"What? Arton attacked a World Noble?"
"How can that be? That guy's in the East Blue…"
"Wait, at this time, there actually is a World Noble there."
Tsuru stood up as well, her brow tightly furrowed. Both her and Sengoku wore grim expressions. They knew that if Arton was the kind of man who would dare strike a World Noble, there was no way they could recruit him into the Navy's ranks. On the contrary, Arton would become a huge problem for the Navy.
"Damn it, Garp, you're right there beside Gion, aren't you?"
"Put him on the line!"
"Garp, you bastard—didn't you claim Arton was just a passing musician?"
"You tell me: how does a man who forms a pirate crew and assaults World Nobles qualify as a musician?"
"Look at the mess you've caused—letting such a dangerous fellow slip away."
…
East Blue, Aboard the Marine Warship
Sengoku's furious voice blasted through the Den Den Mushi Gion was holding, loud enough for Garp to hear. Garp's lips twitched as he turned away, letting Sengoku continue to fume over the line. Fortunately, Sengoku realized it wasn't the right time to keep blaming Garp. After venting for a while, he said.
"Anyway, no matter what, find Arton for me. If that World Noble's still alive, rescue him at once."
"If he's dead, then find his body. Got that, Garp?"
With that, Sengoku hung up.
"Damn it, how did things get to this point?"
He slammed a palm on his desk, his face flushed a deep red with anger.
"Calm down, Sengoku," Tsuru said. "This involves a World Noble, so we have to inform the World Government. With their intelligence network, we can locate Arton faster. As for recruiting Arton to help the Navy… we should give up on that idea. We need to start talking about the bounty for Arton—the bounty for the Flameblade Pirates."
Sighing, Sengoku nodded. "I understand. I'll contact the Five Elders right away." He took a deep breath, lifting the receiver to dial the number connecting him to the Five Elders. He could already imagine how furious they'd be once he revealed the World Noble incident. After all, Arton had been on the seas for quite some time now, yet Sengoku hadn't issued any bounty. It was, in truth, a major dereliction of duty.
Sure enough, as soon as the call went through, the harsh voice of Jaygarcia Saturn, the curly-haired and white-bearded Elder, came roaring through.
"A World Noble was taken by Arton? And he's missing—possibly dead?!"
"Sengoku, you must realize you bear an inescapable responsibility for this!"
Sengoku frowned and nodded.
"I understand. Rest assured, I'll have the East Blue Marines locate Arton as quickly as possible—do everything we can to rescue Saint Charlos and apprehend Arton's crew."
Jaygarcia Saturn snorted coldly.
"I hope you can give us a satisfactory result, Sengoku. The World Government's intelligence agents will be mobilized as well. Submit a full report on this matter."
Before Sengoku could reply, Jaygarcia Saturn hung up. Sengoku exhaled a heavy sigh.
"Ugh… to think it's come to this. This man, who defeated both Shiki and Mihawk… Tsuru, how high do you think we should set his bounty?"
Tsuru shook her head.
"Let's worry about the bounty afterward. Right now, we need to find the World Noble as soon as possible. If Arton truly killed him, then the price on his head will be defined far beyond taking down Shiki and beating Mihawk. The key factor is whether the World Noble lives. This Arton reminds me of a certain figure from the past… Rocks."
Sengoku's expression turned even darker.
"Rocks, huh. Arton's attitude toward the World Nobles does resemble Rocks's. Is he planning to become another Rocks?" Sengoku murmured. Thinking about how dangerous the Rocks Pirates had been, he felt a sudden pang of dread.
…
Meanwhile, in another part of the world…
Dressrosa.
In the underground chamber, Donquixote Doflamingo and Morgans sat facing each other, discussing business.
"I never expected to see you here, Morgans," Doflamingo said with a grin. "Your World Economic Journal has been on a roll lately—shouldn't you be too busy to drop by? Word on the grapevine says you've sent a ton of reporters to the East Blue to dig up stories on Arton."
"Haha, I'm just passing through, dropping in on an underworld associate, you might say," Morgans replied, taking a sip of tea. "Besides, it seems we're both in the same boat, Doflamingo. I know you are looking into Arton, too."
"As a newsman, I'm rather curious—what reason could the king of the underworld have for snooping on Arton?" Morgans asked, leaning forward eagerly.
"Nothing too serious. You know that guy beat Mihawk, who's also a Warlord—same as me. So of course I'm curious," Doflamingo said with a shrug. Naturally, he wasn't about to reveal that he'd sent Viola and Monet off to find Arton. If Morgans got wind of that, it might not show up on the front page of a newspaper, but the rumor would spread like wildfire in the underworld. Morgans may be the "News King," but he also dabbled in selling intelligence, especially anything not fit for public print—or not verifiable by normal means.
"Heh heh, if that were all, it wouldn't be the Doflamingo I know," Morgans teased. "Isn't that right, Mister Gild Tesoro?"
Morgans glanced over at the tall man in a brand-new suit, slicked-back hair, sitting to the right. Doflamingo turned slightly, looking at Tesoro as well.
"Haha, I'm just here to talk business with the Heavenly Yaksha," Tesoro replied, smiling. Being Doflamingo's partner, he had no intention of speculating about the man's motives in front of a blabbermouth like Morgans.
"Still, about this Arton…" Tesoro murmured, swirling his champagne glass. "I'm rather curious about him, too. You might not know this, but one of my star employees from the Gran Tesoro was lured away by Arton."
"Hmm?" Doflamingo's brow creased. He couldn't help feeling this sounded awfully familiar—just like the situation with Viola and Monet.
"Oh? Really?" Morgans arched an eyebrow. "Which employee was that? She knows Arton?"
"Well, I don't mind telling you," Tesoro said. "Her name is Baccarat. She left me a letter and ran off. My men eventually found her, but she's quite capable—she drove them back. And she even had them give me a message, something like: I'm Arton's woman, and I went to sea because I found out my old lover is still alive…"
Here, Tesoro shook his head and downed the champagne in one gulp. Off to the side, Doflamingo narrowed his eyes. That was not just familiar—it was practically identical to the excuse Viola had used when leaving to find Arton.
"Is that a coincidence, or…?" Doflamingo wondered to himself.
"An old lover?" Morgans said in surprise. "You're telling me that's what she said? Is it true, Tesoro?"
"I'm not sure," Tesoro admitted. "I don't know everything about my employee's past. Maybe she really does know Arton—or maybe she's just using his newfound fame to scare me off from retaliating. But considering she adored luxury, I doubt she'd leave unless she had a pretty big incentive. As you know, Morgans, the one thing I never lack is gold."
He paused, then continued, "By the way, as the top intelligence mogul among us, maybe you know something about Arton's love life?"
Morgans preened his feathers and chuckled. "I'm afraid you overestimate me. I knew nothing about Arton until recently, and even then, it was only thanks to Stussy that I heard of him. But my people are hard at work, following Arton's trail. I'm sure we'll dig up plenty of juicy tidbits about him soon enough."
After a brief pause, Morgans went on, "And from what I gather, Arton's pirate ship is full of women. So if your employee truly is his lover, I'd wager she's just one of many."
...
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