When Stussy stepped out of the Chamber of Authority, that emblem of absolute power, her thoughts were still spinning.
She could not have imagined things would take such a bizarre turn so suddenly.
She descended the immaculate Stairway to Heaven one step at a time. From the shadows on either side, Cipher Pol agents emerged in sequence to bow deeply, paying silent homage to her sudden rise.
Stussy barely registered it. The sunlight was too bright. Her head was light, her vision unsteady.
This was absurd.
The Gorosei had just placed an enormous responsibility in her hands, chief security for the inauguration ceremony of the Commander of the Knights of God.
The weight of it was undeniable.
If she wanted to, she could assassinate every representative from the member nations in one stroke.
One act, and the world would be thrown into political chaos. The World Government's authority would fracture. The seas would burn.
And the Gorosei had handed her that knife themselves.
All because Darren had insisted on "honestly" delivering his intelligence to them.
Was this all part of your calculation?
Stussy could not stop the question from rising in her mind.
More than that, this assignment pushed her status within CP0 up another rung.
One more step, and she would be within reach of the very top, the title called the Celestial Dragons' Strongest Shield.
At this rate, it would not be long before this undercover agent, this spy, climbed to the summit of the entire Cipher Pol system.
If it kept going, she might even command every CP agency, becoming second only to Saint Warcury, Warrior God of Justice, within the World Government's intelligence and judicial apparatus.
So what is this, then. If they do not reel me in soon, I will be the one in charge.
Her lip twitched. For a split second, laughter threatened to spill out.
The dozens of eyes on her forced it back down.
And then there was Doflamingo.
Stussy slowed and lifted her gaze toward the figure striding ahead, swaggering as if the world itself owed him passage, wrapped in that gaudy pink feather coat.
This was the same brat who had once been driven out of the Holy Land in disgrace. Now, with his hands in his pockets and that arrogant grin fixed in place, he climbed the Stairway to Heaven as though he owned it, like a young lion surveying a territory that had finally been returned to him.
Stussy's mouth twitched again.
She turned and looked back toward the half finished statue.
For the first time, the rough features seemed to sharpen in her mind. The sunglasses. The defiant smile. That unmistakable silhouette.
No matter how she looked at it, that face did not belong here.
Shaking her head hard, she forced the chaos down and hurried away from Mary Geoise.
By the time she reached the port on the outer sea, Doflamingo was already aboard the pirate ship bearing the Donquixote Family crest. Only then did she step onto her own merchant vessel.
---
"Yes, Admiral Sengoku. Security for the inauguration will be under my responsibility."
A cool sea breeze brushed her cheeks.
Golden hair danced in the wind as Stussy stood at the prow, her fox mask marking her as CP0. A Military Den Den Mushi was clenched in her hand.
The Den Den Mushi mimicked Sengoku's expression with uncanny precision, like a man swallowing something bitter. His exhausted voice crackled through the line.
"I assumed the Gorosei would entrust this crucial mission to me…"
Stussy fell silent.
She opened her mouth, then closed it again. There was no comfortable answer to that.
To be fair, Sengoku's assumption was not unreasonable.
Under normal circumstances, a core part of the ceremony's security would be escorting the representatives of the member nations, a duty traditionally handled by Marine Headquarters. From a purely practical standpoint, giving overall command to the Admiral would be efficient.
But the world did not always move by logic.
Since Dragon and Darren, two high ranking Marines and that monster of a man, had defected and raised the banner of rebellion, Stussy had felt it clearly. The World Government, or rather the Gorosei, no longer trusted the Marines the way they once did.
Putting her in charge was not only an assignment. It was a message.
A warning to Sengoku.
"The most critical duty, protecting the representatives, still rests with you, Admiral Sengoku," Stussy said at last, voice steady and controlled. "My role is support and coordination."
On the other end, Sengoku gave a weary nod. Even without seeing him, she could hear the quiet resignation in his breath. A polite reassurance was all it could be.
He rose from his chair, clasped his hands behind his back, and stared out his window at the endless sea. There was a faint haze in his eyes now, the kind that came from watching the world tilt into something you could not quite control.
Anyone could feel it. The air itself had changed.
Darren had turned Felsek Island into a slaughterhouse, wiping out an entire generation of elite Celestial Dragons.
Momonga had led the North Blue Fleet in a sustained bombardment of Mary Geoise, turning large swaths of the Holy Land into rubble.
Zephyr, burning with fury, had struck CP0 directly, killed the Celestial Dragons' Strongest Shield, and raised the banner of the NEO Marines.
From the Gorosei's perspective, the Marines' recent performance must have looked like catastrophe after catastrophe.
Under these circumstances, it made sense they would doubt Sengoku. Even if they did not question his loyalty, they would question his competence.
Dragon, Darren, Momonga, Zephyr. Four calamities, all under Sengoku's watch. No matter how you framed it, he could not escape the stain of responsibility.
What about Fleet Admiral Kong, Steel Bone Kong.
Everyone knew he had long since stepped back from daily operations. His authority remained, but his hands were no longer on the wheel.
Sengoku's face tightened, the lines deepening into a grimace that bordered on pain.
"You lot caused your chaos," he muttered, voice low and bitter, "and left me to clean up the wreckage…"
To be continued...