The early morning air over the Calm Belt carried no natural wind, but the Oni Slayer's movement created a cool stream of salty air across the deck as its internal paddle wheels drove the warship toward Kalles Island.
Zaraki stood near the bow with both hands resting loosely against the railing.
The ship had maintained its course through the night, and according to Gion's latest estimate they were now less than a day from the island.
Kalles.
The final Warlord candidate on Zephyr's list.
Director Dapus.
Three Aegis operatives.
Seastone launchers hidden around the harbor.
And, if the intercepted conversation had not already changed, the possibility that Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro intended to appear if every earlier layer of the trap failed.
The smile at the corner of Zaraki's mouth widened.
Most people would have considered that an excellent reason to turn around.
To him, it sounded as though the World Government had gone to an impressive amount of trouble to keep the trip interesting.
He closed his eyes for a moment and felt the steady weight of Nozarashi at his side.
Since Kuraigana, the released blade no longer tore through his Reiatsu without any restraint, but stabilization had not made it free.
The second battle with Kaido had reminded him exactly how much control still mattered when every unnecessary burst of power cost him something.
The First Gate was the same.
He had tested it once under Law's supervision and earned small muscle tears for the trouble.
The system had given him the knowledge, not a body magically immune to the consequences, and Zaraki had no intention of treating the higher gates as toys simply because he understood the theory behind them.
A secure Den Den Mushi began ringing from the command room behind him.
Gion emerged with the receiver in one hand.
"It's Garp."
Zaraki looked at her.
"That early?"
"He probably hasn't slept."
"That sounds more likely."
She set the Den Den Mushi on the rail and answered.
Garp's face appeared immediately, grinning around a rice cracker.
"Heading into the trap this early, kid?"
Zaraki looked past him through the visual feed. Sengoku was several steps behind, carrying a briefcase and looking as though the morning had already personally offended him.
"We never stopped moving."
"Turn around. I'll come with you."
Sengoku's head snapped toward him.
"No, you won't."
Garp ignored him.
"It'll be good exercise. Besides, I want to see what kind of idiots install seastone artillery in a harbor and then wait for you to sail into it."
Zaraki laughed.
"Not this time, old man. If you show up, Dapus will probably bury himself under the fortress and refuse to come out."
Garp pointed incredulously at his own face.
"Me? I'm friendly."
Sengoku gave him a long look.
Gion did the same from the deck of the Oni Slayer.
Garp frowned. "Why is everyone making that face?"
Zaraki rested one arm on the railing. "I already have an official observer. If Headquarters sends Garp after me as well, the candidate is going to assume this stopped being an evaluation and became an execution."
"That is the first sensible argument you've made all morning," Sengoku said.
"You've been talking to me for less than two minutes."
"And somehow that was still enough."
Garp grumbled around his cracker, but the disappointment in his expression did not quite hide the concern underneath it.
Zaraki noticed and decided not to mention it.
"Stay there. If the Five Elders start complaining about Kalles, you can make yourself useful."
Sengoku's gaze sharpened.
Before he could respond, three shadows appeared behind him on the Marineford pier.
The visual Den Den Mushi copied the movement clearly enough that Gion's hand immediately settled near Konpira.
Three CP0 agents stood several paces behind Garp and Sengoku, dressed in black suits and formal hats with white masks covering their faces.
The leading agent spoke in a low, emotionless voice.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku. Vice Admiral Garp. The Five Elders request your presence for an immediate secure conference."
The easygoing expression disappeared from Garp's face.
Sengoku slowly turned.
"At Mary Geoise?"
"Yes."
"About what?"
"That will be explained when you arrive."
Garp tossed the last piece of his rice cracker into his mouth.
"Sounds annoying."
The CP0 agent did not react.
Sengoku looked toward the Den Den Mushi and, through it, toward Zaraki and Gion aboard the Oni Slayer.
The timing was too precise to dismiss.
Zaraki was approaching a Government trap that Sengoku already knew existed, and now the Five Elders wanted both the Fleet Admiral and Garp removed from Headquarters at the same time.
Sengoku's voice hardened.
"Tsuru has full operational authority while I'm gone. Any change to the Kalles mission goes through her and Gion. No Cipher Pol unit is to issue orders directly to the Oni Slayer."
The masked agent said nothing.
That silence was answer enough.
Gion's eyes narrowed.
Zaraki's smile faded into something more thoughtful.
The Five Elders were not summoning Sengoku and Garp because they had suddenly developed an interest in Marine paperwork.
Whether the meeting concerned Charlos, the illegal Pacifista purge, Kaido's route, or Kalles itself, removing two of the strongest voices likely to interfere with Government plans was convenient.
Garp leaned toward the receiver.
"You heard him, brat. Don't do anything stupid until I get back."
"You'll have to narrow that down."
"You know what I mean."
"Not really."
Sengoku stepped into the frame long enough to glare at him.
"Maintain contact. Do not let Dapus separate the ship from Gion, and if you see anything that suggests the harbor is about to close behind you, you leave."
Zaraki looked out toward the empty blue horizon.
"We'll see."
"That is not the answer I wanted."
"It's the one you got."
The connection ended.
For several seconds, Gion remained beside him without speaking.
Then she looked toward the route ahead.
"If the Five Elders deliberately called both of them away because we're approaching Kalles, the island may be worse than the intercepted plan."
Zaraki rested one hand against Nozarashi's hilt.
"Good."
Gion sighed.
"You really need a second answer."
The Oni Slayer continued through the still waters of the Calm Belt, its wake stretching behind it in two long white lines.
Whatever the Five Elders were planning at the top of the world, the first part of their answer was already waiting on Kalles Island.
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