Seeing Aramaki's sudden appearance, Aokiji's gaze grew solemn. He glanced at the other's epaulettes and said in a lazy tone,
"Ah, so you're one of the new Marine Admirals?"
In the Marine, excluding the officers of various branches, the epaulettes of Marineford are quite sophisticated.
Officer-level epaulettes are generally oval and blue.
For the ranks of Commodore and Rear Admiral, they are generally square frames paired with circular deep blue and sky blue patterns.
For example, Hina's current epaulettes are sky blue.
Epaulettes for ranks below Rear Admiral basically only cover the shoulder tip.
Once one reaches the rank of Headquarters Vice Admiral, the epaulettes become rectangular, covering the area from the neck to the shoulder tip.
Ordinary Headquarters Vice Admirals have two-section epaulettes, generally featuring two color combinations.
For instance, Vice Admiral Momonga, the base commander of Base G1, has red and blue two-toned epaulettes.
Marine staff officers like Taro and Vice Admiral Tsuru have single-section purple epaulettes decorated with white stars.
Oh, and then there's Garp, an outlier at the Vice Admiral rank. As the marine hero, his epaulettes are unique: pink with a black seagull pattern.
Admiral-level epaulettes are even more direct—pure 'luxury gold.' However, the tassels are longer than those of any other officer, making them even easier to recognize!
Alright, science time is over; back to the main topic!
Hearing Aokiji's words, Aramaki acted very humble and nodded.
"Yes, Marine code name 'Aramaki!' In a way, I'm Kuzan-san's successor!"
Aokiji didn't speak again upon hearing this, just quietly standing there leaning on his bicycle. Beside him, Camel the penguin had fallen asleep again due to the comfortable environment, blowing a large snot bubble.
Aramaki glanced at the penguin, then looked past Aokiji toward the sea behind him, his tone indifferent.
"You don't want me to pass?"
"Nothing of the sort. Where you want to go has nothing to do with me!" Aokiji responded just as coldly.
Aramaki withdrew his gaze and suddenly burst into laughter.
"Rahahaha! It seems that grand gathering ahead isn't over yet! If I go quickly, maybe I can still make it!"
Aokiji shook his head. "Unluckily for you, my companion needs a comfortable environment to sleep!"
He glanced at Camel the penguin, then scanned the few people at the ship's railing, recognizing them as CP0 members at a glance. His tone turned icy.
"This stretch of sea is now under my jurisdiction!"
Aokiji's meaning was clear: he wouldn't let Aramaki pass. The atmosphere between the two suddenly grew tense.
Taro and the Whitebeard Pirates Remnants likely hadn't left yet. If CP0 discovered them now, it would be troublesome.
His only hope of seeing the world clearly now lay with Taro and his complex identity. Until then, no one could be allowed to threaten Taro, not even the World Government!
Aramaki squinted at Aokiji for a moment before speaking calmly.
"Kuzan-san, I'm just a newcomer to the Marine. Why make things difficult for me?"
Aokiji's expression remained cold. Having made up his mind, there was naturally no need to say more to Aramaki, so he remained silent.
Seeing this, Aramaki's hair and beard fluttered as he nodded.
"I understand your resolve. In that case, excuse my rudeness, Kuzan-san!"
Before he had even finished speaking, a dense green energy surged from his body, and the ice across the entire sea area began to tremble.
Aokiji's brow furrowed. He felt his extreme cold Qi being diminished. However, unlike being devoured, it still existed; its state had just become somewhat strange, and it seemed to be gathering around Aramaki.
To the point that the distant frozen surface showed signs of thawing!
That extreme frost gathered around Aramaki's body, and after a moment, it diffused out again. Aokiji could feel that it hadn't been weakened much, yet Aramaki's Aura had surged significantly.
"Your ability... you're using my power to strengthen yourself?"
Aokiji's brow tightened further as he grew wary.
Aramaki's flowing long hair became even longer. He split his mouth into a hearty laugh.
"Rahahaha, Kuzan-san, wouldn't it be a waste if all this power just dissipated away?"
Aokiji's arm instantly turned to ice. He exhaled a breath of cold air, an ice blade forming in his hand as the surrounding temperature plummeted.
For a split second, frost condensed on Aramaki's fluttering hair, and its movement suddenly slowed.
Aokiji didn't hesitate any longer, thrusting the ice blade directly at Aramaki... On Crocodile's ship, Marco and the others arrived late. They didn't know what Taro and Old Sand had discussed previously, so they cautiously observed their expressions.
Taro shrugged indifferently and smiled.
"Ah, you've come at the right time. A one-for-one Q&A. I'll ask first!"
Marco withdrew his gaze and looked at his companions.
"Ask then!"
Taro nodded, pondered for a moment to organize his words, and said,
"You said before that a part of God Valley is Moria's Thriller Bark. But as far as I know, the island of Thriller Bark drifted from the West Blue to the first half of the Grand Line, and Moria is also from the West Blue."
"According to what I heard from Rocks' description earlier, God Valley should have been in the New World from beginning to end. What exactly is going on?"
Taro didn't press about Whitebeard's 'legacy,' which made Marco breathe a sigh of relief. He didn't hesitate much.
"The two sides of the New World's Calm Belt are the West Blue and the North Blue. After God Valley disappeared, it's not strange at all that a part of it appeared in the West Blue!"
"Moria had nothing to do with the God Valley Incident 36 years ago. He only took possession of Thriller Bark many years later!"
Taro frowned deeply upon hearing this. After thinking carefully for a while, he had a realization and nodded.
"I see. I fell into a fixed mindset. I always thought Moria was there at the scene. It seems now that he found out after that incident in Wano Country!"
Back then, Moria had challenged Kaido and suffered a crushing defeat, with his subordinates almost entirely wiped out. Only then did he turn to researching a zombie army.
It seems that at that time, he didn't just rob the grave of the 'Sword God' Ryuma, but also obtained some fragmented intelligence!
That intelligence was clearly revealed by Kaido, which was a bit strange.
Kaido occupied Wano Country with a plan and then leaked some intelligence about God Valley to Moria. Why?
West Blue?
It seems Red Hair Shanks is also from the West Blue..."
And there's also the Bridge Kingdom in the East Blue that Crocodile mentioned earlier.
Two of the four seas have something going on. So what happened in the North Blue and South Blue? What's hidden there?
Marco was also shocked in his heart, even a bit panicked. Taro had actually mentioned Wano Country again!
Wano Country was indeed a very important link in all of this. Marco had known this since Kozuki Oden boarded the ship!
Taro was too terrifying. He could actually connect all the clues and point to Wano Country based on just a few words!
Marco now believed more and more that Taro was the leader of the D clan.
After pondering for a long time, Taro nodded again.
"Alright, now it's your turn to ask. What do you want to know?"
Marco lowered his gaze to hide the shock in his heart. After a long while, he decided to change the subject.
"Taro, you're like a prophet; you know something about almost everything! I recently heard a rumor from the Underworld saying that Ace isn't actually dead. I want to know if that's true."
Taro was stunned for a moment, then laughed.
"Ah, that news spread so fast! Well... this matter couldn't be hidden for much longer anyway. There's no harm in telling you!"
"He is indeed still alive! However, as for where he is, don't ask! You should be very clear about the reason!"
He paused and added, "The Marine and the World Government only have some inklings of this. If you cause trouble and force the Marine to take action, you'll have to bear the consequences!"
"Ace... is still alive!"
"He's alive... this, this is simply wonderful!"
The Whitebeard Pirates Remnants suddenly became emotional, their eyes filling with tears.
Marco understood Taro's concerns. Ace was of the Pirate King's Bloodline. Once the news that he was alive was confirmed, the World Government and the Marine, no matter how they looked at it, would have to continue hunting him down.
"I'm very clear on the gravity of this matter!"
Taro nodded. "As long as you understand!"
After a moment, he suddenly remembered something, and his tone became stiff again.
"Also, I'm telling you this only for the sake of the friendship between you! Whitebeard is already dead; your mission as pirates can end!"
"If you have any thoughts of continuing to support Ace to become the Pirate King, I won't be polite anymore!"
He stared fixedly at Marco.
"No matter what your purpose is, this world does not need pirates!"
Marco and the other division commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates indeed had that thought because making Ace the Pirate King was Pops Whitebeard's wish.
If Ace were dead, that would be that. But now that Ace was still alive, the will of the Whitebeard Pirates would naturally continue.
Taro stared at Marco's group for a long time without receiving a response, and he understood that these guys apparently didn't intend to give up.
This gave him quite a headache. Thinking about it this way, if Ace had died and the Whitebeard Pirates had faded away as in the original story, having one less group of pirates in the world didn't seem like a bad thing.
However, Garp also knew Ace was alive. It was impossible to go and kill Ace now!
Then, should he kill Marco's group?
Thinking this, the look Taro gave Marco and the others became solemn.
Marco and the others instantly felt the change in Taro's Qi. Their expressions sharpened as they went on high alert.
Just then, the distant sky suddenly lit up.
A vast white light and a dense green light shot into the sky, exploding with surging power in the air.
The entire sky was torn apart, and the heavens themselves seemed to be frozen!
Taro glanced over, and his face changed drastically. That was... Aokiji?
Someone was in an evenly matched battle with Aokiji?
Now Taro couldn't be bothered to play any one-for-one games with Marco and the others. He looked at Marco solemnly.
"What I said just now was very clear! Ace will not and is not fit to become the Pirate King! I've said my piece; think it over carefully!"
After saying that, he transformed into a Falcon and flew toward the battlefield over there.
---------------------------------
I hope you're enjoying the fanfiction so far! If the story has you hooked and you can't wait to see what happens next, you can unlock 30 chapters in advance over on my Patreon: patreon.com/TLHimejima1
Every bit of support means the world to me so if you're loving the ride, don't forget to drop a Power Stone and let me know.