Marineford, Marine Headquarters.
The World Government had convened a ceremony to inaugurate its new armed order, the Warlords of the Sea. Yet everyone in the room orbited a single man.
He sat at the short end of the long rectangular table, composed and sovereign by nature, the kind of presence that made even the fiercest figures of the sea bow their heads just by standing there. A news coo perched like a sentry upon his forearm.
When Ozz took his seat, Mihawk, Crocodile, Doflamingo, and the other Warlords finally settled to his left and right. The last to enter, Admiral Sengoku, sat opposite Ozz at the table's far short end.
So many heavyweights at one table, and still, in Ozz's eyes, it might as well have been a casual lunch. If anything, the most interesting thing so far was the disciplined bird standing at attention on his arm.
"Long time no see, Seagull King."
He popped a blueberry off the fruit tray with a blink of space and held it to the bird's beak, amused. Maybe it was because he seldom bothered with small animals, but a mood took him and he murmured, almost conspiratorial, "Want to learn Haki?"
The aside ended as quickly as it began. The room had grown too quiet. Ozz arched a brow.
"Do not mind me. Run the program."
As if jarred awake, Sengoku cleared his throat, then looked down the table at the seven pirates.
"I will keep this brief. The World Government is establishing the Warlords of the Sea. In exchange for lawful plunder, we are recruiting several of the great pirates to face down this surging age. If the Marines are engaged in major battles or crises, you will be obliged to intervene as allied force. Do you agree."
Faces shifted. Hanafuda opened his mouth, then closed it when he noticed even Moria was holding his tongue. One by one their eyes slid to the same place.
"Hm?"
Catching the looks, Ozz gave a helpless little smile and answered for them.
"Of course. These restless bastards live for war."
Sengoku started to speak, then let it go. Coming from Ozz, the answer sufficed.
A few more formalities, a public notice, and the Warlords stepped onto the world stage.
"If there are no objections, we are concluded," Sengoku said at last. "Please enjoy yourselves."
Ozz nudged the gathered tension down with a palm and the room exhaled into a modest luncheon. Plates clinked. Wine poured. When Ozz stood, conversation hit a hitch. He waved them back to eating and wandered off with the Seagull King riding his shoulder.
On the balcony, Sengoku stared out at the sea. Hands in his pockets, Ozz drifted up beside him. Sengoku glanced over his shoulder, lips parting.
"Ozz Saint…"
"No need for titles in a private chat, Sengoku."
Silence stretched. Sengoku turned back to the horizon.
"Very well. What do you want with an old man."
Ozz shrugged. His gaze was steady and far.
"Nothing much. You are awfully generous, sending Rosinante under Doffy. Not worried he will end up dead."
Capillaries flashed in Sengoku's eyes. His pupils shook. He stared at Ozz as if he could not comprehend how the man knew.
Ozz kept going, voice cool.
"Doffy killed his own father as a boy. If he learns Corazon betrayed him, he will not hesitate."
The words hit like a blade point. Sengoku did not doubt them for a moment.
He should not have been able to know. Almost no one in the Marines knew Rosinante was Sengoku's foster son, and only Sengoku handled his reports. If Ozz had already seen through this little game, then Rosinante…
"This operation targets Doflamingo because he has grown reckless," Sengoku said tightly. "It is not an attempt to meddle with the underworld."
Ozz clapped his shoulder, the gesture oddly easy.
"Relax. If I truly cared, do you think he would still be breathing. I can turn a blind eye."
He paused, eyes sliding to the Seagull King on his arm, which was currently trading death stares with the seagull perched on Sengoku's cap.
"But you owe me a favor, Sengoku."
"A favor."
Sengoku blinked, then gave a weary little huff.
"I knew it."
"Knew what."
"Your temperament is rotten. Kuzan says so every time, and now that I have dealt with you in person, I see the boy was not wrong."
"Kuzan, huh."
A corner of Ozz's mouth lifted. An old friend.
"Where did he slip off to. I did not see him after the harbor."
"Hiding with Zephyr over a drink, I would wager. The two of them have never liked the idea of Warlords."
"Grudge holders, the both of them."
Ozz's tone was light, but the look in his eyes was not. Zephyr despised pirates. Kuzan's pique, though, was something else. It smelled less like justice and more like the fact that most of these Warlords were Ozz's people.
And now Sengoku owed him.
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