Five days later, the headquarters of the World Economy News Paper shook beneath the roar of its printing presses.
The air smelled of hot metal and fresh ink.
Rolls of paper vanished into enormous machines and emerged as newspapers beneath headlines large enough to frighten governments before readers reached the first paragraph.
"Faster!" Morgans cried from the raised command platform. "The first edition should already be in the sky! I want every News Coo from Paradise to the New World carrying this before lunchtime!"
His wings flapped with enough force to scatter notes across the floor, but he ignored them. Three completed front pages had been pinned behind his desk.
The first carried an image taken during the broadcast from Dressrosa: Zaraki facing Kaido beneath a shattered sky.
**WAR DEMON RETURNS! MARINE HEADQUARTERS' MOST DANGEROUS FIELD OPERATIVE SURVIVED KAIDO!**
The second headline had required more work.
A clerk inside a G-9 relay office had sold a casualty summary through an intermediary, while two captured pirates from Buckin's fleet had already boasted to an underworld broker that their captain's "future Warlord" had slaughtered Marines before being killed.
The sources contradicted one another on details, but they agreed on the important points: Edward Weevil had been undergoing Government evaluation, he had attacked Zephyr's training vessel, and Zaraki had killed him.
Morgans had turned that into something far louder.
**WORLD GOVERNMENT'S CHOSEN CANDIDATE FALLS! "WHITEBEARD JR." EDWARD WEEVIL SLAIN AT HELLS ISLAND!**
The third headline pleased him most.
Shanks's intermediaries had released Mihawk's challenge through separate channels with matching language.
Morgans had confirmed it through a Warlord contact who refused to explain why the Government had warned them not to approach Zaraki.
That was more than enough.
**HAWKEYE DEMANDS A REMATCH! WORLD'S GREATEST SWORDSMAN PUBLICLY CHALLENGES WAR DEMON ZARAKI!**
Morgans spread his wings and laughed.
"Kaido, a dead Warlord candidate, Hawkeye, and a Marine the Government refuses to explain! Gwahahaha! This is not news—it's a gift from the heavens!"
One editor looked up from the proofs.
"President Morgans, Marine Headquarters sent another denial. They object to the phrase 'Fourth Admiral' in the draft."
"Then remove it. A false title gives them something easy to dispute, and I want them choking on the parts they cannot deny."
The editor blinked.
"You're accepting a correction?"
"I am protecting the important lie from a useless one. Learn the difference!"
The presses continued roaring.
...
Inside a tavern in the New World, the first newspapers had barely arrived before three separate arguments broke out.
A scarred pirate captain held the front page near a lamp and frowned at Zaraki's photograph.
"So he really lived."
His navigator snatched the paper and pointed at the second article.
"Forget the storm. Weevil is dead. That lunatic tore through three crews near our route last year, and the Government was still considering giving him legal protection."
A man at the next table leaned over.
"It says the evaluation ended when he attacked the Marine ship."
"It also says Zaraki killed him."
"After fighting Kaido and disappearing for nearly three weeks," someone else added. "How many monsters are the Marines hiding?"
No one asked why they had never heard Zaraki's name. Crocodile's capture, Jack's death, Doflamingo's fall, and the battle with Kaido had already made War Demon notorious throughout the Grand Line.
What shocked them was how quickly the missing Marine had returned to the center of another disaster.
Then one pirate reached the third headline.
"Hawkeye wants a rematch."
The room went quieter.
"Rematch?" the captain repeated. "They already fought?"
"The article says Mihawk refused to give details."
A one-eyed pirate slapped the table.
"This is the Warlords answering Weevil's death. Hawkeye is reminding the Marines not to treat them like disposable dogs."
His theory lasted less than ten seconds before another man laughed in his face.
"Hawkeye doesn't care about the dignity of other Warlords. He barely cares whether the others exist."
"Then why challenge Zaraki publicly?"
"Because Zaraki uses a sword."
"That cannot be the entire reason."
"With Hawkeye, it might be."
Speculation spread from one table to the next.
Some believed the Government had ordered the duel. Others thought Mihawk wanted revenge for Weevil, despite having never shown the slightest interest in him.
A few argued that the challenge was meant to protect Zaraki by making his life a matter of public interest.
No one could prove any theory.
Morgans did not need them to. Arguments sold more papers than answers.
...
At Marineford, the same newspaper lay open across the strategy table.
Zephyr had returned from Hells Island the previous evening aboard a G-9 relief vessel.
The surviving recruits had been transferred to Headquarters medical facilities, while Buckin's ledgers and the MADS-marked files rested under armed guard in Marine Intelligence.
The physical exhaustion had vanished after Zaraki's mysterious healing bean, but grief still showed in the way Zephyr's restored right hand tightened whenever the casualty list entered his sight.
Garp sat beside him, one hand pressed into the edge of the table.
"That damn brat disappears for nearly three weeks, comes back alive, and somehow Morgans learns about it before he bothers calling me."
"He sent you a message," Zephyr reminded him.
"He sent you a message to give me. That is not the same thing."
Tsuru lifted her teacup.
"You would have shouted at him either way."
"Of course I would have shouted. That's how he knows I'm glad he survived."
Sengoku ignored the argument and looked at the challenge headline.
"Mihawk acted on his own."
Garp stopped complaining long enough to glance toward him.
"You're sure?"
"No one controls Dracule Mihawk by sending him a polite order. The timing benefits the Five Elders, but that does not mean they created it."
Tsuru nodded.
"The Government instructed the Warlords not to interfere with Zaraki's route. Mihawk responded by making his interest public. He may have decided that placing Zaraki beneath the world's attention makes a quiet assassination more difficult."
Zephyr's eye narrowed.
"That is almost protective."
"For Mihawk," Tsuru said, "wanting an opponent alive long enough to fight again may be the closest thing to protection."
Sengoku slid a sealed Government directive into the center of the table.
"The Five Elders did not arrange the challenge, but they have already decided to use it."
The document carried two instructions.
The first required Marine Headquarters to issue a formal response acknowledging Mihawk's challenge. The Government would not allow a Warlord to publicly call out one of Marineford's most prominent field operatives while the Marines remained silent.
The second ordered Zaraki to bring Dorry and Brogy to a secured assessment at Sabaody.
Cipher Pol Aigis Zero would administer the preliminary qualification test, Marine officers would observe, and the final recommendation would be forwarded to the Five Elders.
Garp read the page twice.
"They already knew the giants were coming."
"Saint Nusjuro heard Zephyr report their names," Sengoku said. "CP0 will know exactly who to expect, even if the officers assigned to the dock are not given the details."
Zephyr folded his restored arms.
"And Law?"
"He was never formally nominated through Headquarters," Sengoku replied. "Zaraki mentioned his interest, but the Government order concerns the two candidates he has already vouched for. Trafalgar Law will have to submit separately if he still wants the position."
Garp stood.
"I'm going to Sabaody."
Sengoku looked at him over his glasses.
"I assumed you would say that."
"Then don't waste time arguing."
"I was going to tell you not to destroy Grove 1 before the assessment begins."
"No promises."
Tsuru sighed into her tea.
Sengoku turned toward the communications officer.
"Open the number attached to Zephyr's report."
The officer hesitated.
"The giants' Den Den Mushi?"
"If Zaraki is still traveling with them, it is the closest thing we have to a direct line."
The call crossed Paradise through a series of Marine relays before the tiny receiver aboard the rebuilt giant longship began ringing.
Dorry answered with two fingers.
"Sengoku," Zaraki said after taking the receiver, recognizing the snail's braided beard and round glasses. "You finally stopped pretending I was dead?"
The Fleet Admiral's eye twitched.
"Nearly three weeks without a report, and that is how you answer?"
"I was busy."
"Garp has used the same excuse for forty years. It has never improved."
From somewhere near Sengoku, Garp's voice roared through the snail.
"BRAT! You'd better keep breathing until I reach Sabaody, because I'm going to knock some sense into you personally!"
Zaraki moved the receiver slightly away from his ear.
"He sounds healthy."
"That is not the problem," Sengoku said. "Mihawk's challenge is public. Headquarters will issue a response today. Do you accept?"
Zaraki's grin appeared on the Den Den Mushi's face.
"He told me to come back when I could make him move more than half a step. Tell him I haven't forgotten. Once this assessment is finished, I'll give him the rematch he asked for."
Sengoku went silent.
"You already fought Mihawk."
"Law took me to Kuraigana."
On the Polar Tang, traveling submerged alongside the giant longship, Law looked up from the navigation chart.
"You demanded I take you to Kuraigana."
"You agreed."
"Under threat of you damaging my submarine until I changed course."
"That still counts."
Sengoku heard every word through the open call and rubbed his forehead.
"We will discuss your unauthorized detour later. For now, bring Dorry and Brogy to Grove 1 at Sabaody. The dock will be secured. CP0 will conduct the preliminary assessment."
Dorry's enormous face leaned close to the receiver.
"Before we accept any Government title, we have a condition."
Sengoku looked toward the giant image now crowding the snail's features.
"What condition?"
During the voyage from Little Garden, Zaraki had told the captains what Marine records said about Oimo and Kashii.
Their crewmates had searched for Dorry and Brogy after the captains disappeared, only to be captured and deceived into serving at Enies Lobby under the lie that their leaders were imprisoned.
The news had ended the giants' argument for the first time in days.
Dorry's voice now carried none of his usual laughter.
"Oimo and Kashii are alive. Your Government has used them for fifty years by telling them we were prisoners."
Brogy leaned into view beside him.
"We will attend the evaluation, but we will not serve the same Government while our comrades remain bound by a lie. They are to be released and allowed to return to us."
Sengoku's expression became grave.
He knew the Enies Lobby guards.
He had not known the exact lie used to secure their obedience, but he believed the giants' accusation readily enough to recognize the political disaster waiting beneath it.
"That decision involves the judicial administration and the Five Elders."
"Then involve them," Zaraki said. "You wanted candidates. These are their terms."
Sengoku exhaled slowly.
"Bring them to Sabaody. State the condition formally during the assessment, and I will ensure it enters the record."
"That's not a promise to release them."
"No. It is a promise that CP0 will not be able to pretend the demand was never made."
Dorry and Brogy exchanged a look.
For now, it was enough.
Sengoku continued.
"The Oni Slayer is already sailing from Marineford. It will meet you at the western approach to Sabaody. Transfer aboard before entering the secured dock. The Government expects a Marine arrival, not Zaraki standing on the prow of a giant pirate ship."
Zaraki considered that.
"The giant ship follows us in."
"It may anchor at the outer berth. Grove 1 has been reinforced for the assessment."
Law's voice came through from the submerged Polar Tang.
"And where exactly do you expect my crew?"
The Fleet Admiral's face tightened when the snail adopted Law's expression.
"Trafalgar Law."
"Your Government turned the assessment into a CP0 performance. I am not surfacing inside a secured dock so they can decide whether arresting me would be more useful than offering me a title."
"You remain interested in the position?"
"I remain interested in what it permits. I am less interested in volunteering for an ambush."
Sengoku studied the snail for several seconds.
"Then stay outside the perimeter. Your candidacy is not part of this assessment, and I will not disclose your presence."
Law's expression eased by a fraction.
"That is the first sensible arrangement Marine Headquarters has offered me."
Zaraki laughed.
Sengoku ended the call before the conversation found another way to worsen his headache.
...
Far behind them, the Beasts Pirates reached Little Garden too late.
Kaido found the Island Eater's enormous carcass in the shallows, the remains of Dorry and Brogy's camp, and the deep drag marks left when the rebuilt longship entered the sea.
The Polar Tang had already vanished from the island's waters.
A fresh copy of the World Economy News Paper arrived aboard the pursuing fleet before sunset.
Mihawk's public challenge gave Kaido a new destination.
If Marine Headquarters expected Zaraki at Sabaody, then Sabaody was where Kaido would continue hunting him.
...
By early afternoon the next day, three CP0 agents stepped onto the secured outer dock at Grove 1.
Ordinary merchants, coating crews, and travelers had been driven from the area hours earlier.
Marine barricades sealed the paths between mangrove roots, visual Den Den Mushi had been positioned to create an official record, and a reinforced outer berth waited for guests too large to enter the normal harbor.
The Five Elders had built a stage.
Now everyone waited for Zaraki to walk onto it.
---------
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