The outcome of the battle spoke for itself.
A mindless monster that knew only how to vent its pain could never defeat a hero whose resolve turned pain into strength.
"Admiral Zephyr won!"
"That monster Weevil's body completely fell apart! There's no way he's still alive!"
"Definitely not. And Vice Admiral Roy is already over there now... Huh? He's making hand signals. What's he saying?"
"Wait! Admiral Zephyr collapsed!"
"Quick! Get the medical team over here!"
Cheers and cries of alarm echoed across Mont Blanc Island.
---
Out at sea, on the wreckage of the 'North Blue Cross'...
"Damn those lowly insects..."
Saint Pierre, who had been reduced to nothing but a head, was slowly regenerating.
Lying on the shattered remains of the ship, he still couldn't move. His black armor had been completely destroyed, and every moment of his regeneration was accompanied by bursts of black-and-red Conqueror's Haki lightning.
It was as though some invisible force was slowly erasing the overwhelming Haki Roy had left inside him.
"I'll kill every last one of you... Everyone on that island will die. I'll mobilize the armies of every nation if I have to..."
His teeth ground together with a harsh 'crack'. He remembered every punch Roy had thrown, every burst of Conqueror's Haki, every bit of agony it had inflicted.
Reduced to nothing but a head, lying here like a dead dog... He would never let such humiliation go unanswered.
Then,
"Pierre."
A voice suddenly echoed from the depths of his soul.
"Lord Saturn?"
Saint Pierre's expression froze. He recognized the voice immediately, it belonged to Saint Saturn, one of the Five Elders.
"Why are you, "
Confusion quickly gave way to unease, but Saturn had no intention of explaining himself.
He simply said, "This matter ends here."
"...!!"
Saint Pierre's face changed instantly.
"Ends here? What do you mean? Lord Saturn! That lowly insect... that Marine attacked me! He attacked one of the God's Knights!"
He couldn't accept it. Since when could a commoner attack a Celestial Dragon and simply walk away?
"Pierre," Saturn's voice remained cold. "The fact that I'm speaking to you like this means I'm not asking for your opinion. This is Lord Imu's order."
Those words caught in Saint Pierre's throat.
"...Lord Imu."
His expression twisted. He had already suspected as much the moment Saturn's voice reached him.
The God's Knights and the Five Elders represented two different pillars of the World Government: the former wielded the world's military power, while the latter wielded its authority.
Most God's Knights possessed the 'Deep Sea Covenant', whereas the Five Elders held an even higher-ranking 'Abyssal Sea Contract'. By virtue of that contract, they could communicate directly through the soul and issue orders to the God's Knights.
Ordinarily, however, the two groups operated independently. The Five Elders rarely exercised that authority unless they were speaking on Lord Imu's behalf.
"...Understood."
Though resentment filled his heart, Saint Pierre didn't dare allow even the slightest hint of defiance to surface.
"Leave the North Blue immediately and return to Mary Geoise," Saturn commanded. "I'll have a new suit of armor made for you."
With that, Saturn's voice vanished from his mind.
At the same moment, Saint Pierre felt his body finish regenerating. He clenched his fist and rose to his feet, his unwilling gaze lingering on Mont Blanc Island in the distance.
In the end, he only gritted his teeth.
'Boom!'
His body shot into the sky as he activated his ability, flying straight toward the Red Line.
---
At the same time, in the Room of Authority at Mary Geoise...
Having just delivered Lord Imu's order to Saint Pierre, Saturn's expression remained grim. He turned toward the other four members of the Five Elders. "What do you all think?"
The question was vague, but every one of them understood exactly what he meant.
"This was our mistake," Peter was the first to speak. "We were too hasty in choosing Edward Weevil."
He didn't deny it. Just as Sengoku had guessed, they had never paid much attention to the grudge between Weevil and Zephyr. Perhaps they had seen reports about it before, but they hadn't considered it important.
That single oversight had caused everything that followed to spiral completely beyond their expectations. Zephyr had chosen without hesitation to risk everything and kill Weevil, which had in turn drawn Roy into the conflict.
Ordinarily, that wouldn't have been much of a problem, a former Admiral and an Admiral candidate were hardly beyond the World Government's ability to eliminate. The real issue was what had happened beforehand.
To weaken the influence of the Twelve Zodiac across the seas and erase the lingering impact of the Whole Cake Island incident, they had deliberately launched an enormous propaganda campaign centered around Roy. Now, people all over the world viewed Roy as the hope standing against the Twelve Zodiac, the legendary Marine leading a new era.
His value to the World Government had already surpassed that of an ordinary Admiral. And more importantly...
"We seriously underestimated Roy Amos's individual strength," Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro spoke with a grave expression, for once not polishing his sword. "That level of Conqueror's Haki Infusion is exceptionally rare. He's far stronger than we expected."
Saint Topman Warcury nodded. "Another Garp?"
That comparison was accurate.
Within the Marines, the Marine Hero Garp was a truly unique figure. He had never bothered to hide his disdain for the Celestial Dragons, refusing promotion to Admiral all those years simply because he despised serving them directly.
The Five Elders knew exactly why: during the God Valley Incident, Garp had been one of the six people who fought Imu. He knew the truth behind God Valley and had even begun to suspect Imu's existence.
By all logic, the Five Elders should have erased him long ago. But even now, the World Government had never moved against him. The reason was simple: his reputation and his strength.
As the "Hero of God Valley" promoted by the World Government and the Pirate King Roger's greatest rival, Garp had become the symbol of an entire era. As one of the strongest men on the seas, possessing top-tier Conqueror's Haki Infusion, "Iron Fist" Garp was someone the World Government could hardly match in a one-on-one fight.
Now, Roy was beginning to resemble him more and more.
He possessed worldwide fame, wasn't a Devil Fruit user, had awakened Conqueror's Haki, and was even younger than Garp had been.
To the Five Elders, people like Roy should ideally be eliminated before they became impossible to control. His talent was terrifying, he refused to obey blindly, and he had already shown clear signs of defying the Celestial Dragons.
However,
"Lord Imu seems to value his strength," Saint Mars shook his head.
That was the reality. Before Lord Imu's will, even the opinions of the Five Elders were secondary.
"After all... the Star Lord has reappeared," Saturn sighed once more. "Even if we still can't confirm whether it's really him, Lord Imu is taking the matter very seriously."
Silence settled over the Room of Authority.
Every Elder understood the situation. They wanted to remove Roy before he could become another Garp, a legendary Marine openly dissatisfied with the Celestial Dragons. But Imu saw things differently.
Imu had never truly cared about the Celestial Dragons, only continuing to protect them because of an ancient covenant that safeguarded the descendants of the gods. In the past, if the Celestial Dragons wanted to preserve their rule over the world, Imu had simply allowed it.
But things had changed. With the Star Lord's return, Imu's greatest concern was now the Star Lord himself and the Twelve Zodiac standing behind him. Powerful warriors were urgently needed to oppose their rise.
Someone like Roy, blessed with monstrous talent, exceptional Conqueror's Haki Infusion, and still serving the World Government, was someone Imu would never allow the Celestial Dragons to eliminate.
The Five Elders were even certain of one thing: if Roy truly lived up to the world's expectations and stood against the Twelve Zodiac, or even killed the Star Lord himself, then not only would he become a Marine Hero, but Lord Imu might even reward him with his own Celestial Dragon family.
There could very well be an 'Amos Family' among the Celestial Dragons.
"Enough," Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro was the first to break the silence. "For now, Roy Amos is much like Garp. He values loyalty, and his attachment to the Marines is exceptionally strong. He's dangerous... but still manageable. As planned, we'll give both him and Zephyr the cold treatment for now."
The others nodded in agreement.
"I agree."
"According to our intelligence, he's a man with a strong sense of responsibility. Hmph... a typical flaw of the lower races."
"Using him against the Twelve Zodiac is still the best option."
"Compared to that, we have a more urgent matter," Peter brought up. "The Warlords."
The mention of the Seven Warlords of the Sea gave every Elder a headache.
"Edward Weevil is confirmed dead. As for Bartholomew Kuma..." The speaker looked toward Saturn.
Saturn's face darkened. "I've already gone to Egghead. He and his daughter are both gone. And Vegapunk erased every trace of what happened, I still don't know what took place."
Even now, anger was obvious in his voice.
"I've already increased surveillance around Egghead Island and activated an Abyss Array there," Saturn added. "But... we'll have to choose someone else for the Warlord position."
Kuma's appointment had largely been Saturn's own doing, and now that Kuma had disappeared, it felt like a slap in the face to Saturn. It was a humiliation he hadn't suffered in a very long time.
If Vegapunk weren't still researching something that absolutely could not fall into anyone else's hands, Saturn would have executed him on the spot.
Silence filled the Room of Authority once again. Even the Five Elders looked uncomfortable.
The Seven Warlords of the Sea only consisted of seven positions, yet in just the past few months, two had died. They had barely chosen two replacements, only for one to die and the other to vanish.
They all understood what that meant: the Warlord system itself was on the verge of collapse. If one more Warlord was lost, the entire system would fall apart.
None of them wanted that. The Warlords themselves weren't important, but the collapse of the Warlord system would throw the balance of the seas into even greater chaos.
"Leave the Warlord seat vacant for now," one suggested.
"Agreed," all four of the other Elders nodded in approval.
'(End of Chapter)'
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