In a residence somewhere on Whole Cake Island, Morgans followed Caesar inside, his heart pounding with tension.
Truthfully, he had mentally prepared himself during the journey to Totto Land.
A week earlier, when Caesar had sent out invitations for the meeting, Katakuri had already contacted him, urging him to come to Totto Land to help publicize and promote Caesar's upcoming plans.
At the time, Morgans had been fuming over the incident involving Luffy and the others, so he ignored the request.
But as shocking news continued to pour in, Morgans could no longer sit still.
He boarded a news ship and set sail for Totto Land.
Though the Straw Hat Luffy incident had infuriated him for days, Morgans was, after all, the president of the World Economic Journal.
His obsession with big scoops ultimately drove him to make the trip to Totto Land.
As for the Beast God Pirates waiting seven days for his response, Morgans had long braced himself for the possibility of retaliation.
At worst, I'll just pay some compensation. Money is no issue for me.
That was what he had thought.
But the moment his eyes met Caesar's, Morgans felt an icy dread seep into his bones, as if he had been plunged into a frozen hell, his very soul stiffening with cold.
It was an overwhelming, primal suppression—an instinctual terror that made him feel utterly powerless.
As if they weren't even the same species.
Caesar was an apex predator at the top of the food chain, while Morgans was mere prey.
A creature even more terrifying than Charlotte Linlin, who had appeared in the New World barely a month ago, yet had already claimed the lives of several top-tier fighters.
In the hall, there was only one large chair, clearly meant for Caesar alone.
Morgans felt both uneasy and indignant.
Caesar hadn't even prepared an extra seat—obviously, he had no intention of letting Morgans sit.
Watching as Caesar expressionlessly took his seat, picked up a cup of tea and took a sip before finally glancing down at him with disinterest.
"Big News Morgans. You may be weak, but you certainly have the audacity. It took you a whole week to grudgingly accept my invitation."
Holding his teacup, Caesar stared down at Morgans with an impassive gaze.
Morgans was extremely nervous, forcing an ugly smile onto his white bird-like face as he opened his sharp beak and screeched.
"It's all a misunderstanding, Captain Caesar! There was an emergency at home that delayed me. See, as soon as it was resolved, I rushed over without a moment's pause!"
"Oh? An emergency at home? What could be more important than my matters?"
Caesar set down his teacup, placing both hands on the dragon-headed armrests of his chair.
"I... my sister-in-law was about to give birth, and my brother asked me to stay and take care of her..."
Before Morgans could finish speaking, he saw Caesar extend a massive hand toward him like an inky black cloud, instantly blotting out his entire field of vision.
"What are you doing? Caesar, don't act recklessly! Do you know who I am? I—"
Morgans stumbled back two steps, his bird-like face a picture of panicked dismay as he nearly turned to flee.
Hum!
Caesar's eyes narrowed as a surge of overwhelming Conqueror's Haki materialized, crashing into Morgans' mind and instantly knocking him unconscious. His body slumped to the ground.
Caesar's right hand descended like a thunderbolt, piercing through Morgans' forehead and yanking out a memory tape in one fluid motion.
"Whatever your reasons, I'll see for myself."
Caesar had no interest in further conversation, directly employing the power of the Memory-Memory Fruit to begin examining Morgans' memories.
On the ground, the unconscious Morgans began to undergo a strange transformation—his white feathers gradually receded.
Soon, a rather homely-looking elderly man, appearing to be in his fifties, lay before Caesar.
Morgans indeed knew many insider secrets, some of which even shocked Caesar.
This bird-headed fat man had maintained his hybrid form at all times to preserve an air of mystery.
But his true identity gave Caesar a genuine start.
"This guy... just like Shanks, is also one of the descendants—one of the Celestial Dragons' long-planted spies."
As Caesar delved deeper, all of Morgans' secrets were laid bare before him.
Morgans' original name was Ross Morgans, a descendant of the Ross lineage from Celestial dragon family.
He was among the earlier batches selected by the World Nobles and secretly placed across the world without anyone knowing their origins.
Through various "coincidences," the Marines facilitated the growth of these descendants.
In Morgans' memories, Caesar also discovered that Shanks was similarly one of those the Celestial Dragons had released onto the seas.
It was precisely because the World Government knew Morgans' true identity that they tolerated many of his overbearing actions.
Otherwise, how could someone like Morgans—completely lacking combat ability—dare oppose the world's ruling powers?
Initially, Morgans had been quite cooperative with the World Government's propaganda efforts.
Whether it was Roger's execution or Ace's, Morgans spared no effort in promoting the World Government's narrative.
That was until Luffy entered Morgans' field of vision, continuously making headlines that captured his attention.
He became fascinated by this miracle-working kid, which led him to privately bestow the title of "Fifth Emperor" upon Luffy.
This time, Morgans risked offending the World Government by boldly publishing photos of Luffy's Sun God Nika form in the newspaper.
The Five Elders were furious, but they couldn't actually remove Morgans as a pawn.
The World Economic Journal's influence was still immense.
Caesar continued flipping through Morgans' memory images, uncovering numerous secret pieces of information that left him astonished.
"This birdman really lives up to his reputation as a journalist. The amount of secrets he knows is staggering."
Morgans' mind stored a vast trove of unreported news.
For instance, he knew that the so-called "Gold Emperor" Gild Tesoro, who claimed to possess 20% of the world's Economy, had long been hiding in the mist-covered seas of the New World.
Moreover, in recent days, Douglas Bullet, the "Demon Heir" who had vanished for nearly two decades and was once a notorious figure aboard Gol D. Roger's ship, seemed to have set his sights on Tesoro.
He also knew that within the World Government's intelligence agencies, there existed an extremely mysterious organization known as the First Sequence.
The weakest among its members were at least on par with elite Marine Vice Admirals.
Their numbers were unknown, and its composition included powerful pirates who had been co-opted, trusted confidants cultivated by the World Nobles, and products of scientific experiments.
As Caesar had suspected, Golden Axe and Silver Axe had indeed been recruited by the World Government and joined the First Sequence.
Otto, the "Emperor Crocodile" mentioned in previous meetings, was also among them.
Recently, Morgans had even heard rumors that Byrnndi World, the so-called "World Destroyer," had also been recruited.
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