High above the East Blue.
A massive news bird beat its wings furiously through the sky, a camera dangling from its neck, the shutter clicking so fast it was nearly smoking.
This was Morgans, president of the World Economic News.
At this moment, the veteran journalist—who had witnessed countless storms—was trembling from head to toe, feathers standing on end.
Not from fear.
From excitement.
Utter, uncontrollable excitement.
"Hahaha! Huge news! This is absolute, world-shaking news that will be remembered forever!!"
Morgans looked down at the shattered ruins of Orange Town's harbor, then at Kuzan, the Marine admiral lying motionless in a pit of ice, his fate unknown.
He had seen everything with his own eyes.
The silver-haired man crushing Celestial Dragons like ants.
Grinding an admiral—the Navy's highest combat power—into the dirt.
And finally…
Forcibly ripping a Devil Fruit out of a living body.
"The Celestial Dragons are dead! An admiral has been defeated! His powers were stripped away by force!"
"This world has gone mad! Completely mad!"
Ignoring the risk of being hunted down by the World Government, Morgans pulled out a Den Den Mushi and roared at his editorial headquarters:
"Stop the presses! All of them!"
"Scrap every headline on the front page!"
"This headline must be massive! Explosive! Something the entire world has to see!"
"The title is—'True God Descends, or Demon Awakens?! The Strongest Villain in Eight Hundred Years Appears in the East Blue!'"
"'Celestial Dragons Slain! Admiral Kuzan Crippled! Mysterious Silver-Haired Man Performs the Miracle of Devil Fruit Extraction!'"
"Use that photo! The one where he stands atop Celestial Dragon corpses, suppressing the admiral with one hand!"
"Print it! Distribute it everywhere! I want the seas to boil!"
"This time—I'm really making history!"
Amid Morgans' manic laughter, countless news birds burst into the sky like a white storm, carrying newspapers powerful enough to shake the world as they flew toward the Grand Line, the New World—every corner of the seas.
…
Several hours later.
Marineford, Marine Headquarters.
The emergency wing of the medical department was in chaos.
The East Blue support fleet—long out of contact—had finally returned.
But they brought no victory.
They brought back a dying admiral.
Critically injured, unconscious, barely clinging to life.
Marshal's Office.
Around the massive round table sat the highest authorities of the Navy.
Kong occupied the head seat, his expression grim, every muscle tense with restrained fury.
Sengoku frowned deeply, bloodshot eyes visible behind his glasses.
Tsuru silently reviewed intelligence reports, her hands trembling faintly.
Even Garp, usually carefree and forever munching rice crackers, had put his snacks away—arms crossed, face unusually severe.
Smack!
Kong slammed a freshly completed medical report onto the table.
"Admiral Kuzan regained consciousness briefly," he said hoarsely, a trace of terror leaking through his voice. "He reported the mission… then passed out again."
He paused, took a breath, and scanned the room.
"His vital signs are barely stable. But—"
Kong spoke each word slowly.
"His Ice-Ice Fruit ability is gone."
Boom!
The room exploded into chaos.
Every officer present shot to their feet, eyes wide with disbelief.
"Gone?!" Sengoku shouted. "That's impossible! Kuzan isn't dead! As long as the user lives, a Devil Fruit cannot—"
"It wasn't reborn," Kong interrupted through clenched teeth.
"It was taken."
Silence fell like a hammer.
Taken… away?
If that was true, then every Devil Fruit user in the world was nothing more than a walking treasure chest before that man.
"Damn it!!"
Sakazuki smashed his fist into the table, magma overflowing uncontrollably and scorching straight through it.
"What kind of monster is this?! Stripping abilities like that—such a thing shouldn't exist!"
Garp's expression darkened.
"If this is true, then he's ten times more dangerous than Rocks… No—one hundred times."
Just then—
Bang!
The conference room doors burst open.
A naval intelligence officer stumbled in, drenched in sweat, clutching a newspaper with shaking hands.
"M-Marshal! General! Something terrible has happened!"
Sengoku roared, "Get a grip! What kind of behavior is—"
"General, please—look!"
The officer nearly broke into tears as he handed over the paper.
"That damned Morgans… He leaked everything that happened in the East Blue!"
Kong and Sengoku grabbed the newspaper at the same time.
One glance—
Their blood pressure skyrocketed.
The blood-red headline burned into their eyes.
The photo of Tobirama standing atop Celestial Dragon corpses, gazing down upon the world like a god.
And beneath it, the mocking caption:
"Marine admiral? Idiot."
"This is outrageous!!!"
Boom!!
Kong finally exploded.
His furious aura shattered every pane of glass in the room.
He tore the newspaper to shreds, veins bulging across his neck.
"Morgans! I'll pluck every last feather off that bird!"
"And that silver-haired bastard! He slaughtered Celestial Dragons, crippled an admiral, and now he's humiliating the Navy before the entire world!"
"This is the greatest disgrace in the Navy's eight-hundred-year history!"
Sengoku trembled, barely restraining his own power.
Once this news spread, the World Government's authority would collapse—and the Navy's prestige would be utterly destroyed.
Who knew how many ambitious madmen would seize this chance?
"Send troops!" Sakazuki roared. "Fleet Admiral, let me go! I'll burn that bastard to ashes!"
"I'll go as well," Borsalino said, his usual smile gone. "Terrifying… stripping abilities like that. But for justice, he must be eliminated."
The room boiled with rage.
Shame and fear twisted together, driving the Navy's leadership toward bloodshed.
"Enough!"
A thunderous shout silenced them all.
Sengoku stood.
Cold, composed, terrifyingly rational.
"Sakazuki. Borsalino."
He stared straight at them.
"Are you trying to die?"
Akainu bristled. "Kuzan was careless! I refuse to believe—"
"What gives you the right to doubt this?" Sengoku snapped, pointing at the medical report.
"Kuzan was crushed by Haki alone. He couldn't even fight back before his powers were stripped away."
"Do you understand what that means?"
"It means his strength has surpassed everything we know."
"His abilities, his motives, his trump cards—everything is unknown."
"If you rush in and lose your powers as well, the Navy is finished."
The room went silent.
What if they went… and became helpless men?
Without the admirals, how would the Navy suppress the seas?
"So what do we do?" Garp asked, fists clenched.
Sengoku adjusted his glasses, eyes flashing coldly.
"We don't let it go."
"If we don't know who he is—let someone else test him."
"This sea is full of desperados and madmen blinded by greed."
He turned to Kong.
"Marshal, I propose—"
"Issue the highest-level special bounty."
"No trial at Enies Lobby. Label him an irredeemable criminal."
"The bounty must be astronomical."
"High enough to tempt the Four Emperors. High enough to drive pirates and bounty hunters worldwide into a frenzy."
"Use the entire world to grind him down—and see what he truly is."
Kong stared out the window at the surging sea for a long moment.
Then he nodded heavily.
"Approved."
"If he is a demon…"
"Then let him become the enemy of the entire world."
"Pass the order."
"Draft the bounty."
"Inform the world immediately."
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