Chapter 360: The Golden Brothers and Sisters
When Dragon thought of that black haired girl, the corners of his mouth lifted without him noticing.
At first, he had only planned to nurture a capable Eastern Army Commander.
But somewhere along the way, Paulina stopped being "a promising seedling" and became… something else.
A strange warmth. A subtle pull.
Maybe it really was the D clan's cursed magnetism, dragging kindred spirits toward one another whether they wanted it or not.
And the East Blue had continued to surprise him.
Recently, the Revolutionary Army's network there discovered another excellent candidate on a poor farming island, a twelve year old girl with a truly unusual ability.
Belo Betty.
Her presence made the people around her braver, stronger, more willing to stand up and fight.
Dragon's eyes sharpened the moment he heard the report.
That ability belonged on the front lines of revolution.
So this trip back to the East Blue had two purposes.
To visit that silly Golden girl again.
And to recruit Belo Betty, then raise her into a pillar of the Revolutionary Army.
"Ivankov," Dragon said, already turning away, "I'm leaving Baldimore to you. I'm going back to the East Blue."
The words came out calm, but his heartbeat betrayed him.
He really did miss Paulina, just a little.
It was an unfamiliar feeling, but not an unpleasant one.
"Hee haw," Ivankov sang out, eyes widening with wicked delight. "Dragon boy, why are your testosterone and dopamine levels spiking like that?"
He slapped his knee and cackled.
"Oh no, oh no. Are you in looove?"
His shout instantly drew the attention of Karasu and Kuma. Dragon's face darkened, a rare irritation flashing across his eyes.
This companion was hopeless.
"Wooo, secrets, gossip," Ivankov howled, leaning forward as if he might bite the truth out of him. "Come on, share it. Let us enjoy it too."
"I'm leaving," Dragon said flatly.
He did not explain.
He did not deny.
He simply dissolved into storm and wind, vanishing from Baldimore in a rush of violent air.
Ivankov stared at the empty space, then threw his head back and laughed even harder.
"I never thought I'd see the day," he crowed. "Even the aloof Dragon misses girls. I was ready to turn you all into new humans with the same ideals, hee haw."
Karasu and Kuma silently shifted several dozen meters away.
If that lunatic got inspired and decided to "share love" by force, they might end up experiencing a day or two of a beautiful girl's life.
Morley, on the other hand, showed no such awareness.
That ignorance would cost him later.
One day, Ivankov would turn him into a woman, and something very strange would awaken inside the Western Army Commander.
After that, Baldimore would gain a gentler Morley.
With a beard.
…
Menggulia Island, East Blue.
The island was remote, barely touched by the outside world. Its population was small, but the people who lived here were fierce.
They had to be.
Like Rusukaina out in the Calm Belt, Menggulia was crawling with ferocious beasts. Hunting was not a profession here, it was survival.
The strongest family on the island was the Golden Family, Paulina's bloodline.
But "strongest" did not mean "safe."
Golden family members constantly challenged the island's monsters. Casualties were common. Some went out to sea and were never heard from again.
In the current generation, there were only two direct siblings left.
Gold Paulina.
And her older brother, Gold Tiemu.
Tiemu was several times stronger than Paulina, a brute force monster even before he learned Haki.
"Brother," Paulina asked one day, eyes bright with curiosity, "I heard from a friend about a terrifying pirate out there named Gol D. Roger."
She leaned closer, lowering her voice as if the island itself might overhear.
"Could he be descended from our great uncle who sailed away generations ago?"
Paulina had learned a great deal about the outside world through Dragon. News Coo rarely visited this island, so even rumors were precious.
She vaguely remembered her grandfather complaining that the Besu family's archers kept shooting seabirds for sport, scaring the News Coo away. Because of that, Menggulia had gone sixty or seventy years without a single newspaper.
The Golden Family had beaten the Besu family into submission for it.
Information was a resource, and someone had to pay for cutting them off.
Tiemu scratched his head, thinking.
"Gol D… Grandpa did say there was an uncle like that," he admitted slowly. "A weird one. Didn't like hunting, only liked reading."
His expression twisted, half annoyed, half nostalgic.
"He went out to sea, and after that, nothing. No news."
Tiemu's eyes narrowed as if trying to pull the memory out by force.
"That great uncle also said the Golden Family used to be called the Gol D family. But he looked like a bookworm, so the tribe mocked him. He got fed up and left in anger."
Their grandfather had died a few years ago. Their parents were crippled in a hunt, and the Golden Family declined.
Then Paulina came back with something that changed everything.
The method to train Armament and Observation Haki.
Their strength skyrocketed in months.
It turned out hunting did not have to rely on raw muscle alone. The human body had something deeper, something savage and holy at the same time.
And Haki suited the Golden Family's physique like it had been made for them.
Now, Tiemu felt a dangerous confidence rising inside him.
He even believed he could challenge the beast lords he once avoided.
"Brother," Paulina said, suddenly, her tone simple and honest, "I want to go out to sea too."
The moment she spoke, her eyes shone with the memory of the man who had taught her so much, the man whose thoughts ran deeper than the sea.
Tiemu's answer was immediate.
"No."
He turned sharply, voice hard as stone.
"Do you want to go out to sea with that friend of yours?"
His gaze burned.
"We're the only two left in the main branch. I won't allow you to leave this island."
He had watched Paulina change. He recognized the look in her eyes.
First love.
And he was terrified that if she left, it would not be a "trip."
It would be forever.
Just like the great uncle who vanished with no trace.
Tiemu would rather Paulina married a warrior on the island than disappear beyond the horizon.
"Brother," Paulina said, meeting his eyes without flinching, "I'll become stronger if I follow him. And I want to see the world."
She was not asking.
She was informing him.
She was a hunter. A warrior. A woman with her own will.
Tiemu's jaw tightened.
"Then I'll see how strong your friend really is."
His voice grew colder.
"He taught us how to train Haki, yes. I'm grateful. But I've become much stronger now."
He pointed a finger at her like he was drawing a boundary.
"If he wants a reward, I'll give him gold, gems, beast fangs, whatever he wants."
His eyes narrowed to slits.
"But taking you away is impossible."
Paulina's temper finally snapped.
"I'm going out to see the world," she snapped back. "I'm not staying away forever. What are you even imagining?"
Tiemu rolled his eyes.
If he let her go, he could already see the future. In a few years, that "friend" would become his brother in law, and Paulina would return with a couple of children in tow, smiling like she had never belonged to the island at all.
No.
That future felt like losing her.
"There's no negotiation," Tiemu said, voice final. "You don't understand."
He looked at her as if she were a child.
Paulina stared back, baffled and furious.
And Tiemu, for all his strength, could only think one thing.
This sister of his was still too naive.
She had no idea what a man's true nature could be.
------
Monkey D. Dragon's quiet return to the East Blue caused no stir at all.
He had come looking for someone, and he did it in secret. Even though he knew Brook had been searching for members of the D clan as well, Dragon still chose not to report anything about the Golden Family.
In his heart, he treated Gold Paulina's family as ordinary islanders.
He did not want to hand them to Brook.
He also believed Brook had no spare attention to waste on a remote East Blue hunting tribe.
Brook, meanwhile, was not particularly focused on the Revolutionary Army's growth. He only instructed Antonio, the Minister of Intelligence, to keep an eye on the key personnel. The Universal Government had too many matters that required Brook's personal judgment.
Besides, Morley, the Revolutionary Army's Western Commander, was already Brook's subordinate.
And Dragon, that cheap apprentice, was still a tool that ultimately sat under the Universal Government's shadow.
Even the Revolutionary Army's weapons, medicine, and operating funds were being funneled through the underground via Stussy, all supplied by Brook.
Dragon's ability to make money was not much better than Garp's or Straw Hat Luffy's. Without Brook's support, the Revolutionary Army would be poor, fragile, and constantly short on everything.
More importantly, once you raised the banner of revolution, you were shackled by it. You could not expand by plundering wealth like pirates. And the Revolutionary Army did not yet control enough territory in the Grand Line or the South Sea to reliably feed itself.
With the North Sea and West Sea already taken by the Universal Government, the Revolutionary Army's troublemaking was now concentrated in the South Sea and the Grand Line. As for the peaceful East Blue, Dragon still had not brought war to his hometown.
When Dragon went to Menggulia Island to look for someone, Brook was also observing a promising sprout on Cake Island.
Two children of Trafalgar D., the current head of the Trafalgar main branch.
If four year old Trafalgar Law and two year old Trafalgar Rami were not so young, Brook would have pulled them into his training class immediately.
Brook already had plans for Law.
He wanted to raise Law into a capable subordinate for his sixth son, Nika.
That was Brook's method. The best students of each class grew alongside his children, forming bonds early, building trust and coordination that could not be forged on a battlefield.
Hades, Kanna, and Hel had grown up surrounded by monsters like Ben Beckman, Morley, Abel, Marco, and Jinbe. They were the second generation of Hell in its golden age, and their names had already spread across the seas.
His fourth daughter, Katifah, had also trained alongside fighters like Neko, Inuarashi, Musashi, and Kikunojo.
And now, this new batch of students, Yamato, Inosuke, Hancock, and Robin, were being shaped into the team that would stand beside Nika and Kikyo.
…
Universal Government Office, Ballon Island.
This time, Antonio arrived with a guest who looked half dead.
The Three Eyed Raven, Bran.
"Brother Brook," Antonio said, setting a file down, "are you interested in going to the Grand Line to recruit a swordsman with enormous potential? Bran says this trip is extremely auspicious."
Antonio had consulted Bran beforehand about the success rate of the journey. The answer had been excellent, so he dragged Bran here and made him speak in person.
Brook took the document, glanced at the photos, and his eyes narrowed with surprise.
"It's him."
He had searched for this man before, and never managed to find him.
And now, he had finally surfaced.
Dracule Mihawk, twenty one years old.
He was currently in the Grand Line, within the Kingdom of Sizkael. He had issued a challenge to that country's great swordsman, Ito Ittosai.
A life and death duel.
One week from now, in the square of Hachimangu Shrine.
At this point, Mihawk was not yet called Hawkeye.
He was known as a wandering swordsman, someone who hunted pirates, hunted Navy, and challenged swordsmen across various nations.
The Navy had given him a name that made many officers grind their teeth.
Navy Hunter.
A swordsman so brutal he did not even spare the Navy.
He hunted pirates more often, but the moment he raised his blade against the Navy, his crimes became severe in the World Government's eyes.
Navy Hunter Dracule Mihawk.
Bounty: 390 million Berries.
A terrifying swordsman supernova who had not even entered the New World yet.
Neither good nor evil.
He would not let either side off the hook.
Rumor said Mihawk was also preparing to enter the New World to challenge the dark swordsman Jubei, the man who held the Supreme Grade Yoru, and seize that black sword, famed for the countless jewels set into it.
That blade was said to be longer than Mihawk himself.
And Mihawk was only 198 centimeters, not even two meters tall.
Of course, all of that depended on one thing.
Whether he could survive Ito Ittosai first.
The old swordsman had deliberately delayed the duel and publicized it widely, using it to draw the Navy's attention. Even if Mihawk won, could he escape a Navy net afterward?
Two great swordsmen clashing meant one certainty.
Injuries.
Brook tapped the file lightly, then looked toward Bran.
"Three Eyes," he said with a chuckle, "do you want me to go and pull Mihawk out? And what about Imu? I'm not interested in walking into an ambush."
Brook's tone was relaxed, but his caution was real. Bran had clearly seen something, or he would not be pushing this trip.
After all, Mihawk's future was not a secret to those who understood fate.
His strength would eventually rival the Four Emperors.
The World's Greatest Swordsman.
Even after he withdrew from the Seven Warlords, his bounty would soar to 3.59 billion Berries.
Higher than the 3.1 billion of the so called "fake Emperor" Buggy, and even higher than the 3 billion of Emperor Straw Hat Luffy.
Second only to Emperor Blackbeard Teach at 3.996 billion Berries, and Emperor Red Hair Shanks at 4.0489 billion Berries.
And after Newgate, Kaido, and Linlin fell one after another, Shanks, the last of the original Four Emperors, would successfully become the leader of the new era. In just six years as an Emperor, his bounty would climb to 4.0489 billion.
A new generation of "imported" Emperors.
Six year veteran Shanks.
One year veteran Blackbeard Teach.
Clown Buggy.
And Straw Hat Luffy.
Bran's eyelids twitched. His voice remained calm, but there was a stiffness underneath it.
"This trip is safe," Bran said. "As for Imu, I cannot speak about his situation. You can guess for yourself. In any case, he is better than you."
Brook laughed.
He did not press further.
This so called prophet had restraints all over him. This was not allowed, that was forbidden, and the price always came later. Brook had already decided it was simpler to call him Three Eyes than keep using his full title.
Brook's gaze sharpened slightly, and he changed the subject.
"You've seen the real name of the Yomi Fruit, haven't you?"
He stared at Bran without blinking.
Earlier, Brook had asked Ohara's scholars to dig through every scrap they could find about the Yomi Fruit and the Dark Dark Fruit. Deep within the Tree of Knowledge's archives, they had found the name of a god whose abilities resembled the darkness itself.
Brook wanted confirmation.
And he wanted it now.