Rengoku and Tashigi ate their meal at a pace that matched the suspicious boys and girls who looked like they might be Buggy the Clown’s crew.
Aside from a little incident in the middle, where a boy named Onion—the one they had met earlier—showed up with two friends and picked a fight with the boys and girls while shouting something about the "Usopp Pirates," they hadn’t been able to gather any real information.
After sending those boys and girls off, Tashigi thought for a moment before speaking.
"Um... Vice Admiral Rengoku."
"Speak!"
"No matter how I look at them, they just seem like ordinary pirates."
"Hmm, I agree! No matter how you look at them, those people are just rookie pirates—no, they’re almost too pathetic to even call pirates!"
The captain, Luffy, was a boy who loved nothing but eating and never seemed to lose his smile.
Zoro, the swordsman, carried three swords at once in a bizarre display and drank just as much as Luffy.
Nami, the girl, had a bit more strength than an ordinary woman, but that was all.
Luffy and Zoro were strong enough to serve as officers at Marine Headquarters, but Nami was not.
And Usopp, the famous liar from that village, was also, from their brief observation, someone with a mental fortitude that would not even allow him to enlist in the Marines.
Overall, their assessment was...
Hopeless.
**
After finishing their meal and stepping outside, Rengoku and Tashigi received a report from the warship at just the right moment.
Beep-beep-beep-beep.
Click.
"Vice Admiral, I have a report!"
The voice of the Marine aboard the ship came through, sounding a little excited from the way he was breathing.
"Hmm! Very well! What is it?"
"We have discovered a pirate ship belonging to a pirate crew currently anchored off the coast of Syrup Village!"
A pirate ship?
For a moment, all sorts of possibilities flashed through Rengoku’s mind.
The boy Luffy’s main force?
Buggy the Clown’s ship?
Or a ship from some third pirate faction?
"What does the Jolly Roger look like, and what kind of ship is it? Is it that Buggy the Clown we need to watch out for in East Blue?"
"Well... the figurehead is shaped like a black cat, and the Jolly Roger is the Black Cat Pirates’ Jolly Roger!"
The Black Cat Pirates?
Rough memories surfaced. One of the few pirates in East Blue with a bounty over ten million berries—the pirate crew of Kuro.
"If it’s the Black Cat Pirates... weren’t they the pirates I’d seen before, with a bounty of sixteen million berries? But the file said he was dead..."
"Hmm! Either the remnants gathered under a second captain, or that pirate named Kuro may not have died in the first place!"
"Whaaat! A dead person can’t just come back to life, can they?"
At Tashigi’s words, Rengoku paused slightly before answering.
"He may have been replaced by a body double, or he could be a Devil Fruit user with some special ability! But don’t worry! I’ll go!"
"Warship! Can you hear me!"
Rengoku began issuing orders into the Den Den Mushi.
"Yes, Vice Admiral!"
"I’m heading there immediately, so do not lose sight of that pirate ship! But since a pirate crew whose original captain was supposedly dead has reappeared, their strength is still unknown, so do not engage them! Understood!"
"Yes!!"
Click.
"Lieutenant Tashigi, I will go support the warship at once! You remain here and do not let your guard down on those who appear to be Buggy’s crew. If things go badly, we may end up facing two pirate crews today!"
"Yes, Vice Admiral!"
After cutting the Den Den Mushi communication, Rengoku immediately placed a hand on Enma at his waist and sprinted in the direction of the warship.
**
At the same time, aboard the Black Cat Pirates’ ship.
"Kuhehehehe, just when is tomorrow finally going to come!!"
"Kahahaha, we’re starving for blood!"
"Captain! Didn’t Captain Kuro give us instructions?"
The Black Cat Pirates’ underlings, each one with a vile-looking face, licked their blades and displayed their ferocity.
"Tch! No need to rush! Captain Kuro spent three whole years serving as a butler under someone else for this plan!"
A strange man wearing a strange hat, strange clothes, and strange heart-shaped sunglasses spoke.
Like a possessed dancer, he hugged himself tightly, spun once in place, then stopped in what he thought was a cool pose before continuing.
"It’ll be tomorrow morning! Until then, don’t get yourselves caught!"
"Captain, you’re the one who should stop drawing attention with your weird behavior!"
"I’m not drawing attention! It’s just weird."
As the senior members of the Black Cat Pirates bickered on deck, a rookie lookout who had climbed the mast to keep watch over the surroundings suddenly shouted a report.
"Captain! I can see a Marine warship!"
"What?"
At the lookout’s report, the strange captain suddenly turned around and walked down beneath the mast with his odd backward gait.
"The Marines? Can you tell which branch they’re from? If it’s the Marines around here, it should only be Branch 937 or Branch 988, right?"
"W-well..."
At the captain’s question, the rookie lookout could only stare and failed to give any further report.
Clicking his tongue, the captain climbed the mast himself.
"What is it!"
"That’s a Marine warship I’ve never seen before!"
"The branch number should be written on the mast! Can’t you even read numbers? This is why rookies are..."
The captain harshly scolded the rookie lookout, snatched the telescope from his hands, and checked for himself.
"Let’s see... if it’s just one warship from Branch 988, we could probably manage to deal with it somehow..."
"Hmm... 937... 988... hmm..."
No matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t see any numbers at all.
"C-captain..."
"What!"
"Isn’t that ship a little bigger than the Marine warships we usually see? A lot bigger?"
Once the warship became visible even to the naked eye, the rookie lookout cautiously reported to the captain.
"Huh?"
At the rookie’s words, the captain lowered the telescope and removed his heart-shaped sunglasses, revealing strange heart-shaped eyes as he looked at the ship.
A warship at least twice as large as the usual Marine vessels.
No branch number written anywhere.
Several Marine coats visible on deck... meaning at least officers of lieutenant rank or higher.
That was...
That was...
"That’s Marine Headquarters!!!!!"
Heart-shaped eyeballs burst from beneath his heart-shaped eyelids, proving just how unbelievable it was.
"Marine Headquarters?"
"Why is Marine Headquarters in East Blue?"
"If it’s Marine Headquarters, aren’t the officers insanely strong?"
"Contact Captain Kuro right now!"
"There’s no Den Den Mushi!"
At the captain’s words, the deck instantly descended into chaos.
But the confusion lasted only a moment before they were engulfed by red flames falling from the sky.
"Flame Breathing----"
A powerful shout rang down from the high heavens.
"Third Form---"
And then came the sight of a single massive figure wielding a sword.
"Blazing Universe!"
Not merely the sensation that there was fire.
Real flames, ignited from the sword and blazing so fiercely they seemed to cover the sky.
Like an uncontrollable inferno raging through a fire scene, like endless demonic flames.
They crashed down upon the ship.
**
Marine report:
Time: XXXX year, XX month, XX day, 19:01.
Details: The remnants of the Black Cat Pirates were annihilated off the coast of Syrup Village in East Blue.
Meritorious personnel: Vice Admiral Rengoku, lookout Gunner Sergeant Jongo, lookout assistant Private Dez.
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