"Shockwaves Across the Seas, Officially Confirmed"
"The Black Emperor Appears on Fishman Island, His First Move A Natural Disaster"
"The Reckoning Begins, A Sea Gripped by Fear"
"The Man Who Crushed an Era, Absolutely Unrivaled"
Marineford, Marine Headquarters.
"How terrifying. So that man really came back huh"
In the strategy conference room, Borsalino sat with his legs crossed, wearing his gray pinstripe suit and chewing on a cigarette, the newspaper spread open in his hands. His tone was drawling and sarcastic as always.
He completely ignored the heavy, tense atmosphere pressing down on everyone else at the table.
Someone else looked like he did not care either.
"Gurararara. So that pirate brat ended up not dying after all. What a shame."
"Shut up, Garp"
"That is Lord Ozz"
Sengoku, seated at the head of the table, coughed lightly.
"This reappearance of Lord Ozz is, ah, in a sense, a good thing for our Marines."
The official line rolled solemnly through the room.
Down below, the officers looked up at Sengoku's stiff face and all had the same thought in their hearts.
Too fake.
Anyone with eyes could see that, deep down, the old man had been praying Ozz really had vanished. But because of their "position," he had no choice but to treat this event as something positive.
Sakazuki's expression hardly shifted. The brim of his cap cast a shadow over his face, hiding any hint of emotion.
Only one "sea of ice" sat there radiating literal cold. Kuzan's body temperature was dropping fast enough that frost was forming over his darkened face.
Sengoku sighed inwardly. Seeing that Kuzan, for once, had not turned the entire room into an ice cave, he decided to let it go this time.
Instead, he turned his gaze to Borsalino.
"The Sun Pirates arrest operation some time ago should have been yours, Borsalino."
Hearing his name, Borsalino lowered the newspaper. A thoughtful look flashed across that perpetually sleazy face.
"Ah, yes. That is true. But I only arrested Arlong and a few other fishmen. As for Jinbe and the missing Fisher Tiger, I do not know where they went."
After listening to Borsalino's report, Sengoku folded his arms and closed his eyes, thinking for a while. In the end he could only let out a long sigh.
"Originally, because they offended both Lord Ozz and the World Government, the Sun Pirates' annihilation was all but certain. But it seems there may still be some room for a turnaround."
He spread the newspaper on the table.
A photo stared up at them.
"Members of the Sun Pirates Kneel on Sabaody Archipelago for Seven Days and Nights"
"Dark King Rayleigh Appears: The Destruction or Survival of Fishman Island"
"…This is troublesome."
Sabaody Archipelago, top floor of the Emperor Building.
From the window, Ozz sat and looked out toward the distant shoreline, where a group of fishmen had been kneeling motionless for seven days and nights.
Besides Mihawk and Crocodile, there was a slightly hunched old man at his side, hair starting to go white, shamelessly mooching drinks.
"If it is you asking, Uncle Rayleigh, of course I have to give you this favor."
Clinking his glass lightly against Ozz's, Silvers Rayleigh wore a helpless smile.
"Sorry about this, Ozz."
"After all, Hachi and the people of Fishman Island did help me and Roger a lot in the past. So this time, I really have no choice but to open my mouth."
That was the power of personal ties.
As the gateway between the New World and Paradise, Neptune was not only Whitebeard's close friend, but had friendships with many members of the Roger Pirates and had aided them more than once.
Ozz may have joined Roger's crew late and did not have much personal attachment to Fishman Island, but he still had to give the old uncles some face, especially Uncle Sambel from back in the day.
On top of that, he had never truly meant to do anything too extreme to Fishman Island in the first place.
"Then let us end it here."
Tiger's disappearance in every sense of the word, Fishman Island losing a chunk of its territory, the Sun Pirates kneeling on Sabaody for seven days without food or water.
With all that stacked together, if Ozz still refused to let go, it would start to feel a little too heartless.
He was not a mindless tyrant.
The black crescent flag over Fishman Island could remain. They would chalk this one up as having gone too far and leave it as a favor to Uncle Sambel.
Hearing this, Rayleigh scratched his cheek with an embarrassed grin, grabbed a few more of Ozz's bottles, and slipped away.
Ozz only chuckled and did not stop him.
In another timeline, he had "filial-pietied" this uncle very thoroughly.
"Tch."
Once Rayleigh left, Crocodile lounged back on the sofa, one leg crossed over the other, exhaling a long plume of smoke.
Looked like they could not touch Fishman Island anymore. Which meant they would have to cut into other forces instead.
"Hey, Ozz. Fine, we will let the fishmen off this time. But those other clowns who have been making moves behind our backs are not getting away."
"All right, all right. I know."
Ozz snapped his fingers.
A line of petite maids in black and white uniforms and silk stockings stepped forward with trays of juice, dutifully massaging his shoulders and feeding him peeled grapes.
Little Six and Little Seven, still looking like teenage girls and glittering with solid-gold jewelry, leaned close to his ear, whispering something.
Whatever he replied made both girls go bright red and nearly faint from excitement.
After teasing the two maids for a bit and promising to visit them that night, Ozz turned back to his two old comrades.
"Speaking of which, what did you do with little Bon Clay"
When he had swapped places with the impostor on Fishman Island, they had not seen each other again. Hopefully Crocodile had not simply had him killed.
"Ah, that guy."
Crocodile thought for a moment, then smiled.
"His ability is pretty interesting. I took him in under my command."
So once again, he had ended up as a member of Baroque Works.
Ozz had originally thought Bon Clay's power might be useful to him someday. He had not expected Crocodile's strategic sense to be just as sharp.
"Forget him for now. We should hurry up and settle accounts with all those unruly pests out at sea."
Crocodile shook her golden hook. She was clearly in the mood to spill blood.
Mihawk said nothing, but his hawk-like eyes sharpened as they turned toward Ozz.
He was ready to move whenever Ozz gave the word.
After all, for two years he had only clipped the wings of those who dared stick their heads out too far. The ones working in the shadows, he really had let slide.
"No need."
Ozz clapped his hands, a small smile on his lips.
"For this kind of dirty, exhausting work, I have found someone whose specialty it is."
As his voice sounded, a tall figure in a cloak stepped through the doorway. His features were hidden, but his presence was impossible to ignore.
"From now on, you will not let me down again, right, Tiger"
"Yes."
The towering figure slowly dropped to one knee. Through the gaps in the cloak, terrifying scars could be seen on his body, and his eyes were cold and merciless.
"Thank you for your mercy toward me and toward Fishman Island, Lord Ozz."
"I will never disappoint you again."
Under the scrutinizing stares of Mihawk and Crocodile, the cloaked man's expression did not waver in the slightest. His resolve was carved into stone.
Hearing this, Ozz nodded and tossed him two small booklets.
He was very curious to see what kind of monster this fishman, even stronger and fiercer than Jinbe and Uncle Sambel, would eventually become.
"One of these is a training method for Observation Haki and Armament Haki, what Wano calls ryuo. Take it back and study hard."
"And the other one"
Ozz's gaze went frosty and dangerous.
"Everyone listed in that booklet"
"Bring them to me."
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