A few days had passed since the Neo Marines incident.
I left all the aftermath to the Marines, returned to the ship, headed straight back to Merveille, and then... slept in a sulk for a good day or two.
During that time, I made sure to read the newspapers, but the Neo Marines incident was never reported. Typical Government information manipulation and cover-up, it seemed.
Well, it was a case where the mere fact that a Former Marine Admiral had raised the flag of rebellion was explosive enough on its own, and on top of that, literal bombs called End Points were involved. I suppose they couldn't exactly let it become public knowledge.
Also, in the end I didn't learn anything beyond what Iris and the others told me and what S-Ibis said about herself, but there's the matter of the World Government's new-model Human Weapons, the Seraphim. Those are probably still classified at this stage, so if word got out that some unknown faction had deployed them in combat, it would cause quite a stir.
Fortunately, if you could call it that, the only ones who participated in the battle in those waters were us and the Neo Marines.
The Marines who arrived afterward never saw the Seraphim, including the Kuma-types, so they had no opportunity to examine them.
S-Ibis had been "returned" twelve years by Zwei-chan's Return-Return Fruit powers and vanished. The other four Kuma-types were all recovered before the Marines arrived.
Including the one that sank into the sea. Iris ordered Pneuma to retrieve it from the ocean floor, had it travel along the seabed to a separate rendezvous point, and we picked it up with a Golden Lion Pirates ship. No need to worry.
Those units were handed over to Mama that very day. Right about now, she's probably beside herself with glee, analyzing the weapons and other systems installed inside them.
I hope that in the process she'll also shed some light on this thing called Green Blood.
A means to reproduce Paramecia-type Devil Fruits, huh... To develop something like that, Vegapunk really is something else. ...Though I've never actually met the man, so I don't know what kind of person he is.
...Still, knowing something like this exists really makes SMILE's half-baked nature stand out even more. That Artificial Devil Fruit where not only the ability itself but even whether it succeeds or fails is a gamble.
I still can't get over it: how is that stuff actually circulating on the black market as Merchandise? Each one apparently goes for quite a high price, and you'd think the people who drew the short straw would hold a grudge.
That said, Mama being Mama... I have a feeling that through her research on Green Blood, she's going to create something terrifying again...
Not to put it too bluntly, but even Dr. Indigo managed to create TABOO, so she could make something even worse than that. It might take time, sure, but she might actually end up creating Artificial Devil Fruits of the Paramecia or even Logia type... A bit late to be thinking this, but was it really a good idea to hand those over to Mama...?
...Well, let's set that aside.
Now then, I seem to have gone off on a tangent at some point, but setting aside the spoils of war... let me touch on how the incident concluded.
As I mentioned, this incident hasn't been made public.
Probably because it was too localized. It seems even Morgans couldn't catch wind of it, and nothing appeared in the World Economic News either. ...I didn't tip him off, though.
On this matter, I have no intention of telling anyone, not even Morgans. ...I don't want Zephyr-san's final moments written up as entertainment.
As I said on the ship, I left what came after to the Marines, but Fleet Admiral Kuzan quietly filled me in on what happened next.
He only told me the broad strokes, mind you... but that was enough.
Where Zephyr-san and his people ended up was, of all places, Punk Hazard.
That island from the Original Work, the one that's "half hot, half cold."
Of course, in this timeline, the duel between Akainu and Aokiji never happened, so it hasn't turned out that way. But Zephyr-san arrived there, and Fleet Admiral Kuzan and his forces pursued, and they fought.
And there, Zephyr-san was struck down. Or so I'm told.
Afterward, though... he was given a respectful burial by Marine volunteers.
Zephyr-san still hadn't been placed on a wanted poster, and while he was treated as a criminal, his case hadn't become widely known.
Because of that, apparently nobody raised much of a fuss.
And since they told me the location of the grave that was made for him... I'll be going to pay my respects soon.
Then there's the matter of what happened to the Neo Marines afterward.
Most of the Neo Marines members who were present at the naval battle were apprehended by the arriving Marines, but some apparently escaped on ships that hadn't been frozen.
And, separately from those... there were a few people we lent a hand to and helped escape from the scene.
Zephyr-san asked me, at the very end, you see...
We saved three people.
Two Executives: Ain and Binz. And... Zwei-chan.
We picked them up before the Marines arrived and got out of there fast.
According to Zephyr-san, he wanted them to go on living in the era to come, to watch over it, to see it through.
Things didn't go the way Zephyr-san had planned, but even so... at the very end of it all, there was this world that Zephyr-san decided to believe in just a little more.
As someone who would go on living in that world, as one of the people who stopped Zephyr-san's ambition, I need to steel myself properly. That's what I thought.
As for those three, I plan to quietly release them when the time is right.
I'll take them along for the grave visit first, and then... probably after that. Until then, sorry, but they're under soft confinement on one of the islands in our Territory.
All three have been well-behaved, at least. ...Maybe they're waiting patiently, wanting to say a proper goodbye to Zephyr-san?
For the record, convincing Alice, who had been fully intent on bringing Ain home as a spoil of war, was a real ordeal.
In exchange for releasing her, I apparently owe Alice some kind of "compensation" later... and I'm quietly terrified of what she might demand.
And then, the biggest issue from this whole commotion... no, "issue" isn't quite right.
Anyway, the particularly significant event, or encounter, I should say, involved these two.
The twin sisters Snow and Iris. The daughters of me and Alice, who came from a future world.
By stopping the Neo Marines this time, the Desperate Future they were born and raised in has been averted, and we also took down S-Ibis, who was apparently sent Terminator-style as an assassin from yet another future. So I think it's safe to say that this whole tangled chain of events involving multiple jumbled futures has come to a close.
And the primary purpose of their coming to this era was to prevent the Grand Reboot and keep the world from being destroyed, and they accomplished that splendidly.
However, as I mentioned briefly before... the two of them can no longer return to the future.
The person who sent them from the future, this Kozuki Hiyori, her Time-Time Fruit powers or whatever they're called only work one way. Unlike Future Trunks, who came by time machine, there's no return trip prepared for them.
And of course, I'm not about to toss out two people who came to this era and worked so hard in every way to protect the world with a "Great, your wish came true, see ya!"
"So with that said... let me say it properly. Welcome, Snow, Iris! The Second Generation Golden Lion Pirates welcomes you both!"
"Yes! We look forward to working with you... Mother!"
"Same here... I'll work my hardest, so take care of me! Mom!"
And that's how it turned out.
Both of them have been officially welcomed as new members of our crew.
Of course, I don't mean "new members" in the bottom-of-the-totem-pole sense.
Their circumstances are far too special for that, so, apologies, but they get special treatment. I've placed them as my direct subordinates. Similar to the position Suzu and the Three Sisters hold. Though naturally their rank differs, since seniority counts for something.
This gives them a unique position within the chain of command, free from orders by others or unnecessary entanglements, so they should be able to live in peace.
My direct subordinates don't take orders from anyone but me, after all. Just relax and live comfortably under my wing, without worrying about a thing. Well, I'll ask them to do some work, at least.
Also, with these two, the biggest concern is the powers they wield.
The Tremor-Tremor Fruit and Soul-Soul Fruit abilities they ate in the future world, and the Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Model: Green Dragon that Snow's weapon, the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, has been fed, are all abilities whose current-era wielders are alive and well. And every single one belongs to one of the Four Emperors.
If anyone saw them, it would go far beyond just "troublesome." Even if people assumed they came from Artificial Devil Fruits, it would still attract massive attention without a doubt.
Fortunately, they're reasonably strong even without their abilities, and they can camouflage things to a certain extent, so they'll need to be careful about that going forward.
Even so, keeping it hidden forever would be difficult, so someday I'll need to prepare some suitable excuse or justification and pave the way for them to step onto the public stage. Something to think about.
***
So, with Snow and Iris newly joining the crew, it occurred to me: it's already been nearly a year since the Golden Lion Pirates became the Second Generation.
In this past year, our Pirate Crew has grown tremendously.
Not just the crew itself, of course, but the people around me in particular, those in "direct subordinate" roles or similar positions, have especially increased.
Like Snow and the others, there are quite a few people who are, well, a bit complicated, people I want to keep close for specific reasons and give special treatment to. The reasons vary case by case.
To give a concrete example, there's Marianne, whose combat ability is low, but whom I personally like and who's also my business partner as a writer and artist, so I keep her close and guarantee her status.
Up until now, there weren't that many people in such positions, and I could handle things by accepting them on a case-by-case basis and sorting out the situation as it came. But as the number keeps growing like this, the ad hoc approach plus haphazard placement starts to strain.
I'll probably need to properly rethink and restructure the personnel arrangements for that area before long.
This idea of restructuring to manage and operate the rapidly grown Pirate Crew more efficiently was something Papa had been talking about for a while now.
Good timing. I'll take the opportunity to also reorganize the positions of the kids in my "special treatment bracket."
Actually, if I'm going to do that... there are quite a few people now, so maybe the best approach would be to go ahead and set up dedicated buildings and whatnot from scratch.
Yeah. I'll consult Papa about this too.
It'll need to be done in a way that doesn't interfere with the "plan" Papa is currently working on, after all.
'Well, well. The big job is over, but... it looks like I'll be busy with all sorts of things for a while yet.'
To be continued...