...The video Den Den Mushi starts and projects...
"Shiki, let's begin the second round!"
The ground beneath Bazel churned and rolled as if it had come alive.
Suddenly!
Six pairs of golden eyes snapped open on the surface of the earth!
The massive lightning serpents dancing in the sky did the same, though their deep purple eyes numbered only four pairs.
"Thunder!"
As Bazel swung his right hand, the Thunder Serpents spewed countless bolts of lightning at Shiki.
"Earthquake!"
The ground rumbled violently, countless fissures racing toward the enemy.
"It's really troublesome, why is your Devil Fruit's power so similar to Linlin's?!"
'Linlin?'
'Soru Soru no Mi?'
Shiki's reminder actually made Bazel realize.
'Right!'
'The Spirit Serpent Head is the one that manipulates souls, isn't it?'
'The Phantom Serpent Spirit are soul creatures to begin with. This couldn't be said to be exactly like Big Mom's techniques, but it was at least 90% similar.'
'The only difference was that Big Mom needed to use lifespan to create Homies.'
'Whereas I required living dead revived by Naraku's Poison to transform into Phantom Serpents.'
"Who knows? The sea is vast, it's not strange for similar abilities to exist, right?"
Bazel was like an elegant orchestra conductor, as the tempo of his waving hands quickened, more elemental attacks blanketed the enemy.
"Swamp!"
Shiki's evasive steps suddenly halted. In just a few breaths, the softened ground had already swallowed him up to his knees.
"Die, Shiki!!!"
Seeing the enemy trapped, Bazel's eyes were filled with barely contained excitement.
If strictly comparing their strength, he absolutely was no match for the current Shiki.
But the onslaught from the Earth Dragon and Thunder Serpents was too ferocious.
Coupled with his precise control, it was difficult for Shiki to get close.
Even if the opponent managed to close in by chance, Bazel could rely on his exceptional speed to stall for time temporarily.
Under Bazel's control, the Earth Dragon leaped out from the ground like a blue whale from the sea, its massive body covering half the district.
But in his excitement, he failed to notice that just as the earthen prison was about to trap Shiki, a convoy of Celestial Dragon, heavily guarded by agents, happened to be exiting an auction house.
Seeing the 'prison' complete, Bazel transformed into the Eight-Headed Serpent, spewing poisonous mist towards the only exit!
"Thunder Serpent!"
As if worried it wouldn't be enough to kill Shiki, Bazel commanded the Thunder Serpent circling in the sky to fly in and self-destruct.
Boom…!!
Most of the Grove 13 district was completely overturned, violent lightning filling the ruins.
Shops, tree branches… everything was leveled into rubble by the blast wave.
Seeing the combined attack finished, Bazel panted heavily, withdrawing the Serpent Spirits that had been constantly draining his stamina.
"Zanpa!"
A massive golden flying slash suddenly burst through the rubble, shooting towards him.
Swish…!
Taking advantage of Bazel's hurried dodge, a wounded Shiki charged forward, his smile ferocious.
"Nice attack, but not enough, boy!"
His right hand gripped his sword for an upward slash, his legs crouched, leaping again to face the launched Bazel.
Spinning his body several times, he delivered a powerful kick to Bazel's chest.
"I'm a pirate who fought through the Rocks era, this level of attack isn't even enough to scratch my itch."
"Shihahahaha!!!"
…The broadcast ends…
The projection of the Den Den Mushi ended amidst Shiki's maniacal laughter.
"It seems it's confirmed that the Celestial Dragon indeed wandered into the battle by mistake."
Garp crossed his arms, sighing uncontrollably, "The fact remains that Bazel killed a Celestial Dragon. Even if it was accidental, it's useless. We can't explain it away."
"Moreover, the Five Elders and the World Government won't listen to our explanations."
"Especially since Bazel's identity needs to be kept secret. Sengoku, things have become troublesome."
Sengoku's expression was grave, lost in thought.
It was indeed as Garp said… this incident had become difficult to resolve.
If it were just injuring a Celestial Dragon, the Marine could overlook it.
Later, when Bazel returned with his achievements, becoming the second Hero of the Marine after Garp, presumably the Five Elders wouldn't say much.
As Garp said, it was just one Celestial Dragon.
But the problem was…
That Celestial Dragon died, and the manner of death was extremely gruesome.
Buried alive, poisoned, and finally, the corpse blasted by lightning.
This made it impossible for the World Government, which always touted the Celestial Dragons as immortal descendants of the creators, to save face.
Not to mention Bazel's identity and undercover mission.
It was precisely because he feared the World Government, upon learning Bazel's true identity, would interfere as superiors that Sengoku hadn't reported this matter.
But he never expected such a mess to occur.
"That Celestial Dragon is really something. He obviously knew there was a fight, why not evacuate and instead go watch the spectacle?"
Sengoku couldn't help but complain, "Now look, it's hard for everyone to deal with this situation."
"Alright, Sengoku."
Kong set down the report, his expression calm.
"This matter isn't as complicated as you all think. We, the Marine, only need to report the facts truthfully."
"The World Government will pressure the World Economy News Paper to change the news. We just need to submit the application to increase Bazel's bounty."
"Don't attempt to explain things to them. Aren't you clear on what the Celestial Dragons are like?"
Crunch~
Garp chewed on a senbei, "That's right, Sengoku, you're overthinking things. Kaido won't let the World Government capture Bazel easily."
"This concerns the reputation of a Great Pirate. If Bazel were captured easily, the Beasts Pirates wouldn't even think about expanding their influence in the future."
"If you think about it from another angle, this might actually be a good thing."
'Good thing?'
Sengoku glanced at Garp and asked suspiciously, "What could your brain possibly come up with?"
In the room, Sengoku, Tsuru, Borsalino, and Kong all looked at Garp curiously.
"Isn't it simple?"
Garp looked at Sengoku with an expression of utter disappointment.
"And you're called the Resourceful General? Did all your brains go into growing muscles?!"
Sengoku: "…"
'You are the least qualified person here to say that...'
"Are you going to tell us or not? If not, I'm not listening."
"Fine, I'll tell you then!"
Garp raised his head arrogantly, "A Celestial Dragon died, right?"
The three nodded.
"Isn't that a good thing? Another piece of trash plaguing the seas is dead! We, the Marine, should be beating gongs and drums to celebrate!!"
Dead silence.
Bang…!!
The wall shattered as Garp was sent flying through it, leaving a human-shaped hole.
Kong retracted his thrown fist, his face expressionless.
"Sengoku, send someone to repair my wall later. Tsuru, go wash Garp's brain out, that fool's head must be full of water."
"As for the matter concerning Bazel, it ends here. Regarding his bounty…"
"Tsuru, draft a report. The gist should be that the Eight-Headed Monarch is heinously evil, but considering the severe negative impact, it is recommended his bounty be raised to 740 million Berries."
Tsuru stood up, "Understood. I'll bring the draft to you for review once it's done."
…
Meanwhile, in the Florian Triangle…
Drifting black fog blotted out the sun, bringing a night that never ended.
A sinister wind moaned, its mournful howls echoing through the mist.
King looked at the Eternal Pose in his hand, his eye twitching.
"Kaido-san, were you perhaps not using your brain at the time? Because the magnetic fields in the Florian Triangle are so chaotic, Log Poses are very difficult to use normally here."
"So this Eternal Pose... is practically useless."
Kaido's face was impassive, but the veins bulged on the right hand gripping his kanabo.
"That bastard John..."
He had felt something was off during the transaction, but couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.
It wasn't until they entered the Florian Triangle and he took out the Eternal Pose, under the gazes of everyone looking at him like he was a monkey, that he suddenly understood.
The reason the Florian Triangle was called a forbidden territory was precisely because the black fog enveloping this sea interfered with the magnetism between islands.
Strangely, this great fog wasn't permanently fixed over one part of the sea.
It also moved with the world's winds.
But unlike ordinary fog, the black mist here was like a single entity; even if pushed by strong winds, it wouldn't disperse.
This was exactly why, even though people knew this sea existed, those missing ships still couldn't avoid it.
No matter how fast an ordinary sailboat was, it couldn't possibly outrun the fog being pushed forward by the wind.
"I will absolutely not let him get away with this!"
"Wait."
Bazel took the Eternal Pose, deep in thought.
"John knows the consequences of deceiving us. He wouldn't risk outright lying, at most he'd play word games."
"Can you feel it, Kaido-san?"
"There's a wind here."
---
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