"I heard that right? You kidnapped a Marine Admiral?!"
The moment those words left his mouth, Fisher Tiger nearly bit his own tongue from shock.
Even after several days had passed since that battle, the scenes still replayed vividly in his mind.
The entire Sun Pirates crew—
Tiger and Jinbe included—
had stood utterly powerless before that lazy man wrapped in freezing air.
Whenever Tiger closed his eyes, he could still see the sea turning to ice.
He did not even want to remember that nightmare.
As one companion after another fell, he had finally realized just how vast the gap between himself and Aokiji truly was.
Only then did he fully understand what the title Marine Admiral really meant.
An existence the seas were never supposed to defeat.
And now—
Ren Kuro had not only appeared aboard the warship, he was calmly telling him that Aokiji had become his hostage.
The news was so absurd that Tiger could barely process it.
"Don't look so shocked." Ren Kuro smiled faintly. "Beating a Marine Admiral isn't exactly a first for us."
Tiger stayed silent for a long moment.
Kidnapping a Marine Admiral—
that was something he doubted had ever happened before.
"Tiger," Ren Kuro asked, "do you want to return to Fish-Man Island?"
"You… really came to save me?" Tiger's face changed at once, joy and disbelief surging through him. He had thought he would be dragged to Impel Down, imprisoned for life, and eventually executed.
"What else would I be doing here?" Ren Kuro chuckled. "We're heading to the New World, and Fish-Man Island is on the way. Taking you along is just convenient."
"…So it's just something incidental?" Tiger kept his face steady, but inwardly, his thoughts were in turmoil.
Kidnapping a Marine Admiral on a whim—
just how terrifying was the Shinigami Pirates' true strength?
It was impossible to imagine.
"Come on. The Marines will be here soon." Ren Kuro's smile turned playful. "When Sengoku sees you walking around alive and well, his expression should be worth seeing."
A short while later, Ren Kuro led Tiger out of the cabin.
The moment Tiger took in the sight around him, he froze.
"What… happened here?"
His dark eyes widened in disbelief.
The sea before him had become a crimson nightmare.
Corpses were strewn across the frozen surface in every direction. The water itself had long since been stained red with Marine blood. The dead lay twisted in grotesque poses, their final expressions still etched with terror.
It was obvious that before death—
they had been massacred.
"This can't be real… Those are the same Marines who crushed us a few days ago, aren't they?"
Tiger stood there blankly, unable to find words.
Then his eyes rose to the sky—
and he nearly forgot how to breathe.
"…Is that Aokiji?"
Floating in the air above the battlefield stood a towering prison of ice.
Inside it, Aokiji was still visible, trapped and struggling faintly.
The same man who had crushed Tiger so completely…
was now a prisoner.
Tiger fell silent.
Even if every instinct in him wanted to reject it, the truth was already right in front of him—
Aokiji had truly been captured.
"No one would believe this," Tiger muttered hoarsely. "A Marine Admiral… kidnapped. For Marine Headquarters, this is the greatest humiliation imaginable."
"It's nothing special." Ren Kuro remained completely unbothered. With four Admiral-level fighters at his side, the Shinigami Pirates already possessed the power to stand toe-to-toe with Marine Headquarters itself.
"Oh? So this is what a fish-man looks like?"
Before Tiger could recover, Gin Ichimaru's teasing voice drifted over.
At the same time, a small foot landed lightly on Tiger's shoulder.
"Hm?" Tiger jolted and turned—
only to find Yachiru had already hopped onto Ren Kuro's shoulder.
"A little girl?" he blurted out.
Then his expression changed again.
"So fast…"
He had not sensed her movement at all.
"Even a little girl is this terrifying?" Tiger was stunned speechless. He realized he could not read Yachiru at all. That tiny body seemed to hide a frightening amount of power.
If even the weakest-looking member of the crew was stronger than him—
then he had truly underestimated the Shinigami Pirates.
"Ren Kuro, he looks like he got scared. Poor guy." Yachiru fiddled with her fingers and spoke in sympathy.
"Yachiru, that's because you startled him." Ren Kuro laughed.
"No way. It was obviously you who scared him more!" Yachiru puffed out her cheeks and planted her hands on her hips.
"Alright, alright, you win."
Watching the two bicker so naturally, Tiger found himself at a loss.
"…Aokiji really lost to people like this?"
He stared at them, unable to reconcile their casual, almost playful atmosphere with the terrifying force they had just displayed.
Meanwhile — Marine Headquarters, Marineford
At the shoreline of Marineford, the strongest force the Marines could assemble in such a short time had already gathered.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
Hero of the Marines Garp.
Admirals Kizaru and Akainu.
Chief Staff Officer Tsuru.
Fifteen Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals.
Thirty large warships.
After receiving Aokiji's final message, Sengoku had mobilized everything without hesitation.
Given that the Shinigami Pirates now possessed five Admiral-level threats counting Ren Kuro himself, Sengoku did not dare show the slightest carelessness.
The image of Akainu losing an arm was still burned into his mind.
"Sengoku, what's the situation over there?" Garp asked from the deck of the leading warship, his expression grim.
"Kuzan has gone silent." Sengoku's face was dark. "At this point, we have to prepare for the worst."
The moment the call had been cut, all contact with Aokiji had vanished.
"To crush one Admiral and five Vice Admirals in such a short time…"
Sengoku stared out across the sea, a hard resolve in his eyes.
"There's no denying it now. The Shinigami Pirates already possess the strength to rampage through the Grand Line."
Even so—
they still had to sail for the Fred Sea.
Because—
"Justice will prevail!"
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