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Chapter 44: S-Rank Top Secret Mission: Explore the New Worlds
Gion closed the door, draped the towel over her neck, and sat down at the table.
She poured herself a glass of water and drank it in one go, finally feeling the post-training heat and the frustration in her heart subside a little.
"Sister Tsuru, you know me."
Gion let out a breath and leaned back in her chair. The sharp aura of a top-tier swordswoman completely retracted in front of her sister.
"If I don't hold a sword for a day, I feel awful."
"Hehe..."
Tsuru chuckled, pouring Gion a fresh cup of hot tea. Her movements were calm and rhythmic, carrying a soothing quality.
"I heard you rejected Chaton again today?"
Pfft!
Gion had just lifted her teacup. Hearing this, she almost spat out her tea.
She slammed the cup on the table, her pretty face showing undisguised annoyance and disgust.
"Sister Tsuru! How could you tease me about this too!"
"Don't mention that idiot!"
She gritted her teeth, her hand unconsciously resting on her famous blade, Konpira.
"He's so annoying!"
"The New World is in chaos with pirates every day, the Yonko are expanding their territories again, and the Navy is short on warships!"
"And him! All day long, he never thinks about how to exterminate pirates. His head is full of flowers and dates. Is there anything else?"
"He's a disgrace to the Marines!"
The more Gion spoke, the angrier she got, her chest heaving.
She despised this kind of man who couldn't get his priorities straight.
Tsuru watched her little sister huffing, the smile on her face deepening.
"This just proves that our Gion's charm is something even an Admiral candidate can't resist."
"Besides, Chaton's strength is still commendable."
"Can charm be eaten? Is that how he should be using his strength?"
Gion rolled her eyes and slumped in her chair, a look of despair on her face.
"If he used the same energy he uses to chase me on catching pirates, he could have brought back a dozen with bounties over 500 million!"
"Alright, alright."
Tsuru saw that it was enough. If she kept teasing, her little sister might actually draw her sword.
The smile on her face faded, her expression turning serious.
The atmosphere in the room changed with it.
Gion immediately sensed the change. She sat up straight, the annoyance on her face vanishing, replaced by the focus and sharpness of a Marine Vice Admiral.
"Sister Tsuru, what happened?"
There was an imperceptible tension in Gion's voice.
She knew her sister all too well.
When Grand Staff Officer Tsuru wore this expression, it meant something big had happened. Something big enough to shake Marine Headquarters, or even the entire world.
Tsuru didn't answer directly.
Her eyes, which seemed to see through everything, slowly swept over Gion, finally resting on the hand that was on Konpira.
Tsuru didn't answer directly, but instead studied Gion with a scrutinizing gaze.
"Kuzan... went to the East Blue a few days ago."
"Hm?" Gion was stunned. That lazy-bones Aokiji... not slacking off in his office, what was he doing in the East Blue?
"He met... a very interesting kid."
Tsuru put down her teacup, her voice still level.
"And then, he spent ten million Beri to 'experience' a battle."
"A battle?" Gion was even more confused. "What battle is worth ten million Beri? Who did he fight? Old man Garp?"
In her mind, the only battle an Admiral would pay to "experience" would have to be against someone on Garp or Sengoku's level.
Tsuru shook her head.
"A man... we don't know at all."
Her tone became unprecedentedly grave.
"That man's name... was..."
Tsuru paused, as if trying to recall the difficult name.
"Uchiha Madara."
Gion quickly searched her mind for the name.
Nothing.
Not on any Marine wanted poster, not in the CP organization's intelligence network, not even on the lists of powerhouses in the underworld. This name didn't exist.
"Is he strong?" Gion asked.
"Strong?"
Tsuru let out a self-deprecating laugh, a laugh that still held a trace of shock.
"Kuzan... lasted less than three minutes against him."
Boom!
The words struck Gion's mind like a thunderbolt.
She shot up from her chair, the legs scraping loudly against the floor.
"What did you say?!"
For the first time, an emotion called "horror" appeared on Gion's face.
"Kuzan... Admiral Aokiji... three minutes?!"
How is that possible!
That's one of the Navy's top powers! A Logia fruit user!
A monster who can freeze the entire sea in an instant!
Even against a Yonko, he could definitely put up a fight!
Three minutes?!
That wasn't a defeat. That was a crushing!
"Sister Tsuru! Are you sure you're not joking?!" Gion's voice was strained.
"Do I look like I'm joking?" Tsuru looked up, meeting her gaze calmly.
Gion looked at Tsuru's dead-serious face, and her heart sank.
She knew. Tsuru never made jokes like this.
Which meant...
All of it... was true.
There really was a terrifying being in this world who could defeat a Marine Admiral in three minutes?
Gion's worldview was taking a severe beating.
She sat back down, her chest heaving, trying to process this earth-shattering news.
"This Uchiha Madara... who is he? Where is he?!" Gion's voice was laced with undisguised killing intent.
No matter who he was, such a dangerous existence had to be handled by the Marines!
"That's just the problem."
Tsuru sighed.
"That Uchiha Madara... doesn't belong to our world."
Gion was completely lost.
"...Doesn't belong to our world?"
She felt like her brain wasn't working.
Every word from Sister Tsuru's mouth today was challenging the limits of her reality.
"Remember what I said? Kuzan paid ten million Beri to 'experience' a battle."
Tsuru said, word by word.
"In Foosha Village in the East Blue, a young man named Blake has appeared."
"He set up a stall called the 'Dungeon Shop'."
"The product he sells... is a ticket to 'other worlds'."
Tsuru relayed the core, and most absurd, conclusion from the combined intelligence of Sengoku, Garp, and Aokiji to her swordswoman sister in the simplest terms.
"As long as you pay, he can send you to a world he created, or perhaps... a 'fragment of time' he intercepted."
"In that world, you can fight any powerhouse."
"Uchiha Madara... was just a 'boss' in the intermediate dungeon Kuzan chose."
"Boss..."
Gion murmured the unfamiliar word. She felt like she was listening to a fantasy tale.
World fragments?
Dungeon Shop?*
What is all this?
"I know it's hard to understand." Tsuru saw her confusion. "In fact, at first, Sengoku and I also thought that old bastard Garp was just spouting nonsense."
"Until... Kuzan brought back his firsthand report, and..."
Tsuru's expression became extremely complex.
"Garp... from his 'beginner dungeon'... brought back a new power system called 'Chakra'."
"He can now walk on the surface of the sea."
"Not Moonwalk, and not by using ice."
"He is truly... walking on the sea as if it were flat ground."
Gion's mouth fell slightly open.
She felt her throat go dry, unable to say a word.
Vice Admiral Garp... walking on water?
Just imagining it was enough to make her scalp tingle.
"So..." Gion finally managed to speak. "Sister Tsuru, you came to find me today... just to tell me this?"
"No."
Tsuru shook her head.
"I came to give you a choice."
She stood up and walked to the window, looking out at Marineford, which was dyed golden by the setting sun.
"Sengoku has decided to form a top-secret, elite squad."
"The squad has only one objective."
"To go to the East Blue, to that 'Dungeon Shop'. At any cost, to explore those unknown worlds and analyze those new powers!"
"We must seize the advantage before the World Government and those pirates react!"
Tsuru turned, her gaze burning as it fixed on Gion.
"This is a top-secret mission, S-rank or higher."
"There is no support, no backup. You cannot even reveal your identity as a Marine."
"The mission is full of unknowns and dangers. You might meet monsters even more terrifying than Uchiha Madara. You might even... die in there."
"But."
Tsuru's voice held an indescribable allure.
"You will also have the chance... to see sights you could never have imagined in your entire life."
"You will have the chance... to cross blades with countless top-tier powerhouses from other worlds."
"You will have the chance... to make that Konpira in your hand... stronger, and sharper... than it is right now!"
.....
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