Red Line, Holy Land Mary Geoise, Room of Authority at the top of Pangaea Castle.
As the name suggests, the five people in this room are, on the surface, the five individuals at the pinnacle of power in the world.
Each holds the title of "Warrior God," which makes clear that the foundation of their authority is an unfathomable martial might.
The kimonoed elder, the Warrior God of Finance, Saint Ethanbaron V. Nasjuro, glanced over the report in his hand. "That fool Crocodile—he actually intended to lay hands on an Ancient Weapon!"
Crimes like causing drought in the allied nation of Alabasta with Dance Powder, inciting rebellion, and plotting to usurp the throne seemed to be ignored. From their lofty perch, the Five Elders saw only one line: an attempt to seize Pluton.
Standing by the window, the Warrior God of the Environment, Saint Marcus Mars, said, "Crocodile's crimes are unforgivable, but the aftermath is the real headache.
A Warlord being defeated will draw questions about the Warlord system. We must immediately identify a replacement!"
The Warrior God of Legal Affairs, Saint Topman Warcury, snapped, "The Marines are all useless. They were right there and still watched someone else take Crocodile down. If they had any spine and cleaned him up themselves, we wouldn't have to worry."
The Warrior God of Science Defense, Saint Jaygarcia Saturn, set the document in his hand on the table. "If we're looking for a replacement, this one is quite suitable."
On the first page was a photo of Charles holding Crocodile. Charles would have found it puzzling; he'd never even noticed when anyone took a picture.
The World Government's intelligence arm has always been in a Schrödinger state of reliability.
Sometimes they can dig up secrets like Ace being Roger's posthumous son; other times they botch information that's practically public.
But there is one thing they've always done well—taking photographs. From the Emperors of the Sea down to rookie pirates, they somehow always get up close for a shot. Their ability is, it must be said, remarkable.
The Warrior God of Agriculture, Saint Shepherd Ju Peter, said, "But according to the Marines' report, he isn't a pirate. A guild called Fairy Tail—never heard of them."
Saint Warcury continued, "CP has already started looking into intel on Fairy Tail. But that name itself is unpleasant.
Still, since he's not a pirate, we can make contact. He may be usable to the World Government."
Saint Nasjuro said, "Thanks to that Morgans, the news has already spread. At least he had the sense not to mention Pluton.
What interests me is the other figure in this incident."
Saint Mars chimed in, "Straw Hat Pirates' captain, Monkey D. Luffy—Garp has never been able to control his family!
The D are trouble, and most critically, he's the user of that fruit!"
Saint Saturn said crisply, "I don't think that fruit awakens so easily, but better to nip things in the bud. Tell the Marines to raise his bounty, using his involvement in the Alabasta affair as the rationale!
As for the rest of the cleanup, leave it to the Marines. If they can't handle something this small, they don't need that annual budget."
Having worked together for years, the Five Elders, though different in temperament, had long since unified their ways of thinking and acting, and this was the consensus.
Their orders quickly reached the Marines. Fleet Admiral Sengoku immediately dispatched reinforcements to link up with Smoker, seize Crocodile, and transfer him to Impel Down.
At the same time, the Marines issued new bounties.
Of course, none of that had anything to do with Charles. He was busy sorting the Alabasta royal family's library.
After defeating Crocodile, Charles took him along and accompanied Vivi to the royal capital.
Alabasta's drought had been caused by Crocodile's Dance Powder, but strangely, the moment he fell, a kingdom-wide rain began to fall.
The rain halted the imminent clash between the Royal Army and the rebels.
After Vivi presented evidence of Crocodile's crimes, the people's misunderstanding of King Cobra was finally cleared, and Alabasta returned to peace.
Charles, having completed the job perfectly, naturally received his payment.
As befits a great seafaring power, the Nefertari family's collection was comprehensive. From legends to travelogues and gazetteers, and specialized volumes recording navigation, shipbuilding, and the like—everything was there.
Charles picked out what would be useful to him and duplicated it all with a magical device.
He'd even made the device on the spot. With his current forging and Mystery levels, knocking together a photocopier was no problem.
With the spoils packed away, Charles and Stella said their farewells to Vivi and prepared to move on.
Ace had set out the day before to continue his pursuit of Blackbeard, though he'd worn a complicated expression when he looked at Charles as he left.
As a Flame-Flame Fruit user, he'd realized that his command of fire lagged far behind Charles's. How could that not leave him conflicted?
Charles, however, felt that after so long in the New World, Ace should've been used to it. Plenty of people there have a trick or two with fire.
The Straw Hats were likewise knocked down a peg.
If anything in the original story had the greatest impact on them, it was their first landing at the Sabaody Archipelago.
After Luffy decisively punched a Celestial Dragon, the Marines sent Admiral Kizaru. With one "how scary" and one kick per Supernova, he schooled the rookies who hadn't yet grasped how vast the world was.
Even while he was "holding back" against the Straw Hats to the point people joked he was a Revolutionary Army mole or "Luffy's second uncle," Kizaru still displayed overwhelming power.
That was the battle that made Luffy shout, "We're too weak," and became the primary reason for their two-year training.
Worse than a crushing defeat was discovering you weren't even qualified to take part in the fight. Luffy had already started training in earnest.
Whether Ace had told him about Haki before leaving, Charles didn't know, but he could see Luffy had found a direction.
How far he'd get was unclear; once their Log Pose finished charging, they set sail.
They are pirates, after all, and a large number of Marines had arrived in Alabasta—though Cobra kept them outside the gates—which made a long stay unwise.
After spending an extra half-day duplicating books, Charles and Stella took off on Zhongming toward the next island indicated by the Log Pose.
He hadn't forgotten there was still someone on that island waiting to be put in his place.
Marshall D. Teach, Blackbeard—a first-class schemer in the pirate world, the man who left a scar on Red-Haired Shanks's face even when Shanks wasn't off guard—should get his blood pumping more than Crocodile!
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