"Are you certain about turning down the transfer to G-5?"
"Sir! After much deliberation, I formally request a transfer to the 'Independent Task Force' led by Rear Admiral Krieg!"
"I see... Very well. By the way, about that hamburger on your left cheek..."
"It's Vergo, sir!!"
Apparently, that was the exchange at Headquarters. Now, standing before me was a man who, in the original timeline, would climb all the way to Vice Admiral while serving as Doflamingo's ultimate mole.
Let's rewind a bit.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku had contacted me, mentioning he was sending fresh blood to assist in the hunt for Doflamingo.
He was quite enthusiastic—a young ace, only 27, who had formally enlisted a year ago and already displayed a terrifying aptitude for Armament Haki (Busoshoku), specifically the Hardening technique.
Currently a Second Lieutenant, he had specifically requested to be under my command.
I was expecting a promising young hero. Instead, when I went to the docks to greet our new recruit, I found a man in sunglasses with a stray piece of lettuce stuck to his face.
"Reporting for duty. I am Vergo!"
It's Vergo!! I screamed internally.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the North Blue, a small boat tossed upon the waves.
A large man in a coat of black feathers and smeared clownish makeup sat across from a young boy whose skin was marred by the tell-tale white patches of Amber Lead syndrome.
Donquixote Rosinante—known to the underworld as Corazon—looked at the boy, Trafalgar Law.
"Hey, Law... I meant to ask. Why do you have such a reaction whenever you see that Red Navy flag?"
Law's eyes darkened, filled with a cold, ancient hatred. "...They came to us. To Flevance.
They talked about 'saving' us, and then they killed everyone! That's why I hate Marines! They only came to fetch the King, who ran away... they intended to slaughter us from the start! I hate the Government. It makes me sick!"
"Law..."
Rosinante went silent, his heart aching. Law didn't know the truth: that the man sitting across from him wasn't just a pirate officer, but a Commander of the Navy embedded as a spy.
Rosinante knew of the Independent Task Force. He knew Krieg's reputation. From everything he'd heard within the service, Krieg didn't seem like the kind of man to carry out a mindless massacre.
There's a piece missing here, Rosinante thought, pulling the weeping boy into a clumsy hug.
Back on the Charlotte Angel, I flipped through my well-worn memo pad.
Primary Objective: Capture Doflamingo. Secondary Objectives: Rescue Corazon and secure Law.
By some strange twist of fate, the man who caused Corazon's downfall in the original story—Vergo—had ended up right under my nose.
Doflamingo had clearly sent him here to figure out how I was tracking them. When Vergo "discreetly" asked how we kept finding the Numancia Flamingo, I didn't mention the Vivre Card pinned to their hull. I just looked him dead in the eye and said, "Instinct."
Vergo's expression hadn't changed, but he looked deeply unconvinced.
I squeezed my brain for every fading scrap of "original knowledge" and wrote down the roster of the Donquixote Family.
Donquixote Doflamingo: String-String Fruit. Currently worth 70 million, but far more dangerous than the bounty suggests. Since I've already reduced the number of Celestial Dragons, the "Heavenly Tribute" is smaller, and the escorts are thicker—hijacking it won't be as easy for him this time.
The Elite Officers: Trebol (Stick-Stick), Diamante (Ripple-Ripple), Pica (Stone-Stone), and Vergo (The hidden ace).
The Officers: Jora (Art-Art), Lao G (Martial Arts), Machvise (Ton-Ton), Senor Pink (Swim-Swim), Gladius (Pam-Pam).
The Youngsters: Buffalo (Spin-Spin... wait, I think I wrote 'Dasyan' first), Baby 5 (Arms-Arms), and the five-year-old Dellinger.
The lineup is stacked, I thought. Doflamingo is a hell of a manager to keep this bunch of freaks in line. The endgame would undoubtedly revolve around the trade for the Ope Ope no Mi.
I snapped the notebook shut and tucked it into my pouch. I looked out over the railing.
On the horizon, a fleet of over a dozen pirate ships had gathered, with the Numancia Flamingo lurking at the center of the formation.
It seemed Doflamingo had gathered every local thug he could find to sink the "Red Gulls" once and for all.
"He thinks numbers will win the day," I muttered, a cold smirk crossing my face. "He's forgotten that this isn't just a ship. This is a battleship built by the best minds in the Navy and manned by the elite I personally trained."
I looked at the twelve ships closing in.
"I wonder... will twelve be enough to even scratch the paint?"
🌟 The story is already written… waiting to be unleashed. Claim early access on Patreon: [email protected]/Master_Studios677
🔓 You hold the keys to bonus chapters:💬 10 reviews ignite 1 bonus chapter🔷 100 Power Stones summon another
🔥 Your power determines how fast the tale unfolds.