Sea Calendar Year 1513.
Sky Island, God's Land.
On Apa Yado Island, inside the temple hall located atop the giant green vine, a spatial door quietly opened.
Led by Sephiroth, Baccarat and Otohime walked out from inside the door.
Inside the temple hall, Black Maria and Sephiroth's two divine servants, Conis and Laki, had been waiting for a long time.
Speaking of which, there really are no walls in this world that don't leak...
Ever since Gan Fall and other Sky Island high-ranking officials learned Sephiroth's true identity as the God of Sky Island, his two divine servant girls gradually learned of his identity and knew about his residence on Angel Island.
As a result, the two girls started running up to the mountain top villa every few days, claiming that serving the divine master was their duty.
This made Monet, who was the household maid, feel immense pressure!
After all, these two divine servant girls would always actively participate in Sephiroth's parties from time to time.
To the extent that Monet also fell into an extremely conflicted mood, wondering if she should also participate so as not to seem out of place or something...
"Queen Otohime, this is Black Maria. I have fully entrusted all matters related to Sky Island to her, including your Fish-Man Island relocation plan. Maria, Queen Otohime is here on Sky Island this time to conduct an on-site inspection regarding the relocation environment. You must handle it properly!"
Sephiroth smiled and introduced the two to each other, allowing them to get a preliminary acquaintance.
More than four months ago, after Sephiroth, Otohime, and Neptune briefly discussed the General relocation plan, the two sides began in-depth negotiations after Otohime had recuperated and her injuries had fully recovered.
The Umbrella Corporation sent Sephiroth's private secretary Baccarat as their representative, while the Ryugu Kingdom sent Queen Otohime.
Because this matter is of top-secret level and has great implications, it is likely to attract the attention of the World Government, so only an extremely small number of people on both sides know about the relocation to Sky Island.
Before it is fully implemented, it cannot be announced to the outside world, so the related work progress is very slow...
Recently, to confirm the truthfulness of Sephiroth's previous words, Queen Otohime proposed a request to come to Sky Island for an on-site inspection.
In response, Sephiroth agreed without hesitation and arranged for Black Maria to handle the reception.
Otohime smiled and raised her right hand towards Black Maria:
"Hello! My apologies for the unannounced visit and for causing you trouble!"
"Not at all! Not at all! Your Fishman relocation is beneficial to both of us, it's no trouble!"
Black Maria also smiled, extended her right hand, and gently shook hands with the other party.
"Alright! You can talk about the specifics... I'll be leaving now!"
Sephiroth chuckled, waved goodbye to the others, reopened a spatial door, and stepped inside.
Although the Fishman relocation was no small matter, he intended to fully entrust it to Black Maria, trusting her to handle it.
..........
Marine G4 Base, Commander's Office.
Thump, thump, thump!
A gentle knock sounded on the office door. Sephiroth, seated in his office chair, said softly, "Come in!"
As his words faded, Kuro, wearing a Lieutenant Colonel's rank cloak, opened the door, stepped inside, and stood straight before his desk.
"Lieutenant General Sephiroth, what do you need?"
"I have some good news. Marineford has approved your rank promotion. You are now a Marineford Colonel..."
Sephiroth said with a smile, straightening a letter of appointment on the desk and presenting it to Kuro.
"The fact that I'm here today is all thanks to Lieutenant General Sephiroth's guidance!"
Kuro extended his right hand and adjusted the glasses on his nose with his wrist.
"No need to be modest. The fact that you were promoted to Colonel within three years is mainly due to the merits you earned capturing Pirates. Those achievements are undeniable!"
Sephiroth smiled and shook his head, disagreeing with the other man.
In the past three years, Kuro captured many Pirates with bounties over 100 million Berries, earning the nickname "Black Cat" within the Marines. Furthermore, having trained in the Six Styles, his own strength had reached the level of a Marineford Vice Admiral. He was proficient in Two-Color Haki, and even in the New World, he would be considered a powerhouse!
"Now, you've been promoted to Colonel... From now on, your path to becoming a General depends on you slowly accumulating seniority! After all, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, that old bastard, loves to prioritize seniority... Given your situation, if you don't achieve any great merits, it will likely take three to five years to be promoted to Commodore. As someone who is about to resign, it's not good for me to interfere too much..."
"Lieutenant General Sephiroth, you're going to resign...?"
Upon hearing this, a look of surprise appeared on Kuro's face. He found it difficult to understand how the other man, a powerful Vice Admiral in a G-branch and a person of considerable importance among the Marine high-ranking officials, would actually want to resign...?
"That's right! To be honest, if it weren't for supporting you, I would have resigned and left several months ago! From now on, I'll leave matters concerning the Marine to you... Is that okay?" Sephiroth said with a smile.
Hearing these words, Kuro, who had a very sharp mind, instantly understood the meaning behind the other man's words.
Sephiroth wanted him, Kuro, to act as his representative within the Marines after he left!
Thinking of this, Kuro nodded slightly and said, "I understand, no problem!"
Seeing this, the smile on Sephiroth's face widened. He stood up, drew the butcher knife from his waist, and opened his personal space. He took out a large box from inside, placed it on the desk, and opened the lid.
"Pick one of these fruits yourself!"
Kuro glanced down, and his breath hitched.
Inside the large box were more than ten Devil Fruits, piled up in a dazzling array of colors!
He couldn't fathom how Sephiroth had managed to produce so many Devil Fruits at once, each worth at least a hundred million Berries and known as the sea's secret treasure…?!
Kuro took two deep breaths in a row to steady himself before he spoke, finally suppressing the shock in his heart. "May I ask what Devil Fruits are inside?"
"Shadow Fruit, Kilo-Kilo Fruit, Chain-Chain Fruit, Op-Op Fruit, Grow-Grow Fruit, Tiny-Tiny Fruit, Roll-Roll Fruit, Jacket-Jacket Fruit, Gummy-Gummy Fruit, Rust-Rust Fruit, Swamp-Swamp Fruit."
As Sephiroth spoke, he placed the Devil Fruits one by one on the desk and gave Kuro a brief introduction to their general abilities.
After pondering for a while, Kuro finally picked up a Devil Fruit from the desk. It looked like a pink weight, with spiral patterns covering its surface.
"I'll take this one!"
"Huh?! The Kilo-Kilo Fruit? Are you sure…?"
"To be honest, it's not considered powerful among these fruits. The Shadow Fruit and Swamp-Swamp Fruit are the most valuable, followed by the Chain-Chain Fruit and Gummy-Gummy Fruit…" Sephiroth said, his expression conflicted.
Since he planned to have Kuro act as his representative in the Marines, he could say he went all out this time. Aside from the Ope-Ope no Mi, which he couldn't take out, he'd even brought out powerful Paramecia types like the Shadow Fruit!
Among them, the Gummy-Gummy Fruit, Rust-Rust Fruit, Kilo-Kilo Fruit, and Swamp-Swamp Fruit were Devil Fruits he'd obtained recently, by hunting ability users and using his blood manipulation ability…
"Among these fruits, I still feel that the Kilo-Kilo Fruit is more suitable for me… After all, I am skilled in Shave and Moonwalk. It can freely control weight changes. When moving, reducing weight means I will gain faster speed and higher mobility! I have already sensed where my talents' general bottleneck is, and I understand very well what I need… There are indeed extremely powerful abilities among these fruits, but they are not suitable for me and cannot give me the greatest improvement."
"Alright! Don't choose the best, just choose the most suitable…"
Sephiroth shrugged and put the other Devil Fruits back into the large wooden box.
Kuro peeled the skin of the Kilo-Kilo Fruit in his hand and took a bite of the flesh. Even though he was mentally prepared, his face still darkened, and he muttered:
"It tastes really bad!"
After giving the Devil Fruit, Sephiroth had Kuro leave the office.
After a moment, he took out his military den den mushi and dialed a number...