Vergo's heart lurched violently, alarm bells screaming in his mind. His hand shot into the desk drawer, seizing a small, specially modified Den Den Mushi. He dialed the familiar number with a trembling urgency.
Doflamingo.
This time… Doffy might have struck an iron wall.
He had to warn him.
The Donquixote Family's kingpin could not afford to act recklessly now, not until Hawk's true nature was thoroughly uncovered. Until then, Doflamingo had to hold back, to tread with caution.
But before Vergo could press the receiver to his ear
"Boom!"
A deafening crash shook the entire building.
The reinforced office door buckled under an explosive kick, tearing free of its hinges and hurling across the room. It smashed against the far wall with a metallic groan, the frame twisting into a grotesque spiral.
Vergo froze, his hand still clutching the Den Den Mushi in midair.
"Who…?"
The word slipped from his lips, choked and broken.
Who dared?
This was the G-5 branch. His office, his domain. Nobody entered without his leave. Nobody could even approach without his knowledge.
Yet someone had.
Smoke and dust rolled into the room like a suffocating tide. Through the haze, two silhouettes emerged, their steps slow, deliberate, and filled with crushing authority.
The first figure was unmistakable.
Round glasses gleamed faintly behind the smoke. A seagull cap sat neatly atop his head, his braided goat beard swaying slightly as he walked. This was a man etched into the memory of every Marine alive.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku. "The Buddha."
And at his side walked a silver-haired woman whose presence was equally commanding. Her eyes, calm yet cold, carried the weight of decades spent unraveling deception. She was Tsuru, the legendary strategist of the Marines.
Vergo's mind blanked.
Impossible.
Why were they here? Why now, without a single announcement or notice?
"Vergo."
Sengoku's voice was not loud. If anything, it was low, roughened with age. But to Vergo, it landed heavier than cannon fire, hammering his chest with unbearable weight.
The Fleet Admiral's eyes narrowed.
"Who were you calling?"
Sengoku's gaze sharpened into a blade. "Was it Doflamingo?"
"!!"
Behind his sunglasses, Vergo's pupils contracted violently. His breath caught in his throat.
Sengoku knew.
They knew.
His cover his years of careful infiltration was blown.
Panic crashed over him like a tidal wave. His instincts, honed by years as a double agent, screamed at him to hide the Den Den Mushi behind his back, to protect it at all costs.
But before he could move
"Wham!"
An invisible force exploded outward from Sengoku's body.
The air itself trembled. The office walls groaned. Every nerve in Vergo's body screamed as an immense, oppressive will crushed him from all sides.
The legendary Conqueror's Haki.
Vergo's chest seized, his bones creaking under the invisible grip. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. Even raising a finger was impossible beneath the sheer weight of Sengoku's fury.
He was trapped like an insect under the gaze of a god.
Sengoku stepped forward, his presence filling the room like a storm about to break. His hand shot out and plucked the Den Den Mushi neatly from Vergo's stiff grasp. Without even glancing at it, he tossed it over his shoulder.
Tsuru caught it effortlessly, her calm eyes flicking toward Vergo as though studying a specimen under glass.
Vergo's chest heaved with shallow, ragged breaths.
Then Sengoku's hand seized his uniform collar and lifted him as though he weighed nothing at all. His feet dangled above the ground, his body straining against the grip of raw power.
"Prepare yourself to face my wrath, Vergo," Sengoku said, his voice low and deadly.
And with a single, devastating motion, he hurled Vergo through the wall.
"Crash!"
Stone, steel, and wood shattered as Vergo's body became a projectile, blasted across the compound. He sailed in a broken arc through the air, crashing down onto the parade grounds below.
The earth cracked beneath the impact. Dust and debris shot skyward.
Every soldier on the training field froze. Their weapons clattered to the ground as they stared, dumbfounded, at the crater where their commanding officer now lay sprawled.
Then silence.
From the gaping hole in the headquarters wall, two figures emerged, stepping into the daylight as if descending from the heavens themselves.
Sengoku and Tsuru.
Their eyes were cold, their presence overwhelming.
Every G-5 Marine instinctively straightened, their bodies stiffening under the crushing weight of the Fleet Admiral's fury.
Sengoku shrugged off his white coat of justice. It fluttered in the wind before Tsuru caught it and folded it over her arm. The other hand held the Den Den Mushi, its eyes wide, antennae trembling.
"Click."
Sengoku rolled his neck, the bones popping sharply. Slowly, methodically, he rolled up his sleeves, baring forearms corded with muscle.
In the crater, Vergo coughed violently, blood and dust spilling from his lips. The meat pie that perpetually clung to his cheek had been ground into dirt, leaving him looking pitiful, broken.
His thoughts spiraled.
This was the true strength of Sengoku the Buddha?
It was monstrous. Terrifying.
A master of Haki. Once a Marine Admiral in the era when raw physical might defined strength. And on top of that… the Mythical Zoan, Human-Human Fruit, Model: Daibutsu.
Vergo's heart sank. He had no chance. None.
But one question burned in his mind even through the agony.
How had he been exposed? He had buried himself within the Marines for years, never leaving a flaw. His loyalty to Doflamingo had been unshakable, his cover airtight. So how ?
"Vergo."
Sengoku's voice cut through the haze, pulling him back to the present.
"You, a Vice Admiral of the Headquarters and commander of G-5, conspired with pirate Donquixote Doflamingo. You sold secrets. You murdered your own comrades."
The Fleet Admiral's voice rose, thunder rumbling beneath it.
"But most unforgivable of all…"
Sengoku's fury finally broke free, spilling over like molten steel. The very air around him shimmered with heat.
"You played a role in the death of my foster son. Donquixote Rosinante, a loyal Marine officer!"
The name struck Vergo like lightning.
Rosinante.
Of course he remembered. The traitor who had infiltrated the Donquixote Family years ago.
But how? How had Sengoku learned the truth?
Before he could comprehend, Sengoku vanished.
A golden light exploded before Vergo's eyes. Sengoku's massive palm, glowing with the radiance of the Buddha, slammed into his chest.
"Buddha Impact!"
The shockwave detonated with cataclysmic force.
Vergo's body convulsed, blood spraying from his mouth as he was blasted backward like a ragdoll. He slammed into a barracks, the structure collapsing instantly under the force.
The Fleet Admiral's figure blurred again. He appeared above the ruins, his foot raised high before crashing down.
"Boom!"
A second shockwave rippled outward, leveling the wreckage. Vergo's battered body was flung skyward, bones cracking audibly as he tumbled across the parade ground.
"Gah!"
He coughed blood, his vision swimming. His limbs trembled, refusing to obey.
But Sengoku wasn't done.
Not yet.
This wasn't about killing Vergo outright. This was about making him suffer. About ensuring that every breath of agony reminded him of Rosinante's sacrifice.
On the sidelines, Tsuru raised the Den Den Mushi. Its snail face twisted into a perfect mimicry of Doflamingo's trademark grin though now it was warped with shock and disbelief.
Her voice was calm, cold, cutting through the chaos.
"You're watching, aren't you, Doflamingo?"
The silence that followed was heavy, suffocating.
And in that silence, Vergo finally understood.
This wasn't just about him.
This was a message.
To Doflamingo.
To the underworld.
To the world itself.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————
Already drawn into the tides of this story? Share what pulled you in your words and reviews keep the fire burning. And every 300 Power Stones will unlock a bonus chapter, pushing the voyage forward even faster!
Renn Hawk's journey is only beginning, and the evolution of justice is far from over. Stay with Unbound Evolution and keep sailing ahead of the horizon!
[email protected]/_tey
Change @ to a.