One month later...
On this day, Gion arrived alone at the secluded estate that served as the base for the secret SWORD special unit.
The main reason for her visit this time was to deliver a message.
The other reason...
Was that Michael and the rest of his secret unit hadn't shown their faces in front of her even once this entire month.
Though Gion herself was only twenty-six, she was starting to feel like a worn-out mother dealing with delinquent kids.
After all, as the saying goes—
When children are too quiet, they're definitely up to no good.
And this secret unit—from its leader down to every member—there wasn't a single one who behaved properly!
So, she figured it was about time to come check on them.
"Michael? Stella? Are you here?"
A gust of wind swept past with two drifting leaves, but no one answered. Gion's unease deepened.
She reached out with her long, slender fingers, just about to push open the door when a loud bang erupted from the backyard.
Boom!
A flock of startled birds took off into the sky.
Gion's heart tightened. Did something happen?
An attack?
She shook her head and immediately rushed toward the backyard where the sound had come from.
Halfway there, she activated Observation Haki, just in case another attack followed.
When she reached the backyard, the entire place had transformed.
What was once a massive garden—said to have been built by the crime boss who owned this estate to entertain his eighteen wives—was now turned into a huge, flat training ground.
The privacy of this standalone estate really was something. Even she hadn't received any notice about the renovation.
But after walking a few more steps, Gion was greeted by a battlefield littered with bodies.
Shu was hanging like a ragdoll from the only tree by the training ground.
T Bone still stood upright, but only because he was leaning on his massive greatsword, clearly unconscious.
Hina lay on the ground, disheveled and covered in dust, smiling for no discernible reason. Her right hand stretched forward, writing the words "Run now" into the dirt with her finger.
Rosinante was in the worst shape—half a cigarette hanging from his lips, body tattered and beaten, slumped against a storage crate with an expression of peaceful serenity, as if he'd ascended to heaven.
On the training ground, a few were still conscious.
First was young Robin—obviously uninvolved in the fight—standing at a distance, using her Flower-Flower Fruit powers to grow multiple arms, each one writing different notes in different notebooks.
This level of multitasking was something only someone with Robin's monstrous intelligence could pull off.
As for Stella and Smoker, both were Logia users, one the direct disciple of Marine hero Garp, the other a former subordinate of Aokiji.
Though injured, they were still hanging in there.
And their opponent...
Was a man with fully spread wings, floating in mid-air.
Pure white Holy Flame hovered around him, while viscous purple-black energy seeped from his arms into the longsword in his hands, forming intricate and mysterious markings along the blade.
It was Michael!
But to Gion, it felt like she was meeting a completely new Michael.
His mastery of Armament Haki was so precise, even she felt slightly outclassed.
And that longsword in his hands—it didn't look much like the Supreme Grade blade "Ace" that once belonged to Pirate King Gol D. Roger.
"Ace" resembled more of a saber.
But now, the sword in Michael's hand was closer to T Bone's battleship greatsword.
Thinner. More ornate.
Like something the angels wielded in religious scripture.
At that moment, Michael opened his mouth—and immediately started taunting.
"Stella, and you dumb kid Smoker! You're still way off! Even with all of you working together, you couldn't rescue little Robin from me!"
"Boss! Do you even realize how strong you are now!?" Smoker shouted in frustrated protest. "One move! Just one move, and we were almost completely wiped out! Your white flames being absurdly hot is one thing, but now you've developed a technique that makes them explode?!"
"If Rosinante hadn't run fast enough, he'd be half-cooked by now!" Stella's voice was calm on the surface, but Gion could still hear the repressed irritation underneath.
"It's fine, it's fine. Even if he were half-cooked, I could probably still bring him back."
"That 'probably' doesn't give anyone peace of mind!"
Michael looked at the loudly complaining Smoker, just about to hit him with another move to make him rest for a bit.
Suddenly, as if sensing something, his massive white wings flared and he shot backward—
A flying slash glowing with golden light sliced through the air where he had just been.
Michael raised an eyebrow, then turned angrily toward the source of the attack.
"Hey! Gion! What the hell!? You trying to sneak attack me!? This is training, okay? Serious training!"
"Don't think I'm some nice guy, alright? I'm very difficult when I'm mad!"
"Exactly. And this is a simulated mission, isn't it? A hostage rescue scenario..." Gion added a hint of mischief to her mature smile. "And during a real mission, wouldn't it be normal for a passing Vice Admiral to lend support?"
"...No, Gion, if you wanted to beat me up, you could've just said so."
"Of course I want to beat you up! Do you know that during the year-plus you disappeared with that old geezer Garp, I was drowning in paperwork and aged a full year and a half?!"
"But... a year and a half passing means aging a year and a half, doesn't it? What's wrong with that?"
"...So you are saying I got old!? Die, you bastard!"
As she spoke, Gion raised her longsword. The Supreme Grade blade Konpira gleamed dazzlingly.
She slashed twice in Michael's direction, each flying blade laced with pitch-black Armament Haki.
Michael's body immediately tensed, shifting into full combat mode.
Gion was really serious about fighting him!
She'd even coated the flying slashes in Haki!
He dared not take it lightly and met the flying strikes with his full strength.
Though it was only one exchange, Stella and Smoker immediately noticed the change in Michael's demeanor—completely different from how he'd been fighting them.
None of them had even been able to push him into true combat mode.
And in Michael's heart, he was no less shocked...
This was the first time he realized—
When a woman says she'll settle the score later... she really can delay it for nearly two damn years!