Over the course of a single day, Cyrus appeared in several different places.
Some were still consumed by chaos, while others had barely changed at all.
One such place was the island where a certain reindeer lived.
Cyrus never showed himself.
He merely watched from afar for a moment and saw Chopper diligently studying medicine, apparently living a busy but fulfilling life. Satisfied, Cyrus left without disturbing him.
His next stop was East Blue, where he returned to Shimotsuki Village.
The island was deserted.
The villagers had already evacuated alongside the Revolutionary Army, leaving the entire settlement empty.
Cyrus stood with his hands behind his back, gazing out over the sea.
Purupurupuru.
The Den Den Mushi on him suddenly rang.
He took it out, glanced at it, and answered. Morgans's excited voice immediately came through.
"Cyrus! Something huge just happened!"
"What happened?"
Cyrus didn't bother guessing. His tone remained calm as he asked directly.
"The Celestial Dragons! It's the Celestial Dragons!"
Morgans could barely contain his excitement.
"Celestial Dragons?"
That did catch Cyrus slightly off guard.
"A large number of them have come out of hiding and taken command in several different regions."
That was precisely why Morgans was so excited.
The Celestial Dragons had hardly shown themselves outside Mary Geoise in recent years, much less personally taken command of anything.
To Morgans, it looked as though the World Government had finally been pushed to its limit, which was why he had immediately called Cyrus.
"I see."
Cyrus's voice remained calm.
"You're not surprised?"
Morgans sounded baffled by his lack of reaction.
"Should I be?"
"Well… I suppose not. You've already killed so many Celestial Dragons."
Morgans seemed to think he had figured it out.
"That has nothing to do with it."
Cyrus chuckled.
He had already guessed what choice Imu had made.
More importantly, it meant she had started moving.
From this point onward, things would become much simpler.
"Morgans."
Something about Cyrus's tone made the bird man, who had been practically vibrating with excitement, fall silent.
"The outcome is almost here. Your choice so far hasn't been wrong, but stop acting like every story has to shake the world. People read ordinary news too."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Morgans had expected an order, not a lecture about journalism.
"Anyone who gets ahead of the competition stands to gain enormously. The World Economy News Paper has more influence than you probably realize, and once everything settles down, there'll be plenty of people who want control over that kind of propaganda network."
Cyrus paused briefly.
"I probably won't appear for a while after this. During that time, what happens to this world will be up to all of you."
"Wait—"
Morgans's voice shot up, but Cyrus had already ended the call.
Whoosh!
Flames erupted around him.
A streak of red fire shot into the sky, leaving a long burning trail behind as it rapidly disappeared into the distance.
…
At the current headquarters of the World Economy News Paper, Morgans stared blankly at the Den Den Mushi in front of him.
He wouldn't appear for a while?
Was Cyrus really about to wash his hands of everything?
Now?
Morgans's eyes darted around as he desperately tried to work out what was happening, but his thoughts became more chaotic the longer he tried.
Eventually, irritation won.
He took the simplest possible approach and called Crocodile.
A short while later, his voice became shrill enough to make the Den Den Mushi wince.
"You knew too?!"
"Keep your voice down, Morgans."
Crocodile sounded tired.
"According to the chairman, this is something that has to be done. I can't tell you exactly what he's planning, but if you calm down for a minute, you might be able to figure it out yourself."
"Figure it out?"
Morgans nearly choked.
If he could calm down enough to think clearly, he wouldn't have called in the first place.
Still, Crocodile's reaction told him one important thing: whatever Cyrus was about to do, the situation wasn't hopeless.
"Fine. As long as you know what the chairman's doing."
Morgans finally relayed the information he had gathered about the Celestial Dragons, left it at that, and ended the call.
Something enormous was about to happen.
…
Far away in East Blue, a streak of flame crossed the sky before abruptly changing direction and diving toward the sea.
Whoosh!
Fire flared across the deck of an oddly shaped ship, and Cyrus stepped out from within it.
His sudden arrival immediately caused a disturbance.
"Chairman!"
Several people who had been sitting around a table eating jumped to their feet in excitement.
Cyrus glanced over, noticed the Hunter badges they were wearing, and gave them a small nod.
"Carry on."
"Yes!"
They had clearly wanted to approach him, but after hearing that, they reluctantly sat back down. Their attention, however, never really left him.
The other customers at the Baratie were even more nervous.
Chairman?
Then they took another look at the flames Cyrus had arrived in and at his appearance.
There was only one person he could be.
The chairman of the Hunter Guild.
Possibly the strongest man in the world.
The restaurant became so quiet that people barely dared breathe.
After Cyrus took a seat, a young man with curled eyebrows stood nearby for several seconds, took a few steadying breaths, and finally approached.
"What do you want?"
"Seafood fried rice."
Cyrus gestured casually.
"All right."
Sanji blinked once, then nodded and headed for the kitchen.
The wait wasn't long, but it was Red-Leg Zeff who personally brought the food out.
Most of the Baratie's staff were former pirates, and although they had long since left that life behind, the Hunter Guild had originally built its reputation by hunting pirates.
Having the Guild's chairman sitting in their restaurant naturally made everyone uneasy.
Especially when that chairman might also be the strongest person alive.
"This is just a restaurant."
Zeff placed the plate of fried rice in front of Cyrus and spoke carefully.
"I know. I've been here before."
Cyrus nodded.
Zeff studied him briefly.
"Thought you looked familiar."
"I was just passing through today. Business seems good."
Cyrus picked up his utensils and began eating.
Only then did Zeff relax slightly and walk away.
The restaurant remained unnaturally quiet.
No one seemed willing to make much noise while Cyrus ate.
By the time he finished the fried rice, several of the Hunters at the nearby table finally worked up the nerve to stand.
"Chairman… the people running the Baratie gave up piracy a long time ago."
They looked nervous, obviously worried that Cyrus had come to deal with Zeff and the others.
Cyrus stood, glanced at them, and waved dismissively.
Then he turned and walked out of the restaurant.
A gold coin flew back through the doorway a moment later.
Boom!
Flames erupted into the sky.
The instant Cyrus disappeared, the entire restaurant seemed to breathe again.
Several customers let out long sighs, only now realizing how tense they had been.
"That pressure was insane…"
Someone muttered, and several others immediately agreed.
The Hunters and the Baratie staff finally relaxed as well.
Zeff glanced toward Sanji.
"You really don't want to try going out to sea someday?"
He lowered his voice.
"Joining the Hunter Guild wouldn't be a bad way to see the world. You could even become a Gourmet Hunter."
Sanji didn't look up.
"Maybe after I've learned everything you've got to teach me, old man."