"What... did you say? G-6 Branch?"
Even Vice Admiral Tsuru, who had seen plenty of major incidents, was stunned by Aiden's sudden proposal.
"You've only been in the New World for a few days, right? Have you even memorized the New World's nautical charts yet, and you're already thinking about expanding?"
Tsuru rubbed her forehead before continuing.
"Besides, building a new branch in the New World isn't something you can do just by talking about it. Funds, troops, and especially the location... Most of the islands in the New World are already divided up by the great pirates right now. Where do you want to build it?"
"I have already solved the location problem,"
Aiden answered directly.
"The place I have my eye on has an excellent location and a reputation everyone knows. Once it becomes a Marine branch, it will definitely boost the morale of all Marines."
"Oh? Where?" Tsuru asked subconsciously.
"Hachinosu."
Aiden said the name casually.
"Hachinosu?!"
Tsuru's reaction changed at once.
"Aiden, you just arrived in the New World, so your information might be a bit limited. That is not a place you can just go to if you want."
"After Rocks died, the 'Pirate Boss' Ochoku took over Hachinosu. He has operated there for many years and has deep roots. And according to the latest intelligence at Headquarters, Silver Axe, who had just become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, led his fleet to Hachinosu a few days ago, intending to take over the place."
Tsuru continued.
"Right now, the forces of two pirates from the Rocks era are gathered there. That place is ready to explode! You want to build a branch there? Do you think the situation isn't messy enough?"
"Ah, if you're worried about that..."
Aiden glanced at Ochoku's headless corpse in the distance and smiled.
"Then there's no need to be, because Ochoku is already dead."
"What?!"
On the other end of the phone, Tsuru paused, clearly surprised.
"Ochoku is dead? Silver Axe moved that fast? Even though that guy is greedy, he isn't weak... It seems we still underestimated how strong Silver Axe was."
But then, Tsuru changed the subject, and her tone became harsher.
"Then it's even more impossible! Since Ochoku is dead, Hachinosu is now Silver Axe's territory. He is one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, newly recognized by the World Government. He is protected by the World Government! How can the Marines openly take territory from a Warlord? This will make the World Government..."
"No, you don't need to worry about Silver Axe either."
Aiden interrupted Tsuru. He spoke as if it were nothing.
"It's fine. Because Silver Axe is dead too."
This time, the other end of the phone fell into a long silence.
After a full half minute, Tsuru spoke again.
"What... did you say?"
"Silver Axe is dead too?"
Tsuru was a very smart person. She instantly understood what Aiden was implying.
Ochoku was dead, and Silver Axe was dead too.
And Aiden not only knew everything clearly, but he also proposed to build the G-6 Branch on Hachinosu.
"Aiden... don't tell me..."
"That's right."
Aiden stopped pretending and laid his cards on the table.
"I killed them both."
"I am standing in the central plaza of Hachinosu right now. As for the pirates who used to run this place... well, I have already dealt with them. Not just those two. Every pirate on Hachinosu is dead."
"Are you serious?!"
Even Tsuru lost her composure for a moment.
"Of course. Why would I lie to you about such a big thing?"
"You..."
Tsuru felt a headache coming on.
"Do you still know why you had to go to the New World?!"
"You just killed a Celestial Dragon, and not even a few days have passed! Now you slaughtered a newly chosen Warlord?! And you took out two pirates from the Rocks era at once!!"
"Do you know what this means for the balance of the sea? Do you think the Five Elders aren't angry enough already? Are you trying to make them lose their minds before you stop?!"
Facing Tsuru's anger, Aiden did not sound guilty at all.
"Vice Admiral Tsuru, that's unfair."
"I originally just took a mission to patrol around Hachinosu. As a result, as soon as I got there, I saw these two pirate groups fighting each other at full force."
Aiden casually kicked away a piece of rubble by his foot, watched the stone roll into the ruins, and began to lie without changing his tone.
"I thought that as a Marine, maintaining order is my duty. Since they were fighting so fiercely, to avoid hurting the innocent—of course, I get to say whether there are innocent people or not—I conveniently helped break up the fight."
"Break up the fight?" A meaningful scoff came from the other end of the phone. Tsuru clearly didn't believe this nonsense. "We usually don't call killing everyone breaking up a fight."
"Oh, don't mind those details."
Aiden looked over the ruins and kept speaking as if he were innocent.
"The way I stopped them was just a little rough. I accidentally sent them all to their graves."
"Besides..."
Aiden continued before Tsuru could scold him again.
"When I made my move, I kept my Observation Haki active to watch. I promise, I wasn't photographed by a single News Coo."
"And there are no pirate survivors on this island."
"My subordinates and I are the only witnesses."
"Whatever I say the process was, that's what it was."
Tsuru on the other end of the phone fell into silence again.
Even though Aiden's words were shameless, thinking about it carefully...
It seemed like it might actually work.
As long as there was no evidence, and as long as they insisted that the pirates fought and wiped each other out, even if the World Government was suspicious, they couldn't blame Marine Headquarters for two dead pirates.
Moreover, if they could really secure Hachinosu...
Tsuru took a deep breath, calmed herself down, and began to seriously evaluate the feasibility of this proposal.
"You brat..."
Tsuru sounded helpless, but there was a little approval hidden in her voice.
"Every time you cause trouble, you use an even bigger achievement to shut us up... If Sengoku hears this news, half his hair will probably turn white again, but he'll also wake up laughing from his dreams."
"I will go discuss the G-6 Branch matter with Sengoku. As long as it's handled properly, this is indeed a major event that will boost the morale of all Marines."
"Then I'll leave it to you."
Aiden smiled and hung up the phone.
Looking at the silver Den Den Mushi slowly closing its eyes in his hand, Aiden's smile faded.
Actually, there was one more thing he didn't tell Tsuru.
And that was the fact that he was intercepted and nearly killed by Harald as soon as he stepped into the New World.
Without a doubt, that was the Five Elders' doing. Even though they reached a compromise of exile on the surface, behind the scenes, those old men who controlled the world never intended to let go of an uncontrollable factor like him.
Since you don't play fair and launch sneak attacks, then don't blame me for causing trouble for you.
Building the G-6 Branch on Hachinosu was Aiden's first answer to the World Government. He wanted to let the Five Elders know that he had killed one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea they had just chosen.
As for the matter with Harald...
There was no need to speak about such a dangerous personal grudge and make Vice Admiral Tsuru worry.
A man had to settle his own scores.
"Captain! Big discovery!!"
Just then, Kane ran out from deep within the ruins, holding a dust-covered iron box in his hands.
Behind him, dozens of Marines were carrying out boxes of gold, silver, and treasure.
As the pirate who had occupied Hachinosu for years, Ochoku's treasury held enough treasure to fill a small treasury. This huge amount of wealth was enough to build the G-6 Branch in the future.
"What is it? Did you find something good?" Aiden walked over.
"Besides treasure, we found this in Ochoku's secret room."
Kane opened the iron box. Inside sat a thick ledger and two Devil Fruits.
Aiden picked up the ledger, flipped through two pages, and his expression changed slightly.
It was densely filled with transaction records for weapons and slaves. And the trading partner was always listed as "Joker".
Looking at the signature on each page, Vergo's name was written in the handler column.
Aiden smiled.
It seemed Doflamingo's reach was longer than expected. Not only did he infiltrate Vergo into the G-5 Branch, but he also had deep profitable dealings with pirates from the Rocks era like Ochoku.
Aiden closed the ledger, tossed it to Kane to put away, and then his attention landed on the two Devil Fruits.
After some comparison with the Devil Fruit encyclopedia.
One was an ordinary Zoan, and the other was a fruit shaped like a pineapple with the iconic spiral patterns.
"This is..."
Aiden paused, then looked at the fruit again.
"The Paramecia Warp-Warp Fruit?!"
This was an incredible support-type Devil Fruit.
In the future Aiden knew, this fruit would end up in the hands of the Blackbeard Pirates after Blackbeard conquered Hachinosu and defeated Ochoku, and it was finally eaten by that sniper, Van Augur.
He didn't expect it to already be stored in Ochoku's treasury right now.
"I really don't know what this guy Ochoku was thinking..."
Aiden looked at the fruit in his hand and couldn't help but complain.
"He kept a fruit this useful and never ate it? If he had used it with that flexible sword style, he might have even caused me some trouble just now. At the very least, it absolutely wouldn't have been hard for him to escape."
But now, this thing belonged to him.
"Jinbe."
Aiden picked up the Warp-Warp Fruit, tossed it casually, and looked at the big blue Fishman who was moving supplies to the side.
"Are you interested in having one? This is a good thing that lets you teleport. If you eat it, your strength would improve a lot."
Jinbe paused. Looking at the priceless fruit, he froze and quickly waved both hands.
"No! Please, no!"
"Captain, please don't harm me. I am a Fishman! If I eat a Devil Fruit, won't I become a Fishman who can't swim?"
"Hahaha! True."
Aiden laughed loudly. Indeed, for a Fishman, the sea was his strongest weapon. Eating a Devil Fruit would actually weaken him.
"Then I'll just keep it for now, and we'll see later if we meet any potential recruits."
After dealing with the loot, Aiden went alone to a quiet corner at the edge of the island.
He sat on a flat boulder, took a deep breath, and sank his consciousness deep into his mind.
[Current Sin Points: 12,450,230]
Looking at that long number, even Aiden's heartbeat couldn't help but speed up a bit.
Over twelve million points!
Hachinosu had been worth the trip.
Aiden roughly scanned the optional gains from the ordinary pirates. There were no talents worth looking at, so he directly exchanged them all for physique, bringing a slight improvement.
As for Silver Axe and Ochoku, even though both had many powerful skills, for the current Aiden, those were useful, but not what he needed most.
What he desired most right now was for another ability to break through to the Transcendent level.
There was no need to hesitate. Aiden made his choice.
The Armament Haki experience from Silver Axe and Ochoku poured into him and merged with his own.
Aiden closed his eyes, and the air around his body trembled slightly.
Black Haki covered his skin, then gathered with each breath.
After a long time.
Aiden slowly exhaled and opened his eyes.
He glanced at the system panel.
[Armament Haki: SSS (Limit · 2/3)]
Aiden clenched his fist, feeling the heavier, denser Haki inside him.
Although he didn't directly step into the [Transcendent Level], he could clearly feel that the Haki in his body had become more condensed and heavy than ever before. He was only one step away from the Transcendent state.
The ten million Sin Points were also ready. As long as he defeated one more strong enemy with Peak Armament Haki, he could break through immediately.
"It doesn't matter. There are countless strong pirates in the New World. Finding one more won't be hard."
Hum—
Without him intentionally releasing it, a black pressure spread from him as the center, and the boulder beneath him quietly cracked into dust.
Although he hadn't reached the true "Transcendent Level" yet, his Armament Haki now stood among the strongest on the sea.
Then he thought of something.
Aiden slowly drew Oto and Kogarashi from his waist.
After the previous battles, both blades still carried the blood and Haki of strong enemies. They trembled faintly in his hands.
"Old friends, it's time for us to take another step forward too."
Aiden muttered softly.
He took a deep breath and channeled that Armament Haki, which was infinitely close to the Transcendent level, down his arms and into the blades.
With the injection of Haki, the two swords began to shake violently and let out clear ringing sounds.
The air around the blades trembled.
Black and red lightning danced wildly across the blades, but it no longer scattered outward. Instead, it was slowly absorbed by the blades.
This was no longer simple coating. The Haki was sinking into the blades.
Aiden kept feeding Haki into the blades until they accepted it completely.
Time passed without Aiden noticing.
The movement in Aiden's hands stopped.
He cut off the Haki supply.
However, the black color on the blades did not fade.
The originally snow-bright Oto and the grayish-brown Kogarashi had both turned deep black.
Black Blade: Oto.
Black Blade: Kogarashi.
Forged!
Aiden stood up and casually swung forward.
There was no sound of tearing air, nor did any flying slashes shoot out.
Yet hundreds of meters ahead, the remaining half of a stone tower silently slid in half from the middle. The cut was perfectly clean.
"Good swords."
Aiden looked at the two black blades in his hands, then looked toward the sea ahead and smiled.