East Blue, Mount Colubo.
At the entrance of Dadan's House.
"Huh!? Ace, so you were here!"
Sephiroth, wearing a black suit and with two sabers at his waist, stood in front of a large tree, looking with interest at Ace, who was firmly tied to the tree with a thick rope.
"Where are Luffy and Sabo?"
"Luffy is still sleeping in the house. Sabo... he died..." Ace murmured listlessly, his expression dim.
"Hmm!?... Sabo died!? What happened?"
Sephiroth feigned a surprised expression.
"Just yesterday, it seems some World Nobles visited Goa Kingdom..... When Sabo sailed out on a fishing boat with a Pirates flag, because he appeared in the path of the Celestial Dragons' ship, his boat was sunk by the Celestial Dragons with cannons, and he was buried at the bottom of the sea..."
"Oh! Is that so! This was a dead end he brought upon himself, and even if he died, he can't blame others. You could say he got what he deserved for dying." Sephiroth nodded, a look of realization on his face.
Hearing this, Ace's face instantly became extremely distorted, and he roared furiously: "What did you say!? You bastard, Sabo is my brother! You actually said he got what he deserved for dying!!!"
Ace's furious roar instantly attracted the attention of the mountain bandits inside Dadan's House. Even Luffy, who had cried himself to sleep because of Sabo's death and fallen into a deep slumber, was woken up.
Everyone quickly ran out of the house, looking at the two with confused expressions.
Facing the repeatedly roaring Ace, Sephiroth's eyes were very indifferent. He expressionlessly raised his right hand.
The next moment.
Slap!
A loud slap landed heavily on Ace's left cheek, leaving a bright red handprint on his face.
After receiving this slap, Ace, who was tied to the big tree, stopped roaring. He gritted his teeth and stared intently at the silver-haired young man in front of him.
In response, Sephiroth also looked at Ace tied to the tree and said coldly, "You keep shouting about going out to sea to become Pirates. Don't you understand what the black sail, symbolizing the identity of a Pirate, represents?"
"When you sail out with the black skull flag hoisted, you are already a Pirate! Since that's the case, you should be prepared to be buried in the sea at any time!"
"If you don't want to be buried in the sea at any time, wouldn't it be better to just be an obedient good baby?"
"Garp told you so many times to become Marines, did you listen?"
"Being a Pirate is not some game of make-believe!"
"Since you are determined to become Pirates, then you must have the resolve to gamble your life!"
"..."
Sephiroth's reprimand caused Ace to fall into a long silence, as if he was thinking about something.
Indeed, in the heart of the ten-year-old Ace, he had always only seen the freedom and adventure of going out to sea as a Pirate, but had completely overlooked the dangers and drawbacks involved.
Sabo's death was too sudden, too frustrating. He hadn't even made a name for himself before being killed like this…
Perhaps, the day he himself went out to sea, he might also die silently and ordinarily on the vast ocean, dying worthless, dying without any meaning!
Once you hoist the black sail representing pirates, you must be prepared to be buried in the sea at any time.
Was being a pirate really worth gambling his life…?
Ace fell into a brief state of confusion, and he began to question his childhood dream.
Just then, an albatross flew to the entrance of Dadan's house. From its newspaper bag, it pulled out a letter and handed it to Dadan.
"This is Sabo's letter…?"
When Dadan saw the name on the envelope, she immediately exclaimed.
"A letter?… Sabo's letter? Quick, let me see!"
Hearing this, Ace, who was tied to the tree, immediately struggled violently. Luffy next to him also clamored to see the contents of the letter.
So Dadan had no choice but to open the envelope, sit by the big tree, and read the contents of the letter aloud to Ace and Luffy:
"Ace, Luffy, are you alright?… Although I'm very sorry, by the time you read this letter, I'll already be at sea… Many things have happened during this time, but in short, I've decided to go out to sea and become a pirate one step ahead of you! My destination is somewhere other than this country, where I will become stronger and become a pirate… Somewhere on the vast and free ocean, we will surely meet one day… The bond between us is my most precious treasure…"
"Sabo!!! Waaahhh~!"
After reading the letter, Luffy immediately burst into tears.
On the other side, Ace bit his lower lip tightly, tears streaming down his eyes like a broken dam.
After a long while, Ace finally stopped crying. He turned to Dadan and said:
"Untie me! I won't go seek revenge on the Celestial Dragons. I will live well, for Sabo's share too…"
Seeing this scene, Dadan could only loosen the ropes binding Ace, allowing him to regain his freedom and stand on the ground again.
Seeing that Luffy was still crying loudly, Ace immediately scolded:
"That's enough! Luffy, we need to pull ourselves together and not stay depressed!"
Hearing this, Luffy quickly wiped away his tears with his arm. He raised his hand to press down on the straw hat on his head and said with a firm tone:
"Ace, I understand! I will pull myself together… I want to become stronger! Stronger!… Strong enough to protect anything, so that no one will ever leave me! So, I beg you! Ace, you must not die!"
Bang!
Hearing these words, Ace instantly raised his right fist and slammed it heavily on Luffy's head. He said angrily:
"You bastard, stop talking nonsense! You're so much weaker than me, you should be worried about yourself! Listen here, since we already drank the sworn brotherhood sake with Sabo and made our vow, declaring we'd go out to sea to become pirates, we must live on, together with Sabo's share! Live a life without regrets!"
"Yeah! I know!"
Luffy lowered his head, his lips pressed tightly, forcing back the tears.
Seeing you two talk so emotionally and earnestly, I've decided not to tell you about Sabo being rescued by Dragon! You two just carry Sabo's will and work hard! Sephiroth muttered to himself.
After coming into contact with the three brothers, although he only came to Mount Colubo every now and then, he had set up informants in Windmill Village and Goa Kingdom, closely monitoring the brothers' movements.
Yesterday, he specifically called Dragon to ask if he planned to witness the Celestial Dragons' visit to Goa Kingdom, and the other party clearly expressed his desire to go and watch.
Perhaps it was a coincidence of fate, or perhaps it was inevitable, but Dragon still saved Sabo, who had been hit by cannon fire...
Sephiroth saw all of this.
Originally, he had thought that if Dragon didn't come, he would step in and help... throwing the severely injured Sabo to the Revolutionary Army to take care of him or something...
"Hey! Luffy, you want to become stronger, right? I have something that might help you become stronger faster..."
Saying that, Sephiroth drew the butcher knife from his waist, took out a small wooden box, and handed a black shackle to Luffy.
"What is this?"
Hearing this, Luffy immediately reached out and touched the shackle with a curious look.
Immediately after, his body instantly felt a sense of weakness and powerlessness.
"So strange! I feel completely limp and can't exert any strength..."
"This thing is called sea stone shackles. It can neutralize the abilities of a Devil Fruit user. To allow you to move normally while wearing it, I specifically lowered the purity of the Sea Stone. I've considered it, your current physical fitness is simply too poor! You can't unleash the true power of the Gum-Gum Fruit at all. Instead of wasting time developing impractical uses of your abilities, it's better to improve your basic physical fitness first. No matter how flashy your ability usage is, without the corresponding strength as a foundation, it's all useless! My strength also improved by leaps and bounds after I wore sea stone shackles." Sephiroth explained with a serious expression.
"I understand! I must become stronger! Strong enough to protect everything!"
Hearing this, Luffy immediately endured the discomfort and powerlessness and put the sea stone shackles on his right hand.
Seeing this scene, Sephiroth immediately nodded with satisfaction.
Ability development or whatever, let's put that aside for now!
Let's improve Luffy's basic physical fitness first!
Anyway, for things like Gear One, Two, Three, and Four, he can completely guide Luffy's development himself; there's no need for him to blindly grope his way!
Blurp~! Blurp~! Blurp~!
The military den den mushi in Sephiroth's black suit jacket pocket suddenly rang. He casually took out the den den mushi and glanced at it, but didn't answer. Instead, he turned to Luffy and the others and said:
"It seems I have work to attend to!
Let's talk another day!"
With that, he swung the butcher knife in his hand, opened a spatial gate, and stepped inside.
...
Marine G4 Base.
Officer's Dormitory Building, Sixth Floor, Commander's Private Residence.
Sephiroth walked out of the spatial gate and casually leaned back on the long sofa. Only then did he choose to answer the phone.
Immediately, Sengoku's low and suppressed voice came from the mouth of the den den mushi.
"Sephiroth, where... are you now?"
"Marine G4 Base."
"Where were you three months ago?"
Hearing this, Sephiroth's eyes narrowed slightly. A look of realization appeared on his face, but he pretended to be foolish.
"Three months ago...? Why are you suddenly asking me about that?"
"Three months ago, three of our Marine's secret warehouses storing original moving stone were silently infiltrated...
All the original moving stone inside is gone without a trace!"
"Original moving stone...? What is that stuff...? Also, old man Sengoku, what do you mean by that?"
Sephiroth's tone perfectly conveyed a hint of surprise and anger.
Sengoku: "..."
Then, the conversation between the two suddenly fell into a long silence.
In fact, the reason for the above conversation was entirely because Sephiroth, three months ago, by taking on the position of Commander of Marine G4 Base, gained access to four islands where the Marines hid original moving stone.
After making some preparations, he visited three islands in one night and emptied all three warehouses storing original moving stone!
Due to the passage of time, the Marine soldiers stationed on the three islands, during their patrols, successively discovered that the original moving stone in three warehouses had all suddenly disappeared without a trace, so they urgently contacted Marine Headquarters.
Thus, Sengoku decisively ordered people to take turns guarding the remaining warehouse of original moving stone twenty-four hours a day, face-to-face...
Given the circumstances at the time, if Sephiroth still wanted to take the remaining original moving stone, he would have to directly use force to steal it, which would increase his chance of exposure, so he chose to give up on that warehouse's original moving stone.
However, thinking about it carefully, this was only natural!...
The locations where the Marines hid the original moving stone were highly confidential. Even the Marine soldiers stationed on the islands didn't know what they were guarding.
Only a very small number of high-ranking Marine officials and World Government officials had access to information related to the original moving stone.
Among these people, only Sephiroth possessed the convenient ability to travel remotely to and from places at will. It would be strange if Sengoku didn't turn his suspicious gaze onto him!
After a long pause, Sengoku spoke again:
"Kong, the Commander in chief of the armed forces of the World Government, has temporarily suppressed this matter and blocked the Gorosei's request for the CP Organization to conduct an in-depth investigation into high-ranking Marine personnel involved in secrets...
I'm telling you about this for no other reason than to inform you that this major event happened three months ago, and incidentally, to ask a routine question."
After speaking, Sengoku hung up the call.
Sephiroth casually hung up the receiver of the military den den mushi. He lay back on the long sofa, slowly closed his eyes, and fell into thought.
Through the communication with Sengoku just now, he knew that Sengoku had suspected him.
If Kong hadn't suppressed this matter, perhaps the CP Organization would have come looking for trouble with him directly!
Sephiroth had already prepared himself mentally for this!
The original moving stone was an important strategic resource for the Umbrella Corporation to develop spacecraft and conduct interstellar travel, and he had to get his hands on it.
If he had to completely fall out with the World Government and the Marines because of this matter, it wouldn't be too much of a loss!
However, what was somewhat unexpected was that Kong, the Commander in chief of the armed forces of the World Government, actually suppressed the matter strongly...
Could it be that Kong also had his own agenda, and he was afraid that the CP Organization would mess things up and damage his own influence within the Marines?! Sephiroth muttered to himself.
One cannot know another's thoughts without being in their shoes.
Being in different positions naturally leads to different perspectives and ways of looking at things.
What the Commander in chief of the armed forces of the World Government was thinking, Sephiroth, a mere Marine Rear Admiral, could not possibly fathom the reasons behind it...