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The Op-Op Fruit has been found? And the World Government is planning to move against Whitebeard? Are they really launching a dual-front operation?
The World Government targeting Whitebeard wasn't entirely unimaginable. In this timeline, the Government had been repeatedly humiliated and was desperate to bolster its combat power. They had already captured many powerful pirates—mostly remnants of the Rocks Pirates—with Liltotto often acting as the executioner.
Even Kaido had "joined" the World Government. On the surface, it was a partnership, but anyone who knew Imu's nature knew better. Imu possessed a form of corruption; once marked, both body and soul would eventually be enslaved. When Harald was controlled, it wasn't that Imu was puppeteering him—it was that Harald's own mind had been rewritten to believe Imu was his absolute master and that he was a god among the Celestial Dragons. If Imu remained patient, once Kaido and the others were fully marked, they would become his loyal hounds.
Targeting Whitebeard was a logical next step. Whitebeard was immensely powerful, but more importantly... he had a weakness. His "sons" were his Achilles' heel. If the World Government could seize his crew, they could blackmail the man himself. Among the sea's powerhouses, Whitebeard was arguably the easiest to manipulate through leverage. Furthermore, unlike the nomadic Roger, Whitebeard maintained fixed territories.
Beltz couldn't let either the fruit or Whitebeard fall into the Government's hands. But he was only one man; he couldn't be in two places at once. His clones were still too young to step onto a battlefield of this magnitude.
He would have to rely on Harald and Shiki. He personally had to go for the Op-Op Fruit; compared to Whitebeard, the fruit was a mechanical necessity for his growth. He had no personal bond with Newgate; his only concern was that a captured Whitebeard would represent a massive power spike for the enemy.
Years spent growing and integrating into these worlds had eroded the "anime filter" Beltz once had. He no longer viewed these people as characters from a manga he once read. He had his own friends, his own enemies, and natural conflicts of interest.
Take the Gotei 13—he had liked them as the "protagonists" in his previous life. But now? He was a Quincy. The enmity was biological. If war broke out, the Shinigami would never trust him, and he didn't trust a former group of assassins to accept him. He liked Rukia, but he wouldn't betray the Quincies for her. He was close to Liltotto; if forced to choose a side, he would stand with the Quincies.
The same applied to Whitebeard. He respected him, but in this reality, they had never spoken. Newgate's life was not more valuable than the Op-Op Fruit.
Even if the Government captured Whitebeard, Kaido, Big Mom, and Roger, Beltz could simply hide. Once his two clones matured, he would still have the power to suppress the World Government. Development was his game, and he feared no one in a long-term race. However, he did care about Shiki—they had been "comrades" for years.
Since Den Den Mushi calls were insecure, Beltz left Wano while Vegapunk performed the extraction on Rukia. The Hogyoku removal was complex, and Rukia would be weakened for a while. He met Liltotto on a small island in the New World.
The yellow-haired girl looked well. Her face was a bit rounder, and she seemed to have grown slightly—likely the result of living like a Celestial Dragon and eating her fill every day.
"How did the Government find the Op-Op Fruit?" Beltz asked, cutting to the chase. He was glad he'd told her to watch for the Op-Op and Dark-Dark fruits; otherwise, she might not have realized their significance.
Liltotto leaned against the blue horizon, the sea breeze tossing her hair. "You know Kaido ate the White Tiger fruit? It's a combat beast, but it has an ability most don't know about."
"The White Tiger, who presides over slaughter, also has the ability to 'Beckon Wealth and Treasure'. Every so often, Kaido can sense the location of a 'treasure' through his instincts for precious objects."
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Beltz was stunned. "Isn't that ability broken?" Could he sense the One Piece? Why bother with Poneglyphs if Kaido could just wake up and know where the treasure was?
"It's not that extreme," Liltotto clarified. "The location is incredibly vague. He can sense it exists, but the area is huge. For the Op-Op Fruit, he sensed it was somewhere in the North Blue, but the search area covered about a third of that entire ocean."
Beltz relaxed. He knew the fruit was in the North Blue too, but searching that vast sea was nearly impossible, even with his Subconscious powers. He couldn't scan an entire ocean, and the fruit was just a piece of fruit—easy to miss.
"But the Government has the numbers," Liltotto continued. "They ordered the Marines, CP, and allied nations to search. With that many eyes, finding it becomes a mathematical certainty."
"Have they found it? Who is escorting it?"
"Don't interrupt," Liltotto chided. "The Government is tired of you sabotaging them. They've assigned Marine elites for the escort, even Garp is among them."
"And they're launching a simultaneous plan. Through Rocks remnants, they learned Whitebeard sends money to a specific island. CP investigation confirmed it's his home: Sphinx."
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Whitebeard's home had been found. It wasn't surprising; the Marines found it in the original story too, they just didn't dare move while he was alive.
"The Government is splitting their forces. One side escorts the fruit, and the other side... is sending me to deal with Whitebeard. Just like we did with Captain John and Silver Axe."
"You?" Beltz frowned. "Just you against Whitebeard?"
"Strictly speaking, yes," Liltotto said, a strange glint in her eyes.
"Is Imu insane? There must be a catch."
Liltotto snapped her fingers. "Correct. For the fight against Whitebeard, I will be made unimaginably strong."
"Is Imu giving you a mark? But even then, a Shallows Covenant takes a year to become a Depths Covenant."
"No, not a contract. I'd never accept that," Liltotto said. "Have you forgotten my current state?"
Beltz realized it instantly. "You mean... you're going to eat another Elder?"
Liltotto had already eaten Saint Peter, allowing her to take his form and power. This was the only way for her to gain strength from the Elders or Holy Knights—because they were immortal, she didn't "digest" them; she kept them in her Gluttony stomach and tapped into their power.
Liltotto smiled eerily. "Not just one. All five."
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Imu was truly heartless, treating his own subordinates like batteries for Liltotto. But it made sense. The Elders were immortal and possessed Haki; Liltotto couldn't truly digest five of them at once even if she wanted to. If she ate only two, Imu might worry she'd actually kill them. With five, they had the collective strength to resist being fully assimilated while providing her with a terrifying boost.
"So, do you want me to do it?" Liltotto asked.
Beltz fell into deep thought. After a moment, he looked up. "I know what to do. I need you to go all out. Not just attack Whitebeard, but draw as much attention as possible to that battlefield."
"Why?"
Beltz smirked. "Time is short. Just give it everything you've got. I need to head back to Wano to finalize the plan for the Op-Op Fruit and Sphinx."
"Fine. I'm actually curious how strong I'll be with all five in my belly."
Beltz needed to intercept that transport ship before it reached Mary Geoise. The game was on.