Marine Headquarters, Medical Ward.
"How are Sakazuki and Kuzan?" Sengoku stood outside the medical ward, his face grim.
He had already learned the general outline of what had happened at Ohara, but there were still specific details that needed to be confirmed by Aokiji and Akainu themselves.
"They're still unconscious, but they're past the critical stage," the medical staff quickly responded.
"They haven't woken up yet? To think there's an enemy out there who could injure both Kuzan and Sakazuki like this. And more importantly, their identity is unknown?"
Not far away, Vice Admiral Momonga — his entire body wrapped in bandages — sighed and couldn't help but say: "They're truly unlike any enemy we've encountered before. The situation was too urgent, and we didn't manage to get any photographs…"
This time, aside from Aokiji and Akainu being seriously injured, Momonga and the other three Vice Admirals hadn't suffered severe harm. They hadn't been Ren's targets to begin with — they'd only been caught in the periphery.
But even that much had been more than enough to make them miserable.
"The most important thing now is determining whether the other party had any connection to the Ohara scholars. And whether the scholars were rescued by that person," Sengoku said.
Given the stakes involving Ohara and the Poneglyphs, Sengoku couldn't afford to be anything but careful.
Fleet Admiral Kong had already been chewed out by the Five Elders recently. He had to admit, the Marines had really botched this one. They'd gone to the trouble of launching a Buster Call, and Ohara still hadn't been destroyed.
If that mysterious person really was connected to the scholars, then not only had they failed to eliminate the so-called "evil," they'd also killed all the innocent survivors with their own cannon fire…
"At the very least, the scholars shouldn't have been rescued…" Momonga said.
He still remembered the situation clearly. Aokiji and Akainu had been fighting the mysterious person with nearly their full strength, yet hadn't so much as scratched him.
The two sides had even moved the battlefield from the inconvenient open sea to Ohara itself.
Fire! Ice! Forest!
Three different elemental abilities had battered Ohara so thoroughly that three layers of the surface had been stripped away. Kuzan and Sakazuki, who previously hadn't been able to permanently alter the natural environment with their powers, had achieved a breakthrough during this battle.
Ohara now was an island of scorched, blackened trunks still standing upright after the fire. Leafless branches clawed at the sky, twisted limbs like the desiccated corpses of dead giant beasts!
And yet that very corpse — half of it lay in a blazing, burning hellscape reduced to black rock, while the other half lay in a frozen hellscape where everything shattered at the slightest touch.
It wasn't until the two of them had exhausted themselves and collapsed from their injuries that the mysterious person finally withdrew their power and left.
Momonga could confirm with certainty that the mysterious figure had left alone, and all life on the island had long since been obliterated in that dual hell of alternating heat and cold.
"If that's the case, then it's the best possible outcome…" Sengoku sighed. Just thinking about the fact that he might be promoted to Fleet Admiral soon gave him a headache.
This incident had a very high chance of causing enormous negative repercussions. Especially Sakazuki's unauthorized attack on the evacuation ships.
That was entirely the man's personal action. Hadn't even the World Government agents been startled by his move at the time?
But what could Sengoku do? He couldn't exactly say "this was a temp worker for the Marines, it's a personal matter and has nothing to do with us."
Not to mention whether anyone would believe it — even if they did, he couldn't exactly fire Akainu, could he?
"Sakazuki was truly too impulsive. That guy's personality is going to be a real problem."
No one knew when, but Vice Admiral Tsuru had slowly walked over. Ever since Doflamingo had used the secret of the Great Kingdom to threaten the World Government into granting him the title of Warlord, she'd had less to do.
"As for public opinion, why not just suppress it? Right now the whole world's attention is on the Seven Warlords anyway…" Vice Admiral Tsuru suggested.
Her thinking was simple: if Akainu massacring civilians would put the World Government and the Marines in a difficult position, then as long as it didn't get reported, everything would be fine.
But Sengoku shook his head. "This incident must be reported."
"Over all these years, scholars who privately research Poneglyphs don't only come from Ohara. The World Government intends to use Ohara's fate as a warning to those restless scholars. So not only can we not suppress the news about Ohara — we need to promote it heavily."
"The scholars are a minor matter. The World Government has already pinned the crime of 'attempting to destroy the world with Ancient Weapons' on them, so that's not a concern. As for the innocents, the press will certainly focus on that angle, but we can find people to pose as…"
Vice Admiral Tsuru spoke slowly.
"We can only do it this way." Sengoku nodded.
Though they were both old friends of Garp and, by rights, should have been among the Marines most steadfast in upholding justice, after so many years in the world of power, no one's heart remained pure — except for that old man who didn't care about any of it.
Schemes like this, dark-hearted as they were, were nothing unusual for either Tsuru or Sengoku.
For the greater good…
…
Inazuma, Kuri.
"So this is Inazuma?" Saul and the others walked out of the Plane of Euthymia. The giant immediately raised his head and looked around. "It's not quite like what I've seen before."
In his memory, Inazuma was an archipelago surrounded by a massive thunderstorm, but the sky above was cloudless at the moment.
"What you usually see is just Seirai Island and the outlying islands. This is the real Inazuma," Iris explained, leading the group.
But Jasmine was looking around with a nostalgic gaze.
"Kuri — it's been a long time since I've been here."
Because Kuri was vast and sparsely populated, mostly open fields, Ren decided to keep Saul — the big simpleton — here for now.
"What vast rice paddies…" Robin, freshly reunited with her mother, clung to Olvia as if she'd grown there, her small hands gripping her mother's pant leg tightly.
But her gaze was curiously looking off into the distance.
Golden waves of grain stretched all the way to the horizon. When the wind blew, the heavy ears of grain rippled like golden water, rising and falling in waves. It made one feel refreshed and at ease.
"Iris, take these scholars to Enkanomiya. I'm going to pay a visit to Kuri's governor's mansion and bring Yukiko some three-color dumplings," Ren instructed.
After A-Tsuru and Shutendouji were married, she naturally became Kuri's governor, and the tea house had been closed. But she still made sweets occasionally.
Yukiko liked those little treats, though Ren found them a bit too rich for his taste.
"I'm coming too!" Jasmine jumped up. "I heard that Shutendouji's guy already has a kid?"
[
Dear Readers,
I hope you are doing well. I am writing to you today because things have become genuinely difficult, and I need to be honest about where I stand.
I am currently posting five to seven chapters every day across my active fictions, keeping up with bonus releases and extra chapters on top of that. The schedule is relentless, and I am putting in everything I have to make sure nobody is left waiting.
Going forward, I am also bringing more quality fictions to the table — unfound gems and hidden stories that deserve a wider audience. I want to keep expanding what is available for you to read, but I cannot do it alone.
Right now, my financial situation has dropped to the lowest point it has ever been. Patreon support is not just helpful anymore — it is what keeps this work alive. Without it, I do not know how long I can sustain this daily output or continue hunting down those new stories for you.
If you have been reading and enjoying the work, please consider joining a tier. I have increased what each tier offers so that your support goes further:
Adventurer — $3 per month
20 chapters in advance for all of my works
Warrior — $7 per month
40 chapters in advance for all of my works
Immortal — $10 per month (Highlighted Tier)
60 chapters in advance for all of my works
Access to character images
Important note: Subscribing through the Apple App adds an extra 30 percent fee due to Apple/Patreon policy. Please subscribe through your browser to avoid the extra charge. Apple also processes payments very late — two to three months — which makes it much harder for me to receive funds quickly when I need them most.
I am pleading with you because I need your help right now. Your support would let me keep the daily releases going, keep the early access flowing, and keep bringing you those new, quality fictions I have lined up. It would keep my head above water while I do what I love.
If you cannot subscribe, sharing the work with others who might enjoy it still helps more than you know.
Thank you for reading, and thank you for your time.
Patreon: patreon.com/anish_44
Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/anish_44
]