Tenryū Yuto was a little surprised.
Whether in Mary Geoise or out at sea, he had basically been a transparent nobody in the political sense. Who would be calling him on a Den Den Mushi?
Even so, he still took the receiver.
"Moshi moshi?"
"Saint Tenryū Yuto, my apologies for disturbing you."
The Den Den Mushi's face twisted into the stern features of a man who looked very much like a golden lion.
"Headquarters has issued an order. All high ranking officers are to return to Marineford at once. At the same time, a message came from Mary Geoise. The Five Elders request that you temporarily return to the Holy Land as well."
Yuto froze for a moment.
That sounded like something big had happened.
So he asked directly.
"Vice Admiral Komine, do you know what is going on?"
On the other end, Komine Gōjirō fell silent for a while, as if finding the words difficult. In the end, he still spoke.
"Your Highness, according to the information I received, Fleet Admiral Kong encountered the great pirate Red the Aloof, Patrick Redfield, in the New World."
"The two fought for ten days. Although Vice Admiral Garp arrived in time and managed to capture Red the Aloof, Fleet Admiral Kong has been in a coma ever since."
"So it was that matter."
Yuto let out a quiet breath. For a second, he had thought the storyline itself had taken some massive deviation.
The game never gave an exact date for when Redfield was captured by the Marines, so Yuto had never paid it much mind.
A man like Redfield was never going to submit to anyone. Even if someone fished him out of Impel Down, he would be useless as a subordinate.
He just hadn't expected the incident to blow up this much.
"Still, it makes sense. The game clearly stated that Redfield was the winner, but it never explained the casualty count on either side."
"Judging from this, Steel Bone Kong must have gotten beaten half to death and still hasn't woken up."
"Redfield probably didn't come out of it much better either. Otherwise, a top tier monster like that would be very difficult to pin down, and it wouldn't have been so easy for Garp to pick up the pieces."
With that in mind, Yuto spoke into the receiver.
"In that case, we will return."
This was not as simple as losing a one on one fight.
As Fleet Admiral, Steel Bone Kong represented the Marine's highest combat power. Being defeated by a great pirate in single combat was a major blow to the prestige of both the Marines and the World Government.
From this point on, pirates' fear of the Navy would decline sharply. It would take a long time for that deterrence to recover.
On top of that, it had only been a year since Roger opened the Great Pirate Era. Pirates flooding out to sea in search of the One Piece were as numerous as carp in a river.
Any day now, some idiot pirate might convince himself that the Marines weren't so scary, then stop fearing the Celestial Dragons and decide to raid Yuto's convoy.
Even if Yuto came out of it without a scratch, the World Government's image would take a further hit. That was the real reason the Five Elders were rushing to recall all Celestial Dragons who were out wandering.
Having figured it out, Yuto had no intention of playing the hero.
They say go back, he goes back. His whole brand on the surface was being obedient.
"Stella, pass the word. Turn around and set course for Mary Geoise."
"Yes, Your Highness."
While Stella went to order the slaves to change course, Perona stood there blinking those big eyes of hers at Yuto, her gaze full of curiosity and longing.
"We're going back to the Holy Land? I've been curious for so long. I heard that is where the gods live."
"Calling it the dwelling place of gods isn't wrong. But Mary Geoise is not as nice as you imagine. Once we are there, you behave yourself. If you get grabbed by some other Celestial Dragon's guards, I am not going to bail you out."
Yuto tossed out a casual scare.
He wasn't entirely joking either. Once they were back in Mary Geoise, he could not fool around with Perona like this anymore. At least outside his own estate, he had to maintain appearances.
Robin added, in her calm scholarly tone,
"The Holy Land Mary Geoise is the seat of the World Government. Countless high ranking officials reside there. The inner city is the Celestial Dragons' domain."
"As the so called descendants of the gods, the Celestial Dragons enjoy every possible privilege under the law. We must be extremely careful with what we say and do."
"Offend them, and at best you will be reduced to a slave. At worst, you will be executed on the spot."
Her explanation really did scare Perona. A mist of tears rose over the girl's big eyes. She stared at Robin in horror, unable to understand how this older sister, who was only a bit older than her, could say such terrifying things so calmly.
Perona latched onto Yuto's leg and refused to let go, eyes brimming as she pleaded,
"What? The Holy Land is that dangerous? Then can we just not go back?"
"Haha. Now you know fear? Aren't you usually super brave?"
Perona's expression made Yuto laugh.
This little brat who had spent the past month mouthing off at him at every turn was actually scared this badly.
"But… those are Celestial Dragons!"
Yuto squatted down and took her cheeks in both hands, pulling them outward.
"Uuu… that hurts! You jerk, let go of me!"
The sting in her cheeks washed away her fear. The super brave Perona made her triumphant return.
Yuto asked her, amused,
"Did you forget that I am also a Celestial Dragon? You better watch it, or I really will make you a slave."
Perona froze for a second.
Over the past month, she had been playing and bickering with Yuto every day, to the point that she had almost forgotten his identity, and also forgotten that she had been kidnapped onto this ship in the first place. She had clearly been planning to run away before.
How did things end up like this?
Her small head filled with big question marks.
Not that it stopped her from putting up a front.
"Hmph. I'm not scared of you, you big bully."
"Besides, are you really a Celestial Dragon? You sure you're not a fake?"
As she spoke, Perona stared at Yuto with a face full of suspicion.
When she saw Yuto reach out toward her again, she clutched her reddened cheeks and bolted.
In truth, Perona was not the only one with questions. Robin had the same doubts in her heart.
She did not question whether Yuto was really a Celestial Dragon. With CP agents serving as his bodyguards and a Marine warship escorting them nearby, there was no way his identity could be fake.
What she was curious about was how different this particular Celestial Dragon seemed.
Maybe her stare was a bit too direct, because Yuto, who had been lying back in his deck chair, suddenly opened his eyes and asked in mild surprise,
"What is it?"
Robin shook her head.
"I was just thinking, Your Highness."
Yuto figured she was having trouble adjusting to her new environment and did not press further. He lay back again and pretended to nap, his thoughts already drifting to his card system.
Because the ability card he obtained from defeating young Borsalino was the Glint Glint Fruit, Yuto had not received any stat boost from it. As a result, his strength had been progressing more slowly these past few months.
He was not particularly bothered.
There were still at least twenty years before the final showdown. There was no need to rush. Slow and steady growth was fine.
Barring any surprises, there should not be any situations in the near future that required him to take the field personally.
"This trip landed me Aramaki as a combat asset. Now a lot of plans can finally move forward."
Previously, being stuck in Mary Geoise had limited Yuto's ability to act. Now that he had someone reliable under his command, he could finally start putting his schemes into motion.
On the other side of the deck, Robin followed behind Perona and found Stella, who was directing the slaves as they adjusted the sails and helm.