Inside the Fleet Admiral's office at Marineford:
"You've been at Headquarters for six or seven years now, right?"
Sengoku frowned at Karl. "Why do you look exactly the same? That's not normal."
Karl crossed his legs and grinned. "Maybe handsome men age slower."
Sengoku rolled his eyes. "Whatever. So—what's your plan next? You're not going after the Shanks Pirates again, are you? Word is they run the moment they hear your name."
Karl waved it off. "No point. I'll take some time off and wander around."
Recently things had been quiet. If anything big happened in the Four Seas or the New World, it was usually handled by Kuzan or Sakazuki. The two Admirals had been competing hard lately, leaving little room for Karl to step in.
Sengoku nodded. "Fair. By the way—when are the Holy Light Shells and Holy Healing Shells arriving?"
Karl scratched his head. "Depends on Boa Hancock. Sky shell production is down lately. No sky shells, no holy shells."
Since the Holy Light and Holy Healing shells exploded in popularity, Sengoku quickly guessed who was behind them. After some negotiation, Karl gave the Navy an internal discount.
Now the public price of a Holy Light Shell was 1 million Beli, while a Holy Healing Shell cost 8 million Beli. The Navy bought them at only 40% of that price.
Between that and sales through Dragon, Karl had quietly become the richest man in the world—surpassing even Gild Tesoro. Most of the money, however, was poured into rebuilding Sky Island, which now functioned as a full-fledged sky nation affiliated with the World Government. Its ruler? Hancock.
"Anyway," Sengoku sighed, "hurry it up. And by the way… Ain is such a nice girl. How can you two-time her?"
Karl's eyebrow twitched. "Don't accuse me! Ain never complained. Besides, why is an old bachelor like you poking into my love life?"
Sengoku exploded. "I dedicated my life to the Marines! I had no time for romance!"
"Oh? Because I heard you and Monkey D. Garp both got rejected by Tsuru."
Sengoku fell silent… then threw Karl out of the office.
Moving the Pieces
After leaving the HQ building, Karl had planned to visit Sky Island to see Hancock. But he paused. The timing was perfect to set up the Dark-Dark Fruit.
He pulled out the Dark-Dark Fruit. Recently, the Second Division of the Whitebeard Pirates had been active in the New World. According to the original timeline, Thatch would soon find this fruit.
But this time… Karl held it.
New World — Gran Island, a Tavern
"Drink up, Captain Portgas D. Ace!"
Marshall D. Teach raised his mug. Ace downed his drink in one go.
The Fourth Division celebrated loudly. They had just won a battle.
"Teach, thanks back there. If not for you, I'd have been cut down."
Teach scratched his head bashfully. "Heh… We're crewmates. I may be weak, but I'd never let my brothers die."
Ace slammed his cup down. "Exactly! We're family. No need for thanks!"
The bar exploded in laughter and clinking mugs.
Karl Arrives
A flash of golden light streaked across the sky and descended on Gran Island. It was Karl.
It had taken longer than expected. Marine intelligence had provided bad leads, so Karl had to manually sift through clues before finally tracking this place down.
He glanced at the ships docked nearby. Good—this was the right island.
"You. Come here."
Ten minutes later, a nervous man walked into the tavern, ordered a rum, and sat alone in a corner. No one paid him any attention.
After a few drinks, he began muttering:
"Damn Harles… we found it together, but he wanted it all…"
No one heard him—except Teach.
Though Teach looked drunk, his mind was razor sharp. Thirty years aboard the Whitebeard Pirates, all in pursuit of one thing: the Dark-Dark Fruit. He never stopped searching.
He sat beside the man, pretending to be drunk. "Hey… why the gloomy face?"
The man flinched, wanting to flee—but remembered Karl's instructions.
"You… who are you?"
"Forget that. What's wrong?"
"It's that bastard Harles… We found something amazing, and he took it for himself…"
"What treasure? Worth much?"
"Not money… something special… a Devil Fruit."
Teach's eyes flickered.
"Oh? What kind?"
"Purple… looks like a pineapple… strange spiral patterns… weird-looking…"
BAM.
Teach slammed the table and grabbed the man, eyes blazing.
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