Chapter 237: Ohara
Right now, Gild Tesoro still had a pragmatic need for money—after all, it was a basic necessity required to maintain an ordinary life.
Having sufficient financial stability naturally improved one's quality of life.
However, without suffering the traumatic stimulus of Stella's death, and without being driven to desperation to earn enough to buy her freedom, Tesoro lacked that twisted, all-consuming obsession with wealth.
At least for now, he was still just an ordinary young man yearning for a peaceful, happy life, rather than the "Casino King" who believed money reigned supreme over everything. Awakening his true, terrifying potential would take quite some time yet.
Out on the sea, the waves of the Great Pirate Era surged one after another. Across the major routes of the Grand Line, it was almost impossible to find a peaceful sanctuary. Although the Marines conducted daily patrols, they simply couldn't guarantee the safety of every island.
However, the domestic territories of the World Government's affiliated nations remained relatively stable. They were located closer to major Marine branches, and their indigenous military strength was sufficient to repel ordinary pirate raids.
A period of time passed.
Sea Circle Calendar Year 1519, January 1st.
The sweeping manhunts targeting Roger's potential bloodline had finally drawn to a close. Yet Roger's son, Portgas D. Ace, had already been born and safely entrusted to Garp, the very man Roger had relied upon in his final hours.
Simultaneously, at the Neptune Army barracks in the Ryugu Kingdom, the 4th Company of the 1st Corps received a top-secret mobilization order.
Unlike the units specializing in venom or bio-electricity, the 4th Company was uniquely composed. The majority of its members were Fish-Men with aquatic traits like loaches or cookiecutter sharks—species exceptionally skilled at rapidly tunneling through subterranean earth and mud.
As long as an island wasn't composed of impenetrable bedrock, they could construct an intricate subterranean network in a remarkably short time, allowing forces to infiltrate silently from beneath the earth.
Whether laying foundations, digging trenches, or excavating man-made canals, their execution was startlingly fast.
Even Bikupanda—user of the Swim-Swim Fruit—was assigned to this unit. More often than not, the rest of the army joked that the 4th Company acted more like an engineering and infrastructure battalion.
Aside from regular hand-to-hand combat, their abilities were primarily utilized for civilian engineering; during Fish-Man Island's massive expansion projects, their skills had proven invaluable.
"Special operation. Destination: West Blue. Move out immediately."
With no ships in tow, they simply utilized several giant Sea Beasts as transport, traveling covertly under the cover of the deep sea toward the West Blue.
Led personally by Nereus, crossing the Calm Belt was effortless for them. Even without ships, the natural swimming speed of the Sea Beasts allowed them to travel far faster than ordinary sailing vessels.
The soldiers didn't ask what their objective was. They simply obeyed Nereus's orders without question, pressing forward toward the West Blue.
Yet no matter how fast they traveled, the voyage from Fish-Man Island to the West Blue took time. Even after reaching the West Blue, navigating to their specific destination required further travel.
Because they moved almost exclusively underwater, the ocean's surface served as their absolute cover. In an era dominated by wooden sailing ships, an underwater march went entirely undetected.
Without wasting many days, the Ryugu Kingdom's elite unit arrived in the waters of the West Blue.
Right now, the West Blue was far from peaceful. The Marines were actively executing a highly classified, special operation.
Marine Vice Admiral Jaguar D. Saul wore an expression of intense displeasure as he reprimanded the Marine gunners who had opened fire without his permission.
Following the dawn of the Great Pirate Era, in order to combat this unprecedented golden age of piracy, the Marines had begun recruiting soldiers from the Giant race to bolster their military might.
Harald had also hoped that the Giant race could step into the world's view under the righteous banner of the Marines. He didn't want people to immediately think of the terrifying, pillaging Giant Warrior Pirates whenever his people were mentioned.
Under these circumstances, roughly ten Giants officially enlisted in the Marines, and Saul was one of them.
It had barely been two years since he joined the ranks. Although his innate, monstrous Giant strength had quickly earned him the rank of Vice Admiral, the word "Justice" was beginning to make him increasingly skeptical.
"Hold your fire! Who gave you the order to shoot?! Why didn't we just pull alongside and capture them alive?! Their ship couldn't have escaped anyway!"
In his eyes, turning heavy artillery against a group of frail, unarmed scholars was completely unnecessary.
It violated the honor of a warrior, and it defied the justice of the Marines.
"But Vice Admiral... they were trying to flee..." one of the gunners stammered, trying to justify his actions.
"They're just a bunch of frail scholars, not bloodthirsty pirates! Are you telling me you can't even subdue them without cannons?!"
Though deeply frustrated, Saul didn't punish his men too harshly, merely ordering them to search the wreckage of the bombarded ship.
After all, the deed was done. But this specific situation felt wrong.
As the commanding officer of this warship, Saul's explicit orders had been to capture the targets alive.
Yet right before the mission commenced, higher-ranking Marine authorities had issued a secret directive authorizing lethal force on sight.
Why did these scholars have to die?
Saul couldn't fathom the answer, but as a soldier, he continued to carry out his orders.
From the wreckage of the scholar ship, only Nico Olvia survived the bombardment. After being arrested by Saul, she was imprisoned at a nearby Marine branch base.
Soon after, something Saul never expected happened: he encountered Sengoku out in this remote corner of the West Blue.
The Marines' current situation wasn't ideal. Although the World Government had brokered a treaty with Crocodile—officially making him one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea—this new Warlord hadn't provided the deterrent value they hoped for.
Shortly after claiming his title, Crocodile had sailed straight into the New World and challenged Whitebeard to a duel.
This high-profile battle between an arrogant rookie and an established powerhouse drew countless eyes, but the outcome was exactly as most veterans predicted.
Crocodile suffered an absolute, crushing defeat. He lost one of his hands and was left with a hideous, permanent scar across his face, severely tarnishing the newly established Warlord system's intimidating reputation.
Logically speaking, an Admiral like Sengoku should have been stationed in the New World dealing with rampant pirates; there was no reason for him to be in the Four Blues.
"Admiral Sengoku, what are you doing here? Is there a pirate around here requiring your personal intervention?"
Sengoku's expression was exceedingly grim as he clutched a classified folder in his hand.
"A top-secret World Government operation. After careful deliberation, it has been decided: a Buster Call will be launched against Ohara. You are one of the five Vice Admirals assigned to lead the attack."
Ten warships, five Vice Admirals, and the total, indiscriminate annihilation of everything living on an island—that was a Buster Call.
As a mid-to-high-ranking officer, Saul naturally knew what a Buster Call entailed. Years of pent-up resentment and moral doubt regarding his orders erupted all at once.
"Admiral Sengoku! They're just a group of scholars! Is it really necessary to slaughter every last one of them?!
"I've already arrested six expedition teams of scholars! They're driven by nothing more than historical curiosity; they aren't atrocious criminals!
"If history is truly that dangerous, why doesn't the World Government lead the research itself? That way they could uncover the truth while mitigating any risk! We've already murdered so many scholars... and now a Buster Call... I beg you, show me the proof that they are truly evil!"
"Saul! Are you questioning the World Government?! Carry out your orders!"
There was no explanation, nor was there any attempt at reassurance. Sengoku simply used standard military rhetoric to crush a subordinate's doubts.
But Sengoku failed to understand the cultural nuances of Giants.
Although Saul hailed from a Giant kingdom in the South Blue rather than Elbaf—and personally considered Elbaf's warriors to be uncivilized barbarians—he still held immense respect for Harald, the Giant King. Saul's decision to join the Marines was heavily influenced by Harald's public call to action.
Harald hadn't forced any of them to enlist; he had simply encouraged those who were interested to go willingly.
Saul had joined because he wanted to champion justice. Now that he realized this "justice" was riddled with irreconcilable flaws, he naturally refused to blindly carry out orders like a mindless tool.
The immediate consequence was Saul's "defection." He hijacked two warships, rescued Olvia from her cell, and fled the base.
Saul naturally didn't fear the Marines. Even Sengoku's pursuit orders were strictly limited to capturing him, only authorizing non-lethal gunfire if absolutely necessary.
After all, Harald stood behind Saul. The Marines had no desire to spark a conflict with the Giant King. Harald might not care what happened to himself, but if his subjects were executed, he would not remain silent.
This was a reality understood by almost everyone in the World Government—except perhaps Imu, who occasionally enjoyed micromanaging things, or rather, simply didn't view such consequences as important.
At this moment, Ohara remained completely oblivious to the impending apocalypse. They were equally oblivious to the fact that an elaborate civil engineering project was currently underway directly beneath their island.
"Your Majesty, the tunnel is complete," a soldier reported. "Lord Bikupanda has already used his Devil Fruit ability to verify our coordinates. We are positioned directly beneath that giant tree.
"On your command, we can break through the final layer of earth in less than a minute."
The 4th Company had been brought here by Nereus specifically to conduct subterranean excavation beneath Ohara.
Nereus had no desire to judge the moral philosophy behind the scholars' research into the Poneglyphs. However, acting on the simple principle of 'Whatever my enemy wants destroyed, I shall preserve,' allowing these scholars to survive and continue their research might eventually uncover some fascinating truths.
When the Buster Call's artillery rained down, even the World Government agents on Ohara would be scrambling to evacuate. By opening a subterranean escape tunnel, Nereus could drop the scholars straight down into the sea, have Bikupanda seal the earth back up with his Swim-Swim Fruit, and disappear without a trace.
Once the bombardment ended, there would be no way to investigate what had transpired beneath the rubble. He simply needed to relocate these scholars to a secure island afterward.
"Good work," Nereus nodded. "Now... we just wait for those bastards to signal the attack. Panda, keep a close eye on the surface for the next few days."
As time ticked away, the warships assigned to execute the Buster Call began converging on Ohara, forming a tight, inescapable blockade around the island.
Simultaneously, Spandine, Chief of CP9, had already made landfall bearing official World Government orders. Saul's defection had made the World Government suspicious of the Marines' reliability, prompting them to deploy their own trusted intelligence agents to spearhead the raid.
Although Spandine's personal combat prowess was laughably pathetic—across the entire World Government, only his future son would prove even more useless—he boasted a massive web of bureaucratic connections.
His rate of promotion was infinitely faster than that of the field agents actually risking their lives on the front lines.
"Hurry up! Move! Round up every last scholar on this island!"
Spandine frantically directed his CP9 agents to storm the Tree of Omniscience.
Across the island, loudspeakers began broadcasting the World Government's evacuation decree:
"Attention, all residents of Ohara! Every scholar on this island is suspected of conspiring to destroy the world! A comprehensive search of the entire island is about to commence! All non-scholars are ordered to carry their identification and report immediately to the evacuation ship on the western coast!"
Olvia, having successfully returned to Ohara with Saul's assistance, was currently standing in a tense standoff with Spandine.
She fired a shot at him, attempting to draw all blame upon herself.
"I am the sole mastermind behind everything! They have nothing to do with this! Let them go!"
Spandine merely sneered at her naivety. Seeing that Olvia still didn't understand the reality of the situation, he found her pathetic display hilarious.
"Olvia, stop being so hopelessly naive! Did you really think the World Government targeted Ohara just because your expedition team got caught?! You've got the order of events backward! The decree to obliterate Ohara was signed long before you were captured! You were nothing more than a fuse! A convenient bait!
"Did you think the World Government didn't know you were researching forbidden history? Did you think we didn't notice scholars from all over the world flocking to this island?!
"We were simply waiting for all of you to gather in one place so we could wipe you out in one clean sweep!"
Despite a few desperate interruptions, nothing could alter the final outcome. As the Golden Den Den Mushi was pressed, the Buster Call commenced, and a devastating barrage of heavy artillery began raining down across the entire island.
"All ships in position! Aim! OPEN FIRE!"
An apocalyptic rain of cannonballs instantly engulfed Ohara. Even Spandine was nearly caught in the blast radius. Convinced that no one could possibly survive a Buster Call, he frantically grabbed a few trusted agents and fled toward his ship.
"The tree! The Tree of Omniscience is on fire! Quickly, put it out!"
Facing the catastrophic bombardment, the scholars didn't choose to flee for their lives. Instead, they charged recklessly into the burning Tree of Omniscience, desperately attempting to salvage their priceless knowledge.
As mountains of ancient texts were frantically moved away from the flames, an unfamiliar figure quietly appeared inside the Tree of Omniscience—unnoticed by almost everyone.
"You...? Are you here to take us away?"
Staring at the man before him, a flood of memories surfaced in Professor Clover's mind. Over the years, countless scholars had joined Ohara, and naturally, many had left or perished on expeditions.
This man was the mysterious scholar who had suddenly appeared over a decade ago carrying rare historical texts, stayed briefly, and then vanished without a trace.
"I am indeed here to pick you up," Nereus replied smoothly. "But the way you phrased that makes it sound like I'm the Grim Reaper and you're already dead."
"Who... who exactly are you?"
Clover had initially thought he was experiencing a near-death hallucination, but looking closer, something was glaringly wrong.
Over ten years had passed, yet this man's face hadn't aged a single day. Clover naturally realized this was no ordinary human.
"Ah, habit. I always forget I should probably paint on a few wrinkles," Nereus chuckled. "Long time no see, Professor Clover. Don't you think you should patch up that wound first?"
Clover had been shot by Spandine earlier. However, the pistol was of relatively low caliber, and Spandine's marksmanship was abysmal. Right now, Clover was still energetic enough to lead the efforts to save the library despite the artillery fire.
BOOM!
The artillery bombardment began creeping toward the island's center. Nereus casually backhanded a stray cannonball that had crashed through the ceiling, sending it flying away, before pointing toward a freshly opened tunnel in the floorboards nearby.
"We can chat about the rest later," Nereus said calmly. "If you people don't leave through there right now, you really are going to join your dead predecessors."
☆☆☆
-> 30 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you