In the New World, on the rough seas.
A heavy warship loaded with cargo cut through the waves. The hull sat deep in the water. Every time the waves struck it, a dull sound rang through the ship.
Vergo stood at the bow, letting the cold sea breeze ruffle his black-and-white checkered coat. He held a supply list that dragged onto the deck. His face stayed unreadable behind his sunglasses, but his knuckles had gone white from gripping the list too hard.
"Lieutenant, another twenty nautical miles and we'll enter the waters of Hachinosu,"
An adjutant walked up behind him to report. His voice sounded nervous.
"Yeah, I know,"
Vergo replied plainly. He folded the list and stuffed it into his inner pocket.
He looked toward the gray fog on the horizon, but his mind went back to the absurd scene in the G-5 Base Commander's office before his departure.
...
A few days earlier, in the G-5 Branch Base Commander's office.
"A lunatic... an absolute lunatic!!"
The sharp crash of shattering glass rang out, followed by Gulliver's panicked shouting inside the soundproofed office.
Commodore Gulliver showed none of his usual arrogance right now.
He looked like a gambler who had just lost everything and heard his creditors knocking. He sat behind his desk, slumped in panic.
"That was Ochoku! And Silver Axe!!"
Gulliver waved the newspaper in his hand and shouted at Vergo, who stood in front of the desk. His voice cracked with fear:
"Those were two pirates from the old era! They were officers of the Rocks Pirates! One ruled Hachinosu for years! The other was just appointed as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea by the World Government!"
"And they just died... all of them died!"
Gulliver's voice trembled, as if the man named Aiden were standing behind him with a sword right now:
"Even though the internal notice from Marine Headquarters is vague and claims Silver Axe and Ochoku killed each other, anyone who isn't an idiot can see it! Aiden did this! That monster definitely did this!!"
At this point, Gulliver shot up from his chair, rushed up to Vergo, and grabbed him tightly by the collar.
His scarred face came close, and spit hit Vergo's face as he shouted:
"And you! Vergo! You bastard!!"
"Who gave me that idea in the first place? Huh?! Who told me to use someone else to do the killing? Who told me to send that monster to Hachinosu to die?!"
"It was you! It was you, Vergo!!"
Gulliver shouted, taking his fear out on his subordinate:
"You said Ochoku and Silver Axe were there, so he would definitely die if he went! And the result? Huh?! Now both of those pirates are dead! But that monster Aiden is still alive! And he's right under our noses!"
"If he comes after me for making things hard for him at the meeting and trying to get him killed... I'm finished! We're all finished!!"
"He could just make up an excuse about me colluding with pirates and chop my head off on the spot, and Fleet Admiral Sengoku wouldn't even scold him for my sake!!"
After shouting for so long, Gulliver seemed to lose strength. His voice dropped into a plea:
"Vergo... listen to me, this supply run determines the life or death of our entire G-5 Branch!"
"Since it was your idea, you have to clean up this mess!"
"I've already had the men load up the best cannonballs, the best wine from the warehouse, and even my own private stash of cigars onto the ship... I don't care even if it empties out half of G-5!"
"You must keep him happy! No matter what demands he makes, agree to them! Give him what he wants! Don't give him any reason to be angry with us again! Do you understand?!"
Vergo just nodded without expression.
"I understand, Commodore."
...
The howling sea breeze pulled Vergo's thoughts back to reality.
He let go of the slightly wrinkled list and gently patted his inner chest pocket.
Inside was a special black Transponder Snail. It was a direct line to Young Master Doflamingo.
Compared to Gulliver's simple fear of power and death, what weighed on Vergo was more specific—"evidence".
As the highest-ranking spy planted in the Marines by the Donquixote Family, Vergo rarely left loose ends.
But when you took constant risks, you were bound to slip up eventually.
To help Young Master Doflamingo open up the New World's underground arms network, Vergo had acted as the middleman for Joker's deals with several powerful pirates.
And Ochoku was Joker's biggest client among the old Rocks Pirates network.
Vergo clearly remembered that on the transaction receipt for a massive arms deal a month ago, the handler section had been signed with his name, "Vergo."
That ledger should have been locked in Ochoku's most secure secret room.
Now Ochoku was dead, and Hachinosu had been completely occupied and swept clean by Aiden.
Where was that ledger?
Was it destroyed in the battle? Or did it fall into Aiden's hands?
If Aiden hadn't seen it yet, or if it was buried under the ruins, then he might still have a chance to retrieve or destroy it on this trip.
But if Aiden had already seen it...
Vergo's back went cold.
The fact that the man didn't immediately report it to Headquarters, nor did he charge straight at G-5, actually made Vergo even more afraid. He did not know when Aiden would use it, or what that man was planning.
Not knowing what Aiden would do was worse than being confronted directly.
"I hope... I'm just overthinking it."
Vergo took a deep breath, adjusted his stiff facial muscles, and put his honest Marine act back on.
"Lieutenant! Land in sight!"
An excited shout came from a Marine in the watchtower.
Vergo immediately raised his high-powered binoculars and looked toward the edge of the horizon.
The next second.
His fingers tightened around the binoculars.
Even though he had prepared himself and had already seen the blurry photos in the newspaper, seeing it in person was different.
Hachinosu looked completely different now.
The huge Skull Rock peak, which used to be the symbol of the island, had completely disappeared!
The originally rugged and dangerous coastline had now become a flat, open deep-water port.
"Is... is this the mark left behind by that battle?"
Vergo's hands holding the binoculars trembled slightly.
Changing the terrain was not rare in the New World. Many strong fighters could scar an island.
But reshaping the entire island's landscape like this, and even wiping out all traces of the old era, was something else. Vergo had to admit he had still underestimated Aiden.
"Move in closer."
Vergo issued the order:
"Send a signal. Show that we're friendly forces from the G-5 Branch here to deliver supplies."
The warship slowly docked.
As soon as he stepped onto the pier, the noise of construction rushed over him.
Dust flew across the busy construction site.
Then Vergo saw the "workers" doing the labor.
Groups of muscular men with fierce faces and old tattoos were bare-chested right now. They wore special black metal collars around their necks and dragged heavy iron chains on their feet. Under the whips of the Marine supervisors, they carried stones weighing hundreds of pounds, moving in lines across the construction site.
"Hurry up! Did none of you eat?!"
Crack!
A sharp whip snapped through the air.
A supervising Marine whipped a three-meter-tall giant of a man across the back, leaving a bloody mark.
The giant grimaced in pain, but instead of fighting back, he shuddered in fear. He immediately lowered his head, picked up two huge granite blocks, and jogged toward the construction site while shouting a slogan:
"For Justice! Doing our part!!"
Vergo's eyes twitched.
He recognized that giant!
That was Red Thorn, who had a bounty of 80 million Berries! He was a New World pirate captain known for his cruelty, and it was said his favorite thing was crushing his enemies' skulls.
And right now, this notorious pirate was actually moving bricks?
And it wasn't just him.
Vergo's gaze swept over the site. He saw quite a few familiar faces among the forced laborers.
There were bounty hunter gangs, human traffickers, arms dealers, and even.
Was that?
Vergo stared at a group of men unclogging the sewers. His grip tightened slightly.
Wasn't that Togo, the leader of one of the largest slaver crews active in these waters?
These vicious criminals who threw their weight around the New World and usually killed without hesitation were now keeping their heads down, grunting as they did the hardest and most exhausting work.
"Oh my, isn't this Lieutenant Vergo?"
While Vergo was still staring, a cheerful voice rang out.
Kane walked over with a squad of fully armed Marines.
"Lieutenant Kane, long time no see."
Vergo immediately put on a humble expression and saluted:
"Under the orders of Commodore Gulliver, the G-5 Branch has come to deliver supplies to assist with the construction. Besides that..."
Vergo pointed at the group of "workers" laboring in the distance and asked, pretending to be surprised:
"This... G-6 Branch's construction method is truly unique. Are these?"
"Oh, you mean these scumbags?"
Kane glanced at the sweating pirates and grinned:
"These are the ones who passed through these waters recently and sailed straight into our line of fire. There are slave ships, human traffickers, and a few blind pirate crews."
"The commander said killing them straight away would be too easy on them, and it would be a waste of labor."
Kane pulled a cigar from his pocket, lit it, took a deep drag, and pointed at the slaving team leader in the distance:
"Like that Togo. Didn't he like capturing people to be slaves? The commander says this is 'karma'. Let them learn what it feels like to be treated like livestock, and contribute to the basic construction of justice along the way."
"This is called—labor reform."
"Once hard labor cleans them up a little, they can retire in Impel Down."
Listening to Kane's casual tone, Vergo went quiet for a moment.
"Come on, Lieutenant Vergo, right this way."
Kane enthusiastically threw an arm over Vergo's shoulder, like he was treating an old friend he hadn't seen in years:
"I'll take you on a tour of our newly built port toll booth... oh wait, no, the 'Security Management Office'."
Vergo was half-pushed to the other side of the port.
The scene here was completely different.
Several large merchant ships flying the flags of large trading companies were lined up neatly. The big merchants, who were usually arrogant in the New World, now smiled eagerly, holding thick stacks of Berries in their hands as they crowded in front of a service window.
"I want to buy half a year!"
"Give me a year! Here is 50 million Berries! Please be sure to give me that flag!"
"Don't push! I want one too!"
Vergo was a little stunned. "This is?"
Kane walked over and took a brand new flag out of the window.
It was a specially designed Marine flag. Although it still kept the Marine seagull logo, the original 'MARINE' text below the seagull was replaced with a massive 'G-6', and the background carried a coiling silver storm pattern.
"This is the 'New World Maritime Security Maintenance Special Tax' introduced by our commander."
Kane unfurled the flag and introduced it proudly:
"Lieutenant Vergo, you know how chaotic the New World is. Pirates are everywhere."
"But as long as they pay this special tax, they get the right to fly this flag."
"The commander has put the word out: in these waters, anyone who dares to touch a ship flying this flag is picking a fight with him."
At this point, Kane lowered his voice and grinned:
"The results are surprisingly good. Now those trading companies would rather not fly the World Government's flag, and just fly ours. After all... the World Government's flag doesn't scare off pirates, but this flag really makes them back off."
Vergo looked at the flag, his mouth twitching.
Wasn't this just collecting protection money?!
And he was openly using the Marine name to take over the pirates' old business!
A big part of the reason Ochoku had previously been called the "Pirate Boss" was that he provided "protection" to merchant ships around Hachinosu. Now Aiden's move was completely taking his place, and Aiden's version was even harsher than Ochoku's!
"Is this... a little against the rules?" Vergo asked tentatively.
"Rules?"
Kane seriously pulled out a stamped piece of paper from the window:
"We provide receipts. Every single Berry goes into the public account. It's legal income used to build up the cause of justice."
Vergo stared at the receipt and went silent.
Protection money with receipts. Somehow, that made it official.
He took a breath, held back a comment, and decided to cut to the chase. He had to confirm the matter of the ledger as soon as possible. He couldn't let these bizarre sights distract him anymore.
"Where is... Commander Aiden?"
Vergo asked, trying to sound casual. His tone was a bit more respectful than before.
Before this, whether at the G-5 Branch or when mentioning him in private, he had been used to politely calling him "Mr. Aiden."
But now, after seeing the newly built G-6 Branch and what Aiden had done to these waters, Vergo adjusted his wording at once.
Although due to the previous incident of killing a Celestial Dragon, Aiden had been nominally stripped of all rank and became an ordinary Marine who was "serving a sentence" on paper, any officer within the Marines with some status and information channels knew very well that this was just Fleet Admiral Sengoku's stopgap measure to silence the World Government and the Celestial Dragons.
Anyone with real information understood the arrangement behind it. Even though Vice Admiral Issho was the nominal base commander of the G-6 Branch right now, the actual person in power was definitely still Aiden.
"Commodore Gulliver had me bring a lot of valuable supplies this time. Some of them need to be handed over and reported to the commander in person."
"Oh, you mean the commander?"
Kane pointed at the sparkling sea in the distance:
"He said he was feeling a bit bored lately, so he went out to sea fishing early this morning with Commander Issho and Jinbe."
"Fishing?" Vergo was stunned.
At a time like this? At this crucial moment, he went fishing?
"Yeah, the commander said he wanted to catch some fresh big fish to add to the cafeteria's meals."
Kane shrugged:
"You know how the commander is. He's pretty casual. Nobody can stop him once he's made up his mind."
Hearing that Aiden was away, Vergo saw his chance.
An opportunity!
This was his chance!
He immediately put on a troubled expression and pulled out a tightly sealed file envelope from his pocket. Inside were actually just a few unimportant defense maps:
"This... this makes things difficult. This document is a top-secret draft regarding the division of the G-5 and G-6 defense zones. Commodore Gulliver specifically ordered that it must be personally placed on Commander Aiden's desk, and absolutely cannot pass through anyone else's hands."
At this point, he looked at Kane with some hesitation:
"Look at this..."
Kane still believed Vergo was on their side, and readily agreed.
"Hey, it's no big deal."
Kane pointed at a white three-story building halfway up the distant mountain:
"That's the commander's new office building. It was just built."
"His office is the innermost room on the top floor. The door is usually left unlocked. You can just go up and put it on his desk yourself."
"I have to go oversee the unloading over there, so I won't accompany you."
"Thanks!"
Vergo hid his excitement and kept a serious, business-like expression on his face. He saluted once more, then turned and walked toward the office building.
Once he turned a corner and was certain Kane couldn't see him, Vergo instantly sped up.
He quickly passed through the corridors and headed straight for the top floor.
Click.
Just as Kane said, the door was unlocked.
Vergo slipped inside and locked the door behind him.
It was a spacious office. The floor-to-ceiling windows on the side overlooked the entire port of Hachinosu.
Vergo didn't waste a single second. He immediately scanned every corner of the room.
"I must find it quickly..."
A fine layer of cold sweat seeped from Vergo's forehead.
Based on his understanding of Aiden, the man was arrogant and trusted raw force more than tricks.
He probably wouldn't set up any complicated secret compartments or traps. The item should be out in the open.
Vergo's gaze quickly swept over the bookshelves and drawers.
Finally, his gaze landed under the desk in the middle of the room.
To keep it balanced, a thick object was wedged under one of the desk legs.
Vergo froze.
That black cover... that familiar thickness... even the slight curl on the edge from moisture was exactly the same as in his memory.
"Is... is that it?!"
Vergo's breath caught.
Wasn't that Ochoku's ledger?!
It was actually being used by this man to prop up a desk leg?!
Only Aiden would use something like that to prop up a desk. Aiden probably didn't take this thing seriously at all.
"That was easy."
Vergo forced down his other thoughts, held his breath, and walked toward the desk step by step.
Five meters... three meters... one meter.
He bent down and reached his hand toward the black notebook pinned under the desk leg.
As long as he pulled it out, as long as he destroyed it, all the danger would be resolved!
BOOM!!!!!
A blast erupted outside the window without any warning.
The sound was so loud that the entire office building shook violently with it. Dust fell from the ceiling, and the famous paintings on the wall tilted to the side.
"What?!"
Vergo went still, his hand freezing in place.
Aiden is back?!
That was his first reaction.
Other than that monster, who else could cause that kind of noise?
If he got cornered in the office by Aiden...
Vergo's whole body went cold. He spun around, rushed to the floor-to-ceiling window, and readied himself to either jump out and run or fight to the death at any moment.
However, when he saw the scene outside the window clearly, he froze.
What he saw was not Aiden's lightning.
Flames were rising from the port!
Right in the port of the G-6 Branch, the warship he had just brought, packed with half the G-5 Branch's savings in supplies, had now turned into a giant ball of fire!
"My ship?!"
Vergo gripped the window frame.
Immediately after, he saw a huge shadow sweep across the port.
In the sky filled with thick smoke, a giant black pteranodon with a wingspan of over twenty meters circled low.
It burned all over with crimson flames, its black wings hard as steel. Its long beak glinted coldly, and it let out a sharp screech that carried across the port—
"Caw————!!"
Along with the screech, the pteranodon opened its beak and spat out another ball of scorching fire, blasting right into the tower crane under construction at the port.
"That is..."
Vergo stared intently at the pteranodon, and a name came to mind.
The Beasts Pirates' All-Star!
King the Conflagration!
"Pteranodon form... Lunarian flames..."
"Why... why is King here?!"
"Screech——!!!"
The pteranodon in the sky let out another sharp screech.
The next moment.
It opened its giant beak, and a searing breath of fire blasted down mercilessly onto the newly built tower crane at the port and the merchant ships flying the G-6 Branch flags. A torrent of flames poured down from the sky, bending metal, tearing through rigging, and swallowing the ships below.