you want to know what choice your father would make?"
"Go and see for yourself."
Lirisk said nothing. His eyes remained closed, but his eyelids quivered ever so slightly.
"Come to think of it, the Fleet Admiral really did make a clever move… tossing the Assassination Force into these seas. And now, Orrick is bound to leave, Kaido is forced to set sail to harass the Assassination Force, and Wano Country is left in the hands of none other than Kurozumi Orochi."
Rowen's mouth split into a savage grin. "Tell me… what should I do now?"
…
Grand Line – The Red Line
The Holy Land, Mary Geoise, Room of Flowers.
"Lord Imu, please, we must evacuate with you!"
The long-mustached Gorōsei (Five Elder Stars) inhaled sharply, voicing the plea shared by his comrades. All four knelt low upon the polished floor, awaiting the judgment of the ancient figure upon the throne.
"Fuf… fuf fuf fuf… I see. So you would abandon this city, this symbol of your power, only to flee and hide below?"
On a nearby desk, a toy flamingo clad in pink fluff gave a sinister chuckle, stoking the fire.
"That won't do at all! This is the Holy Land, the heart of the World Government. If even you choose to flee, what face will the Government have left?"
The mustached Elder glared, eyes blazing. "Silence, wretch! You have no right to speak here!"
Then, bowing once more, his voice rose in desperation.
"Lord Imu!"
The ground still trembled faintly. The collision of the Sea Kings against the Red Line carried the same dreadful force as the ancient "World Cannon." Publicly, an evacuation order had been given under the pretext of earthquake risk.
But the truth was far darker.
For buried within the Red Line slumbered a primordial terror: a colossal beast known as the Mountain Ancestor, forebear of countless massive arthropod sea monsters and Sea Kings.
Should it awaken, its sheer bulk would reduce everything, even the Holy Land itself, into rubble with a single turn of its body. That was the true reason for the Elders' panic.
Unless the Sea Kings could be stopped, the consequences were unthinkable.
At last, the ancient one stirred. Slowly, Im's eyes opened. His face was furrowed with deep wrinkles and mottled with age spots, yet his gaze was no dull flicker. Instead, it blazed with a brilliance that seemed to hold entire constellations.
That piercing gaze swept past the flamingo doll, then over the Gorōsei. Whatever defiance or doubts they had withered in an instant; each bowed lower, lips sealed tight.
Finally, Imu's voice rang out, slow and deliberate:
"How lively these past two years have been… These children… they have given me no shortage of surprises. But as for those who stand against me… you have been nothing but a disappointment."
Shuā!
The Gorōsei went pale as death, collapsing fully to the floor, trembling uncontrollably.
"It seems you've all forgotten the words I once spoke."
An invisible weight pressed down, crushing their lungs and throats. Cold sweat poured as they struggled for breath beneath that suffocating pressure.
"I said that as long as I exist, the Holy Land will remain unharmed."
"That was the reason they chose to settle here long ago, because as long as I lived, they believed themselves absolutely safe."
"And yet… are they not all dead now? Fuf… fuf fuf fuf…"
The flamingo resisted, grinning like a rebellious child under the crushing aura.
"Because of that bastard Caesar, they were the ones who got them killed."
Crack!
An unseen force slammed down, smashing the flamingo doll into the stone floor, eyes rolling white.
"Why is it so difficult to simply listen? I said I would protect the Holy Land. They chose to believe that meant I would protect them. That mistake is theirs, not mine."
Imu's words spilled forth like a secret that should never have been uttered, chilling the Elders to the bone.
It was the truth.
At some point, the ancient promise had been twisted. The Celestial Dragons had come to believe that living in Mary Geoise meant invincibility.
But they had misunderstood. Imu's protection was for the Holy Land itself. Its safety was what shielded them, not the other way around.
"There is no need to flee. The Mountain Ancestor is troublesome, yes, but nothing more. Besides… it has yet to awaken."
"Send word to Akainu and Cipher Pol Zero. The Sea King's location has been confirmed. This time… do not disappoint me."
Gulp…
The Gorōsei swallowed hard, nodding frantically.
In that instant, a map surfaced unbidden in their minds, etched as if by divine revelation. They could not say where the island was, nor how they knew… but every instinct told them: the Sea King lay hidden there.
"We shall obey your will, my lord!"
(End of Chapter)