Rengoku and his warship quietly departed from Amazon Lily.
Hancock, in truth, wanted to lead the Kuja Pirates herself to send him off, but since it was a Super Marine-class warship, all she could do was watch silently from the distant palace as Rengoku sailed away.
As the ship continued on its course back to Marineford, they eventually entered the so-called "Florian Triangle."
"The Florian Triangle? How did we end up here?"
Not just Jose, but even Rengoku was puzzled. When they woke up that morning, they were already in the middle of it—and no one could explain how or why.
The night-duty helmsmen, who were grabbed by the collar by a furious Jose, could say nothing in their defense.
"S-Sorry! I swear I was focused the whole time, but before I knew it, we'd entered!"
As the trembling sailor tried to explain, Rengoku gently patted his shoulder, signaling Jose to let him go.
"It's called the Florian Triangle, but it's all just legend. If we stay calm and proceed carefully, I'm sure we'll make it out. No need to panic."
"Y-Yes, sir! Understood!"
Jose released the helmsman and followed Rengoku to the bow.
Rengoku walked straight to the ship's prow and surveyed the waters ahead.
Seeing this, Jose removed the telescope from around his neck and handed it to Rengoku.
"Hmm… Due to these unexpected circumstances, this voyage is going to take longer than planned. We don't know how long we'll be stuck, so inform the crew to conserve supplies as much as possible."
"Yes, sir!"
Jose saluted and went below deck to relay the orders.
Their entry into the Florian Triangle had been a complete accident.
Even Rengoku, though normally composed, felt a sliver of unease.
If he were alone, he could find a way out no matter what. But this time, there were nearly a thousand Marines aboard this Super Marine-class vessel.
As both a Vice Admiral and the ship's commanding officer, he couldn't abandon his men.
He had to get everyone out safely—no exceptions.
…
About a week passed since the unexpected detour began. Some of the crew were starting to break down.
Without sunlight for days, morale plummeted. Three sailors had already fallen ill from stress and fatigue.
"Vice Admiral, should I try securing a rope and use Moonwalk to check our position from above?"
Vivi approached Rengoku, who was standing silently at the prow with his arms folded.
"Hmm! Lieutenant Vivi makes a good point. But this is the Florian Triangle, cloaked in thick fog on all sides. Anything could happen. I'll go up and check myself."
Rengoku accepted her suggestion but chose to take on the task personally.
He took the rope from Vivi, tied it tightly around himself, and launched into the sky using Geppo (Moonwalk).
As expected from the infamous Florian Triangle, no matter how high he climbed, he saw no clear sky.
So he accelerated—Sky Running—launching vertically upward with increased speed. Only then did he catch a glimpse of clearer skies.
!!!
But what he emerged into wasn't open sky—it was the inside of a cloud.
The mist surrounding the Florian Triangle extended all the way to the sky.
When Rengoku looked down, the clouds only obscured his vision further. He couldn't even pinpoint their position.
Whooosh!!
Boom!!
Just as he landed back on deck at high speed, a sudden explosion rang out nearby.
"What was that sound? Are we under attack?"
"What's all this commotion?!"
While Rengoku and Jose were trying to locate the source of the blast, a Marine rushed over to report—
"Reporting in! Earlier, we pulled up what we thought was a Sea God's Offering floating in the water, but when we opened it, some kind of firework exploded from inside!"
"So it wasn't a real Sea God's Offering—it was someone's signal flare!"
Rengoku quickly arrived at a conclusion.
"Ugh… seriously, tell all crew at every post: Stop picking up random junk!"
Jose groaned, rubbing his temple.
"Yes, sir! Understood!"
"Vice Admiral!"
Just as the fake offering exploded, Vivi approached Rengoku in a hurry.
"What is it, Lieutenant Vivi?"
"A report just came in—we spotted a silhouette in the north-northeast direction!"
Upon receiving the report, Rengoku immediately dashed toward the ship's bow alongside Vivi and Jose.
There, a lookout who had filed the report was waiting.
"What exactly did you see?" Rengoku asked straight to the point.
"Yes, sir! At approximately 13:02, we spotted a structure shaped like a fang about 500 meters ahead, in the north-northeast direction!"
"A fang-shaped structure?"
At the lookout's words, Vivi tilted her head in confusion.
Given the Super Marine-class warship's height, it offered far greater visibility than a normal ship. But still—a fang?
"Are you certain?" Vivi asked.
"Indeed. Are you sure you didn't mistake it for something else?" Jose added, skeptical.
Pressed by two high-ranking officers, the assistant lookout spoke up in a slightly aggrieved tone.
"Yes, sir! I saw it with my own eyes, I swear! ...I mean—I really did!"
"Hm! Given that your local dialect slipped out, I believe you. You must've seen something. In that case, let's check out this mysterious structure ourselves."
Rengoku turned toward the center of the deck and issued a ship-wide order.
"Turn the bow toward north-northeast!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Hm?"
Just as he gave the order, Rengoku suddenly felt something off.
Something had boarded the ship.
"Kyaaah!"
"Lieutenant Vivi!"
Hearing Vivi scream, Rengoku rushed to her side.
Her body was stiff, moving awkwardly—as though something invisible had grabbed her.
"Lieutenant Vivi! Grab whatever is holding you—wrap your grip around it!"
At Rengoku's sudden command, Vivi instinctively obeyed.
"I-I've got it, Vice Admiral!"
"Well done!"
By now, Rengoku had already drawn his black-bladed sword, Flame Wheel Demon, now coated with Armament Haki. Without hesitation, he slashed downward.
"Gyaaah!!"
Though nothing visible was there, something had clearly been hit.
Rengoku immediately activated Observation Haki to pinpoint the "thing's" exact location.
"Flame Breathing—First Form… Unknown Fire!"
Flames burst from his blade as Rengoku charged toward the entity's revealed position.
"W-W-Wait!! Wait, wait!! Timeout!!"
As Rengoku's fiery blade came slashing down, the invisible figure suddenly revealed itself and threw up its hands in surrender.
"Hm?"
"…Is that a dog or a person?"
"If it used invisibility as a Devil Fruit ability, it couldn't have another power. So it must be some kind of non-human species," Rengoku responded calmly to Vivi's question.
"Looks like some kind of mutt—a cross between a dog and a man," Jose added, grabbing the creature's snout.
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