More treasures were hidden by him in places that only he knew, and he was quite aware that there were few people under him with whom he could truly confide. They all had their ambitions, and the moment his control was gone, those ambitions were bound to erupt.
John spent five years finding a clue to Rocks' treasure and headed to Hatchinos to search for it.
That's all Purilite knew. He only knew John got a clue, as John explained a lot of knowledge only he knew to help Purilite better disguise himself.
Purilite replicated his own abilities; normal pirates were not his match. The powerful monsters were mainly in the New World, and returning from the New World to the South Sea would take considerable time even if one could fly.
Moreover, most Great Pirates would act cautiously and wouldn't directly go to war with him. If Purilite really attracted them over, it would actually be a good thing for him.
Only those who were once on the Rocks' ship could find this flaw, but they were all in the New World, though some were by his side. He never thought that there would be an anomaly like Kaidou just happening to be in the South Sea.
"Hmm, the information seems to match up. Queen, take care of him."
"?! Wait, I didn't lie, I told you everything! Why do this?! Didn't you say you'd let me go if I talked?"
"When did you get that illusion? Even during King's interrogation, he never said that," Kaidou replied disdainfully. Though there was a door, it couldn't block the enhanced hearing of Observation Haki.
"Wait, wait, I can be your undercover..."
"Forget it, you're not trustworthy, and you're too weak. I've no interest in people like you. Queen, throw him into the sea."
For a Fruit Ability User, sinking into the sea was virtually a death sentence. Ordinary people sinking would need a stone tied and limbs restrained, but for an Ability User, these steps could be skipped.
After sinking into the seawater, they would automatically fall into a state of weakness and couldn't swim.
However, just as Queen was about to throw him into the sea, Arceus, intending to check out the situation, happened to arrive.
"What are you doing?"
"He's useless now, all the information extracted. Big brother Kaidou told me to dispose of him."
"So you're just going to throw him into the sea?"
"Ah, he's an Ability User, isn't this simple."
"How could you do that?"
Arceus's words gave Purilite a glimmer of hope, but what Arceus said next shattered that hope.
"What if he has fishman blood and can breathe underwater? What if he just happens to be swallowed by a big fish and then fished up by someone? If you're going to deal with people, do it properly. Ensure death before throwing him in."
It's a big taboo to silence without ensuring death, especially with a seasoned traitor. What happened on Kachira Island didn't align with his worldview, and he was completely uninterested in Purilite's life or death, merely instructing Queen to do a clean job.
The outcome didn't change, only some steps were added, like chopping off the head before tossing it into the sea.
After that, Arceus checked the limited number of fruits in the kitchen. When a Fruit Ability User dies, the fruit will randomly regenerate somewhere in the world. If lucky, it might regenerate nearby.
He might even get a randomly generated magical backpack, but as it turned out, no one on this ship had such luck.
The fruits remained as they were, but looking at them, Arceus suddenly had a question.
At that moment, Queen happened to pick up an apple, and to produce better-tasting bananas in the future, he increased his fruit intake.
"Queen, Devil Fruits randomly attach to other fruits, right?"
"That's right, any problem?"
"What if an Ability User accidentally eats a fruit while it's undergoing transformation, and the juice flows into his mouth? What happens then?"
Eating two Devil Fruits causes one to explode, that's no secret, and Fruits resurrect randomly, that's no secret either, but when these two facts are put together, it becomes terrifying.
Though the chances are slim, it's not impossible. Watching the fruit in his hand, Queen hesitated.
He then picked up a small knife, cutting the fruit open. Even upon resurrection, a fruit would only appear on a whole fruit, so this was safe. From then on, Queen cut even grapes before eating, never eating any uncut cluster again.
Now they had a sailing direction, but a new problem arose. The Life Card could point directions and even indicate the owner's life status but couldn't show distance.
They didn't know how long it would take to find John.
Purilite only said John was now in the first half of the Grand Line, but John never specified the exact location.
At least they had a direction; this patrol ship continued sailing toward the Grand Line.
Two days later, the task force sent by the Navy Headquarters completely blocked the sea area near Kachira Island, gradually tightening the encirclement. The reason it took so long was to expand this net.
The pirates gathered faced no chance against the elite fleet from the Headquarters, wiped out in a short time. Because of Kaidou's Supreme King Haki at that time, most people didn't know what had happened.
A few couldn't explain the situation, only seeing a giant dragon, while the culprit John was nowhere to be found.
The Navy had conveyed the news of a major victory, declaring John fled in panic amid the provocation to the Navy's honor, needing a victory report today.
A large number of pirates were shipped to various prisons; many didn't even qualify for Impel Down. However, Zephyr was the same "no-kill" Admiral as before; the greatest harm to these pirates was still caused by Kaidou.
Spandine was the first to know of this news, and Purilite's silence led him to believe he ran off with John, prompting a batch of agents to start looking for them.
At this time, Arceus and his group were near an island. Queen dismantled the old small boat, refitting the Navy's patrol ship. They were approaching the Windless Zone; relying on sails there was impossible, so he was adding new propulsion systems like paddle wheels.
And Arceus looked at the vast sea area of the Windless Zone, feeling a stirring sensation there, which also happened to be moving.