"We've captured the Celestial Dragons already!"
"Good. Now we wait and see which Marine they send."
From what Malverick knew, the only Marine Admiral right now—Sengoku—was currently in the New World.
Aside from him, only Zephyr remained.
But Zephyr definitely wouldn't come.
So the question was:
who else could make the trip?
"Captain, you really don't seem worried at all," Corazon said curiously.
The enemy was about to arrive, yet Malverick looked completely calm.
"Worried? Why would I be worried?"
"If this were two years ago, I'd have run already. But now…"
"There's no one in the Navy I can't handle. And with the Celestial Dragons in my hands, what's there to fear?"
Aside from old monsters like Garp, Malverick had absolute confidence he could defeat Akainu, Aokiji, or Kizaru.
Of course, if two Admirals came together, even he would lose.
But realistically, not knowing who the kidnapper was, would the Marines really send two Admiral-candidates?
Even if they did, with Celestial Dragons' lives at stake, they wouldn't dare fight recklessly.
Red Line — Mariejois.
Steel Bone Kong was speaking with one of the Five Elders.
In one week, he would cease being Fleet Admiral and instead take the position of Commander-in-Chief, moving to Mariejois to enjoy his later years.
"Kong, according to our wishes, you could still remain in your position for a few more years," one Elder said.
But Kong was firm in his decision.
Seeing his determination, the Elder didn't force it further.
They could order him to continue as Fleet Admiral…
but they couldn't guarantee he would actually give full effort.
Might as well let him retire.
Just then, a masked CP agent entered.
"Five Elder-sama, Fleet Admiral Kong—news from Sabaody. Someone has kidnapped the Celestial Dragons!"
"What?!"
Kong was stunned.
Even the usually expressionless Five Elder changed his face.
Someone kidnapped Celestial Dragons?
A truly shocking incident.
But after the initial surprise, neither panicked.
They assumed it was some ignorant fools acting without understanding consequences.
"In that case, let a Marine Admiral go deal with it. Kong, you—"
"That won't work. Admiral Sengoku is in the New World, and the only Admiral left at Marineford is Zephyr. But he cannot go."
The Five Elders understood Zephyr's situation and didn't push the issue.
"Then who's at Marineford now?" one asked.
Kong thought for a moment.
"There are two Admiral-candidates—Kuzan and Borsalino."
"They'll be promoted to Admirals at the succession ceremony next week. Just send one of them."
"Very well. Then let Borsalino go. He's faster."
To make it official, Kizaru was prematurely promoted, the "candidate" title removed.
When Borsalino received the announcement, he was completely bewildered.
"What's this? I got promoted out of nowhere?"
"Admiral Kizaru, please depart immediately. The Celestial Dragons are waiting."
"Well then… I suppose I should see who's bold enough to attack the Celestial Dragons. How frightening…"
And so, Kizaru sailed out with a Marine battleship.
Meanwhile, things were miserable for the Celestial Dragons.
All five—an entire family—lay on the ground restrained and unable to speak.
Malverick had not left them with Rayleigh.
He worried the old man couldn't handle the stress.
Even Malverick hadn't expected he'd accidentally capture five of them at once.
Things were going to get noisy.
"Captain, the Admiral is almost here. What do we do?" Corazon asked, glancing at the Celestial Dragons.
Although Corazon himself was technically a Celestial Dragon, he felt nothing but disgust for them.
"No rush. Let's play with the Admiral for a bit."
Malverick then used his Devil Fruit to store all five Celestial Dragons inside a spatial black hole.
Marineford was close to Sabaody, and Marine ships were fast.
Kizaru arrived quickly.
The entire archipelago was in a panic.
Kidnapped Celestial Dragons meant the whole island could be dragged into disaster.
Before Kizaru arrived, CP agents had already searched every corner—but found nothing.
So all they could do was wait.
At the port, many pirates were scrambling to leave.
A Marine Admiral was on his way—none of them stood a chance.
Boom!
As several pirate ships prepared to escape, a cannon blast exploded at the port.
A golden sphere of light shot out of the smoke and condensed into a man.
Kizaru.
He was already speaking into a Den-Den Mushi.
"Moshi moshi, this is Admiral Kizaru. I've arrived at Sabaody."
Seeing him, the pirates actually sighed with relief.
Many knew Kizaru wasn't technically an Admiral—at least, not until today—so they relaxed.
They had no idea he had already been promoted…
and promotion or not, Kizaru's strength was terrifying.
Some pirates pointed guns at him, ready to take him out.
But Kizaru didn't even look at them.
He casually continued his call.
"I'm at the port. I'll head over now. Wait for me at the site where the Celestial Dragons were captured."
"Yes sir!"
Seeing Kizaru ignore them completely, the pirates grew furious.
They opened fire—dozens of bullets tore toward him—
—and passed straight through his body harmlessly.
Kizaru hung up and finally looked at them.
"Now now… hasn't anyone taught you that it's rude to interrupt someone while they're talking?"
He lazily pointed his index finger at the biggest pirate ship.
Light gathered at his fingertip.
Biu!
A laser shot out and struck the ship—
a massive explosion ripped through it, sending shockwaves into nearby vessels and capsizing them.
The remaining pirates turned pale.
Run.
Run now.
Biu—biu—biu—biu—
More laser shots rained down like popping balloons, wiping out the fleeing pirates.
When he finished, Kizaru called the Marine battleship.
"Clean up the pirates on the sea. I'll take care of the main issue."
—------------------------------
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