"Interesting…" Sith Oguro chuckled. "Looks like Kuma found Luffy a different teacher."
It made sense.
This time around, Kuma never had the chance to speak with Rayleigh. There was no opportunity to deliver a student to him.
On top of that, after showing his face at the Summit War, Silvers Rayleigh was being aggressively hunted by the Marines. He didn't even dare return to Sabaody.
At the moment, he was under Oguro's employment—lying low aboard Thriller Bark, training the first batch of elite forces for the Holy Spirit Empire.
Which meant Kuma had entrusted Luffy to someone else.
The question was—who?
Still, Oguro wasn't particularly concerned.
The next two years would be Luffy's training arc.
The seas would grow quieter.
And that, for Oguro, was prime time to steadily build power.
—
Knock knock knock.
"Come in."
The door opened.
Two figures entered.
One was the fallen princess Oguro had once rescued at Sabaody.
The other—one of the Worst Generation.
Capone Bege.
"You're here." Oguro smiled faintly. "How did the investigation go?"
Bege immediately dropped to one knee.
"Reporting to you, Soul King-sama. The Kingdom of Itel in the West Blue has indeed fallen. However, using Princess Karina's identity, we were able to gather several former royal retainers."
Even Oguro hadn't expected it.
The woman he'd saved on a whim turned out to be a princess of the West Blue—her true name, Karina Itel.
The moment he learned that, a brilliant idea took shape.
A fallen princess reclaiming her throne.
Uniting the underworld and legitimate forces to dominate the West Blue.
It practically wrote itself.
He immediately sent Rob Lucci to contact Bege.
If they wanted to control the West Blue, the local mafia godfather was a key piece.
At first, Bege had tried to posture.
Hey—I'm one of the Worst Generation.
You don't just snap your fingers and summon me.
Then Lucci, who had mastered Busoshoku Haki, beat him into the pavement.
Along with the hundred-plus subordinates hidden within his Castle-Castle Fruit.
Current Lucci? At minimum Vice Admiral-tier.
Bege surrendered instantly and personally traveled to Water 7 to meet Oguro.
When he learned Oguro wanted him to assist Karina in reclaiming her kingdom—and eventually ruling the West Blue—Bege initially declined.
He had clawed his way out of the West Blue.
Made it to the Grand Line.
Earned the title of Supernova.
Going back felt like regression.
Oguro stared at him, unimpressed.
"Tell me something. A hollow title like Pirate King—and some vague treasure called 'One Piece'—is more appealing than ruling an entire sea?"
"Wake up with the world in your hands. Sleep with beauties at your side. Isn't that every man's dream?"
To Oguro's surprise, Bege lifted his chin proudly.
"The sea… is every man's romance."
Oguro stared at him.
Confirmed.
People in this world were a little unhinged.
Maybe it was the will of the sea itself.
To them, the ocean equaled freedom.
And freedom was sacred.
Fine.
You chase freedom.
I'll chase dominion.
Oguro leaned back.
"Help Karina reclaim her throne, and you become the underground emperor of the kingdom."
"When you sail the Grand Line, you'll have a nation's treasury backing you."
"And in Water 7, I can build the finest ships in the world."
"Do this well… and I'll have a fleet built for you. An unbeatable one."
The offer was dangerously tempting.
Bege wavered.
Then he noticed Yoruichi cracking her knuckles nearby, smiling in a way that radiated pure menace.
His survival instincts kicked in instantly.
He prostrated himself.
"I will serve the Soul King-sama faithfully!"
When someone offers you benefits, it's respect.
When they have two Admiral-tier monsters backing them, it's also a warning.
There were plenty of crime bosses in the West Blue.
If he refused, they'd simply replace him.
As for Karina—
She was trembling with emotion.
The hatred of a fallen kingdom.
The massacre of her family.
Revenge was finally within reach.
In that moment, her loyalty to Oguro skyrocketed.
And after witnessing the Summit War broadcast—seeing even Marine Headquarters unable to stop Oguro without Shanks trading a personal favor—
Bege wasn't foolish enough to harbor betrayal.
Confidence was one thing.
Suicide was another.
—
"Good," Oguro nodded. "Lucci has a batch of new recruits. Take them and blood them."
Soldiers who've never seen blood are missing something essential.
"Yes, Soul King-sama."
Bege didn't object.
Better to use fresh troops than risk his own men.
Oguro invested heavily in Karina's restoration.
Haki-trained elites.
Crates of firearms.
"Overwhelming firepower beats heroics," he had said. "If you can carpet the battlefield, don't gamble lives."
—
West Blue.
Former territory of the Kingdom of Itel—now renamed the Kingdom of Treia.
King Red Treia had once been Itel's prime minister.
He orchestrated a coup, seized the throne, and slaughtered the royal family.
Karina survived by leaping into the sea.
Only to be captured by slavers and sold at Sabaody.
Now—
Fate had brought her home.
"Your Highness… you're alive! Thank the heavens!"
An elderly man with white hair fell to his knees before her, tears streaming down his face.
His name was Rorchart.
Former Minister of Finance of Itel.
A loyalist to the core.
When Red seized power, Rorchart had been removed and replaced.
Now, he was the first to answer Karina's call.
"Your Highness… these are the reinforcements you brought?"
Rorchart eyed Bege and the black-suited soldiers behind him with visible doubt.
Karina smiled gently.
"Uncle Rorchart, these are warriors from the Grand Line. Each one can take on ten men. They're more than enough."
Rorchart shook his head anxiously.
"Your Highness, you don't understand!"
"That traitor Red found a monster from somewhere!"
"He can transform into a giant wolf!"
"Our army couldn't stand against him at all!"
"The people say he's blessed by the gods—that a legendary warrior descended to aid him!"
A man who turns into a wolf?
Legendary warrior?
Bege rolled his eyes.
So… a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user.
In the Four Blues, that might pass for divine intervention.
On the Grand Line?
It barely ranked above fodder.