And at this moment—
as the parties involved,
the Straw Hat Pirates
learned that not long from now, on the Sabaody Archipelago, they would openly beat a Celestial Dragon in public.
That news
for them
was nothing short of a bolt from the blue—like the sky was collapsing!!!
"Ah, th-this…" Nami was speechless. Her fair, beautiful face turned deathly pale from fright. "Beating a Celestial Dragon?!"
"That's the kind of thing that gets you beheaded… How did we even do that?!!!"
Speechless.
Shocked.
Even despairing!!!
If it were possible,
Nami would rather turn the Thousand Sunny around right now and not go to the Sabaody Archipelago at all!
That way,
as long as they didn't go ashore and didn't go to the auction house,
they could avoid coming into contact with a Celestial Dragon, right?
"Yeah…" Sanji nodded.
He took a hard drag off his cigarette.
The expression under his blond hair was plainly helpless as well. "Sigh… No matter what, that footage can't be fake! I even feel like—even if we know the outcome in advance—"
"In the near future, we still won't be able to avoid this happening!"
As he finished speaking,
Sanji turned his head,
looking at Luffy's back as he stood at the bow.
Then he gave a resigned smile.
No choice—
the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates is Luffy!
And his personality—Sanji knows it well: optimistic and lively, fearless, and for anything difficult, he always has the spirit to adventure and challenge!
With that as the premise,
even if they knew ahead of time that Luffy might beat a Celestial Dragon,
Sanji honestly wasn't surprised at all. He even thought it was only natural!
This really was the kind of thing Luffy was most likely to do!!!
"A Navy Admiral, huh?"
As one of the three main fighters, Zoro,
though his expression was severe, deep in his eyes a trace of excitement flashed.
It was as if…
for what came next—
because they beat a Celestial Dragon and thereby drew the pursuit of a Navy Admiral—Zoro felt excited instead!
He even thought in reverse—
that this was a perfect chance to truly feel the gap between himself and an Admiral!!!
If outsiders were present
and learned what Zoro was thinking,
they would definitely believe this guy was probably out of his mind, nine times out of ten.
Otherwise,
in this world,
what idiot would dare to intentionally entertain the idea of provoking a Navy Admiral?!!!
As for the rest—Chopper, Usopp, Franky, and the others—one by one their faces went pale, trembling all over in fear!
The three of them clutched together in a terrified huddle, shaking nonstop!!!
"A Navy Admiral…"
"Akainu, Kizaru, Aokiji… No matter which one we run into, won't we just get wiped out without even trying?"
Those despairing cries
kept drifting across the deck.
And so, after learning this "future plot" that the ranking video had exposed in advance,
the Straw Hat crew—each carrying a different mood—kept sailing onward aboard the Thousand Sunny.
And the Sabaody Archipelago drew closer and closer!!!
———
Meanwhile,
on the transparent light screen,
the footage flickered constantly as the ranking video continued—
An Admiral moves out!
And the one responsible for the capture was revealed to be Kizaru!
As a Logia-type, the Glint-Glint Fruit user,
relying on a terrifying movement speed like the speed of light,
Kizaru very quickly went from Marine Headquarters and descended onto the Sabaody Archipelago.
And because of his arrival,
a massive riot broke out. Countless underground black-market dealers, slave traders, and pirates from all over—
all fled in a frantic rush from island to island, terrified of being arrested by the Marines!
Among them,
as the parties involved,
and as the ringleader of the vicious incident of "beating a Celestial Dragon,"
it wasn't long before
the Straw Hat Pirates were targeted by Kizaru!
And
it wasn't just Kizaru alone.
It also included Sentomaru, captain of the Marines' science unit,
and…
the "Pacifista" he commanded—
the so-called human weapons developed by Vegapunk, modeled on Bartholomew Kuma's body!!!
As this series of images was exposed
and transmitted to the real world through the ranking video's broadcast,
because there was so much brand-new information,
it naturally caused an uproar at once!
Yet again, it stirred up a huge storm across the world of pirates!!!
"This is bad—this is not good!"
"The secret of the Pacifista has been exposed ahead of time! This is not good news…"
Inside Marine Headquarters…
Sengoku frowned. Under the seagull-shaped cap, his expression instantly darkened.
After all,
the Pacifista modifications
had always been one of the greatest secrets within the Marines.
And Sengoku had also regarded it as the Marines' greatest trump card in war—
and in the future against pirates.
Even more so than anything else!!!
But he never imagined…
that now, this ranking video would just go ahead and expose it without warning.
This sudden accident
caught Sengoku completely off guard.
He couldn't help cursing inwardly a few times, feeling an awful headache over it!
However…
as the grand strategist,
and one of the "Iron Triangle," Vice Admiral Tsuru,
held the opposite view. She shook her head and smiled. "Sengoku… you're wrong. I actually think that right now is the best possible time to reveal it!"
"Don't forget, the ranking video is being publicly livestreamed to the entire world simultaneously!"
"These conditions are one of a kind. And taking advantage of this opportunity—if in the upcoming exposed segments, the Pacifista can display enough deterrent power—"
"Then I think… aside from the Four Emperors, it'll be hard for any pirate to watch the battle footage and not feel fear, right?"
As she spoke,
the smile on Tsuru's face grew even brighter,
as if she had already foreseen what would come next—
the powerful combat strength and outstanding performance the Pacifista would display in battle,
and the crushing pressure and deterrence it would bring across the whole world.
After all,
the template and prototype for the Pacifista—Bartholomew Kuma—
in the current public impression,
was already a pirate with overwhelming force, not someone to be lightly offended.
And on the foundation of Kuma's body,
the Pacifista had also been specially outfitted with
a steel-like modified body,
and, additionally, the incorporation of Kizaru's Glint-Glint Fruit—
providing extra laser beams!
With that kind of integrated offense and defense,
any pirate who saw it
would inevitably feel nothing but despair!!!
And that
was exactly the outcome Tsuru—
as a high-ranking Marine—
hoped to see.
(End of Chapter)
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