The five elders, the Gorosei, were arrayed in their customary seats.
Ethan Baron V. Nusjuro, the swordsman, broke the silence, his voice as sharp and clean as his blade. "The report from the God's Knights is conclusive. The man who destroyed Antonieta and killed Saint Varnel was a slave."
The word hung in the air, ugly and dissonant.
"A slave?" Saint Shepherd Ju Peter grunted, leaning forward on his trident, his face a mask of disgust. "I never thought they would dare."
Saint Topman Warcury, his massive frame overflowing his chair, let out a low, rumbling laugh. "Grotesque, but ultimately insignificant. We have dealt with rebellious slaves for centuries. They break easily."
"Precisely," Saint Marcus Mars chimed in. "We have a precise drawing of his face, because a female noble had requested it. And Sengoku informed me there is a Marine vessel already on his trail. The matter will be resolved within the day."
A collective, almost imperceptible sense of relief passed between them. It was not the relief of justice, but the relief of a contained problem.
"This is a detail best left unspoken," Nusjuro stated, his eyes narrowing. "To report about a mere slave to Imu would be inappropriate. Especially when our lord is so worried and stressed."
Saint Jaygarcia Saturn, who had been quietly observing, nodded slowly. "Yes, Imu-sama has been... burdened with weightier concerns of late. It's for the best that we deal with that on our own."
Everyone agreed; after all, they didn't want to report this to Imu and risk being punished. Their lord had been tense in the last few days and seemed ready to kill someone at any given moment.
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Vice Admiral Strawberry was stunned when the order came down: attack Saint Varnel's ship and capture him.
For a moment, he thought he'd misheard, but Sengoku confirmed his words with conviction. A direct order to assault a Celestial Dragon's vessel? Unthinkable. But as the shock settled, a bitter smile crept across his face.
Few in the Marines had ever dealt personally with a Celestial Dragon and come away with anything but hatred. Strawberry was no exception. The chance to see one of those pampered tyrants fall filled him with a rare sense of satisfaction.
Besides, Sengoku said it was a mission personally assigned by the Gorosei. It was so easy: all he needed to do was capture some dim-witted Celestial Dragons and he would be earning points with the Five Elders who commanded the world.
He snapped back to business.
"Where's his ship now?" he demanded.
His subordinates scrambled to report. Varnel's vessel was sailing steadily toward open waters, unaware of the silent predator following in its wake.
They would have to keep their distance. If they were too close, they would be noticed. Luckily, the trackers placed aboard Varnel's ship made pursuit effortless.
Satisfied, Strawberry turned to his Den Den Mushi and typed in a short coded message, a discreet signal meant for one specific person: Hina.
Moments later, not far away, a small snail phone on Hina's belt gave three sharp chirps.
Hearing it, she froze. The code was unmistakable.
An attack was coming.
No one else aboard knew what those beeps meant, but for the Marines' misfortune, Hina's loyalty no longer belonged to them. Her hand trembled slightly as she switched off the snail, then ran to find her master.
When she entered Arlo's cabin, her expression was taut with worry.
"Master," she said quickly, "they're coming. The Vice Admiral himself."
Arlo looked up from the table, calm as still water.
"I see," he murmured, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. "Right on schedule." He rose, unhurried, as if he'd been waiting for this exact moment.
"Gather everyone," he said simply. "It's time to leave."
Within minutes, Hina, Sasha, and the other sex slave girls hurried into the room, nervous but trusting.
Arlo opened his suit and took off the collar he always carried closely. He held up an ornate key. With a turn of his wrist, a magical phenomenon happened as a door appeared in the air, glowing with a subtle tone of blue.
He opened the door, revealing the small room. His Harem Mansion on the first level was quite pathetic, but it would do the trick.
"Inside," he ordered.
One by one, the girls stepped through, disappearing into safety. When the last of them crossed, Arlo got into the place that was cramped and closed the door.
Then he opened the door on the left wall of that enclosed space. This one connected to Hina's ship, which was anchored on the far side of the world in the East Blue.
A brilliant flash. A rush of air. And just like that, they were gone.
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An hour later, Vice Admiral Strawberry's warship loomed over the drifting remains of Varnel's vessel. Cannons ready, Marines swarmed aboard, their boots clanging against the deck.
They found Hina's subordinates, but Varnel or Hina herself were nowhere to be found.
"Search every corner!" Strawberry barked. "Don't let a single rat escape!"
They tore through the cabins, overturned furniture, ripped open storage crates, but there was nothing. No slaves. No Varnel. Just the poor Marines that had been imprisoned. But they had no useful information.
"Sir!" a lieutenant shouted, panic rising in his voice. "There's… there's no trace of life here at all!"
Strawberry's confidence faltered. His proud grin faded as the truth set in. He was the one in charge of following the Celestial Dragon traces. Still, he had nothing to show for it.
They escaped, and he had not even an idea where they had gone or how they escaped.
Silence hung over the deck like a noose.
When the Den Den Mushi rang again, carrying the sharp tone of Akainu demanding a report, Strawberry's hands trembled before he answered.
"Vice Admiral Strawberry," the voice boomed. "Status?"
He swallowed hard. "T-the ship, sir… It's empty."
"Empty?"
"Yes, sir. Varnel escaped somehow."
The line went quiet for a few agonizing seconds, then came a cold, clipped reply:
"Do you have any idea what you've just done? How did they escape? Didn't you say it was all right? You should be following them, watching them closely!"
Strawberry's heart sank. The arrogance that had once filled his chest drained away, replaced by a suffocating dread.
"You better find them immediately!" Akainu screamed, and Strawberry felt his heart sink. He was really in deep trouble this time.