“Take a look at this.”
In Marineford, Chief of Staff Tsuru placed a photograph on Sengoku’s desk.
Picking it up to take a look, the latter found the picture somewhat blurry, showing only two dark figures standing side by side, surrounded by corpses.
At the feet of one of them knelt a woman, and the background seemed to be in a small town.
Sengoku cast an inquiring look at his old friend.
“It’s those two from the Hell Pirates.
Ever since entering South Blue, just like in West Blue…
several pirate crews with hefty bounties have been slaughtered by them, with only some ordinary crew members surviving.” Tsuru crossed her arms and said calmly, “What I find intriguing is that Demon skyler sought out two unknown little pirates, something that never happened in West Blue.”
“Demon skyler has always been extremely purposeful in everything he does.
Ordinary small-time pirates don’t even qualify for him to draw his blade, and he disdains bothering with small fry, whether for money or fame.”
“Those two small-time pirates are respectively the Kid Pirates and a woman named Jewelry Bonney.
The former hasn’t been out to sea long and was only just noticed by a branch in South Blue.
As for the latter…
rumor has it she’s a big eater, and she hasn’t even officially formed a crew yet, just roping in some people purely out of interest…
Her identity is questionable.”
“Hm?”
Hearing this, Sengoku frowned.
Looking at the photograph again, that meant the two figures in the photo were Skyler and Laffitte.
The one kneeling on the ground, covering her face and crying bitterly, with Laffitte’s cane held against her neck, was Bonney.
“Putting aside the motives of the Hell Pirates, what surprises me is that both Kid and Bonney survived.”
Tsuru said calmly, “This doesn’t seem like Demon skyler’s style.
Without a reason, he wouldn’t leave anyone alive.”
“According to intelligence, Skyler seems to have made some kind of agreement with these two…”
“It certainly is bizarre.”
Sengoku chimed in.
“Is it still just the two of them?
Are there no new members?”
“No…
Demon skyler’s actions look very much like he’s building momentum for the Hell Pirates before entering the Grand Line.
Furthermore, judging from the sole crew member Laffitte right now, ordinary people probably couldn’t get onto his ship.”
“He’s turned South Blue upside down as well…” Sengoku let out a soft sigh, exhaustion showing on his face.
“Looking at you, things aren’t peaceful over in the New World either, right?”
Tsuru stopped the discussion about the Hell Pirates, changed the subject, and asked.
“Two days ago, Big Mom and Whitebeard also clashed, and several executives from both sides broke out into battles across multiple sea areas…
I’ve already sent Garp to take Aokiji over there.
A week from now, we also need to organize a batch of guards to garrison Sabaody…
There are quite a few pirates lingering in Sabaody recently.” Sengoku said.
“Are they for the Celestial Dragons?”
Tsuru asked.
“Yeah…
Slaves.”
Sengoku spat out a few words.
The Celestial Dragons were the World Nobles, standing at the very pinnacle of power in this world.
At the same time, they were the masters of the Marines and the World Government, and their safety must not be compromised.
As everyone knew, most of those fools were brainless idiots…
but their status was right there.
Their entertainment activities were very limited, among which they were most enthusiastic about keeping all kinds of slaves in captivity.
Taking pleasure in this.
“No matter how big a stir the Hell Pirates cause, their actual impact on our Marines is very small.
Most of those affected are pirates…
So we’ll just wait and see for now.
If I guess correctly, he will also go to North Blue and East Blue…
Thanks to him, for a long time to come at least, the number of pirates flooding into the Grand Line shouldn’t be too many…
Once he re-enters the Grand Line, I will lead people to capture him personally.” Tsuru left these words behind and turned to leave.
“Sorry to trouble you.”
Sengoku spoke up.
Although the Marines turned a blind eye to Skyler’s series of actions, both Sengoku and Tsuru shared a resonance in their hearts.
That was absolute determination not to let Skyler return to the Grand Line!
Whether Skyler returned on his own initiative, or Marineford managed to spare personnel and energy, they would not let the Hell Pirates run amok like this anymore.
The government was preparing to make an example of someone!
The bigger a fuss Skyler made, the more it would push the Marines’ prestige to a small peak the moment he was captured by the Marines upon entering the Grand Line.
It would disguisedly dampen the arrogant momentum of all the new generation of pirates.
…
Time passed bit by bit, and in the blink of an eye, dozens more days went by.
Skyler and Laffitte arrived in North Blue.
This sea area filled with national wars and turmoil.
Another future member of the Worst Generation was targeted by him.
The Hawkins Pirates, Basil Hawkins.
At this moment, in the capital of a certain island nation.
Hawkins was sitting on the steps of a plaza, while the surrounding crew members were cleaning up the aftermath.
They had just fought a bloody battle with a pirate crew and won a complete victory.
The nearby passersby had all been scared away.
“Captain, the newspapers say that the Hell Pirates have come to North Blue.”
A man wearing a mysterious black cloak and dressed like a sorcerer stepped forward and said.
Hawkins remained silent and did not respond.
The tarot cards in his hands were shuffling rapidly, stopping after a few seconds.
As he flipped over the cards one by one, slender plant roots grew from the ground beneath his feet, precisely binding the cards together in a perfect fit.
“Captain, what are you divining again?
The city guards should be here soon, let’s retreat first.”
Seeing him remain indifferent, the former couldn’t help saying.
“Escape probability: 0.”
Hawkins looked at the pattern on the first divination card and said in a deep voice.
“Mortality rate: 0.”
Immediately following that, he flipped over the second card.
Divining up to this point, Hawkins glanced at his subordinates nearby and drew another card.
“Mortality rate: 100%.” The divination result of the third card made Hawkins narrow his eyes slightly.
The pattern on the card was an upside-down Grim Reaper holding a scythe.
Hearing this, the crew members immediately turned pale.
For a long time, their Hawkins Pirates had always relied on their Captain’s divination ability to prevail in everything, never failing once.
It was precisely because they could foresee the future that their Hawkins pirate ship was able to begin making a name for itself in North Blue.
The Captain’s divination results had never been wrong…
Did that mean they were going to die?
“Mortality rate: 100%.”
“Mortality rate: 100%.”
“Death…”
Hawkins successively divined the fates of all his companions around him.
The results were surprisingly consistent.
Except for himself, who had no danger of death, everyone else would die.
Hawkins didn’t know where the threat of death came from; he just vaguely felt a bit uneasy and casually performed a divination.
Little did he expect that this divination would unveil the prologue to the near-total annihilation of his pirate crew.
“Escape probability: 0.
In other words, can I only wait in place and accept judgment?” Hawkins’s stiff face showed no trace of expression.
“Winning rate: 0!”
Looking at his companions nearby who cast their gazes over one after another, there was a trace of apology in his tone: “Although I have foreseen your deaths, before the enemy appears, please run away…”
“Captain!”
The crew members couldn’t believe it.
They had just won a victorious battle, and before they even had time to savor the boosted morale and joy, everything was over?
Run away for no reason like this?
The enemy?
Where is the enemy?
They didn’t even see any danger…
“Since the result has already been divined, it means that running away is also meaningless, isn’t that right?”
At this moment, an unfamiliar voice rang out.
Everyone looked over and saw a pale-skinned man wearing a floral shirt and a top hat standing outside the crowd, smiling as he looked over.
Demon Sheriff, Laffitte!