"Where's Luffy...?"
Uta suddenly woke up and looked around in confusion. Those were the first words she said after regaining consciousness.
She was in a special care ward at the hospital reserved for Marine officers. Smoker was sitting not far from her bed. After hearing her question, he said calmly, "He left. He should be almost at the Grand Line by now."
Uta relaxed a little at those words. She hadn't managed to catch Luffy, but at least Rob Lucci hadn't caught him either.
She sat up in bed. "How long was I unconscious?"
"Not very long. About half a day." Smoker thought for a moment before asking, "What do you want to do next?"
Uta took a deep breath. Her body had nearly recovered by now. Lucci hadn't been trying to kill her, and his attacks hadn't been especially strong. He had only knocked her unconscious, which was why she had woken up so quickly and recovered so well.
"Go to the Grand Line. Rob Lucci won't give up that easily. This time, an Admiral will probably be sent out," Uta said softly.
An Admiral...
The Marine Headquarters' greatest fighting power...
Against an enemy like Rob Lucci, an ordinary Vice Admiral would be useless. Only an Admiral could stop him.
Smoker couldn't help being shocked. "But aren't all the Admirals in the New World...?"
"Whatever is important enough to make Wano Country pay so much attention must be serious enough to justify sending an Admiral, even with the situation in the New World being so tense." Uta had thought it through clearly. Even if no Admiral came to the first half of the Grand Line, Garp and Zephyr would probably make a move.
Thinking about it now, Uta was beginning to understand Rob Lucci's purpose. She remembered Luffy's ship—the one that could automatically block her singing and seemed to possess the ability to repair itself...
It must contain some extraordinary power.
There were several ways in the world to give a ship such abilities. For example, Vegapunk's "demon power fusion," which involved combining demon cells with a Devil Fruit and placing them inside an object, giving it its own consciousness and special abilities.
There were also demons that could be reborn by taking over another body. Usually, they entered the corpses of the dead, but they could possibly enter lifeless objects as well. That method could also give the ship those special abilities.
Of course, there were also the Shikon Jewel shards, those precious treasures. Shikon Jewel shards could be fused into many different things.
And anything important enough to make Wano Country care this much was most likely...
The Shikon Jewel shards.
In other words, Luffy had Shikon Jewel shards and had even fused them into his ship? Wasn't that incredibly wasteful?
Still, when she thought about Luffy's carefree and careless personality, Uta found it completely understandable.
She rubbed her forehead with a headache. If Luffy really had something that important, Wano Country would most likely pursue him to the bitter end. Even if they managed to stop Rob Lucci, Wano Country would only send more and more people after him.
The best solution now would be to capture Luffy. But just as they would stop Wano Country from capturing Luffy, Wano Country would also interfere if the Marines tried to arrest him directly.
The Shikon Jewel shards were different from ordinary treasures. Both sides were determined to get them. If they truly fought over them, it could easily lead to an all-out war between the two sides.
Wano Country didn't want a full-scale conflict with the Marines right now. But why would the Marines want to fight Wano Country to the death either?
At least...
This wasn't the right time.
According to the Black Order's warning, the Black Order Headquarters might come under attack in the near future. If the enemy entered the "Lilith's Egg," where the Black Order Headquarters was located, it would trigger a catastrophe even greater than the arrival of a Demon Lord!
This was the first time the Black Order had ever asked Marine Headquarters for help. After thinking it over for a while, Marine Fleet Admiral An had agreed. That was why all three Marine Admirals had gone to the New World.
This was completely unprecedented in Marine history. In the past, at least one Admiral had always remained at Marine Headquarters in case of an emergency. In particular, there always had to be an Admiral ready to go to the Sabaody Archipelago or the holy land of Mary Geoise to protect the Celestial Dragons.
But things were different now. The Marines had become far more independent. Although they had not completely separated from the World Government, An believed that protecting Mary Geoise was something she could handle on her own.
Besides, Marine Headquarters was now stronger than ever. In addition to the three Marine Admirals, there were Vice Admirals Chaka and Zephyr. The Marines also had a secret unit led by Ah Xing, along with An herself, the Marine Fleet Admiral. The forces of justice had reached an unprecedented level of strength.
Even with all the Admirals gone, the Marines still had enough power to defend the safety of Marine Headquarters.
Still, having to deal with a Demon Lord was unsettling enough. The Black Order had even stressed that the threat might be "a disaster beyond the level of a Demon Lord."
That was why Marine Headquarters did not want to start a full-scale war with Wano Country right now. After all, the difference between dealing with Wano Country and facing a disaster beyond the level of a Demon Lord was obvious.
Uta's identity was unusual, and she knew something about these matters. Of course, her knowledge was still limited.
Even with that limited knowledge, Uta was certain that now was not the time to report the Shikon Jewel shards to Marine Headquarters.
If Marine Headquarters tried to capture Luffy, Wano Country would definitely object.
If Wano Country tried to capture Luffy, Marine Headquarters would object as well.
For now, the best option was to maintain this balance. That way, the situation would not grow worse. Once the Marines dealt with the problems in the New World, they could take the Shikon Jewel shards from Luffy afterward.
"Rob Lucci was forced back by Hawkeye, but he definitely won't give up so easily. Has Headquarters sent any news?" Uta asked.
Smoker naturally had no idea what Uta was thinking. He had a good relationship with Aokiji, but Aokiji was not the type to spread rumors. He would not tell others everything, and there was no need for him to do so.
Because of that, Smoker knew far less about the world than Uta did. After hearing her question, he simply said, "Rob Lucci arrived too suddenly last time, so we could only send Hawkeye because he happened to be nearby. Now that we're prepared in advance, Vice Admiral Garp says he'll come over."
Uta nodded. Garp was Luffy's grandfather, so he really was the best choice.
"Let's go. We should get moving too."
Uta had never planned to stay in the East Blue for long. Her mission had been to capture Luffy, but she had never expected enemies on the level of Rob Lucci and Hawkeye, Dracule Mihawk, to appear. The situation had gone far beyond what she was prepared for.
So even if the mission had failed, it was completely understandable.
That said, Uta was not going to accept failure without a fight. She had to catch up with Luffy as quickly as possible and tell him about the danger he was facing.
Smoker nodded. He had already submitted a request to Headquarters to travel to the Grand Line. It should be approved soon. He had been considering transferring from the branch back to Headquarters even before Uta arrived, so there should be no problems.
The two of them made their decision. Meanwhile, at the far end of the East Blue, Luffy and the others had already reached the Twin Capes.
Although their escape from Loguetown had been dangerous but successful, they still celebrated for a while.
Afterward, exhaustion set in.
While trapped inside Uta's virtual space, their bodies had fallen into a deep sleep. But that kind of sleep was not restful. Their minds had been under intense stimulation, so they felt exhausted after waking up.
And just after they woke, they happened to witness the battle between Hawkeye and Lucci. When Hawkeye sent out two slashes, they were all terrified.
Even after Hawkeye left and Smoker allowed them to pass through Loguetown, nobody aboard the Going Merry truly relaxed. The Marines could catch up at any moment.
It was only after they reached the place where the East Blue met the Grand Line that everyone finally began to feel a little more at ease.
Anyone traveling from one of the Four Blues to the Grand Line had to pass through Reverse Mountain. Not long after crossing it, they would reach the Twin Capes.
Everyone had fallen into a deep sleep except Nami, who was steering the Going Merry onward. After all, she was a demon—and not just any demon. She had fused with Demon King Muzan Kibutsuji, so she had no real need for sleep.
She had already completed her evolution and no longer needed sleep to evolve as she had when she first became a demon.
Besides, it would be far too dangerous for everyone to sleep in an environment like the Grand Line. Having a navigator who never needed to sleep was practically perfect.
Luffy and Zoro were sleeping the most soundly. Luffy was simply used to being carefree, while Zoro had used up too much energy blocking one of Hawkeye's slashes. His mind and body were both completely exhausted.
After celebrating, they had gone to sleep, and the Going Merry quickly became quiet—completely silent, in fact.
Nami enjoyed the silence. As a demon, even one with her own will, she loved the noise and excitement of being with Luffy and the others. But she also enjoyed the kind of silence that made it feel as if she were the only person in the entire world.
After Bellemere became a demon, Nami had joined Gato's company and become one of Muzan Kibutsuji's followers. Back then, she had sailed out to sea alone, and being alone had given her more time to think.
She leaned against the side of the ship when she suddenly heard something.
The sound was not coming from ahead of them, or even from the surface of the sea. It seemed to be coming from...
The sky?
It sounded like some enormous object tearing through the air, mixed with a mournful cry, as if an animal were weeping. Just hearing it made people feel sad.
Boom!
Nami was about to take a closer look when, in the distance, hundreds of feet of water suddenly exploded into the air.
The enormous wave crashed down with an earth-shattering force. Although it was still very far from the Going Merry, the waves that followed still slammed into the ship, making it shake violently.
What had happened...?
What was going on?
Nami was stunned. She had only been distracted for a few seconds. What had happened ahead of them?
The answer soon appeared. A gigantic creature raised its head from the sea.
It was unbelievably huge, so large that its full size seemed to stretch beyond the limits of sight. Even just part of its head looked like a massive mountain.
Nami had spent all her time in the East Blue. When had she ever seen a monster like this? Even now, with her incredibly powerful abilities, she still felt as though what she was seeing could not possibly be real.
This...
Was this a whale?
Because it was so far away, Nami could only make a rough guess based on the part of the creature visible to her. There was no doubt that it was a whale.
Whales were certainly big, but this was far too big!
Nami stared in shock. Then a sense of danger suddenly washed over her.
This whale...
Was it friend or foe?
Nami swallowed and was about to wake the others, but before she could move, Sanji and Ben Tennyson had already come out.
They shared a room because one of them was looking for excellent ingredients while the other was searching for powerful creatures, so they had plenty to talk about.
After they rushed out, Usopp came out as well. All three of them looked alert.
The whale's fall into the sea had created enormous waves. Even the Going Merry, which had been fused with Shikon Jewel shards, had been shaken violently. Any normal person should have woken up immediately.
But Luffy and Zoro were sleeping far too deeply...
"W-What is that?!"
After coming outside, Ben and Sanji were both stunned and delighted. Anyone could see that the whale was extraordinary.
"As expected of the Grand Line. We've only just arrived, and it's already given us such a wonderful gift," Sanji said.
The Gourmet Cells inside his body seemed to be urging him to eat the giant whale's meat. Sanji felt a faint hunger. The whale was clearly high-level food capable of satisfying his Gourmet Cells, and the energy contained in it was far greater than what had been in the Kraken's tentacles.
During his years in the East Blue, Sanji had been hungry almost all the time. He had finally managed to eat part of the Kraken's tentacles to fill his stomach, but that had only left him about seventy percent full.
"What kind of whale is that?" Ben asked. He did not recognize its species. That was unusual, since although he was the youngest person aboard the ship, he knew more than anyone else.
"I think you two should stop getting ahead of yourselves," Usopp said, swallowing nervously. "It doesn't look like it's going to let you eat it willingly."
Or rather, they were the ones who would not be willing to let the whale eat them!
While they were watching the whale, the enormous creature had already charged toward them. With its massive body, it crossed the distance in the blink of an eye.
Almost instantly, the whale was right in front of them. It opened its huge mouth and swallowed everyone whole.
Sanji had leaped forward and kicked at it, but his kick could not even break through the whale's skin. Then everything went black, and he was swallowed along with the Going Merry.
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