Among the Five Elders, the God of Agriculture and War was the youngest.
He stared at the piece of pure gold on the table and spoke calmly:
"This thing… should be genuine."
The God of Finance and War rubbed his bald head and frowned.
"Calm down. That Purminger fellow is still waiting outside. He's clearly afraid we'll swallow it."
The God of Law and War snorted coldly.
"What a narrow-minded man. Even if we did swallow it, what could he possibly do?"
The God of Environment and War was visibly tempted. As the oldest among them, his need for pure gold was the most urgent.
"He has a point. Should we teach him a lesson?"
The God of Scientific Defense, leaning on his cane, shook his head.
"Enough. If the Knights get involved, it will be troublesome to explain."
"Hmph!"
The Environmental God sneered.
"Can he really regain his purity just by running to the Knights? That old fossil Green Gu is already approaching the end of his lifespan!"
He didn't even bother hiding his contempt for the Commander of the God's Knights.
At that moment, the God of Scientific Defense—who controlled military authority and therefore held the greatest voice—made the final call.
"Send the item back."
"Summon Blackbeard."
"We will meet him in person."
The others exchanged glances—then nodded.
Blackbeard had casually handed pure gold to a servant.
That meant one thing.
He had more.
Now the question was simple.
What does Blackbeard want?
His bargaining chip was immortality.
Theirs—
Was the world.
Xiao arrived soon after.
What exactly was discussed between him and the Five Elders, no one knew.
But from that day onward, every one of the Five Elders wore a solid ring on their finger.
And whenever the light struck just right—
A faint golden glow would flash from the gaps.
There were three hours left before Ace's execution.
The entire world held its breath.
Across the four seas and the Grand Line, people stopped whatever they were doing—waiting for war to begin, yet desperately hoping it wouldn't.
Compared to war, what they wanted more—
Was for Whitebeard to give up.
To abandon Ace.
To let the world remain intact.
At Marineford, naval families were already being evacuated toward the Sabaody Archipelago.
Signal den-den mushi relayed live footage to Sabaody, where reporters from across the globe gathered, ready to transmit every development.
Xiao scoffed at such backward methods.
If you're going to watch—
Then everyone should watch together.
So, days earlier, the Black Sun Cult had already erected massive projection screens, broadcasting the entire war in real time.
Not only the pirate world—
But multiple worlds connected to the Cyber Dimension tuned in.
Countless beings gathered to witness this confrontation.
This was the pinnacle of personal combat in another universe.
Among Xiao's territories, only The Boys world could rival the pirate world in raw individual power.
Even there, aside from a few top-tier figures like Homelander, most superpowered beings were completely unqualified to stand on the same stage.
For those who pursued strength—
Watching this battle would be worth dying for.
As the tension at Marineford continued to climb—
Xiao felt none of it.
He casually strolled into Sengoku's office, where he happened to see Garp, his face dark and heavy.
The irony was almost poetic.
The grandfather of Ace and Luffy—
Forced to watch one grandson be executed.
Xiao had business with him.
So, he followed.
"Get back to the execution platform!"
Sengoku roared the moment Xiao entered.
"This is no place for you!"
Xiao ignored him completely.
Instead, he pointed at the cute ewe standing quietly beside the desk, a bell tied around its neck.
"Hahahaha! Thief~ Marshal Sengoku!"
"So, this is why you never married!"
He laughed loudly.
The reason Xiao knew it was a ewe was simple.
A ram's horns are large, spiraled, and curved.
The horns on this sheep were small, straight, and delicate—
A textbook female goat.
"GET OUT!!"
Sengoku exploded.
His Conqueror's Haki flared violently as he hurled the ashtray across the room.
"Hahahaha—what a discovery!"
Xiao tossed an object toward Garp, then ran all the way back to the execution platform, laughing like a madman.
"Why are you so happy?"
Doflamingo asked curiously when he saw Xiao grinning.
"I discovered a huge secret,"
Xiao said in a conspiratorial tone—
Very loudly.
Every Shichibukai immediately pricked up their ears.
"I found a ewe in Sengoku's office."
"…That's it?"
Doflamingo rolled his eyes.
"Everyone knows Sengoku keeps a sheep."
Xiao leaned closer.
"A ewe."
"And the Marshal has never married."
"Do you understand the gold content of that fact?"
Silence.
The Shichibukai froze.
Eyes widened.
Mouths slowly opened.
"No… no way…"
Doflamingo wiped sweat from his forehead.
"Don't joke about this! That's Sengoku! His fans will kill you!"
Sailors and ewes had been a known "tradition" since ancient seafaring days.
Months at sea.
Loneliness.
Some veterans even invented succubus legends to avoid social death when discovered.
But those were low-ranking sailors.
Sengoku?
He had power, status, everything.
There was no way—
"Who knows?"
Xiao shrugged lazily.
"I just said it. You listened."
"True or false—who cares?"
Doflamingo laughed darkly.
He finally understood.
Coupled with the faint ripple of Conqueror's Haki he'd felt earlier—
Xiao wasn't joking.
He was smearing Sengoku.
Rumors required only one sentence to spread—
But took a lifetime to refute.
After this, Sengoku would have only two choices:
Kill the sheep.
Or accept total social death.
"How vicious…"
The Shichibukai sighed inwardly.
Yet no matter how hard they tried—
They couldn't stop imagining Sengoku and the ewe.
And they desperately shook their heads, trying to purge the image.
But it was already too late.
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