X·Drake, gender male.
The name is pronounced the same as Drake, but he is a completely different person from Kaidou's Drake.
Currently a Junior Admiral at Navy Headquarters, and one of the special members of the Sword unit. Even Sengoku uses a special code name to contact him.
This is a rule of the unit—when delivering confidential messages or dispatching missions, members use a code to identify themselves. They are similar to the Navy's CP Agency, independent of the World Government, and serve only the Navy.
When there is a risk of intelligence leaks, this unit is most trusted by Sengoku.
Drake's origins are highly dramatic. His father, Diez Barrels, was also formerly in the Navy, but chose to defect due to personal reasons. Later, he wanted to trade the Op-Op Fruit with the World Government for profit.
With Corazon's interference, the fruit eventually ended up with Law, and under Corazon's desperate protection, Law was spared from being discovered by Doflamingo.
Fate intertwined at that moment. The surviving Drake was instead taken away by Sengoku and re-trained as a Navy man.
In his early years, Drake admired his father. Because of his father's identity, Drake also wanted to become a Navy officer.
But for some reason, his father defected and became a pirate, his personality changed drastically, and he often subjected Drake to violence.
Seizing a new opportunity, Drake worked hard as a Navy officer and successfully became a Junior Admiral. Due to Sengoku's high regard for him, he ultimately joined this squad.
The Hundred Beasts continue to favor Zoan-type ability users, as they easily gain Kaidou's favor.
As a Zoan-type ability user with the Dragon-Dragon Fruit - Ancient - Allosaurus Form, Drake's ability is the most suitable for an undercover mission.
"Drake, this operation is very special. Aside from a very few high-level members of Headquarters, even the Headquarters Vice Admirals won't know your identity. The same goes for your subordinates and ordinary Navy soldiers. You must plan a defection and successfully escape encirclement."
Acting might cause problems, so Sengoku wanted Drake to make it a real defection.
"Marshal Sengoku, in that case..."
"I know, try to control casualties, and also watch out for your own safety. The Vice Admirals pursuing you won't know you're an undercover agent. You'll have to rely on yourself when the time comes."
Whether defecting or being pursued, combat is inevitable. To allow Drake to perfectly "defect," Sengoku is ready to pay a certain death toll.
"Yes, I understand."
After today, the Navy lost a promising Junior Admiral, gaining instead a fallen Junior Admiral who was even written about by Morgans in the newspaper, and an extermination order was issued within the Navy, making Drake's journey extremely dangerous.
Meanwhile, King also followed the clues to Drum Island.
Acting solo allowed King great swiftness, with no need to rely on ships. Relying on the powerful endurance of Lunarians, he could fly freely in the sky, unrestrained even by the New World's harsh weather.
The enemy couldn't limit him either. Unless he ran into a powerful and flight-capable opponent like Kizaru, no one could hold him back; flying became his innate advantage.
So King soon arrived at the site where Drake had an incident, but traveling alone had its downsides. Without subordinates, he had to handle everything personally.
He was hunting Blackbeard, and to find Blackbeard, he needed to gather information. But when a six-meter-tall, black-clad, masked stranger appeared, most people's instinct was to run.
King wasn't ugly, in fact, he was quite handsome, but his racial identity prevented him from revealing his true face outside.
People ignored him and turned to run. To get information, he had to chase after them, which ended up frightening many people into fainting, delaying his progress.
Getting the information that Blackbeard was heading to the Drum Kingdom took a lot of King's effort.
This was King's restrained effort. Queen's reputation as an interrogation maniac wasn't unfounded. Don't be fooled by King looking to settle the score for Drake, seeming like a considerate boss; in reality, only a very few get this treatment.
His temperament was much more volatile than Shaina's, and if not restrained, an interrogation could become torture.
...
Drum Island, a Winter Island on the Grand Line. After King landed here, he began seeking informants, but before meeting anyone, he first encountered rabbits.
It was a type of special rabbit native to Drum Island - Lapins.
The Drum Kingdom also harbored many unique creatures.
For instance, hiking bears resembling mountain climbers, usually holding special climbing picks as they moved up the snowy mountains.
Despite being bears, they're very polite. When they meet someone walking head-on, they bow to greet them, and in return, people must return the gesture.
Besides the polite bears, there are also the fierce rabbits, like the ones in front of King.
As vicious carnivorous rabbits, the Lapins have the agility of rabbits and the physique of bears, often attacking prey in groups. But this time, they picked the wrong opponent. With just a few wing flaps, King knocked them all out, and he also discovered villagers hiding in the snow.
Before the villager could react, King had already lifted him up and asked in a relatively gentle voice:
"Who is in charge here... fainted again? These people's psychological resilience is getting worse and worse..."
Casting aside the fainted villager, King looked towards the distant castle and flew upward with his wings.
...
In the castle, Dr. Kureha was discussing kingdom management topics with the current king of the Drum Kingdom, Dalton. Strictly speaking, the Drum Kingdom had been destroyed, and it was now part of the Sakura Kingdom's territory.
After Luffy defeated Wapol, peace had returned to this place, and even the doctors restricted by Wapol, the Doctor 20, had been restored to freedom.
Before King's arrival, the Sakura Kingdom had enjoyed a long period of tranquility.
"Who goes there!"
"Relax, Dalton, he doesn't seem hostile."
On the sofa inside the castle, a woman with long curly hair was holding a bottle of plum wine. She was Dr. Kureha, Chopper's "foster mother" and teacher.
Compared to Dalton's tension, Dr. Kureha appeared very calm. This woman is said to have lived for 139 years, a living fossil of Drum Island and the person with the most secrets there.
"So, young man, do you have any particular purpose in coming here? Seeking my secret to eternal youth?"
"Woman, you have a lot of guts. I'm not interested in such things. You seem to be the ones in charge here. I just want to know if anyone knows the whereabouts of a pirate named Blackbeard?
Full name Marshall D. Teach, a very vile guy."