The Chris Grand Prison.
Corpses lay strewn across the cold stone floors in a chaotic tangle—prisoners, guards, and mysterious militants alike. The entire facility was a tomb, the air thick with the iron tang of fresh blood.
"They got away, then."
Gin stood over a dark, jagged tunnel bored into the floor of a cell, leaning down to peer inside. The tunnel was a void of pitch black; there was nothing to be seen.
"Our objective is complete. Now, we wait for the net to tighten," Sriya said flatly.
"Will it work? What if they realize we made Vivre Cards for them?" Gin stood up, his voice tinged with doubt.
Sriya glanced at him, his expression cold. "It doesn't matter. We never staked the plan on Vivre Cards alone. The mental commands implanted in their subconscious are our true trump card. My only regret is that we didn't have enough time to finish a Vivre Card for Sabo, the Revolutionary Army's Chief of Staff."
In a clash between powers of this magnitude, having the Vivre Card of a high-ranking official was useful, but it wasn't a guarantee. If the enemy realized it, they could easily lure you into a lethal ambush.
"True. We can't track their every move perfectly. If those targets don't head to their headquarters and choose to lay low at some random outpost instead, attacking them would be a waste of a golden opportunity," Gin nodded, his expression solemn.
"Enough. Leave the cleanup to the others. Mina's External Affairs Department will take over the next act of this play. It's time to report back to the Captain." Sriya flicked the blood off his silver metallic prosthetic limb and turned to walk out.
…
A kilometer away from the Chris Grand Prison, hidden within the mountain ridges, a group of twenty people huddled near a massive tree. Several men were frantically shoving dirt and stones into a hole at the base of the trunk, sealing the tunnel.
"So many people sacrificed their lives to save us... we are unworthy of such a debt," Hack, Koala, and Len looked at their dozen or so wounded comrades, their faces etched with guilt.
"You are all backbone members of the Revolutionary Army. Saving you was our duty," the leader, a middle-aged man wrapped in a headscarf, said as he waved off their apologies. His expression grew grim. "But we must move. The agents of the Chris Investigation Bureau are relentless; they'll be on our trail soon."
"He's right. We don't know if they managed to craft Vivre Cards for us, so we have to get off Brady Island as fast as possible. It's our only chance at survival." Koala bit her lip, asking in a low voice, "What about Sabo? Did the other team get him out?"
"Don't worry, he was rescued long ago. If the Chief of Staff weren't still recovering from his injuries, he would have come to help save you himself!" The man offered a reassuring smile.
"I see... that's good."
Koala let out a breath of relief, though her voice sounded strangely hollow, a flicker of something unreadable passing through her beautiful eyes.
…
5,000 Meters Above, Alvis Island. Inside a laboratory of the Underground Research Base.
"Captain, it was a failure."
Switch Dalt walked up to Aeridar and handed him a pale, bluish-white fruit covered in swirling arabesque patterns. Shaped like a pear, it was unmistakably a Devil Fruit.
"You certainly were decisive," Aeridar said, frowning slightly as he took the fruit.
"I had no choice. That man must have been a religious fanatic, an ascetic. His mental fortitude was incredibly stubborn. The moment Pudding tried to tamper with his memories, he reacted," Dalt explained, a trace of lingering fear in his voice. "That killing intent was staggering. It paralyzed me, and Pudding was too terrified to even move, let alone use her ability."
"A fanatic... to suppress Pudding with killing intent alone? Her strength is still lacking, it seems." Aeridar toyed with the Devil Fruit, shaking his head.
"He was a great pirate with a bounty over 700 million Berries, the Night Executioner, a man who lived to kill 'heretics.' You can't blame Pudding. She's a non-combatant support member. Under that level of bloodlust, an ordinary person might have literally dropped dead from fright." Dalt shuddered at the memory of that suffocating aura.
"How troublesome. Our plan hits a wall right at the start." Aeridar was annoyed, but looking at the fruit in his hand cheered him up slightly. He muttered, "At least the ability was recovered. The Paramecia-type Hard-Hard Fruit. It would have been a disaster to lose it."
"What now? Do we continue? Experimental subjects of that caliber aren't exactly easy to find," Dalt asked.
Aeridar felt a headache coming on. Dalt was right, subjects like Mondos Bank were rare, and this experimental phase was highly prone to failure.
"We continue. As soon as I find more materials, I'll send them your way!" Aeridar gritted his teeth. "I refuse to believe every powerhouse out there is some religious zealot or ascetic!"
"Moria, Cracker, Jack... one's a shell of a man broken by Kaido, one's a coward who can't stand pain, and the other is a meathead with nothing but muscle for brains. I refuse to believe their mental strength is that iron-clad!"
"Hmph!" Aeridar snorted, his internal fire flaring.
"If we're using them as examples, an experiment on those three would actually have a high chance of success!" Dalt's eyes lit up, and he scratched his messy hair.
Of course, it was just an example. Moria might be a target, but since the Paramount War, the man had vanished into thin air. As for Cracker and Jack, touching them was tantamount to declaring war on the Big Mom Pirates and the Beasts Pirates. Aeridar wasn't stupid enough to start a war with two Yonko just for the sake of one experiment.
Aeridar sighed, waving a hand dismissively. "Just organize the data for now. As for Pudding, let her go down to Nakor and enjoy herself for a bit."
…
Time flew by like a white stallion passing a crack in a wall. In what felt like a blink, half a year had passed.
During these six months, the Neo Marines led by Zephyr seemed to have vanished into the earth. Aside from their secret base, there was no trace of their movements.
The Revolutionary Army continued their operations, though their activities had become more cautious under the combined pressure of Cipher Pol and the Chris Investigation Bureau. They remained as elusive as dragons in the clouds.
Even though many Revolutionary outposts were uprooted by elites from both organizations, they failed to strike a blow to the core. Years of being hunted by the World Government had made the Revolutionaries' ability to hide second to none.
The seas remained as chaotic as ever, but the biggest stir came from the Navy.
Months ago, the Navy finished repairing all the structures at Marineford. However, Sakazuki pushed through a major initiative: the Marine Headquarters at Marineford swapped locations with Marine Branch G-1 in the New World. By moving the Headquarters into the New World, the "Second Half" of the Grand Line, he signaled a resolute determination to crush the pirates. This move successfully revitalized the Navy's morale, which had been flagging ever since the bounty was placed on Zephyr.
Conversely, the relocation of Headquarters left Marineford's defenses weakened. The neighboring Sabaody Archipelago saw an increase in lawlessness within its Lawless Zones, and pirates in the first half of the Grand Line became significantly more active.
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