World Government Bulletin
Reports have circulated claiming that the Five Elders engaged in battle with pirates on the Red Line, and that one of the Five Elders was slain outside Mary Geoise. After investigation, this matter has been confirmed to be a rumor.
Recently, Mary Geoise has been undergoing a city appearance renovation project. The resulting loud noise was maliciously twisted into "battle sounds." The deceased was not an Elder, but an ordinary outsourced construction worker from the Holy Land who happened to be named "Five Elder."
This worker, from a young age, deeply admired the Five Elders for their tireless dedication and their virtues of serving the nation and the people, and therefore legally changed his name to "Five Elder."
The World Government expresses profound sorrow over the worker's sacrifice, and will provide care and condolences to his family. At the same time, we strongly condemn pirates who fabricate rumors about the Holy Land and endanger world security.
Furthermore, the Five Elders are the supreme chiefs of the World Government, the core force safeguarding world peace and prosperity. It is absolutely impossible for them to die by the hands of the Navy. We urge the public not to believe rumors, not to spread rumors, and to help create a favorable public environment for the Government's campaign against pirates.
World Government
Year 1507 of the Sea Circle Calendar
"HAHAHAHA! Hey, Hawk-eye, Dragon, look at this! This... pffhahaha!"
Inside a villa on the Sabaody Archipelago, the sharp scent of disinfectant filled the air.
Kael lay collapsed on the sofa with zero dignity, wrapped head to toe in bandages like a freshly unearthed mummy.
He held a newspaper high, laughing so hard his whole body shook. Under the bandages, several freshly healed wounds split open again, thin red lines quickly seeping through.
"Lord Kael!"
"Don't move!"
Robin and Sakura lunged at him almost at the same time. One pinned his shoulder down, the other snatched the newspaper from his hand, both frantic and furious.
"Your wounds! They opened again!" Sakura's voice trembled on the edge of tears as she fumbled through the medical kit for fresh gauze and ointment.
Robin, meanwhile, used a towel soaked in warm water to carefully wipe the cold sweat on his forehead, brought on by laughter and pain. The look in her eyes was equal parts scolding and heartache.
"Ow ow ow... easy, Sakura..." Kael bared his teeth, yet he still could not stop laughing.
Mihawk walked over with a blank expression and took the paper from Sakura's slightly flustered hands. His hawk-like eyes swept across it.
Dragon leaned in as well, his gaze dropping to the page.
World Government Bulletin
Under the massive headline sat an official statement, carefully worded yet absurd beyond belief.
Dragon's pupils contracted.
He ignored the polished, peacekeeping bureaucrat-speak and dug out the core message they were desperate to bury between the lines.
One of the Five Elders had died.
His eyes slowly left the newspaper and returned to the man still whining and bargaining with Robin and Sakura.
That guy slumped on the sofa like a salted fish, yowling from the pain of wound care.
He had fought four of the World Government's highest authorities on the Red Line, alone, and had killed one of them.
That was not a feat.
That was a myth.
A terrifying myth powerful enough to overturn the world's understanding, to make the seas themselves tremble.
Even Dragon, who had long since set life and death aside, felt his mind shake.
He had always thought he had already estimated Kael's strength high enough, even treated him as a decisive variable that could shift the world's balance.
But now, it seemed what he had seen might still only be the tip of an iceberg.
And at this moment, the "god" who created that myth was pitifully haggling like a brat.
"Just one sip, Robin. I swear. Just one sip of orengi juice, for disinfection..."
"Shut up." Robin's face was cold as she rubbed the ointment on a little harder.
"Aaagh!"
Just then, Dragon's attention was drawn to another section on the back page.
"Hawk-Eye" Dracule Mihawk Crowned, Ascends as the World's Greatest Swordsman!
The article was short and vague. It only mentioned that Mihawk had fought a peak duel on the Red Line against a legendary swordsman of unknown identity, and had ultimately prevailed.
Paired with his notorious record of challenging strong opponents across the seas in recent years, the president of the World Economic News Paper, "Big News" Morgans, had officially pushed the narrative and "crowned" him.
Dragon's gaze shifted slightly. He glanced at Mihawk, standing there like a statue.
Dragon knew exactly who that so-called "legend" was.
One of the Five Elders, Saint Ethanbaron V. Nasjuro, who wielded the Shodai Kitetsu.
Mihawk finished reading. A trace of surprise flickered in his eyes, then faded into calm.
World's greatest?
In his mind appeared Nasjuro's icy face, and the Shodai Kitetsu's slash, cold enough to freeze a soul.
He had fought with everything he had, even releasing the restraint within Yoru, and only managed to barely draw even with the other man on the level of pure swordsmanship.
After witnessing the true summit of this sea, that kind of hollow praise from the masses could no longer stir his heart in the slightest.
The path of the sword had no end.
"So, Mr. World's Greatest Swordsman," Kael's teasing voice drifted over, "how does it feel?"
"That stupid bird Morgans is really bold. Snooping around a scene like that, and his storytelling is top-tier, I'll give him that."
"...Boring." Mihawk tossed the paper onto the table, concise as always.
Hah. Tsundere. You are probably grinning inside already.
The villa fell quiet for a brief moment.
Kael's smile faded. His eyes shifted to a figure in the corner, completely unscathed.
Moonlight Moria sat there with a glass of deep red wine, legs crossed, lounging in a single-seater like he owned the place.
Not a speck of dust on him, a brutal contrast to Kael and Mihawk's battered state.
"Moria. Everything handled?"
"Kyahahahahaha..." Moria let out his signature laugh and downed the wine in one go.
"Of course. Most of those pigs in Mary Geoise who call themselves gods have something adorable living inside their hearts now."
He raised a hand. His fingers slowly closed in midair, as if he were squeezing a beating heart from far away.
"Once the timing is right..."
His hand tightened, miming the crushing of a heart.
"Also, as you instructed, I brought those two back," Moria continued. "The one named Stella has already been sent to the East Blue by the Shadow Guard. She's with Lady Rouge now. As for the little girl from Kuja..."
He jerked his chin toward a room upstairs.
"She's up there. Quiet as a lamb."
After that, Moria's eyes swept over Kael's bandages, then flicked to the bone-deep sword wound across Mihawk's chest. He shivered, pure relief bleeding into his voice.
"I was a little regretful I didn't get to fight the Five Elders myself, but now that I've seen this... my decision was absolutely the right one. Kyahahaha."
Kael nodded in satisfaction.
Stella was a card he could not play yet.
He had to wait until Gild Tesoro, the man devoured by desire and hatred, built that glorious Golden Empire with his own hands.
Then, when he was at the peak of his triumph, Kael would let the "dead" white moonlight in his heart reappear.
At that point, the favor that could flip his entire world upside down would be enough to make him willingly join Kael's side.
As for Boa Hancock...
A proud, stubborn girl flashed through Kael's mind, and he let out a quiet, shameless chuckle.
That was just him indulging a tiny bit of personal desire.
The future Pirate Empress needed to be raised properly from a young age, after all.
Hmm...
Kael's brows knitted slightly. He replayed the entire Mary Geoise operation plan in his head.
Fisher Tiger, Ginny, Kuma, Dragon, Hawk-eye... slave liberation... Five Elders... Moria's task...
Wait.
Oh, hell. Doflamingo.
Kael's expression froze.
Only now did he remember he had tossed Donquixote Doflamingo into the burning chaos of Mary Geoise and never checked on him again.
Ah, whatever.
Kael relaxed almost immediately.
With that guy's brains and strength, he should be fine.
He probably... knows how to run out of the Holy Land...
Right?
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