After parting from Robin, Creed swung by a nearby area to visit Shirahoshi.
Big Mom had specially built a large water park beside Cake Island for Shirahoshi. With Robin, Perona, and the other girls keeping her company, Shirahoshi's homesickness was nowhere near as strong as before, and she was actually living quite happily here.
However, because of Shirahoshi's special identity, even this water park needed a Sweet Commander to guard it.
And the one on duty today was even Katakuri.
When he saw Creed arrive, Katakuri's expression clearly soured, his face stiff the whole time.
Even so, as displeased as he looked, he still couldn't help but respect Creed.
In the past, he had often wondered which ultimate powerhouse would one day defeat his mother, who would regularly go berserk from her eating disorder and destroy everything in sight. He had worked hard toward that distant possibility, only to grow more and more despairing the stronger he became; Big Mom was like a colossal mountain that he would never be able to surmount.
Yet in the end, it was Creed who achieved that feat. That alone made Katakuri sigh inwardly: back then, Creed and he had only been evenly matched at best…
Once Creed entered the park and looked around at all the facilities, he couldn't help but feel a bit amazed.
Big Mom and Shiki had really put a lot of thought—and manpower and resources—into building this place.
This water park, which spanned well over three miles, had every facility one could think of, and plenty that one wouldn't. The architectural style was also very close to Fishman Island's.
Even the maids attending to Shirahoshi were beautiful mermaid women—each of them clever, gentle, and very skilled in taking care of others.
"Creed-sama!"
The moment Creed stepped inside, Shirahoshi's telepathy picked him up, and she happily swam over at once.
Even though the bubble ring obscured much of her figure, Creed could still easily see her tail happily swishing back and forth, proof that she was in a very good mood.
Trailing behind Shirahoshi was Perona, grumbling under her breath without knowing what was going on.
"Are you used to it here?"
Creed asked with a smile.
No matter when he saw Shirahoshi, his mood would always shift in some subtle way.
He didn't know if it was because of her "most beautiful in the world" appearance, or because of that pure and kind heart of hers that was like a sheet of blank paper.
"Mm! I really like it here."
Shirahoshi nodded quickly.
"Horohorohoro, so it's Captain Creed. How come you have time to come here today instead of staying with Ain-nee?"
As Ain's best friend, Perona's attitude was a little wary.
After all, in her opinion, there wasn't a man alive who could resist Shirahoshi's overwhelming charm—even if the difference in race and, well, 'compatibility' between them was pretty huge!
Of course, the main reason was that Shirahoshi absolutely idolized Creed, the man who had saved Fishman Island.
Creed had long since become the greatest hero in Shirahoshi's heart. During this time, the number of times she had talked about Creed was more than ten times that of her father Neptune and all her brothers put together.
So Perona felt that, compared to Creed, Shirahoshi was actually the one more likely to fall in too deep. She had to stay constantly on guard, just in case something "developed" between the two of them.
As for this sharp-tongued little girl, Creed simply chose to ignore her.
After asking a bit about how Shirahoshi was doing, Creed didn't stay long before he left.
Right now, he was very busy.
Next up, he needed to have a serious conversation with the Revolutionary Army.
He had to see what Dragon's intentions were, and whether they should arrange a meeting.
Then, he would have to go inspect the situation in each division.
New Marine Headquarters.
Above this sea fortress, the air was filled with a heavy, murderous tension.
Because the atmosphere of imminent war was so thick, and with all sorts of rumors circulating, many merchants and shipowners had already left this port to seek refuge elsewhere.
For a time, the place felt somewhat deserted, a stark contrast to the usual hustle and bustle.
Today, with the arrival of a certain ship, that cold, oppressive silence was suddenly pierced by a chilling wave of blood-soaked killing intent.
This killing intent carried terrible ferocity and the will to kill, savage and bone-chillingly cold. Even the faintest trace of it could easily make a sturdy young man's courage crumble, his knees go weak—let alone anyone who dared approach the source of that aura.
Without surviving hundreds of battles and cutting down thousands upon thousands of people, it would be impossible to forge such a monstrous killing aura.
The spies lurking in the shadows around the port immediately rushed to report this news back to their respective masters at the first possible moment.
In secret, they all knew very well who was most likely aboard that ship: the World Government's trump card—Blood Shadow.
With the arrival of this "ace up the sleeve," whatever final hope they had been clinging to turned completely to dust. War was already unavoidable.
Inside the Fleet Admiral's private conference room, Kong and Sengoku, along with the two top leaders of CPO, were meeting with their important guests.
They were five burly men, each exuding a razor-sharp killing intent. They wore strange masks marked with the insignia of the World Government, black-and-red uniforms, and the World Government's emblem was emblazoned on their cuffs, on their chests, and across their backs.
Blood Shadow Five Blades—the five great leaders.
Originally, there had been six Blades, but during a purge of the Revolutionary Army, the Sixth Blade had been lost.
"Could you rein in your killing intent a bit? It's far too conspicuous like this."
The second CPO leader frowned as he spoke.
Even someone as strong as him felt distinctly uncomfortable in the face of that terrifying aura.
It was like a sheep staring into the eyes of a lion.
Sengoku and Kong, on the other hand, were more curious. Blood Shadow was supposed to be an assassination organization—wasn't going around with such an obvious, vicious aura way too eye-catching and domineering for assassins?
The head of the Blood Shadow leaders merely shook his head.
"Sorry. All of our special suits for suppressing our aura have been used up. Dr. Vegapunk is rushing to make new ones for us. For now, we've already suppressed our aura as much as possible. We ask for your understanding."
The second CPO leader's expression grew even more sour at that.
This leader spoke very bluntly: we've already done our best to restrain ourselves; if you can't handle it, that's not our problem.
The implication was obvious: you guys are weak.
To be fair, it was hard to blame him. Even though there wasn't any direct competition between Blood Shadow and CPO, in the eyes of the world, one was the sharpest blade and the other was the strongest shield. It was natural for people to compare them.
"Let's not get into this. Sit down, all of you. We'll have a rough discussion about this operation now, and the formal strategy meeting will be held the day after tomorrow."
Kong stepped in quickly to keep them from clashing head-on, changing the subject at once.
"Once the Pacifista battalion arrives, we'll be just about ready to launch the attack."
Sengoku's lips moved slightly as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he swallowed the words back down.
The massive war machine that was the World Government had already begun to roll forward. Trying to halt that colossal juggernaut was basically impossible—at least, not for him.
"Creed, this time you're really…"
Sengoku pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to clear his head.
In this battle, he was stuck in the middle, and it felt awful. No matter whether Creed won or lost, it wasn't an outcome he wanted to see.
Of course, he still stood on the Navy's side.
After all, this was for justice.
Out at sea, aboard the Red Hair Pirates' ship.
Benn Beckman put away the Den Den Mushi, walked over to the red-haired captain who was drinking, and said worriedly:
"Blood Shadow has already arrived at Marine Headquarters. The Navy's forces are more or less fully assembled. Shanks, have you made your decision yet?"
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For 20+ Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!]
[[email protected]/Draumel]
[Thank You For Your Support!]