"We must capture this kid with a straw hat as soon as possible!"
The heavy and oppressive atmosphere was broken by St. Topman Warcury; his tone was grave. "The accident at the West Blue cannot happen again."
If they had directly acted back then and captured that guy, perhaps things wouldn't be so troublesome now.
And…
St. Topman Warcury looked deeply at the photo on the table. "The trouble this kid brings is even more serious than that of King of the West Blue. We must suppress everything again before the influence grows!"
"Warcury is right. We cannot repeat the previous mistake."
Beside him, St. Marcus Mars also said in agreement. "Although over the past eight hundred years, the World Government has tried its best to erase that man's information, the traces he left still exist. We cannot guarantee whether that man will truly return, but all hidden dangers must be eliminated as much as possible!"
"Right now, I'm actually a bit grateful that a fool inherited the so-called title of God of Sun."
St. Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro said with a trace of gloomy mockery. "At least it attracted some ignorant fools."
As he spoke, he turned his head and looked at the new Warrior God of Science and Defense, St. Figarland Garling, who had only taken office not long ago.
"How is the research on Vegapunk's side progressing?"
"It has already entered the most critical stage. In addition, we now also possess an obedient Vegapunk."
Unlike the grim expressions of the other elders in front of him, St. Figarland Garling, who had just become one of the Five Elders and was currently full of vigor, wore an elegant smile. "Once all the research is completed, that old and useless Vegapunk can also be dealt with."
Compared to the four elders who had experienced the battle in the West Blue, St. Figarland Garling, known as the King, was filled with confidence. He even believed that the death of the previous Warrior God of Science and Defense, St. Jaygarcia Saturn, was simply due to his own stupidity.
"Don't be so nervous, fellow elders. It's just a guy with good luck. It doesn't mean that he has truly returned."
"Do not be careless, Garling."
Seemingly somewhat dissatisfied with Garling's tone, St. Marcus Mars spoke coldly. "It was precisely because we were too careless that we caused so much trouble."
After speaking, his gaze shifted to the other three elders.
"We should make preparations in advance. This time, we cannot disappoint Imu-sama again. Also, regarding the Marine Headquarters, the World Military Draft should be ending soon. Tell our new Fleet Admiral to get to work quickly. Don't let us down."
"Kuzan, huh? To be honest, I don't approve of that guy becoming Fleet Admiral. His justice is extremely lazy!"
"But he won."
Hearing St. Shepherd Ju Peter's words, St. Marcus Mars still spoke expressionlessly. "These were the rules of the game that we designated. Are we going to tear them up now?"
"Fine, let it be like this for now. If we're dissatisfied, we'll just remove him later. That fool, Sakazuki, was truly disappointing."
St. Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro snorted coldly, then seemed to remember something. "Also, don't forget to have that kid from the Donquixote Family gather intelligence on the Straw Hat Pirates."
"I understand. Then let's leave it at that for now!"
The five quickly discussed the next plan. Then they lowered their heads again, their expressions gloomy and cold as they looked at the photo on the table.
A name suddenly emerged in their minds: Joy Boy…
At this moment, the atmosphere in the entire hall once again became oppressive, even more oppressive than before.
For some reason, they suddenly remembered a sentence they once didn't care about: The new era… has arrived!
…
At the same time, inside the World Government intelligence organization, CP0.
As the chief of CP0 who had only recently taken office, Donquixote Doflamingo was also looking at the same photo in his hand that the Five Elders had placed on the table. He seemed extremely happy.
"Fufufufufu!"
He laughed so hard he almost fell off his chair. Holding his stomach with his left hand and wiping tears with his right, he stared firmly at the photo on the table, the corners of his mouth carrying a trace of coldness, madness, and anticipation.
"The new era… so this is the meaning of the so-called new era? This is truly too interesting!"
…
After the news spread that the captain of the Big Mom Pirates had been defeated, following the one and a half months of quiet after the public execution… no, rather, after the sea's headlines had been occupied by the World Military Draft for a month and a half, today… The spotlight finally returned to the Straw Hat Pirates again.
And this time, unlike the incident of the Golden Emperor's arrest that had only lasted a few days before, the news that one of the Four Emperors, the captain of the Big Mom Pirates, had been defeated by a newcomer instantly spread across the entire sea, and it only grew hotter and hotter, with no sign of dying down.
Everyone was shocked by this news.
Has the transition between the new era and the old era… already begun?
In the New World, somewhere on the sea, aboard the ship with a flag of a drawn skull with a pair of crossed sabres behind it…
All the crew members of the Red-Haired Pirates, who were also one of the Four Emperors of the Sea, were smiling as they looked at the newspaper in their hands, their eyes filled with happiness, shock, relief, and anticipation.
"That was really fast!"
The deputy captain of the Red-Haired Pirates, Benn Beckman, removed the cigarette from the corner of his mouth and blew out a ring of smoke while speaking with a faint smile. "I never expected that kid from back then would already reach this step!"
"Hahahaha, I didn't expect it either. Sure enough, Luffy is really a kid full of surprises!"
Hearing his deputy captain's words, Shanks also burst into loud laughter. Then he lowered his head with a smile, looked again at the bounty poster in his hand, and murmured to himself, "Maybe this kid really can do it."
The beat of liberation that brings freedom to the sea, and the laughter that makes people smile.
Has that legendary figure really appeared?
"The Big Mom Pirates…"
Seeing his captain's eyes flicker as if he were pondering something, Beckman fell silent for a moment before continuing with a smile, "Captain, want to go meet that kid?"
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