Next Bonus, 100!!
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"Katakuri? Who's that?"
"Never heard of him."
"Some top commander for one of the Emperors, Big Mom?"
"Huh. Guess the Emperors are fighting amongst themselves."
Katakuri's defection sent shockwaves through the world's major powers. While they watched with bated breath, the common person barely batted an eye. It was just more gossip.
Just as the Five Elders cared nothing for the happiness of the common man, the common man cared nothing for the internal squabbles of a Yonko crew.
They might offer a passing comment, but that was it.
Their worlds were simply too far apart. For most, their lives would never intersect in any meaningful way.
Besides, did the loss of one commander mean the Big Mom Pirates were no longer a Yonko crew?
Of course not.
Nothing had fundamentally changed.
The Big Mom Pirates were an Emperor's crew not because of Katakuri, but because of Charlotte Linlin.
As long as she stood, the castle stood.
But to the ambitious, that castle—like Whitebeard's before it—was beginning to show cracks.
It was no longer quite so impenetrable.
Was their old era finally coming to a close?
Some could already feel it.
A new wave of talent had been emerging over the past two years, making their mark on the world.
Jin, of course.
But also Ace, Tesoro, and others.
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Hannabal.
Drawn by the buzz of the cross-year joint concert, people from all over the world had flocked to the island, packing it to the gills.
Out on the water, unique sailboat hotels had been opened to handle the overflow.
And then, after nearly a year of construction, the island's coliseum officially opened its doors, drawing in over ten thousand spectators on its first day.
"The blind swordsman, Issho?"
"The boxer, Ideo?"
"The bounty hunter, Abdullah..."
A list of registered contestants was compiled and delivered to Jin by the coliseum's manager.
Jin glanced at her. The snow woman, Monet?
'Well, well. Doflamingo's little spy.'
Monet was dressed in a form-fitting business suit, her hair tied back, a pair of gold-rimmed glasses perched on her nose. She looked the part of a sharp, capable professional.
After Doflamingo's defeat in Mock Town, she had been ordered to infiltrate Hannabal.
At the time, Hannabal had been desperate for talent. Her literacy and accounting skills had gotten her through the screening process and into the municipal hall.
She had started as a junior accountant, but her exceptional performance had caught Enel's eye, and she'd been put in charge of the coliseum's finances. She had even drafted some of the arena's rules. Her competence had been recognized, and she had been promoted to manager.
Monet tensed under Jin's gaze, but he looked away a moment later.
For now, she was a competent manager. She may have been a spy, but she was creating value for Hannabal.
An exposed pawn was far more useful than a dead one.
And Jin was desperately short on talent.
Buru-buru-buru...
The Den Den Mushi rang.
"King Jin!"
"Madame Shyarly?" Jin said, surprised.
"I'd like to meet with you."
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The demonic carrier left port. On board, Jin received a message from Reiju.
Katakuri had arrived at the Gran Tesoro.
"Teleport."
In Reiju's room on the Gran Tesoro, golden flames erupted from her body, burning in mid-air and forming a seven-pointed star—a heptagram—on the floor. Katakuri, Galette, Brûlée, and Chiffon all stared in stunned silence.
"What... is that?"
"Unbelievable..."
Brûlée and the others looked as if they'd seen a ghost.
Katakuri's pupils contracted.
Within the heptagram, a warped and mottled light began to shine, impossibly bright, runes flashing in and out of existence.
The sight was so alien, so powerful, that it sent a shiver down their spines.
It was a power beyond their comprehension.
It was the same reaction every fan had when the God's Knights revealed their teleportation circles and immortality.
'What the hell?! Since when did One Piece become a fantasy series?'
Jin's figure emerged from the heptagram. The golden flames and the sigil vanished as quickly as they had appeared.
Seeing him appear before them with their own eyes, Katakuri and the others were utterly thunderstruck.
What kind of ability was this?
Was this man a god?
For a moment, their hearts pounded in their chests.
Jin greeted them. He hadn't expected Katakuri to bring a posse with him.
It turned out, to make the story more believable, Galette had kidnapped Brûlée the night before the "execution," used her mirror world to break Katakuri out of his cell, and run into Chiffon during their escape. Chiffon, who had been ostracized because of her connection to Lola, had decided to help them.
And so, they had all escaped together.
That meant that the only members of the Big Mom family who knew the truth were Linlin, Katakuri, and Galette.
Linlin had chosen Galette for the role because she had met Jin before and had taken a liking to him. She was a woman of the world—of course she could see it.
Galette provided the perfect cover story for their defection.
Love. It was all for love.
If Galette had chosen Jin, then Katakuri, having been "rescued" by her, had no choice but to follow.
And since they were "investing" in Jin, they might as well go all in. Katakuri would need help. Galette was a capable manager. Brûlée, with her mirror ability, was an excellent spy.
Chiffon... she hadn't been part of the plan. But because of Lola, Linlin didn't want to see her anyway. Exiling her was just as well.
And the reason Linlin had been willing to make such a huge investment was not because she believed in Jin, not because she had been fooled by him, but because of one thing:
Profit. Massive, overwhelming profit.
In the short time since Jin had taken over, the Gran Tesoro's monthly net profit had been steadily climbing.
Last month alone, it had surpassed ten billion Berries.
And that was with the loss of some clients after Tesoro's death, and with many others still taking a "wait and see" approach.
It sounded absurd.
A single month's profit was enough to buy the heads of two Yonko.
But it was a fact.
Without that kind of insane profitability, how could Tesoro have become the richest man in the world in just four years, controlling 20% of the world's Berries?
That figure was staggering. Even the World Government and the Celestial Dragons were in business with him. Or rather, it was because they were in business with him that he had been able to amass such a fortune.
Tesoro's strategy had been to merge entertainment with power brokering, to become a nexus for the world's various factions. His operations involved everything from slaves to weapons, his influence stretching from the underworld to the highest echelons of power. He was a broker even more powerful than Doflamingo.
And the Gran Tesoro was the heart of that web, a golden goose that laid endless eggs.
Faced with that kind of profit, Big Mom's principles were... flexible.
As Jin had said, it was just an act.
And in her territory, was Katakuri really so important?
He seemed important. But in reality, he wasn't.
His absence wouldn't have a major impact.
Her other children, like Perospero, were plenty strong. They were more than capable of handling any challenges from the surrounding pirates. The Totto Land archipelago was stable. There was very little for Katakuri to do.
His life was comfortable. He had lost his drive.
Linlin's wings had sheltered them, yes—but they had also blocked out the sun, stunting their growth. In terms of sheer grit, of willpower, they couldn't compare to a single-minded fool like Luffy.
Going out on his own might not be such a bad thing for Katakuri.
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