Glub glub glub—
The Den Den Mushi crackled to life.
"Moshi moshi, this is Borsalino speaking…"
Wayne's eyes narrowed in surprise as he watched Kizaru of all people actually answer a call mid-battle.
This guy was notorious for his eavesdropping habits and his tendency to carry only black Den Den Mushi to avoid being traced.
"I'm Sengoku. What's the situation? Did you find Wayne?"
Kizaru pursed his lips and replied lazily, "Yes, I've met young Wayne. We even had a bit of a scuffle. Kids these days… they're downright terrifying."
His voice, as casual as ever, carried a hint of lingering wariness.
Wayne didn't interrupt. After all, if it really came down to a life-or-death fight, neither of them would be walking away easily. A few minutes of waiting wasn't going to change that.
After a long pause, Sengoku's voice came through again. "Got it. Put Wayne on the line."
Kizaru turned and called out, "Young Wayne, the Fleet Admiral wants to talk to you."
Wayne didn't move at first. Then, with a flick of his fingers, the Den Den Mushi floated out of Kizaru's hands, wrapped in a faint electromagnetic force field, and drifted toward him.
Kizaru's eyes narrowed. "A Logia body… with abilities that seem more like a Paramecia's? Just what kind of fruit did this guy eat?"
He fell into silent contemplation.
Wayne took the receiver and spoke calmly. "Moshi moshi. This is Wayne."
"It's Sengoku," came the tired voice on the other end. The stress was clear. The whole fiasco with Wayne and the Celestial Dragon had pushed the Fleet Admiral to his limit.
"I heard everything from Kizaru. As for Slaive… I'll let it go. After all, that country hadn't officially joined the World Government yet."
Sengoku's tone suddenly grew stern.
"But the Celestial Dragon must be returned safely. That's non-negotiable. And regarding Robin… I'll continue keeping that matter quiet for you. You don't need to worry about that."
"Truthfully, the sea needs someone like you to keep the balance."
Wayne was silent for a moment, then responded, "Fine."
Truthfully, he had already gone further than expected. Slaive, the so-called King of the Island of Slavery, was dead. His officers were all eliminated. And his three thousand subordinates had been completely wiped out.
"It went a little too smoothly…" Wayne thought, almost in disbelief. Of course, given his current strength, it was only natural that he'd steamroll the opposition.
"All right, let's wrap this up."
He sighed and looked over at Charlos. Killing the Celestial Dragon was probably out of the question. Not with an admiral standing right there. And honestly, it wasn't worth starting a full-on war with the World Government over a worm like him not yet, anyway.
"Here. Your Den Den Mushi," Wayne said, tossing the snail-telephone into the air. Kizaru caught it easily.
Seeing that Wayne had deactivated his Armament Haki, Kizaru let out a breath of relief. He hadn't wanted to go all-out either. Winning or losing didn't matter he just didn't want the hassle.
In truth, Kizaru was the very definition of lazy. All he really wanted was to keep collecting his admiral's salary, take long vacations, and spend his days trimming his nails.
Work? Kizaru preferred to just drift through it.
Then, an utterly ill-timed voice broke the peace.
"Hey! You, the Marine! You're an admiral, right? Hurry up and arrest this man! I want to make him my slave!"
Charlos had finally staggered to his feet, looking a complete mess. His precious goldfish-bowl helmet was shattered, and dark bruises covered his eyes. The idiot had tripped over himself again.
Sniffling and wiping his nose, Charlos continued, "And send me back to Mary Geoise right now! I can't stand the filthy air on this island!"
Wayne's brow furrowed.
"Kizaru. You really take orders from garbage like this? Can't you see what's happening?"
Charlos was dumb astonishingly dumb. Even now, he was still trying to enslave Wayne.
Kizaru blinked at the insult but said nothing for a moment. Then he let out his usual sleazy chuckle and said, "Tsk tsk… speaking that way about a Celestial Dragon is treason, you know… after all, they are the descendants of the creators."
"But… I might not have heard anything."
Clearly, Kizaru wasn't eager to deal with Charlos either. Sure, an admiral had a duty to protect Celestial Dragons but at their level, a simple order wasn't nearly enough to compel them into blind obedience.
Charlos fumed. "I said, arrest him now! If you don't, I'll tell the Five Elders and have you demoted!"
Kizaru puckered his lips thoughtfully. "Demotion? My, how frightening."
"Enough noise."
Wayne's eyes gleamed crimson. A wave of raw, uncontainable force rippled outward from his body.
Conqueror's Haki.
BOOM!
Charlos's eyes rolled back into his head. He crashed to the ground, limbs flailing, unconscious.
Kizaru's expression shifted, and he rushed over to check on the fallen noble. Once he confirmed that Charlos was only out cold, he exhaled in relief.
"My my… Conqueror's Haki. You're full of surprises."
"But still, knocking out a Celestial Dragon right in front of me… that's not going to look good when I file my report."
Wayne relaxed, glancing down at Charlos.
"Whew… finally quiet."
"Come on, you don't like him either, do you? If it's inconvenient to act, you can always just pretend you didn't see anything. No one else here is conscious, after all."
Kizaru looked around. Sure enough, the battlefield was littered with unconscious bodies. He exhaled.
Then, casually, he walked over to Charlos and gave him a few firm kicks.
Wayne couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Old man, you sure that's a good idea? You are a Marine Admiral, remember?"
Kizaru placed a finger to his lips, feigning deep thought. "Who, me? I didn't do anything. And besides… there's no one around to say otherwise, right?"
Their eyes met.
Perfect understanding passed between them.
But at that very moment, from among the crowd of unconscious bodies, one man stirred.
A high-ranking official from the World Government just barely awake had heard everything.
He quickly shut his mouth tight and held his breath, his face turning beet red from fear.
God help me. If they realize I'm awake, will they kill me to keep me quiet?!
Kizaru looked around at the sea of fainted bodies and muttered, "So many unconscious people… it's downright terrifying."
"By the way, what made you come after Slaive so publicly? That's not really your style, is it?"
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