Inside the Room of Authority in Pangaea Castle, built in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.
The masters of that chamber, who had been waiting for someone with visible impatience, all sensed a presence at once.
The tightly shut doors of the Room of Authority slowly opened.
The owner of the presence that put the Five Elders on edge was Solomon.
Some time earlier, he had received what was essentially a summons disguised as an invitation from the Five Elders, and had been forced to hastily wrap up the rest of his schedule before returning. As a result, Solomon was in a mildly foul mood.
"So you finally came, Solomon."
"We clearly told you to seal the End Point of Second Island and return directly to Mary Geoise."
"There is a limit to how much deviation we can overlook. Do not forget this. You may be a Celestial Dragon, but you are also a special surveillance target secretly designated by the World Government. These repeated, unscheduled detours of yours put us in a difficult position."
The moment he entered, the Five Elders began scolding him as if they had been waiting for the chance. Solomon brushed it off with a faintly mocking attitude.
"Not the World Government... If the World Government had truly decided to monitor me, I would have obeyed without complaint. I happen to have aptitude for Ruler as well, not just Caster."
But that was not what this was.
The eyes following him this obsessively had not come from any consensus reached in their own minds.
"Since when did I become Im’s servant? Our contract was supposed to maintain an equal footing."
"Watch your tongue!"
The Five Elders rebuked the young Celestial Dragon for carelessly speaking the name of their superior, the true ruler of this world.
They did not know that when Im and Solomon had met in secret and even used a self-enforcing geas to conclude their contract, neither side had stood in the weaker position. It had been a contract between equals.
In their eyes, it simply looked like Solomon was getting carried away because he believed he enjoyed special favor with Im.
To be precise, the Five Elders were jealous.
A man permitted a private audience with Im, something not even they were allowed.
Why should a privilege denied even to them be granted to a brat not yet two hundred years old?
That was why the Five Elders and Solomon had maintained an uncomfortable relationship ever since their first meeting.
Nominally, the Five Elders were his superiors, but in practice Solomon was a subordinate they could not control through any normal means.
The most they could do was call him in personally and make a nuisance of themselves.
Because if they ever tried to harm him, it was obvious that Im’s wrath would fall on them instead.
"Why did you call me? I’d rather not waste the time of such busy people, so why don’t you just get to the point?"
Solomon’s openly sarcastic tone made the Five Elders bristle, but they forcibly suppressed their anger and jealousy and began nitpicking the unauthorized things he had done during his descent to the lower world.
"Bartholomew Kuma is no ordinary pirate. He may only be a half-blood, but he is the last surviving descendant of the Buccaneer race in this world. I have personally managed him since he was young. Do not grant him hope out of some pointless sympathy. You are a god, not a human, Solomon."
Saint Jaygarcia Saturn, the Warrior God of Science and Defense, was the first to raise the issue of Kuma—specifically, Solomon meeting him in person and even going as far as the Sorbet Kingdom to establish a personal connection.
"I’ll keep that in mind. Sure, sure."
Solomon hated beings who had abandoned their humanity. He himself had spent his entire life like a pilgrim because he had wanted so desperately to become human, and even after death he had entered the war of wishes in search of an answer. To him, the Celestial Dragons—and the Five Elders most of all—felt like masses of malice whose very existence denied the life he had spent building.
"You insolent little—!"
Enraged by Solomon’s blatantly disrespectful mockery, the most hot-tempered of the Five Elders, the Warrior God of Finance, Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro, gripped the hilt of his beloved sword, the First Kitetsu.
"Calm yourself, Nusjuro. I share your feelings, but he is one specially favored by Im. We cannot lose our composure and discipline him like some common subordinate just because his attitude is arrogant."
Saint Topman Warcury, the Warrior God of Justice, soothed Nusjuro before he completely lost control.
The killing intent-laden Haki of the Five Elders was a force strong enough to make all but the highest-ranking Marine officers lose consciousness, yet Solomon remained perfectly calm even under the deliberate pressure of their overwhelming Conqueror’s Haki. It was as if he existed in another world while standing in the same room.
"Solomon, that is enough from you as well. You should show a little more respect to your elders."
Saint Marcus Mars, the Warrior God of the Environment and the least senior among the Five Elders, tried to impose a military-style pecking order over age like an old man throwing his weight around at a senior center.
Solomon did not even feel it was worth reacting to such a petty attempt at posturing.
How could people who claimed to rule the world become this emotional whenever the topic involved Im?
"Are you done saying what you wanted to say?"
If they had no better reason to keep him here than petty fault-finding, could he leave now?
"Stop, Solomon. We are not finished."
As Solomon turned his back without a word, Saint Shepherd Ju Peter, the Warrior God of Agriculture, hurriedly called out to stop him.
"See? Wouldn’t it have been easier if you’d just gotten to the point from the start? We all know we make each other uncomfortable, so why be so inflexible?"
"The instant Im’s will changes, we can hand you over to the Holy Knights for trial and disposal."
"If I were acknowledged as dying as a human, I’d have no reason not to die. Physical death means nothing to me."
For a brief moment, the room became a clash of barbed words. But as always, the side forced to concede defeat in the end was the Five Elders. Unlike them, who were not even permitted a private audience with Im, Solomon had already met Im alone several times. He was more favored by their master than they were.
"This concerns Big Mom. We ask for your cooperation, Solomon."
"What about Linlin?"
When the Five Elders brought up Charlotte Linlin, one of the Four Emperors—a woman who had once been more than a stranger to him, though never quite a friend, and had even become an enemy at one point—Solomon inwardly wondered what exactly these old men were trying to ask of him.
To be honest, Linlin was not a positive acquaintance.
"Big Mom recently requested an under-the-table deal with the Government. Because of the Caesar issue, we have decided to shut down the advanced research facility Punk Hazard, and she has asked for its blueprints. In return, she offered to open one sea route passing through her territory."
In the world of One Piece, where every sea was dotted with islands, rights over maritime routes were enormously valuable.
A route that passed through the territory of one of the Four Emperors was valuable enough that they had accepted the offer to hand over the blueprints of an advanced research facility without much hesitation.
Solomon instantly understood why the Five Elders had agreed to the deal so readily, but he could not understand why they were trying to use him for it.
"You could leave it to a CP agent, or if you’re really worried, hand it over to the Holy Knights. Why are you asking for my cooperation? I’ll need an explanation. And proper compensation, too. Honestly, are you joking? I just got back from a long voyage and was finally about to rest, and now you want me to go all the way to the stronghold of one of the Four Emperors in the New World?"
"For that, you have my apologies. But Big Mom made a special request."
"What?"
Saturn’s words made Solomon stop just as he was about to storm out again.
"You once said that every tea party invitation Big Mom sent flying into Mary Geoise through all sorts of absurd means was burned without even being read."
Solomon could not deny it.
Every letter bearing the name Charlotte Linlin, and anything else from her besides, had been disposed of unread.
"Big Mom has offered to open one additional route if you serve as the representative at the negotiating table for this deal."
"That sounds like your problem, not mine. The ones in a hurry are you and Big Mom. I have nothing to do with this. What a ridiculous topic to bring up. I’ll forget this conversation ever happened the moment I walk out of here."
Expecting Solomon’s cold refusal, the Five Elders finally dangled the bait they had prepared in advance.
"If you help make this deal happen, we will allow you to move freely through the lower world for a time."
"That’s right. We will grant you a temporary privilege allowing you to go out without unnecessary surveillance or attendants. It is a privilege that would never be permitted to ordinary Celestial Dragons. After all, every Celestial Dragon is a precious god, so naturally security personnel are attached to protect them."
"And in addition, we will overlook your unauthorized visit to Marine Headquarters under the name of the World Government. Think carefully. Unless you want the insects of the lower world you are so fond of to suffer under guilt by association because of you."
The Five Elders’ mixture of threats and persuasion gave Solomon pause.
He was still more inclined to refuse, but the implied meaning behind their mention of guilt by association made him worry that innocent acquaintances might suffer for it. In the end, he reluctantly decided to accept their proposal. He was not worried about Garp or Rayleigh, but he could not help worrying about the safety of Kuma and Hancock.
A few days later, on Fish-Man Island in the New World.
The Tarteship, the flagship of Big Mom’s fleet, revealed its massive hull beyond the distant horizon.
The one who disembarked from the front of the Tarteship was Big Mom’s eldest son, Perospero. A minister of Totto Land who held the office of Candy Minister, and the firstborn son most favored by Big Mom.
"It’s been a looong time. Lick. To think you’d finally accept an invitation to a tea party. Mother was so delighted she sent me personally."
"...Is Linlin doing well?"
"Of course. She’s in fine health. Aside from the occasional flare-up of her old condition, she’s more vigorous than ever. You should have seen how happy she was when she heard you were coming."
"Ah, haha... Even after getting beaten up like that in Elbaf, Linlin still 'loves' me, huh?"
With a Perorin, Perospero looked at Solomon with reverent admiration—the man whom his great mother, the one called Big Mom, had once courted with genuine sincerity.
Receiving Perospero’s lavish hospitality, Solomon began desperately searching for some way to avoid being sucked into the black hole called Big Mom—the open grave of his life.
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