Chapter 226: A Turbulent World

"Nico Robin, the Devil Child, has been confirmed dead within the Bastan Realm."

"Jin Shizi has reappeared on the seas; he clashed with the knight Gao Wen within the Bastan Realm and his whereabouts are now unknown..."

Piece after piece of information, processed with the World Government's biased brush, struck the eyes of everyone on the seas.

Kuraigana Island, in the New World.

Within the castle.

Hawkeye sat upright at his desk, holding the latest issue of the World Economic News.

His gaze swept past lines of useless information, finally resting on a photograph of Gao Wen clashing with Jin Shizi.

"Jin Shizi is advanced in years and bears old injuries; his combat power is far below his peak."

"But to be able to clash with Jin Shizi and withdraw unscathed—judging solely by the combat power Gao Wen has now revealed, he cannot be underestimated."

"In just one year, he has already grown to this degree?!"

Hawkeye could not help but let out a sigh of admiration.

Originally, in his expectations, for Gao Wen to reach his current level would still require several years, or even more than a decade.

He never expected that only a year had passed since their last meeting, yet Gao Wen already possessed such formidable power.

"You are even more outstanding than I imagined, yet this unusual form..."

Hawkeye looked at Gao Wen in the photograph, who appeared clad in a suit of crimson soft armor, and his brows furrowed slightly:

"A Zoan-type, Mythical Model?!"

"Abandoning swordsmanship to pursue a shortcut... can someone like you truly still reach me?"

"As a seed I have chosen, I cannot allow you to fall into depravity like this!"

Buzz—!

A piercing buzzing sound suddenly rang out beside Hawkeye's ear.

He turned his head to look.

Before his eyes was the black blade Yoru, restless and agitated.

"You... are you also craving that fellow's blood?!"

"Or are you, like me, longing for someone who can surpass themselves?"

Accompanied by Hawkeye's muttering to himself, the black blade Yoru became increasingly restless.

The buzzing sound emanating from the blade was so intense it startled birds into flight from outside the castle.

Countless bodies of the human mimickers lurking around the castle instantly stiffened; for a moment, they cared nothing for the weapons in their hands and fled in all directions as if their lives depended on it.

The area surrounding the castle fell terrifyingly silent.

By the time the human mimickers came to their senses and attempted to return to the castle's vicinity, Hawkeye had long vanished without a trace.

Yet still, no one dared to approach that castle, which stood like a taboo.

At the same time.

North Blue.

Several islands loomed faintly within the clouds, causing countless passing ships on the sea to stop and gaze.

Yet, upon realizing what the islands and fleets floating in the sky truly signified, they scattered in all directions.

"How far is it to the target?!"

Upon the throne.

Jin Shizi held one hand to the ship's helm atop his head, his eyes filled with urgency and impatience.

Ever since learning that the Ope Ope no Mi could remove the ship's helm from his head, he had disregarded even the clues to the Pluton in Alabasta, directly leading his main force to search for traces of the Ope Ope no Mi user.

During that battle with Gao Wen, after Jin Shizi perceived the limitation the ship's helm on his head imposed on his combat power, this determination had only grown stronger.

"It is now basically confirmed that the youth who escaped from Donquixote Doflamingo back then is in the North Blue; his name is—Trafalgar Law!"

Spandam stood to one side, his posture humble and respectful.

After gaining Jin Shizi's trust, relying on his past experience serving in the CP organization and his exceptional intellect, he had been appointed by Jin Shizi as his strategist.

He was now a figure of commander rank on this ship.

"According to the intelligence we obtained earlier, that fellow is currently in Swallow Town, approximately seven days of sailing away."

"I can no longer wait that long."

Jin Shizi gritted his teeth and said:

"If I cannot even fight as I please, how can I battle Whitebeard, Big Mom, and that arrogant brat Kaido? How can I seize this world?!"

"Increase sailing speed!"

"Yes!"

Several navigators answered with stiff resolve, then quickly departed the castle to relay Jin Shizi's orders.

But at that very moment.

A News Coo flew into the castle from the distant sky; it dropped a newspaper, picked up several banknotes from Jin Shizi's hand with its beak, and then drifted away.

"That arrogant brat has failed again, has he?!"

Coming to his senses, Jin Shizi slowly unfolded the newspaper.

Before his eyes was a picture of Crocodile wearing shackles, locked inside a cage; though imprisoned, his demeanor was utterly composed.

The cowardice and fear that could once be seen at a glance in Crocodile had completely vanished, replaced only by an indescribable composure and resolve.

Jin Shizi revealed an expression of keen interest:

"A man with firm convictions, and a person filled with cowardice and fear—the forms they reveal are completely different."

"That look is the kind a man who claims he wants to defeat Whitebeard would have!"

"After a crushing defeat, you've broken and then rebuilt yourself, reclaimed your belief? Interesting… but…"

Looking at Crocodile's knife wound across his chest and abdomen, Shichibukai saw again the Gao Wen who had fought him at the Oilseed Flower Port.

That razor-sharp slash—he could not forget it even now.

Among all the young talents in Shichibukai's seventy years of life, only Kaido, back then, could match him.

"So you didn't die after all!"

Shichibukai suddenly stood up, his eyes blazing with terrifying intensity:

"How could a prodigy like this—someone who'd be called a monster in any era—fall so easily in a place like this?"

"Next time!"

"Next time, I'll truly break your spine!"

"Hahahahaha—!"

The arrogant, raucous laughter echoed through the castle, scattering the surrounding clouds with released Haki—but vanished completely after only an instant.

"Ugh—!"

Shichibukai grunted, pressing his hand against the ceiling above his head; beads of cold sweat had formed on his forehead from intense pain, his face twisted into an unnaturally grotesque expression:

"Increase our speed!"

"I can't wait a single second!"

"Yes!"

……

At Shichibukai's order, the fleet's speed surged within minutes, vanishing into the clouds.

The castle's grand hall.

Shichibukai gradually calmed down, then gleaned more information from the newspaper:

"If the Marines reach Alabasta, the clues to the Pluton likely have already fallen into their hands."

"Tch—!"

"If that bastard Luo Jie…"

Though bitter, Shichibukai knew better than anyone: with his current condition, he could no longer launch a solo assault on Marineford.

That would be no different from suicide.

So Shichibukai forcibly suppressed his resentment:

"Forget it."

"Talking about it is meaningless. Right now, my priority is healing my wounds."

"Even without Pluton, with the power of the IQ plants' enraged beasts, I can seize this world."

"That's not certain."

Spandam spoke up at the right moment:

"Aside from the Alabasta clue, there are other leads on Pluton."

Shichibukai's pupils contracted sharply:

"Other leads?!"

Spandam nodded:

"The World Government once sent agents to secretly investigate, and eventually found a Pluton clue in Water Seven—the shipwright Tang Mu, who built ships for Luo Jie, likely holds the Pluton blueprints."

"Tang Mu is dead, but those blueprints must still be hidden in Water Seven!"

……

……

……

On the sea.

Stormy and unpredictable.

Marineford, the Marine Headquarters, was unusually struck by a storm; countless warships could not sail and remained docked, bobbing with the waves.

The Marines stationed there had all taken shelter inside buildings to avoid the storm.

Only the conference room on the top floor of the central building remained brightly lit, where countless Marine high-ranking officers gathered for a meeting concerning the fate of the seas.

"You all know, of course, that Crocodile was crushed by the Knight Gao Wen?!"

Admiral Sengoku scanned the room, his voice cold and sharp.

"In just one year, he's grown this strong—his potential threat is immense. Fortunately, aside from that incident with Zephyr, he's never done anything too extreme."

"Set that aside for now."

"The issue before us now is: who should fill the vacant Shichibukai seat?"

"The five of them have put forward two candidates."

Saying this,

Sengoku, expressionless, glanced at Karp; seeing the latter's calm face, he continued:

"One is a recently risen newcomer…"

"Fire Fist—Ace!"

"Born in the East Blue, same era as the Knight Gao Wen; after entering the Grand Line, he surged forward without pause—his current bounty exceeds three hundred million. Previously, he fought Fish-Man Karoo for five days and five nights at Fish-Man Island without victory or defeat."

"Both in strength and reputation, he is qualified to dominate an entire sea."

"What do you think?!"

"The other is… Whitebeard II—Edward Weebly!"

The words fell to the ground.

The office instantly grew cold.

Everyone's gaze converged on Sengoku.

They thought they had misheard.

If Fire Fist Ace was, for most people here, merely a super rookie who had recently risen,

then Whitebeard's Second Son was, to them, familiar beyond all familiarity.

Yet this familiarity carried a hatred that wished to devour and flay him alive.

"Absurd!"

A Marine Vice Admiral in the corner suddenly stood up, his eyes bloodshot:

"What do they mean? Throwing salt directly onto Zephyr-sensei's wound?!"

"Exactly!"

This Vice Admiral's words immediately drew agreement from the crowd; everyone's emotions lost control at that moment.

"Surely no one here doesn't know what this man has done!?"

"He attacked the rookie trainees led by Zephyr-sensei, nearly slaughtering an entire ship of freshly graduated rookies!"

"Making this man one of the Seven Warlords is forcing Zephyr-sensei to his death!"

Akainu, sitting beside Sengoku, pressed down on the cigarette in his hand; the molten lava flowing from his hand fell onto the office desk, emitting a piercing sizzling burn.

Clearly, even Akainu found it difficult to suppress the anger in his heart at this moment.

Although Sengoku had expected such a situation, he still couldn't help but frown slightly at this moment.

Zephyr's influence within the Marines was simply too great.

However, under no circumstances should he have been treated this way, but those five specifically adding this name... Could it be that my previous words have already reached their ears?

"In that case, the candidate we propose will be temporarily set as Fire Fist Ace."

Having said that, Sengoku directly skipped this topic and began discussing several other major matters.

Half an hour later.

The meeting ended, and everyone dispersed.

Sengoku, Garp, Tsuru, and Akainu, who remained at headquarters, the four of them, still sat steadily in the office, opening a small meeting of the Marine core decision-making circle.

"This matter of the Seven Warlords was likely done intentionally by those few above."

Sengoku recalled his judgment just now, his tone becoming several degrees more serious at this moment:

"Even if we put Fire Fist Ace's name forward, the person who ultimately becomes one of the Seven Warlords will not be him."

He had dealt with the Five Elders for decades and knew clearly that those few would never act without purpose.

Zephyr's status within the Marines was already beyond need for further comment; they would not be unaware of it.

But even knowing this, they still placed Whitebeard's Second Son's name among the candidates for the Seven Warlords; this alone was enough to explain the situation.

"This is a warning to Zephyr."

"His previous actions have already crossed the line."

"Sigh..."

Tsuru let out a long sigh, feeling choked up in her heart for a moment; Garp beside her even wore his disdain plainly on his face.

Anyone could see that Zephyr's state these past days had been improving more and more.

This was enough to prove he had completely walked out of the gloom and returned to justice.

Even though the justice Zephyr upheld differed from what it once was, no one considered this a bad thing.

After all, the core figures of the Marines now were either students personally trained by Zephyr, or comrades-in-arms like Sengoku and Garp who had once fought alongside him.

"Then this matter..."

"Before the result comes out, do not let Zephyr know for now."

"I fear that with his fiery temper, he might do something irreversible."

"Hmm."

The Grand Line.

Within the Bastan Realm, Rapeseed Flower Port.

More than a month had passed; this place had gradually recovered from the great battle of that day.

Upon the ruins, buildings rose one by one, and the passing merchant ships and crowds increased once more.

Only the ferocious slash left behind by Jin Shizi on that occasion remained, becoming two river channels that almost split the entire Rapeseed Flower Port into four blocks.

Quickly.

A warship slowly docked into the port.

Kuzan, lying on the deck in deep sleep, slowly removed his eye patch; after letting out a yawn, just as he was about to rise, a newspaper was flung onto his face by Zephyr.

"Look at this."

Kuzan was stunned; he opened the newspaper, his gaze sweeping over item after item of information, finally settling on the news of Robin's death; instantly, Kuzan's sleepiness vanished completely.

Looking at the face in the photograph, which bore seven-tenths resemblance to the Robin in his memory.

Kuzan's mood was incredibly complex:

"She is already dead?!"

"Should this be called unexpected, or entirely to be expected..."

"Ah."

Master Zefa raised his hand and patted Aokiji's shoulder.

As a teacher, how could he not see the special feelings Aokiji held for Robin?

Not lovers, not friends, yet paying incomparable attention to every move Robin made...

"Do you want to prove something on her?!"

(End of this chapter)