The Den Den Mushi was roughly hung up, its mimicked features going blank in an instant.
Only the fading echo of Sengoku's roar remained in the sea wind.
Then silence.
...
Deep beneath the sea, the world was completely different from the storm raging on the surface.
Faint blue lamps illuminated the cramped metallic corridors of the Polar Tang.
The low hum of the engine ran steadily through the hull, occasionally joined by the soft drip of seawater striking the floor near the lower airlock.
Zaraki leaned against the cold cabin wall with his eyes closed, letting the lingering pain from his battle with Kaido settle through his body.
Law had already dealt with the worst of it.
The Ope Ope no Mi had stabilized the damage to Zaraki's lungs, reset several cracked bones, and closed the deepest tears in his muscles.
Law had been very clear, however, that "not dying" and "being ready to fight again" were two entirely different things.
Zaraki had listened for perhaps half of that explanation.
Aside from the engine, he could hear the crew's suppressed breathing and the nervous muttering of a white bear.
"Captain... are we really taking this guy with us? He's a Marine... and a monster... The way he looked at me earlier was terrifying... Sorry..."
Bepo's voice was quiet, but in the enclosed submarine, every word carried perfectly.
Zaraki did not open his eyes.
Inside the Polar Tang, everyone except the man in the spotted hat had retreated to the side of the room farthest from him.
Their gazes were full of nervous curiosity, and no one dared breathe too loudly.
He could not exactly blame them.
Law had kept the Polar Tang hidden beyond Dressrosa's outer reef long before the battle ended, monitoring Doflamingo's kingdom from beneath the surface.
Once Morgans's broadcast confirmed Doflamingo's death and Kaido's arrival, he had ordered the submarine closer, intending to verify the situation for himself.
Instead, the sonar had detected a human body being dragged through the cold undercurrent beneath the boiling water.
The current had carried Zaraki into a fractured channel below Dressrosa's reef shelf, far beneath the search line of the Marine ships and Cipher Pol vessels combing the surface.
Law had opened the lower airlock, used ROOM to pull him through the last stretch of water, and found himself staring at a half-dead Marine who still looked disappointed that the fight had ended.
The arrangement that followed had been simple.
Law would treat him and provide discreet passage.
Zaraki would neither arrest the Heart Pirates nor expose their involvement.
Neither side would speak about what happened beneath Dressrosa.
As far as Law was concerned, Doflamingo's corpse was more than enough payment.
"Hey, Marine."
The man studying the nautical chart finally spoke.
Trafalgar Law turned around, one hand resting near Kikoku's hilt.
His eyes moved over Zaraki with the sharp caution of a surgeon examining something that might wake up and bite him.
"You're awfully comfortable for someone sitting inside a pirate submarine," Law said. "Aren't you worried this will ruin whatever future you had left in the Marines?"
The cabin became even quieter.
Bepo lowered his furry head and began apologizing under his breath again.
Zaraki finally opened his eyes.
His Marine uniform had been removed after Law treated him.
He now wore a loose black shirt borrowed from one of the Heart Pirates, the fabric stretched tightly across bandages wrapped around his chest and shoulder.
"My future?"
The corner of his mouth lifted.
"Do I look like someone who gives a damn about that?"
Besides, the world currently believed he had either drowned or been burned to ash beneath Kaido's attack.
A pirate submarine was probably the safest place he could be.
Law's brow rose slightly.
"Then where are you planning to go?"
"Not Marineford definitely."
"I assumed as much."
Zaraki rolled one shoulder, testing the pull of the bandages, then looked toward the chart table.
"There's a Warlord I need to ask about something."
Law's gaze sharpened.
"A Warlord?"
"Dracule Mihawk."
The name silenced the cabin more effectively than any threat.
Several Heart Pirates slowly turned their heads toward Zaraki, then just as slowly looked away again.
Law studied him for a moment.
"What could you possibly want from the World's Strongest Swordsman?"
Zaraki rested one hand over the sealed blade lying beside him.
Nozarashi had been quiet ever since the battle with Kaido, but the silence did not feel peaceful. It felt like a beast watching from behind a half-open door.
"I need to ask him whether a sword can be hungry enough to eat its owner."
Law's eyes shifted toward the weapon.
That answer was strange enough that he seemed to believe it.
"And you expect Mihawk to answer?"
"If he doesn't, I'll make him draw his sword."
A long silence followed.
Then Law gave a faint, humorless smile.
"That sounds more like you."
He moved to the navigation cabinet and opened a narrow locked compartment.
From inside, he removed an old Eternal Pose. Beneath its glass dome, a single needle pointed unwaveringly toward one fixed direction.
"Kuraigana Island," Law said. "I bought this route through an underground broker years ago. Mihawk is not guaranteed to be there, but it is the closest thing he has to a permanent base."
He placed the Eternal Pose beside the chart.
Zaraki glanced at it, then at Law.
"So you already had a route."
"I prefer not to enter the New World without several."
Law turned toward the helmsman.
"Change course. We stay below the search grid until we clear Dressrosa's patrol radius, then follow the deep current toward Kuraigana."
"Aye, Captain!"
The crew moved at once, though several still looked as if they were wondering whether carrying Zaraki toward Mihawk was safer than leaving him in the sea.
Law remained beside the chart.
"Doflamingo's death leaves an empty seat among the Warlords," he said casually. "The World Government will want it filled quickly."
Zaraki gave him a sidelong glance.
"You interested?"
"A legal pirate with access to government facilities can go places an ordinary pirate cannot."
Law did not deny it.
The thought had clearly been sitting in his mind since the first reports of Doflamingo's death.
Zaraki gave a short laugh.
"Then survive long enough to make use of it. Sengoku can deal with the paperwork when I'm done being dead."
Law's mouth curved slightly.
The man in front of him was a Marine, yet he spoke about the World Government's balance of power as if it were an inconvenience someone else could clean up later.
Chaos in human form.
Perhaps that chaos could still be useful.
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