"He draws the world's gaze toward Blackbeard while he conceals himself in the shadows. His objective... what on earth is it?"
Tsuru picked up her teacup, her eyes fixed on the dozen or so newspapers scattered across the coffee table, her mind deep in thought.
"He shelters under the banner of the World Government and the Marines while weaving a web that spans the globe. Is his goal the title of Pirate King? No... The Marines? Unlikely. Could it be the World Government itself?"
As these thoughts swirled, Tsuru's brow furrowed slightly. She murmured to herself, "It's not impossible. Sheltering under the World Government while plotting to overthrow it, there is no inherent contradiction there. Or does he have some other purpose entirely?"
Though the Fleet Admiral's office was spacious, the distance between the desk and the sofa was less than ten meters. With Sakazuki's keen senses, Tsuru's quiet musings did not go unheard.
"Regardless of his intent, whether it is Golden Ring Aeridar or Blackbeard Teach, a new Emperor has been born. Our Navy must also make the necessary adjustments," Sakazuki said, his voice heavy with resolve.
"You've made up your mind?" Tsuru asked, her voice carrying a faint, knowing lilt.
"For Justice. For Absolute Justice!"
A red glow pulsed in Sakazuki's eyes, looking for all the world like flowing magma.
…
In a tavern on a remote island.
"Blackbeard actually became one of the Four Emperors. Truly strange!"
"Exactly. That man, Aeridar, didn't even react. Does he really not care about the throne?"
"How is that possible? We're talking about the Four Emperors!"
"If anyone wants to defeat the Blackbeard Pirates, they'd better move fast."
"True. The longer it drags on, the more time Blackbeard has to digest the power left behind by the Whitebeard Pirates. Once he does, who knows who would win?"
"I heard the Blackbeard Pirates are recruiting on a massive scale. Should we go try our luck?"
"Hahaha! With your skills? Forget about it!"
A group of pirates guzzled low-grade rum, loudly debating the recent world-shaking events.
BAM—!
Suddenly, the tavern doors were slammed off their hinges, crashing to the floor and kicking up a cloud of dust. The rowdy tavern fell instantly silent. Dozens of pirates stared blankly at the two figures entering the doorway.
One was tall and thin with a cold, predatory face. He wore a heavy black overcoat and asymmetrical black trousers. Most striking was his left leg; from the knee down, it was a silver-white metal prosthetic with five distinct toes. It looked incredibly high-tech, and it rang with a rhythmic clink-clink of metal against wood as he walked.
The other figure was completely encased in black plate armor, revealing only a pair of emerald-green, lifeless eyes. Standing over two meters tall, he carried a simple, ancient-looking longsword at his hip and wielded an all-steel double-headed battle-axe.
Sriya scanned the room until his gaze landed on a dark-haired youth with a sinister expression. "Vatis," he said slowly, "I've been looking for you for a long time."
"Sriya, you gimpy bastard. You're like a piece of chewed-up gum stuck to my shoe!" In the crowd, the black-haired youth stood up slowly. He wore a loose-fitting shirt and squinted his eyes, looking with intense trepidation at the black-armored knight behind Sriya.
"Vatis? I thought your name was Tifa?" a mangy pirate with yellow teeth asked, looking up in confusion.
"My apologies. I thought I'd be able to use that name for a while longer. I didn't expect to be exposed so soon!" Vatis scratched his head, looking somewhat bashful.
The pirates in the tavern finally began to catch on.
"Move!"
A middle-aged man in a brown coat with a flintlock pistol at his waist stood up, signaling his men to leave without a second thought.
"Captain!" one of the pirates hissed in surprise. "Are we really being this cowardly? It's just two guys! What's to fear?"
"Shut your mouth and look at the mark on that man's leg!" the captain whispered, his face a mask of shock and fury as he pointed.
The surrounding pirates looked toward Sriya's metallic prosthetic in confusion. There, engraved on the metal, was a skull crossed by a saber and a sword, with a golden ring hanging from each hilt.
"That's... the Chris Pirates!"
The tavern collectively sucked in a breath. It was the mark of the Chris Pirates. This was just a corner of the New World, a small island barely five miles wide. The usual clientele were third-rate or even bottom-tier thugs.
"First a truly big name shows up, and now two men from a Great Pirate crew? Did the sun rise in the west today?" one pirate groaned.
In an instant, the tavern grew deathly silent. Terrified pirates didn't even dare to breathe too loudly. They didn't even risk using the front door, choosing instead to scramble out through the windows.
In the blink of an eye, only the three of them remained.
Sriya watched Vatis's darting eyes and said coldly, "This island is less than five miles wide. Let's see where you run this time."
"S-1, as long as he lives, you can break whatever you want. Proceed!"
Thud!
At the command, the black-armored knight moved. With a heavy stomp that made the entire building shudder, he surged forward. He gripped his battle-axe with both hands and swung it down at Vatis's head.
BOOM—!
The axe splintered a round table and shattered several stone floor tiles. The sheer force of the impact sent a fissure several meters long snaking across the floor.
"I won't die here! RAAAAARGH!"
Zzzsskt!
Vatis, having dove to the side, let out a primal roar. His body suddenly ballooned as if being inflated, shredding his clothes. Within seconds, he had transformed into a massive, four-meter-tall Ancylopoda.
Vatis swung his long, razor-sharp claws, the speed so great they seemed to pierce through the air itself, aiming to skewer the armored knight.
CLANG—!
The sound of metal shrieking against metal filled the room as five sharp claws slammed into the steel face of the axe. However, because the knight's weapon was made of high-grade steel rather than common iron, Vatis's claws only managed to nick the surface. His right hand became momentarily snagged in the axe's heavy frame.
Schwing!
Without missing a beat, the knight held the axe with one hand and drew the longsword from his hip with the other, slashing directly at Vatis's skull.
CLANG—!
In a desperate move, Vatis raised his left claw to block the descending blade. Sparks flew as the sword edge ground against the bone-hard talons.
THUD!
The knight followed up with a brutal kick to Vatis's thigh, forcing the beast to stumble and drop to one knee. As Vatis knelt, his strength wavered; the black-armored knight pressed the advantage, sliding his sword down the length of the claws toward the beast's head!