"Well then, to our safe reunion, and..."
"To Sue and company's safe jailbreak and everything else..."
"""Cheers!!"""
So yeah, right now I'm at Gran Tesoro.
Having a wonderful party with Tesoro, Stella, and everyone else.
The two of them, of course, plus the three Fish-Man girls who work here, and all the other familiar faces had apparently been worried about us, so they threw this grand celebration.
I'd been recuperating at Merveille for so long that I was late coming to say hello. Sorry about that.
"Truly, I'm so glad you're safe. I knew from our time together in Mary Geoise that you're not one to be easily broken, but... Impel Down was another matter entirely. I was worried."
"Indeed. But when the dust settled, not only did she come back in one piece, I hear she made friends and gathered a whole host of allies along the way. My word... as always, you never come out of a fall empty-handed, do you, Sue?"
So said Stella and Tesoro.
"Ahahaha, well, yeah. It was definitely rough in a lot of ways, but I made sure to seize all the returns I was owed and paid them back a hundredfold, so... weird as it sounds, I guess it all worked out in the end?"
"Eat, drink, and enjoy yourselves to your hearts' content today. Stella, too... and all of you!"
As Tesoro said this, his gaze turned to the group who had come with me this time.
My three daughters: Suzu, Leona, and Alice.
Plus the two who had become my aides: Blume and Beauty.
The three girls had been here several times before, so they could casually reply with a breezy "Okay!" But Blume and Beauty were... tense.
Well, Gran Tesoro is renowned as the pinnacle of entertainment cities, not just in the New World but in the entire world. Being hosted by the owner himself in the ultra-VIP area, a certain amount of nerves was understandable.
They were so stiff I was worried they might drop their tableware.
I could practically hear the silent thought: 'What kind of connections does this woman have...'
But that tension was soon dissolved.
Or rather, they had no time left to be tense.
Gran Tesoro's proud array of entertainment shows unfolded before them, and it became impossible not to enjoy them.
Song, dance, music, street performance... and so much more, each stage spectacle refined to perfection.
Carina, already widely known as a first-rate Songstress, and Uta-chan, who had surpassed even Carina to reign as the top Songstress of Gran Tesoro, among others.
This place had assembled a roster of specialists who captivated every audience member.
...Though I was surprised, shocked even, to find that person mixed in among them.
"I'll deliver it to all your Souls! Let our symphony ring out! To the ends of the world!!"
"""Kyaaa! Soul King!!"""
There on stage, strumming a guitar and belting out a passionate song, was... a skeleton.
Um... that's...
"Surprised, aren't you? Apparently he's a Devil Fruit Ability User... Not only does he move around as nothing but bones, he's got that incredible musical talent. His appearance and substance are both wildly impactful, and he's got the drive to match, so we hired him. He's been shooting up in popularity."
Apparently, one day he just came flying in from somewhere and crash-landed here.
For a while after that, they'd kept him restrained as an intruder, but investigation revealed he seemed harmless, and given his deep knowledge of music and his own desire to sing and work here, they gave him a trial run.
And just like that, his popularity skyrocketed to where it was now.
He'd even earned the title Soul King already. Impressive.
But still... taking someone who looks like that, not just releasing him from custody but hiring him and letting him perform? You've got some real nerve, Tesoro.
Well, maybe it's a testament to the keen eye for talent that both he and Stella share.
Wait, hold on, Kuma!?
In the Original Work, weren't you supposed to send Brook flying to some poverty-stricken island somewhere?
Why send him here of all places... well, I suppose when it comes to developing musical ability and showmanship, there really isn't a better place than this.
And honestly... it's a good song. Something that resonates in the heart.
Even now, his performance already made it easy to believe that in two years he'd become a singer beloved the world over.
Being surrounded by the first-rate entertainers here might be turbocharging his growth even further.
"...But how does he belt out such clear vocals when he's got no lungs or vocal cords?"
"That's probably one of those things it's best not to think too hard about."
...Yeah, it's a mystery. But that's just how it is, probably.
***
So, Tesoro and company threw me a release celebration (of sorts), but even after that, I continued staying at Gran Tesoro for a while. Without returning to Merveille.
Part of it was wanting to thoroughly enjoy this place after being away so long, but... I also had an ulterior motive.
Not mine. Papa's.
A short while ago, I'd been briefed on the full scope of the plan Papa was currently advancing, and I was left dumbfounded, thinking, 'What is this man doing?' But within it, there was a portion that involved me.
That said, it was more of a notification that as the plan progressed, it might affect me in certain ways, and I was free to decide what to do from there on my own.
If I wanted to help with Papa's plan, or ride along and use it to my advantage, that was fine.
If I wanted nothing to do with it, didn't want to be used, and wanted to refuse, that was also fine.
He'd prepared multiple plans so things could proceed smoothly either way, and told me to do as I pleased. For now, I was following Papa's lead and "riding along."
The "riding along" option looked like it would involve its share of hassles and risks, but on balance, the benefits to me were significant. And the things I'd been worried about, the kind of stuff where they'd "use me as a writer" or "force me to do something leveraging my position as a writer," none of that was in play.
It wouldn't be entirely absent, apparently, but I was told I could just kick those aside on a case-by-case basis.
On top of that, this plan would let me accumulate overwhelmingly rare Experience.
And the fact that I could turn the tables on the Government and Marines, who had put us through so much suffering and trouble this time, was something I rather liked. So I decided to let Papa make use of me.
That was why I was currently staying at Gran Tesoro.
Things had been perfectly peaceful and uneventful... as if.
Well, for me personally, things were uneventful enough, but apparently a lot was happening beneath the surface.
Tesoro told me that over the past several days, they'd captured or disposed of roughly two dozen assassins, human traffickers, and other assorted threats targeting me, my associates, or both.
Because I'd been holed up at Merveille until now, my whereabouts had been unknown, making it impossible to send such people after me. Now that I'd finally emerged to a location where I could be found, someone somewhere had arranged all this. Someone who couldn't afford to let me live. Someone who considered me a threat.
But not a single one had breached the security Tesoro's people had put in place.
On top of the already high quality, Tesoro was apparently still in a state of sustained fury over the fact that last time, they'd failed to see through the Government and Marine machinations, resulting in my arrest. Driven by a resolve of "I will never allow that to happen again," he'd fortified things to an Iron Wall of perfection.
Unfortunately, we didn't know who the Mastermind behind all this was.
Nine times out of ten, it was the people whose name starts with "Go" and ends with "ment"... but we had zero evidence.
We'd tried interrogating the ones we captured, but they were all too far down the chain to know anything. I checked with Heaven's Door, so there was no mistake.
The ones who seemed like they might actually know something, the real pros, all killed themselves the moment they were caught. The classic "poison in the molar" trick, or poison they'd ingested beforehand that would kill them if they didn't take the Antidote after completing their mission. Real professional stuff.
Heaven's Door can't read the dead, after all... not as things stand now.
There was just one exception: apparently, one of them had an exceptionally trained body, could move with vanishing speed, deflected bullets off their body with a clang, and exhibited movements like running through the air.
Unfortunately, they also failed to secure that one alive... the person died the instant they were caught. But that was clearly an operative from some intelligence agency. And most likely the ninth one.
I was shown the body, but it wasn't anyone who'd appeared in the Original Work... I think.
The face wasn't familiar, and I didn't think it was one of the people Luffy's crew fought during the Enies Lobby Arc. Had they replenished their personnel? Though this one was dead now too.
I felt bad about burdening Tesoro and his people, but... the truth was, "making my location known" was actually one of Papa's plans all along.
So in a sense, this entire situation was within calculations. Naturally, I'd explained the circumstances to Tesoro beforehand.
I was supposed to stay here a while longer and wait for the right move to come.
Now then. Would what we hoped for actually arrive, or...?
***
...Several more days passed.
"Hello, Papa? It came... it really did."
"Jihahahaha... I see. Sounds like they're really up against a wall. Throwing everything they've got, no matter how it looks."
"I mean... honestly, I never thought it would actually come to this. When you think about what I actually did this time... would they really respond like this? Would they even consider it as an option?"
"That's how badly they wanted to deal with you, no matter the cost. Your Powers are part of it, of course... but when you factor in what I've been doing, too."
"? If I remember right... you've been seizing the islands that used to be Whitebeard's territory? And specifically the ones that have no real governing value, the kind even Pirates ignore unless they're there to plunder."
"That's what it looks like on the surface. But mixed in among them are a few spots that are a bit inconvenient for the Government. Not critically important, maybe, but given their strategic location, if they fell into the hands of the Revolutionary Army, which has been making a lot of noise lately, it would cause the Government all sorts of problems."
"So it was all calculated."
"Obviously. Those people only know two approaches: 'Ignore what doesn't matter if they lose' or 'Crush anything they can't afford to lose.' They don't believe any other way should even exist. That's what makes 'em predictable... and why they resort to extreme measures like this. Since they can't use force, they figure it's worth a shot..."
"I see... So what I need to do next is accept this offer?"
"Yeah, but don't answer right away. Take your sweet time, use every last day of the deadline. Give your reply on the final day with your acceptance. I'll be making my own preparations in the meantime."
"Roger that. Good grief... I wonder what's going to happen next...?"
***
And then, several days after that.
The following article blazoned across the front page of the World Economic News:
Star Clown Buggy
Pirate Literary Master Sue
Two Great Pirates who demonstrated their power at the Summit War confirmed to join the Shichibukai!
With the issuance of Letters of Marque from the Government, bounties on both individuals to be rescinded!
To be continued...