"Marshal!"
"Marshal!"
Imu was about to remove her veil when Gion's voice rang out from outside the Chamber of Flowers.
Almost simultaneously, Imu reacted with lightning speed, pulling the veil back over her face.
The next second, Gion burst into the Chamber of Flowers, swiftly appearing before Orion.
"Gion, what—"
Orion didn't reprimand Gion for barging into the Chamber of Flowers unannounced.
He knew her well—unless something of grave importance had occurred, Gion would never act so out of character or appear so frantic.
"A letter, a letter!"
Gion didn't even pause to greet Orion or Imu.
Instead, she pulled a letter from her bosom and thrust it toward Orion, her hands trembling as if the world itself were collapsing—a stark contrast to her usual composed and steady demeanor.
Noticing Gion's reaction, a flicker of confusion passed through Orion's eyes before he took the envelope and opened it.
Though Imu disliked Gion, she too sensed the gravity of the situation and silently stood to the side, her gaze subtly shifting toward the envelope.
As Orion unfolded the letter, a faded photograph slipped out and fluttered to the floor.
The photo landed soundlessly, and the group portrait it depicted abruptly filled Orion's vision.
"What is this?"
Staring at the fallen photograph, Orion's pupils contracted slightly, and his grip on the envelope trembled involuntarily.
The photo showed his fellow recruits from his days in basic training.
Unlike the large group photo he kept in his office, this one was much smaller and had yellowed with age due to poor preservation.
After a brief two-second shock, Orion quickly bent down to pick up the photo, gently wiping it before flipping it over.
On the back were several lines of uneven handwriting.
"My dear, remember the uncle standing in the center of this photo. His name is Orion."
"If you need anything and i won't be around ask him, he's me, just in another place."
The moment Orion read these words, his head snapped up toward Gion, his voice trembling slightly.
"Gion, is... is this Brian's handwriting?"
Brian had been one of his comrades from basic training—the last of their tight-knit group of over a dozen brothers to sacrifice himself saving Orion.
Over the years, Orion had done everything in his power to support the families of every comrade who had died for him.
But Brian was the exception.
Even after saving Sakazuki's mother, Orion had found no trace of Brian's relatives.
Brian had been born in the North Blue.
According to his enlistment records, both his parents had passed away, but he had an unofficial wife back in his hometown.
Following this lead, Orion had personally traveled to Brian's hometown in the North Blue after his death.
But when he arrived at the address listed in the records, he found the village ravaged by pirates, many of its residents slaughtered.
The survivors all knew of Brian, but none had heard of him having a wife.
After exhausting all avenues with no results, Orion had left—but he had never stopped searching.
Because he clearly remembered that during their training days, Brian would often mention his wife to everyone and jokingly say that when his child grew up, he'd tell them they had over a dozen fathers.
Yet, they never got to hear Brian's child call them 'Dad'
. Instead, one by one, their comrades fell in battle.
In the end, only Orion remained—the 'little runt' they had doted on during training.
Seeing Orion's voice tremble with emotion, Gion nodded fiercely, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
Orion didn't notice Gion's reaction.
After carefully storing the photograph, he smiled with the joy of something lost and found.
"Let me guess—this letter is either from Brian's wife or his child! Is it a boy or a girl?"
As he spoke, he unfolded the letter, and dense lines of text filled his vision.
"Uncle Orion,"
"My name is Aqua. I'm seven years old. My dad is Brian—the Marine in the photo inside the envelope."
"Uncle Orion, I don't know how to write many words, so a village sister helped me write this."
"Uncle Orion, bad men beat Mommy to death. They tried to take her away, but she refused. So they broke into her room and killed her!"
"Uncle Orion, why did they hurt Mommy? Why did they hurt Aqua? Waaah…"
"Uncle Orion, Aqua doesn't have a mommy anymore."
"Uncle Orion, can you give Daddy back to Aqua?"
The repeated "Uncle Orion" and the contents of the letter stabbed into Orion's heart like a knife, over and over.
His grip on the envelope tightened until his veins bulged, and his bloodshot eyes looked ready to spill tears of blood.
"Orion—"
"Fleet Admiral—"
Sensing his state, both Imu and Gion stepped forward at the same time.
Orion raised a hand to stop them.
"I… I'm fine."
Before the words fully left his mouth, he suppressed the sudden, heart-wrenching pain with sheer willpower and turned to Gion.
"Where was this letter sent from? And when?"
Gion didn't dare delay.
"It's written in the letter. Aqua recognized you during the broadcast of Whitebeard Jr.'s execution. After that, she wrote this letter and left her current address inside—North Blue, Kingdom of Orenfence, Keen Village."
Before Orion could speak, she quickly added, "As soon as I received the letter, I contacted the North Blue Marine branch base and ordered the nearest Captain from Branch 135 to head to Keen Village immediately."
"Keen Village… Why did she go to Keen Village?!"
Orion didn't wait for answers in the Holy Land.
Instead, he turned and strode away without hesitation.
After only a few steps, he suddenly looked back at Gion, his crimson eyes burning with overwhelming killing intent.
"Notify Doflamingo. Tell him to fly to the Kingdom of Orenfence immediately. Before I arrive, not even a single bird is allowed to leave that country."
*****
North Blue, Kingdom of Orenfence, Keen Village Harbor.
A Marine warship slowly docked at the pier.
On its deck stood Rear Admiral Fujitora Issho, who had left headquarters under the Fleet Admiral's orders to investigate the Celestial Tribute affairs of all affiliated nations.
Due to a special mission, Fujitora chose not to head to the port of the Orenfance Kingdom but instead opted for the small village of Keen within its borders—precisely to avoid drawing the attention of the royal family and nobles of Orenfence.
"Vice Admiral, this village... it's so deserted!"
Standing beside Fujitora, Joanna scanned the village with a puzzled expression.
"Shouldn't the villagers be out working at this time? Why is it so quiet? Could it be that everyone has moved away?"
"Perhaps it's been abandoned."
Fujitora pricked up his ears and listened for a moment before his expression shifted slightly.
"Someone's coming!"
Before Joanna could react, a loud rumble echoed from the other end of the village, followed by a cavalry unit charging around the corner outside the village, advancing towards them in a grand formation.
"All lowly peasants of Keen Village, listen up!"
"You have three minutes to crawl out and greet His Excellency, the Captain of the Royal Army."
"Anyone who remains hidden in their homes after three minutes will be deemed rebels and executed by slow slicing."