Time flies. Two years passed in the blink of an eye. The world has changed, and the man standing at the center of many of those changes is no longer just a notorious pirate. He is now known by many names:
"The Most Wicked Remnant of the Old Era."
"The Uncrowned King Who Dominates Two Eras."
"The Regulator of the Underworld."
"The Collector of the Shichibukai."
"The Angel Investor of the Revolutionary Army."
"The Wave Guiding King."
—Aaron Kyle.
Two years ago, after he had thoroughly humbled Donquixote Doflamingo in the North Blue and personally fitted him with the gilded wings of a Warlord, Kyle's name vanished from the public eye. He was like a giant stone that had sunk without a ripple into the deepest sea.
But beneath the surface, the undercurrents were shifting. An invisible, vast network, with the Sabaody Archipelago at its center, had silently spread across the entire world. Following Kyle's will as his highest command, Caron managed the public-facing side of the empire, extending the tentacles of a "new order" from Sabaody to the Four Seas. In the deeper shadows, Doflamingo, wearing the mask of a Warlord, tore into the world's illicit industries, devouring them for his new master. One operated in the light, the other in the dark; one clean, one dirty. Together, they constructed an underground empire of unprecedented scale.
Countless shadow creatures resembling flowers, birds, and fish, created by an ever-stronger Moriah, infiltrated every corner of the world, forming a "strategic partnership" with Big News Morgans. They parasitized the shadows of every News Coo, gathering every whisper and rumor from across the globe and delivering it to Kyle's desk. In return, Morgans received enough funding to open a news office on the moon and enough protection to stand up to any power that might threaten him.
As for Mihawk, he had settled into the role of the villa's resident sword master. Besides his daily training, he was often pulled into games of chess and long discussions over tea with Kyle, exploring profound philosophical questions like, "Is the essence of the sword found in the ideal or the material?"
Robin became the villa's librarian and Kyle's private secretary, organizing the endless stream of intelligence and adding her unique, dark humor to Kyle's otherwise peaceful days. The twin maids, Sakura and Suzu, managed the daily life of the villa, and their culinary skills had improved dramatically under Mihawk's surprisingly intense "friendly guidance." And Perona had become the villa's official mascot, her greatest daily challenge being how to use her Negative Hollows to make the man lazing on the beach chair finally feel a sense of despair.
…
At the new Marine Headquarters in Marineford, the fortress was more magnificent and sturdy than ever before. But the atmosphere in the high-level conference room was even more oppressive than it had been two years ago.
A Marine Vice Admiral had just finished his report. On the projection screen, Aaron Kyle's smiling face was displayed above his new bounty: a staggering 4,100,000,000. The image seemed to mock every officer in the room.
At the head of the long table, the new Fleet Admiral, Sengoku, rubbed his throbbing temples. Looking at the latest intelligence report on Kyle's forces, he felt that even the paper-eating goat that followed him around was less trouble than his own colleagues.
"His influence has grown into a terrifying power," Admiral Sakazuki's voice grated like rock grinding in a furnace. The air around him shimmered with heat, and a faint smell of sulfur filled the room. "The potential threat he poses to the World Government is increasing exponentially! Sabaody Archipelago has become his den of evil, where he openly defies our authority! I propose we execute an immediate Buster Call on the archipelago! We will wipe that nest of evil, along with Aaron Kyle himself, completely off the map!"
Bang!
He slammed his fist onto the conference table. The point of impact instantly turned scorched black, sending up wisps of smoke.
"Ooh, that's scary~" Admiral Borsalino said lazily from the opposite side of the table, his legs crossed. "But Sakazuki-san, Sabaody is right under the nose of the Holy Land. If we launch a Buster Call there and it happens to disturb the Celestial Dragons, wouldn't the Five Elders be angry?"
"For the sake of absolute justice, any sacrifice is necessary!" Sakazuki's eyes burned with conviction.
"Crunch… crunch…"
A crisp chewing sound broke the tense silence, drawing everyone's attention. Vice Admiral Garp was stuffing rice crackers into his mouth as if he were the only one in the room.
"A Buster Call?" he said indistinctly through a mouthful of food. "Don't be ridiculous, Sakazuki. With the current strength of the Marines, even if we sent every elite we have, we might not be able to hold that kid down."
He swallowed, grabbed another cracker, and burst into his signature booming laugh. "And what if—just what if—he gets away? Knowing that kid's personality, the entire sea would be turned upside down! We'd have a real headache then! Wahahaha!"
"Garp!" Sengoku finally lost his patience, slamming his own hand on the table. "No eating during the meeting!"
A vein throbbed on Sengoku's forehead, but he was helpless against his old friend. He could only turn back to Sakazuki. "Garp has a point. This matter requires careful consideration. We cannot be reckless."
Sakazuki said nothing more, but the temperature in the room rose by several degrees.
Just then, Admiral Kuzan, who had been leaning back in his chair with an eye mask on, swayed slightly as if he was about to fall asleep. Ever since the Ohara incident and his battle with Kyle two years ago, the Marine genius who once embodied "Burning Justice" had transformed into this lazy, detached man. The tragedy of that event had seemingly changed him completely.
Seeing this, Garp suddenly stood up and grabbed Kuzan by the back of his collar.
"Hey, Garp, the meeting isn't over!" Sengoku fumed.
"I've heard enough," Garp said with an innocent shrug, stuffing another cracker into his mouth. He began dragging the half-asleep Kuzan toward the door. "Kuzan, wake up! You're coming with me on a business trip to the East Blue!"
"Eh… Garp-san… but I'm still on vacation…" Kuzan's voice was heavy with sleep as his feet left two long trails on the floor.
"What vacation? Young people need to be more active! Hahahaha!"
The conference room door slammed shut, leaving behind a furious Sengoku, an expressionless Sakazuki, a nail-inspecting Borsalino, and a room full of bewildered officers.
Sengoku looked at the two empty seats and sighed deeply, feeling his stomach ache again. The Great Age of Pirates had only just begun.
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