Chapter 259: Rayleigh: Your Excuse Is Quite Handy

At Shakky's Rip-off Bar, Hancock, Rayleigh, and Shakky heard the explosive shockwave of Cyrus's departure.

"I can handle the journey alone," Hancock said, looking at Rayleigh.

Cyrus's strict order for her to return to her island had put her in a foul mood, and her displeasure was palpable.

"Hancock, this is no trivial matter." Rayleigh and Shakky were well aware of her stubborn temperament.

"Now is not the time to be willful," the Dark King said sternly.

If the World Government truly intended to deploy Buster Calls against the revoked Warlords, Amazon Lily would face devastating casualties without its Empress.

Crocodile's situation was entirely different.

Though he had lost his Warlord status, his position as the Vice President of the Hunter Guild offered a far stronger protective umbrella.

The terrifying, continent-splitting sword scar on the Red Line was something every pirate arriving at Sabaody felt compelled to witness firsthand, no Marine would carelessly attack Cyrus's second-in-command.

"What you need to do now is secure Amazon Lily against any naval developments. Only after resolving that threat can you return to Cyrus's side," Shakky remarked coolly, removing her cigarette.

Hancock was momentarily taken aback, but her eyes lit up as she grasped Shakky's implication.

"Then let us hurry back!" she declared, rising to her feet and marching out.

Rayleigh and Shakky exchanged amused glances.

"That reasoning of yours is quite effective," Rayleigh chuckled.

"What can I say? Such obsessive situations seem to occur frequently among the successive Empresses of Amazon Lily," Shakky replied, lighting another cigarette. "Myself included."

...

At Marine Headquarters.

"Cyrus has briefly returned to the Sabaody Archipelago. That's the report from our intelligence personnel monitoring the guild," Sengoku stated, his expression grave.

"Do we know why he returned?" Vice Admiral Tsuru sat upright, deeply concerned.

"He arrived with Boa Hancock. Given the timing, what does that suggest?"

"The revocation of their Warlord titles?" Tsuru guessed.

"Precisely. Cyrus makes the strategic decisions, and Crocodile handles the global implementation. Cyrus clearly holds him in high regard, flying back so publicly serves as a direct warning to us." Sengoku massaged his temples in frustration.

"Indeed," Tsuru agreed. "However, we have no intention of targeting the guild at this juncture anyway. The growing conflict between the Hunter Guild and the Pirate Emperors in the New World is already playing to our advantage."

Just as Cyrus had planned, as the Hunter Guild's reputation spread, the first to join were the pirate hunters who roamed the seas capturing pirates for bounties.

Because of this, these pirate hunters became more active than before.

Through the Hunter Guild, many pirate hunters gathered to take on formidable pirate crews, and these kinds of events had already happened multiple times in Paradise and the Four Blues.

Without Cyrus, the Marines would welcome this development and might even encourage or recruit them.

But now, with Cyrus present, the Hunter Guild stood as an independent, large-scale organization.

Although it looked huge but fragile right now, the guild was developing at an amazing speed.

"The Hunter Exam six months from now might be a critical turning point," Vice Admiral Tsuru said to Sengoku.

Sengoku nodded. "Indeed. Morgans likely has ties to Cyrus, and for the World Economy News Paper to report on the Hunter Exam with such seriousness means Cyrus must think it is very important."

Looking at the current situation, it was clear that Cyrus had not committed himself to the Hunter Guild yet, though this might change after the Hunter Exam.

"What is the World Government saying?" Vice Admiral Tsuru asked.

Sengoku shook his head. "The World Government is very wary of Cyrus right now, as the Mary Geoise incident made them hesitate to act."

This was the first time they had seen the World Government so intimidated by one person, because even Whitebeard, the man said to have the power to destroy the world, did not cause such fear and attention from them.

Given Cyrus's huge combat strength, the World Government's fear made sense.

"The longer this drags on, the more our disadvantage will grow," Vice Admiral Tsuru sighed.

They could not just hope for Cyrus to disappear, and as long as he existed, the World Government could not stay passive forever.

Any smart person could see the Hunter Guild's fast growth, and without anything holding them back, it would threaten the World Government and the Marines' control over the world until the situation only got worse.

"But they fear Cyrus might return to Mary Geoise." Sengoku understood Tsuru's point, but since they had no solution yet, any action against him required extreme caution until they found a way to fight him.

Both Sengoku and Tsuru had a feeling about what would happen in the future, knowing that the World Government would eventually be unable to tolerate the threat Cyrus brought or the Hunter Guild eating away at their global control, which would lead to a violent fight.

Seeing this coming was one thing, but deciding to start the fight before it happened was another.

The main reason was that the World Government could not handle the results of another fight with Cyrus.

As for Cyrus, while the Hunter Guild took a lot of his effort right now, the guild could be rebuilt as long as he lived even if it was destroyed, and that was the big difference that made it feel like he had nothing to lose.

Right then, the Den Den Mushi in front of Sengoku rang, so he picked it up with a serious face and let out a deep breath after a moment.

"Cyrus left the Sabaody Archipelago. His goal this time seems to be sending Boa Hancock back, and he is not targeting Mary Geoise."

"He is too fast, so he can go wherever he wants, whenever he wants," Vice Admiral Tsuru said when she heard this.

"That is true, but it is fine. We must speed up the World Military Draft plan because the current pace is too slow, and we need to recruit talented new soldiers and hidden experts before the Hunter Exam," Sengoku said.

"Yes, we are working on that, but for the money, you need to keep pushing the World Government since they do not seem willing to pay," Vice Admiral Tsuru reminded him.

Talking about this gave Sengoku a headache, so he waved his hand to dismiss Tsuru and dialed the Den Den Mushi to get ready to demand money from the World Government.

...

Mary Geoise.

Half of the Holy Land was destroyed by Cyrus's slash with countless deaths, but the Celestial Dragons did not leave the remaining half because according to the prophecy, this was the place that kept them safe, and there was no better place than this.

Now, the Celestial Dragons who used to roam the world abusing their power did not dare to go outside during this time, because besides Cyrus's slash, another reason was that most of the Celestial Dragons out in the world were attacked too after the Mary Geoise incident.

Since the ones traveling outside had many bodyguards with them, the death toll was low, but this situation made the other Celestial Dragons more scared to leave so they were all hiding in Mary Geoise now.

Room of Flowers.

Imu, who had their head down in deep thought, looked up just as Gunko, who was waiting in Mary Geoise for her next orders, instantly had her body taken over.

She stood up and startled the surrounding members of the God's Knights, but when they saw Gunko's eyes, they all stood up together realizing Lord Imu had entered Gunko's body.

Then a terrifying and overwhelming Conqueror's Haki burst from Gunko, and under the pressure of this fearsome Haki, the God's Knights around her stepped back with their faces filled with shock.

'What is happening with Lord Imu?' they thought before Gunko's body vanished.

...

Edge of Mary Geoise.

Cyrus stood there looking at the huge canyon he made with his slash, and looking across the canyon with just his eyes, the other side looked blurry.

The canyon walls on both sides were covered in crystals, smooth surfaces, dirty glass, and obsidian that shimmered under the sunlight.

Cyrus sensed the Conqueror's Haki bursting from Mary Geoise behind him, but he did not turn around until a pentagram magic circle appeared on the ground to teleport Gunko's body there, and only then did he speak.

"Don't be nervous. I am just passing by."

Behind him, Gunko continued to release that terrifying Conqueror's Haki, making the solid ground crack in every direction under the force of the erupting energy.

"You dare to come here," Gunko spoke like she was threatening Cyrus, but she made no move to attack and instead walked to a spot close to his side.

"Why wouldn't I dare? Besides, if I want to come, can you stop me? Or can those five guys stop me?" Cyrus tilted his head, watching as five massive Mythical Zoan monsters approached.

Gunko stayed quiet when she heard this, while the transformed Five Elders appeared in the distance to watch Cyrus and 'Gunko' standing close together without any obvious plan to fight.

The Five Elders looked at each other.

'What is happening?'

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