Dressrosa, at the port.
A team from the Neo Navy was conducting a routine patrol. Recently, too many recruits and former Marines had come to enlist, so patrols had been increased.
However, as this was the headquarters of the Neo Navy, the patrol teams weren't fully equipped. Only a third of them were veterans, while the rest were newcomers.
"Captain, there seem to be two bodies over there!"
A Marine noticed something unusual.
"Go check it out. A death here is no small matter."
The patrol captain frowned and quickly moved toward the location of the bodies.
Dressrosa was the headquarters of the Neo Navy, personally overseen by Supreme Commander Caelan.
Forget about deaths, even fights were extremely rare.
The sudden appearance of two bodies was already a serious incident.
"Two beautiful female Marines... officers?"
The Marines were stunned when they saw the two corpses.
Judging by their uniforms and the cloaks on their backs, they were clearly naval officers.
Even though their faces were pale, they were still visibly young and beautiful.
"She reached officer rank at such a young age, and she was killed here of all places. This is no ordinary case."
The captain's expression turned grim. He realized they had encountered a major case.
Both corpses had a large hole in the chest where the heart was missing. They appeared to have been killed in a single strike. To kill two young officers like this, the culprit had to be at least a vice admiral.
There wasn't much blood at the scene, clearly indicating this wasn't the original crime scene.
Unidentified corpses of young officers. A mysterious, powerful enemy. A deliberately relocated scene...
"Captain, someone actually dared to act this recklessly here. Let's go hunt them down right now!"
Several of the newcomers failed to grasp the gravity of the situation and were eager to investigate.
Anyone who dared to cause trouble at the Neo Navy's headquarters was directly challenging Commander-in-Chief Caelan, and they would not tolerate that.
"Don't act rashly. This is beyond our jurisdiction." The captain glanced at the recruit and said, "Report it to Admiral Zephyr. These might be his students."
Zephyr had trained many talented naval officers, so it was highly likely that such young officers had studied under him.
"Yes, sir!"
The recruits were startled by the captain's serious tone and immediately realized the severity of the situation.
Soon, Zephyr rushed over. The moment he saw the two bodies, he was stunned.
"Hibari and Kujaku... why are they both dead?!"
Zephyr shouted in disbelief.
As the most outstanding sensei in the Navy, both Tsuru and Akainu had asked him to look after their children.
At the time, he had refused due to his frustrations with Weevil, but he still remembered what Hibari and Kujaku looked like.
"This is a real problem. Kujaku was Tsuru's only granddaughter. If she died here, Tsuru will be devastated."
Zephyr felt a headache just thinking about it.
But this incident couldn't be covered up, so he quickly notified Tsuru. Gion also heard the news.
"How... how could this happen? She was just fine a few days ago. She even said she wanted to come see me!"
Tsuru collapsed beside Kujaku's body, heartbroken.
Her son and daughter-in-law had died, and only this granddaughter remained.
Now even her granddaughter was gone. What was the point of her going on alone?
Looking at Kujaku's pale, lifeless face, Tsuru couldn't help but remember her once-lively granddaughter who had sworn to uphold justice in front of her.
In an instant, her eyes welled with tears and began to fall.
"Sister Tsuru, now's not the time to grieve. We need to find out who did this and take revenge!"
Gion knew that for someone who had lost their only remaining family, no words could ease the pain.
"Yes, yes! I want revenge!" Tsuru gritted her teeth through her sorrow. "My good granddaughter never harmed anyone. Who would kill her so cruelly?"
As she spoke, she began to inspect Hibari and Kujaku for clues.
But the Knights of God operated at admiral level. How could they have left any traces?
After a long search, Tsuru found nothing aside from the fact that they had both been killed in a single blow.
"Kujaku and Hibari were both rear admiral level. The ones who killed them acted swiftly and decisively. They must have been elite vice admirals at minimum," Tsuru said bitterly. "But there are so many powerful individuals on this sea. How am I supposed to find the culprit?"
There were many elite vice admirals, but even more beyond that. She could name at least forty or fifty possible suspects.
And she couldn't even rule anyone out. The killer could be from the World Government, a pirate, or even a powerful recluse...
If only Kujaku had died, she could have directed her anger at the World Government.
But even Akainu's daughter, Hibari, was dead, so the suspicion of the World Government was less certain.
Overwhelmed by grief and lacking any leads, Tsuru sobbed uncontrollably.
"I'm sorry, Kujaku. I can't even avenge you. I'm so sorry!"
Her only family was dead, and she couldn't even identify the killer.
Sadness, hatred, and helplessness swirled together, nearly driving her mad.
"Sister Tsuru, please calm down!"
"Tsuru, don't fall apart. We can still try other methods!" Zephyr and Gion quickly tried to support her, each grabbing one of her arms.
They could clearly see that she was nearing a breakdown. If this continued, the best-case scenario was that she'd cry herself blind. The worst, she'd die from grief.
No matter what, they couldn't let that happen.
"What else can we do? The dead can't be brought back, and the murderer can't be found..."
Tsuru's face was filled with sorrow, and her heart grew heavier.
"..."
Seeing her like this, Zephyr and Gion could only panic helplessly, unable to say anything more.
Suddenly, Gion seemed to think of something. She shouted to Tsuru, "Sister Tsuru, don't despair. I'll go find Caelan and come up with a solution. Maybe he can find the killer, maybe... he can even bring Kujaku back!"
The dead couldn't be revived, but they could be turned into Heroic Spirits.
She clearly remembered Olvia, Robin and Nami's adoptive mother Bell-mère, and the green-haired slave girl from Wano.
They had all been dead for over a decade, yet Caelan had brought them back.
Kujaku had only recently died. Surely Caelan could bring her back.
Tsuru stopped crying and looked at Gion in disbelief. "Commander Caelan can find the murderer?"
She didn't believe in resurrection. She thought Gion was just trying to console her.
Saying Caelan could find the killer was more believable. After all, with so many Devil Fruits under his command, maybe one of them had tracking abilities.
"Yes, let's go find Caelan. He will definitely help us. At the very least, he can identify the killer!"
Gion didn't promise a resurrection.
Although it looked easy when Caelan used resurrection, she knew it was actually a precious power.
She had seen the spirits of Whitebeard and Roger. Compared to them, Kujaku's resurrection held far less value.
So the decision to revive her would be up to Caelan.
But if it was just to find the killer, she was sure Caelan wouldn't refuse.
"Then let's go beg Commander Caelan!" Tsuru said resolutely. "As long as he helps me find the murderer, I'll fight for the Neo Navy until my last breath after I've avenged her!"
(To be continued.)