As the second year of the Empire dawned, Sith Auguro faced his most complex challenge: the fate of the "Legends." Characters like Sakazuki (Akainu), Marshall D. Teach, and the remnants of the Revolutionary Army were too powerful to be ignored, yet their ideologies were incompatible with the new Order.
Auguro created the Hall of Penance within a stabilized pocket of the Dangai (the dimension between worlds). It was a place where time flowed differently, allowing for years of reflection in a matter of days.
Sakazuki sat in a stone-walled cell, his hands bound by Sekkiseki handcuffs that suppressed his Magu Magu no Mi powers. Every day, he was visited by Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto.
"You believe in 'Absolute Justice,'" Yamamoto said, standing before the former Fleet Admiral. The room was filled with the scent of ancient wood and burning incense. "But your justice was merely the anger of a man who feared the darkness. True justice is the maintenance of the cycle. I have seen civilizations rise and fall for two thousand years, Sakazuki. Your Marines were but a blink in the eye of history."
"I did what I had to do to stop the scum!" Sakazuki spat, his eyes still burning with a volcanic fury. "Without my order, the world would have burned!"
"And look at the world now," Yamamoto replied, gesturing to a spirit-screen showing the peace of the unified seas. "The world is not burning. It is growing. Your fire was a weapon of destruction. I will teach you how to make it a hearth of protection."
Over the course of three years in the Hall, Sakazuki's spirit began to shift. He was eventually released and appointed as the Head of Internal Affairs for the Gotei-Marine Corps. He became the "Hearth" of the Empire—a man whose fire was only used to purge the internal corruption that occasionally cropped up in the bureaucracy. He was no longer a butcher; he was a judge.
Marshall D. Teach, however, was a different story. The "Darkness" within him was not just a fruit power; it was a soul-deep hunger. Auguro realized that Teach could never be "reformed" in the traditional sense.
Instead, Teach was placed in a state of Eternal Stasis within the Depths of the Central 46. His "hunger" was utilized by Urahara to act as a "spiritual filter" for the world's negative emotions. He became a living battery for the Empire's shadow-defenses, a dark mirror that absorbed the malice of the world so that the citizens could live in the light. It was a cruel fate, but as Auguro noted, "Teach wanted to be the center of everything. Now, he is the foundation of our safety."
The most delicate situation was that of Monkey D. Luffy. After the final battle at Laugh Tale, Luffy had been stripped of his "God" status, but his core personality remained. Auguro understood that to kill Luffy would be to create a martyr for "Freedom" that would haunt the Empire forever.
Luffy was settled on a massive, wandering island known as Zou. He was given the title of "Grand Explorer." He was free to sail the seas, but he was no longer a "Pirate." He was an ambassador of the Empire's cultural history.
Luffy's ship, the Thousand Sunny, was retrofitted with spirit-tech. The crew remained together, but their mission had changed. They were no longer seeking the One Piece; they were mapping the "New World" that Auguro had created. Robin became the lead historian for the Empire, translating the Poneglyphs not as a secret of rebellion, but as a textbook for the future. Sanji ran the largest culinary academy on the Red Line, finally having all the fish of the world in his "All Blue" kitchen.
Luffy himself often visited the Red Line. He would walk into the Central 46, ignore the guards, and sit on the edge of Auguro's throne to share a piece of meat.
"You're a weird King, Auguro," Luffy would say, grinning through a mouthful of ham. "Everyone is happy, but nobody is allowed to be 'bad.' It's like a giant party where you're the bouncer."
"I am the bouncer because I want the party to last forever, Luffy," Auguro would reply.
Under Aizen's guidance, the study of Devil Fruits reached its zenith. Aizen discovered that the "Devil" within the fruits was a form of lingering soul-will from the Void Century. Using the Hōgyoku, he developed the "Sanctification Process."
By exposing a Devil Fruit user to high-density Reishi, the "curse" of being unable to swim was removed. However, the power was now linked to the Empire's Spirit Web. If a user used their power for murder or chaos, the System could instantly "revoke" the power, returning it to the nearest fruit. This ended the era of the "Monster" once and for all. Power was now a privilege granted by the State, not a random gift of fate.