In a forest on the sky island of Appa Yado, a section of the woods had been cleared and the land flattened to create a vast plaza. Upon this plaza stood rows of stone monuments, each marking a grave. It was a cemetery.
At this moment, Bege and all the men of the Fire Tank Pirates were gathered there. Everyone was dressed in black, a black flower pinned to their chest, their faces etched with sorrow as they stood before the row of gravestones. Some wept quietly in their grief.
At the very front of the crowd, Bege sat cross-legged before a monument, his face impassive. A bowl and a bottle of sake were placed on the ground. He picked up another bottle, quietly filled the bowl, and then poured the contents onto the earth.
"Riki, Sam... each of you was with me for several years. Riki, I think it was seven or eight years, right? Sam, you were with me longer, about ten years. You were one of the first men I trained myself."
"Tell me, are you all just useless?" Bege said, his voice calm. "You followed me for so long, hoping for the day we would shake the Four Seas. Now, we've finally defeated a ruler of the New World, taken his throne, and become an Emperor's crew. But you're all lying here forever, unable to enjoy the glory. Tell me, wasn't it all for nothing? Wasn't it?"
"But it doesn't matter. I will avenge you," he continued. "I'm telling you, don't be in such a hurry to walk the path to the underworld. Just lie here and watch. Watch as we grow stronger, as we grow larger."
"I, Capone Bege, swear it here. I promise you, I will personally take Akainu's head and offer it in your memory. Only when all the enemies who killed you are dead, when you have no more regrets, should you set foot on that final road."
He picked up the bowl from the ground, drained the sake in one gulp, and his expression hardened with determination.
Bege stood up and walked to another gravestone. A photograph of Taylor was affixed to it, her warm smile piercing his heart.
He caressed the photo, his voice low and heavy. "And you... why didn't you just tell me the truth sooner? I would have forgiven you. We wouldn't have been separated by life and death. Taylor, you stole my heart, and then you left me forever. How could you be so cruel?"
Two tears traced paths down his cheeks. He wiped them away and patted the gravestone. "Don't worry," he said solemnly. "I will save your sister. Even if she's in Mary Geoise, I will bring her back."
After paying their respects to Riki and the others, the officers of middle rank and above gathered in the shrine's meeting room to discuss the matter of the Fear Pirates' territory.
"According to our intelligence, all the major powers of the New World are converging on the Fear Pirates' former territory," Modi reported. "The Beasts Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates in particular are already fighting over it. The situation is chaotic."
"Those vultures!" Moria slammed a fist on the table, his voice a low, angry growl. "That's our territory! We paid for it with the lives of Riki, Sam, and the others, and they dare to try and steal it?"
"Godfather, let's make our move," Enel said eagerly. "That territory belongs to us. No one can take it away."
"We can't let Brother Riki and Brother Sam's blood be spilled for nothing!"
"Quiet down," Modi said, rapping his knuckles sharply on the table to silence the room. "We suffered heavy losses this time. Every one of us is injured. Even with Mansherry's Heal-Heal Fruit, it will take several days for us to fully recover. By then, that territory will have been completely carved up. And with the Beasts Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates leading the charge... those are two Emperor-level crews. We couldn't beat them even at our full strength."
"So we're just supposed to give it up?" Moria asked, unwilling to accept it.
"Of course not," Bege's voice was low, his eyes cold as ice. "Riki and the others did not die in vain. Anyone who tries to steal that territory will pay the price."
"It's time for the Sea Patrolling Beasts to make their debut."
"The Sea Patrolling Beasts! That's right, we still have them!" Moria's face lit up. "Once they're in the water, none of those bastards will be able to set foot in those seas."
"I will personally go to the Calm Belt and release them into that territory," Bege said hatefully. "No one will take what is ours."
The Sea Patrolling Beasts were similar in nature to the Sky Patrolling Beasts. While the latter patrolled the skies, the former patrolled the seas. They were a secret weapon Bege had developed specifically to guard his future territories.
Each Sea Patrolling Beast was a fusion created from a Sea King, making them enormous in size and incredibly powerful.
They had been raised in the Calm Belt, and their numbers had now grown to several dozen. With them patrolling the waters, they were guaranteed to repel most pirate crews.
"The Sea Patrolling Beasts are powerful, but they can't repel a few of the stronger crews, especially the Emperor-level ones," Bege continued. "So, in the end, it will still come down to us. All of you, focus on healing. In four or five days, there will be a fierce battle."
"Don't worry, Bege. No one is going to steal the territory that Riki and the others paid for with their blood," Moria said, gritting his teeth.
A fierce determination settled on the faces of all the officers, each of them eager for a chance to unleash their pent-up anger and frustration.
After the meeting, Bege immediately departed on a small skiff, heading for an unnamed, deserted island in the Calm Belt.
From within his body-castle, a thin, middle-aged man emerged. This was Zodd, the captain of the Thirteenth Division, the Monster Corps, and the user of the Whisper-Whisper Fruit.
Zodd stood at the edge of the island, holding a megaphone. He let out a series of strange calls that traveled far across the water.
A short while later, the sea surface began to swell. A giant octopus-like Sea King broke through the waves, rapidly approaching the island.
The part of its body that was visible above the water was fifty or sixty meters tall, and its submerged body was even longer. The number "Sea 8" was carved on its head, identifying it as Sea Patrolling Beast Number Eight.
The giant octopus let out a cheerful cry and waved a tentacle at Zodd, who called back to it a few times.
When the Sea King saw Bege, its eyes filled with terror. It immediately fell silent, prostrating itself on the surface of the water.
Zodd continued to make his strange calls with the megaphone. In the distance, monstrous waves rose, and one colossal creature after another broke through the surface, riding the waves toward them. These Sea Patrolling Beasts came in various shapes and sizes, but they all had one thing in common: they were absolutely massive, and each one radiated a powerful, tyrannical aura.
In a short time, dozens of Sea Patrolling Beasts had gathered in the nearby waters, all silent and prostrate.
A ripple of power spread out from Bege, instantly covering a thousand-meter radius of the sea. At the same time, the dozens of Sea Patrolling Beasts in the water began to shrink.
The beasts were frightened at first, but Zodd's voice soothed them, and they stopped struggling.
One by one, the Sea Patrolling Beasts rapidly shrank and flew into the pool inside Bege's body-castle.
Zodd's body then shrank as well, and he too flew inside the castle.
Bege boarded the small skiff once more and set off for the former territory of the Fear Pirates in the New World, ready to unleash his beasts.