This is the East Coast of Seven Water Island. A unique pirate ship is docked by the shore. Its flag displays three frowning skulls with crossed bones behind them.
The pirate ship's raft is made of massive trees that appear to be intertwined. Guns line both sides of the raft, and a large mast stands in the middle, flying the Blackbeard Pirates flag and three sails.
The owner of the ship is not Blackbeard himself, but an important member of the Blackbeard Pirates who escaped from Impel Down.
He is Shiryu of the Rain, formerly the Chief Guard of Impel Down, now the Captain of the Second Ship of the Four Emperors Blackbeard Pirates, and the new Ability User of the Clear-Clear Devil Fruit.
Shiryu of the Rain, originally the Chief Guard of the Great Prison, was a bloodthirsty individual who frequently massacred prisoners. He was sentenced to a suspended death penalty and imprisoned by Magellan on LEVEL6.
Because Straw Hat Luffy broke into the Great Prison and, along with Ivankov and others, orchestrated a mass breakout, it led to a major riot across multiple prison levels.
Magellan, unable to suppress it immediately, released Shiryu, who was originally confined on LEVEL6, hoping Shiryu would assist in dealing with the Shichibukai Blackbeard who had invaded at the time.
However, as soon as he was released, Shiryu killed the Impel Down LEVEL6 jailers. After meeting Blackbeard, he defected and joined Blackbeard's faction. Afterward, he went alone to the monitoring room and cut off the Great Prison's external communications.
After Blackbeard was "wiped out" by Magellan, Shiryu used an antidote to neutralize the poison on Blackbeard and his crew, and Blackbeard once again welcomed his defection.
Shiryu uses a sword as his weapon, wears the Impel Down uniform with a pilot's cap, and enjoys smoking cigars.
Shiryu possesses astonishing swordsmanship, and his strength is on par with Magellan. Impel Down earned its reputation as an impregnable fortress thanks to these two trump cards.
Two years later, Shiryu became the Captain of the Second Ship of the Four Emperors Blackbeard Pirates. He was originally operating with Laffitte, the Captain of the Fifth Ship, to welcome Burgess, the "Champion."
However, the emergence of the Akatsuki Organization, carrying information about the Ancient Weapon "Pluton," caught Blackbeard's attention, so he arranged for Shiryu to secretly investigate the Akatsuki Organization's movements.
Shiryu spent a considerable amount of time traveling from the New World. Just three days ago, Shiryu intercepted Marine lookout post information in the waters near Water Seven, thus learning of the Akatsuki Organization's movements and rushing to this location.
Shiryu was not originally a Devil Fruit Ability User. His Devil Fruit ability came from Blackbeard's bounty. In these two years, Shiryu followed Blackbeard, intercepting and killing many Devil Fruit Ability Users, one of whom possessed the Clear-Clear Devil Fruit.
After Blackbeard used his ability to seize the Clear-Clear Devil Fruit, he bestowed it upon Shiryu to enhance Shiryu's strength.
Shiryu of the Rain is now an invisible man, capable of making his body transparent. When using the ability, the Ability User's body allows visible light to pass through, meaning it becomes transparent. In nature, this is called transparency.
The Ability User's body at this time neither reflects nor absorbs light, appearing invisible to the observer's eye. Invisibility is generally considered the highest form of camouflage, as it displays no significant visual cues.
Becoming transparent is very useful for ambushing opponents and for lurking nearby without being detected. It can also be used for peeping, which is why Sanji desperately wanted this Devil Fruit, but it was not his fate.
In addition, it can also make people and objects in contact with the Ability User's body transparent, such as wearing a weapon and making it invisible. When attacking, opponents will think the Ability User is unarmed and thus lower their guard.
The largest object that could be made transparent simultaneously was once a ship. However, transparency is limited to hiding form; sound and smell cannot be hidden.
On the ship, Shiryu smoked a cigar while looking at an old newspaper in his hand, which was the wanted poster for Pain issued by the World Government back then.
Shiryu's orders were to investigate the extent of the Akatsuki Organization's secrets. If conditions allowed, he was to bring the Akatsuki Organization members before Blackbeard for him to deal with.
After arriving at Water Seven, Shiryu did not rashly disembark. Instead, he chose to observe, watching the World Government's actions. At the same time, he sent clever subordinates ashore to gather information.
But what Shiryu didn't know was that the mission Blackbeard had assigned him this time was a trap, causing Shiryu to hit a wall.
Water Seven. South Coast.
These are subordinates sent by the Four Emperors Charlotte Linlin, with the goal of capturing Pain and bringing him back so that Charlotte Linlin can absorb Pain's Soul.
The owners of the ship are not one person, but three: Baron Tamago, Bobbin the "Debt Collector," and Randolph the "Crane Knight."
Baron Tamago, a combatant of the Big Mom Pirates, a Longleg Tribe member, with a bounty of 429 million Berries. He often acts as an envoy with Pekoms to Fish-Man Island to collect sweets.
Baron Tamago is a Devil Fruit Ability User of the "Tamago" Devil Fruit. After his body is split, he hatches into a "chick."
Baron Tamago and Pekoms are partners. They were originally assigned other tasks with Pekoms, but due to the appearance of the Akatsuki Organization, they were given a new mission.
Baron Tamago likes to wear sunglasses, a full pink outfit, eggshell-shaped pants, and carries a cane. He looks like a French gentleman with a handlebar mustache, a member of the Longleg Tribe.
Due to his slender leg shape, Zoro once mistook him for a French compass. The hat on his head is a teacup containing a hot drink, which he can take off to drink.
Baron Tamago lost his left eye in a battle with Pedro five years ago, so his left eye bears a scar.
When Baron Tamago speaks, he often adds French phrases like "SOIR" and "BON" to the end of his sentences (the most common being the word for "good afternoon").
He is very polite, speaks with a gentlemanly air, and also considers the bigger picture. When the sweets on Fish-Man Island were gone, his first thought was a peaceful resolution.
Like the Big Mom Pirates, Baron Tamago is afraid of Charlotte Linlin. When she called Fish-Man Island, he was too scared to answer, fearing her scolding, and his legs turned to jelly.
Bobbin, an intelligence officer of the Big Mom Pirates, nicknamed "the Debt Collector." His bounty is 105.5 million Berries. He is a man with a feathered top hat and a mask with round eyes and a triangular nose, who shakes his head when he speaks.
Bobbin is a rather short and stout person, with a wide smile and thick red lips, wearing a white mask that covers part of his face.
Bobbin's body proportions are quite strange, as his shoulders appear higher than his chin, his arm length is twice his leg length, and his mask is also equipped with dark glasses, covering his eyes.
Bobbin carries a sword larger than himself on his back, and a black hat with a large white tassel is slung diagonally across his back.
Bobbin's Devil Fruit is the "Hypnosis Devil Fruit," which can hypnotize people. In battle, anyone hypnotized by Bobbin is in grave danger.
Randolph, a member of the Big Mom Pirates, nicknamed "Crane Knight." He is a warrior created by Big Mom's Soul-Soul Devil Fruit ability, which injects human Souls into rabbit bodies. His weapon is a spear, and he is powerful and agile.
Among the three, Baron Tamago is considered the strongest, so in this operation, they all follow Baron Tamago's command.
Big Mom assigned personnel based on Pain's bounty, so she did not send her powerful children. In Big Mom's view, these few subordinates were enough.
Big Mom is not interested in the Ancient Weapon "Pluton," but she also does not want other forces to obtain it.
Big Mom arranged for personnel to capture Pain because she coveted Pain's Soul, and incidentally, to capture the leader of this new star organization, dismantle the organization, and make the secret disappear.
After arriving at Seven Water Island, Baron Tamago also chose to observe, not acting rashly for now. At the same time, he arranged for Randolph the Crane Knight to act as a scout, observing the movements of various forces from the air.
As for the two Shichibukai on the West Coast and North Coast, since they had not received orders to act from the World Government, they all remained on standby at the shore.
The undercurrents of Water 7 will soon reach a breaking point... To be continued...