Seven years—for the entire world, it was merely a drop in the bucket.
The world's pattern remained largely unchanged.
But for certain individuals in the grand flow of history, seven years was enough to change far too many things.
As Reiju continued briefing him, Michael felt his head swelling with information.
"These seven years have been... eventful," Michael muttered, his lips twitching. "So regarding the sudden surge in the Celestial Dragons' power, has Vegapunk reached any conclusions?"
"Not yet... but it seems related to genetic factors. Dr. Vegapunk is still working on cracking it."
"I see."
Michael nodded.
Vegapunk must be utterly fascinated by this challenge—after all, even his genius mind couldn't make concrete progress after years of research...
"As for the pirate situation, have their numbers reached Great Pirate Era levels yet?"
"This can't be recorded with specific data, but the overall quality has likely surpassed that of the Great Pirate Era back then... After all, in those days, so-called 'Supernovas' would only appear once or twice a year at most. Yet now, twelve have emerged all at once!" Reiju remarked with a sigh.
"The pirate factions that you and the Marine nearly crippled back then have inexplicably become active again."
"It's not inexplicable... The World Government has been fanning the flames behind the scenes," Michael said, gazing at the distant sea.
"Advancing by retreating, creating a third force to alleviate their own pressure..."
"Honestly, this strategy sounds very much like Lily's style," Imu commented casually.
"While such schemes have many benefits, they can't control subsequent developments... Lily was always impatient for quick results and often proposed plans like this back then... Though the general direction was usually correct. If it were me, I'd capitalize on public curiosity—when people become intensely curious about the so-called 'Void Century,' I'd announce that Joy Boy's descendants are wandering across the Four Seas and Paradise."
Hearing Imu's idea, Michael Shuddered all over.
How ruthless.
This way, the new Great Pirate Era would have a much clearer target.
By periodically leaking the locations of Joy Boy's descendants worldwide, they could essentially control the movement of most pirates.
If the World Government really did this, they could relentlessly harass the Angel Alliance's rear.
"You're truly ruthless... But you think this scheme resembles Lily's?"
"I just said it offhand... After all, it's been over 800 years. There's no way Lily could still be alive..."
Imu waved dismissively, but Michael seemed lost in thought.
Yes, he would never see that tsundere daughter of his again—the one who never once called him "Father."
Michael sighed softly.
Imu reached out and gently stroked the back of his hand.
She knew why he sighed.
Time is the most merciless thing in the world.
Even angels aren't immune to it.
"Ahem, where were we?" Michael said a few minutes later, shaking off his brief melancholy as he turned back to Reiju.
"When you were introducing the Supernovas earlier, I heard a few somewhat familiar names."
"You heard right, Uncle. After your disappearance, both Yamato and Jack seemed to have major conflicts with both the Marine and the Revolutionary Army. Eventually, they chose to leave the newly formed Angel Alliance and vanished without a trace," Reiju sighed.
"When they reappeared, they had become the captain and vice-captain of the Angel Pirates... And they even took Ginny, the intelligence unit leader, and Vice Admiral Kuma's daughter with them..."
Michael fell silent.
Truth be told, most of this was still within expected and manageable limits.
The Angel Alliance and the World Government had been locked in opposition for so long—it was only natural for both sides to trade blows to maintain a dynamic balance.
But Yamato and the others becoming pirates, even rising as Supernovas and being labeled the "Worst Generation"...
That was genuinely hard for Michael to stomach.Of course, he didn't believe Yamato would turn against the Angel Alliance just because of his disappearance—most likely, she was carrying out some undercover mission or something similar...
But as for whose idea it was, that was harder to say.
It could have been Rosinante, or perhaps Dragon...
But regardless, Yamato and Jack were one thing...
Bonney?
Seriously?
In the original story, Bonney had set sail around this age too... but at least she had used her Paramecia-type Toshi Toshi no Mi ability to transform herself into a twenty-four-year-old appearance!
But now, Bonney was a Float-Float Fruit user, so her outward appearance was that of a genuine little kid!
Not that he doubted Bonney's talent, of course...
After all, she was a super-genius child, and in terms of innate ability alone, she was already among the most extraordinary few.
But still...
Were Ginny and Kuma being a bit too reckless!?
Just letting Bonney run around with Yamato and Jack like that?
Michael could feel his inner fatherly instincts flaring up.
"What exactly were Ginny and Kuma's reactions when this happened?"
"What happened?"
"Their twelve-year-old daughter becoming a pirate Supernova and being called one of the 'Worst Generation,' of course!?"
"Vice Admiral Kuma didn't seem to react much," Reiju mused. "But Captain Ginny threw quite the celebration."
Michael's lips twitched...
Great.
In the original story, Luffy had backing in the Marines.
Now, Bonney had backing in the Angel Alliance.
If you didn't have connections, how could you even think of setting sail as a pirate?
What could he even say?
Those two were truly irresponsible!
"After hearing all this, I really hope to see everyone even sooner now."
Reiju fell silent at those words.
His tone...
Didn't sound like happiness at all.
...
"Sigh... Life as a pirate is truly dull," Yamato stood at the ship's bow, gazing at another pirate vessel floating mid-air. "Nothing but battles, then sudden battles... Is there anything besides fighting?"
"Yamato-nee, we're still on a mission here... Could you at least take it seriously?" Bonney said, hovering at the same height thanks to her Float-Float Fruit powers.
"Besides, battles aren't that boring. We occasionally encounter so-called 'strong ones' too."
"You're only twelve! How did you develop such a battle-hungry attitude?" Yamato looked at Bonney with exasperation.
"Your parents weren't like this, were they?"
"Just personal preference."
Bonney snapped her fingers.
The pirate ship suspended in mid-air suddenly lost its buoyancy and crashed into the sea...
Shattered into pieces.