Watching White Ghost stride out laughing, everyone left in the room had faces dark as charcoal.
"Alright," Sengoku said at last. "Thoughts?"
Tsuru rubbed the space between her brows and sighed.
"That brat's right about one thing—the Marine's face was lost a long time ago," she said. "He's just… an outlier."
Kizaru quietly put away the box Jin had handed him and went back to polishing his nails.
Aokiji: "Zzz… zzz…"
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku," Akainu spoke up, voice low but hard, "why must we continue to tolerate such a man? Just say the word and I'll deal with him."
He didn't move, but the look on his face said everything.
Zephyr folded his arms, thinking.
"I have to admit," he said slowly, "if that kid's plan to divert the slave traders' attention actually works, then a lot fewer civilians will die."
"Besides, Sengoku-san," Kizaru added lazily, "didn't he just… find us a new source of income~?"
Sengoku stayed silent.
It was income.
With this, the Marine's funding pressure could ease a little. Of course, they'd never officially participate. But quietly, behind the scenes, offering some "support" here and there—that was feasible. Even if those above found out, they probably wouldn't say anything.
And ideally, they'd never find out.
Those scumbags rotting in Impel Down… instead of letting them die uselessly, maybe it was better to squeeze a bit more "justice" out of them.
"Alright. That's that," Sengoku finally said. "We can't stop it. We've got no grounds to punish Rear Admiral 'White Ghost' Jin either—not when it's Saint Mjosgard running the show on that side.
"As for dismissing him? Even less of an option. A fighter on par with an Admiral is far more useful kept in our hands.
"So here's the conclusion—this man can be used, but he cannot be allowed near the center of power. Best to ship him off to the New World."
Decision made.
Jin, on his side, had no desire to linger at Marine HQ anyway. The whole place felt… wrong to him.
He walked down the corridor, popped a window, and simply jumped—black wings unfurling as he caught the wind and flew off.
The next stretch of time passed quietly.
He waited for his "goods" to arrive, trained Stella between breaks, and let the auction house run.
Auction House No. 1 reopened and quickly found its stride.
Pirate slaves were selling far better than anyone had expected. The final price was often several times their original bounty. The really popular ones could hit ten times.
Doflamingo had even set up a gladiator arena for the Celestial Dragons—or more accurately, for all those rich, brainless nobles and "gentlemen" with money to burn.
They'd throw a bunch of pirates in together and let them kill each other. The last one standing earned the right to be auctioned.
Of course, all the bounties of the pirates who died in the pit?
Those got added on top of the winner's bounty.
That little twist was wildly popular with the Celestial Dragons.
Ever since Saint Mjosgard had declared that "weak, scrawny civilians don't deserve to be slaves—only the strongest pirate slaves are worthy of the Celestial Dragons," all those idiots with too much money and not enough brain had gone crazy in agreement.
After all, Mjosgard's fishman slaves had beaten their slaves half to death in the ring, and they'd lost a lot of money because of it.
Now? Pirate slaves from Auction House No. 1 were in short supply.
Bounty hunters who thought they were hot stuff were sailing out in droves.
The pay was just too good.
The auction house gave a ten percent premium on top of the pirate's official bounty. That was more than the Marines would ever pay.
Why hand pirates to the Marine for free when you could get extra from the auction?
One of the lots was especially eye-catching—a pirate captain of the Piledriver Pirates, bounty fifty million berries. He was bought by Saint Charlos for one hundred and fifty million.
Back home, the guy beat the crap out of Mjosgard's fishman slave.
Mjosgard was furious, cursing until he nearly foamed at the mouth, then put a special bounty up through the auction house.
He ran to complain to Jin.
"That slave was a Club-Club Fruit user," he whined. "White Ghost, you have to get me a stronger slave. I'll feed him a Devil Fruit too!"
Jin just smiled and said nothing.
You people have resources, go play. Someone like me with no resources… I still have to go hunt for them myself.
Of course he knew that pirate had been supplied by the Marines.
And not just him—of the twenty pirates in this round's auction, half had come from Marine stocks.
Vice Admiral Gaji came by to complain too.
"Did two runs on my own," he grumbled. "Sengoku caught me and chewed me out—said Marines should 'advance and retreat together,' or something like that. Then he confiscated all the money, left me a measly five million."
Jin could only chuckle.
"You really can't learn from Kizaru, huh?" he said. "He's snuck a few runs already and no one's caught him.
"You were the one strolling up like you owned the place."
During this period, Doflamingo finally sent over that artificial Devil Fruit.
Jin inspected it carefully, then grinned ear to ear.
Another god-tier fruit.
He teased Monet a few times out of habit and immediately felt Ain and Stella's stares on his back, full of quiet judgment.
He coughed and calmly changed the subject.
Jinbe also came by, asking for help.
He admitted he wasn't good at teaching others how to train and fight, so he hoped Jin could spare some people to act as instructors.
He even said this would count as a token of gratitude from Queen Otohime.
Then he opened a chest full of sparkling jewels.
Jin didn't even hesitate.
He sent Jango.
When Brook heard they were going to Fishman Island, he shamelessly begged to tag along.
Jin agreed. When Brook came back, he didn't assign him anything—just told him to do whatever he wanted.
Brook started busking on the street, playing music and singing. Over time he built up a bit of fame, touring from island to island giving concerts.
Jin really couldn't stand this pervy skeleton anymore, so he let him go.
He was keeping Brook around for one purpose only—to hook a big fish.
That "fish" was still locked up deep in Impel Down.
A month later, Stella's physical conditioning had gradually caught up.
She began learning the basics of Rokushiki.
The technique she took to most naturally was Shigan.
Her fingertip would produce a tiny bubble, and when she fired it, it was fast, accurate, and exploded on impact.
Kizaru, for his part, sent "the man with the tightest mouth in the world" to deliver Jin's goods.
Sentomaru.
Jin poked fun at him twice, and Sentomaru casually blurted out what kind of underwear Kizaru was wearing.
When he noticed Jin taking out a recording Den Den Mushi, his expression changed and he bolted.
Jin just chuckled and focused on what he was holding.
A golden bracelet.
He closed his eyes and felt it carefully.
Yes.
Usable.
"Ha ha ha ha ha!"
He burst into loud laughter.
Stella, Ain, and Kuro all stared, baffled. It was the first time they'd seen Jin this excited.
Once he'd laughed himself out, Jin explained:
"The Fortress Fruit has been fused into this bracelet. Put simply… this bracelet ate a Devil Fruit."
All three froze.
Modern tech was that advanced now?
"Fortress Fruit," Jin went on, "just from the name, you know it's some kind of castle-type ability. So after it eats the fruit…"
His hand slid along the blade of his giant sword.
Woosh.
The massive sword vanished into thin air.
"Huh?!"
All three of them were stunned.
"Spatial storage," Jin said, smiling from ear to ear.
The words hit them like a thunderclap.
"Sentomaru said Vegapunk really liked this new line of thinking," Jin added. "He's planning to find some space-type Devil Fruits and make more of these."
He snapped the bracelet onto his wrist, satisfied.
"Alright. I'm heading out for a while.
"Base runs as usual. If you catch any pirate captains or big shots, send them straight to the auction house.
"Ain, keep training Stella. When I'm not around and you want to go shopping, go together and watch each other's backs. This place is crawling with monsters."
"Got it," Kuro nodded, then turned to leave.
Ain just nodded quietly, saying nothing.
"Okay, White-bro!" Stella chirped.
At some point over the month, she'd switched to calling him "White-bro."
Of course, nothing had happened between them.
Ain was sharing a bed with Stella every night.
That evening, Jin changed into casual clothes and walked alone toward Area 13.
He looked up at the signboard.
Yep. This was the place.
Shakky's Rip-off Bar.
The bell jingled as he pushed the door open.
"Welcome—oh my, what a rare guest."
The mature, still-gorgeous proprietress looked up at him.
Rayleigh was on the sofa, reading a newspaper.
The headline was bold and dramatic:
Marine Hero Garp Fights Red-Hair Shanks in East Blue—
Red-Hair Pirates Defeated, Flee to the Other Three Seas
Jin took a seat at the bar and ordered a glass of beer.
When Shakky set it down, he downed it in one go.
He didn't bother with small talk.
"What I asked for?"
"Ah~ you really are a rude little brat," Shakky chuckled, then slid something across the bar. "Here, a permanent Log Pose. Took quite a bit of work to get this one."
Jin took it and slipped it away, then looked at Rayleigh.
"The child Roger asked Garp to raise," he said casually, "is in East Blue, Windmill Village. Living with a bandit family up in the mountains."
Rayleigh's grip on the newspaper tightened.
"At first, I thought you might be lying," he said slowly. "Now, it seems you weren't."
He set the paper aside.
Jin turned back to Shakky.
"Let me throw in another bit of intel," he said. "Call it payment for that glass of beer. How about it, boss lady?"
"Ah~ my ears are open," Shakky smiled, lazy glint in her eyes. "I'm quite interested in what you know, little pretty-boy."
Jin looked Rayleigh in the eye.
"You'd better wait until old man Garp comes back to HQ before you go see that kid."
"I understand," Rayleigh said, sighing.
Jin shook his head.
"No. You don't."
Rayleigh and Shakky both stared at him, curious.
Jin curled his lip.
"Shanks tricked Garp's real grandson into yelling all day about how he wants to be a pirate.
"If you show up now and Garp runs into you, he'll beat you to death."
…
Well, that explained why Garp had chased Shanks clear across the four seas.
"I swear, the Roger Pirates really are a plague," Jin muttered as he stood up. "Roger started the Great Age of Pirates, Shanks is out here brainwashing kids into becoming pirates.
"I'm leaving. If I stay any longer you'll start luring me into piracy too."
He gave them a lazy wave and walked out of the bar.
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