Sakazuki remained expressionless as he looked at the great pirate before him, making it impossible for Moria to guess what the other was thinking.
"Let's go, Gekko. Admiral Sengoku is already waiting for us at Impel Down. Making superiors wait long is not a virtue." Sakazuki stuck out his thumb and pointed towards the warship behind him. "A warship isn't like your excessively large Thriller Bark; even though we're on the outskirts of the Florian Triangle, it's best not to dock for too long!"
But before his voice faded, Gion's loud reminder from the warship stopped on the sea surface reached his ear: "Sakazuki, I seem to hear the sound of a violin! From the depths of the fog, it's getting closer and closer to our position."
Sakazuki was first stunned, "Hmm? Violin?" But he immediately reacted. In this kind of ghostly place, who else could be playing the violin?
Before he could open his mouth to remind Gion, waves of female exclamations came from the warship.
"Unknown ship observed in the fog ahead!! Seems to be a long-abandoned pirate ship!"
"Wait!! The skeleton on the ghost ship is alive!!! The skeleton is alive!!!!!"
"There's a ghost! Rear Admiral Gion!!"
Most of the female soldiers on the Big Rabbit ship screamed. Although they were all veterans with deep experience, having no second thoughts about cutting down living pirates, they couldn't resist the innate female fear of such supernatural horror events.
Even Gion couldn't hide her shocked expression. She had sailed the seas for a long time and witnessed many events that seemed incredible to outsiders.
Among these, many things were just baseless rumors of the sea; some were deliberately exaggerated gossip, and others were caused by special reasons of the sea area or islands.
But this example before her eyes was not within her scope of cognition.
From the female soldier on the lookout spotting the abandoned ship, to the pink-haired Big Rabbit personally seeing a skeleton with an afro flexibly playing the violin on the pirate ship's deck, in just over ten seconds, she had already made a judgment: "Prepare bombardment!! Fire!"
Whatever skeleton or ghost it is, shoot first and ask questions later!
"Please... please don't fire!! I have no ill intentions!!" The skeleton was frightened by a cannonball blasting onto the deck and jumped up; the violin in his hand also stopped.
Gion placed one hand on the hilt of her beloved sword Konpira, ready to launch a thunderous strike at any moment.
Sakazuki used Moonwalk to jump directly onto Gion's warship, and Moria also arrived like a shadow. Moria's deathly pale complexion, sharp teeth, combined with his strange figure made the female soldiers of the Burning Legion aim at him in unison.
"Hey hey! What kind of things are we seeing following the Legion Commander! First this weirdo who can dive into shadows, and now a living skeleton on a pirate ship?" Bell-mère held a ladies' cigarette in her mouth and pointed her gun barrel at this Warlord who had just been fighting fiercely with Sakazuki.
Sakazuki raised his hand: "Cease the bombardment of that pirate ship! Everyone put down your guns, Warlord Moria is currently not an enemy."
He looked at the solemn-faced Gion and proposed: "How about you go meet that skeleton?"
"With pleasure!" Gion stepped out, her proficient Moonwalk and Soru drawing sharp zigzag lines in the air. Rokushiki Combination Technique—Soru-Sword. This future Navy Admiral candidate flicked her beloved sword out of its sheath with one finger, her speed suddenly increasing again, rushing towards the flustered skeleton like a startled rabbit.
But unexpectedly, at the moment the blade edge was about to cut the skeleton's bone, the opponent suddenly drew a slender rapier from his cane and blocked this probing strike.
The famed sword Konpira seemed to come alive in Gion's hand. With a shift of the blade edge, she slashed diagonally towards the opponent's opening, changed direction again while the rapier was still retracting defensively, and aimed to slice off the opponent's head.
But the skeleton's flexibility indeed surprised her somewhat. In the blink of an eye, the blade's second change of direction slash was still locked down by the opponent.
"Yohohoho, please stop. My name is Brook, I'm a musician, and I have no ill intentions." The skeleton parrying the sword strike spoke sincerely. He was originally wandering in this sea area, but his pirate ship, lacking sails and a rudder, could only drift with the waves.
No one accompanied him; his companions had long turned into dry bones. Music became the only medicine to alleviate this tedious drifting. But unexpectedly, the sound of the violin exposed his position, leading him to run head-on into the Navy appearing in this sea area!
Gion had roughly gauged the opponent's reaction speed. Although the opponent had nimbly parried this move, it didn't mean the skeleton could dictate terms to her.
She crouched slightly, instantly turning into an afterimage. "Swift Slash - Mountain Rabbit!"
"So fast!" The skeleton calling himself Brook sighed lightly, and his head was chopped off by Gion's single strike.
"I really have no ill intentions, Miss Marine!" But even with his skull hitting the ground, the opponent could still speak.
The Navy Rear Admiral furrowed her elegant brows. This was the first time she had encountered a situation where she beheaded someone, and they could still talk to her: "Are you human or ghost?"
"Of course I'm human!" The skeleton, angered by having his race questioned, looked with his empty eye sockets towards the Navy warship not far away: "I am a Devil Fruit user who ate the Yomi Yomi Fruit!"
Sakazuki had been observing the opponent's skills. From the first glance, an interesting idea had surfaced in his mind. Currently, Brook's strength wasn't too bad, but under the hands of a swordmaster like Gion, he couldn't last more than a few moves.
But the opponent's potential for growth wasn't in his baffling swordsmanship. This former guard captain from a certain West Blue country was attracted by a group of musical adventurers sailing under a pirate flag, resolutely followed them to adventure in the Grand Line, and then the entire crew perished here.
The Navy Headquarters Vice Admiral valued his background and his relatively clean adventure career. The Seven Warlords indeed needed great pirates with sufficient influence, but besides strength, characters like Buggy in the original work, who gained fame through reputation farming, also occupied a spot.
But what Sakazuki needed wasn't Brook's outstanding strength and prestige among pirates. There were plenty of strong individuals among the Seven Warlords; Hawkeye, whom the Navy was currently closely monitoring, was an excellent example.
But what the Navy truly needed was the opponent's pop-star-like appeal among ordinary onlookers.
And a phenomenal idol group like the Soul King would be an extremely excellent tool for the military and the Seven Warlords to boost their reputation.
Looking at the skeleton, head and frame together, being brought back by Gion, the abacus in Sakazuki's mind clicked loudly.
The Great Deep Sea Prison—Impel Down today welcomed several distinguished guests from the Navy, truly deserving the name. Sengoku indeed went to Impel Down, but what he didn't tell Sakazuki was that besides him, Navy Fleet Admiral Kong and Navy Headquarters Great Staff Officer Tsuru were also on the ship.
Magellan, who had only recently been promoted to Warden, dared not show the slightest neglect, quickly inviting the group into the Warden's office for a short rest.
This strongest man in the Great Deep Sea Prison anxiously clutched his stomach, pacing back and forth in the office.
In a 24-hour day, excluding time for eating and sleeping, he only worked at his post for 4 hours. The rest of the time, this formidable character, whose mere mention made even the most vicious pirates in the prison pale, was battling diarrhea.
The ridiculously overpowered ability of the Paramecia-type Doku Doku Fruit turned him into a human biological weapon. He could produce deep purple potent poison from any part of his body, including sweat, saliva, and even his exhaled sighs turned into poisonous gas.
This multi-functional potent poison could paralyze the nerves of living beings, cause intense pain or hallucinations, and could also easily cause death.
But precisely because its toxicity was too strong, even contamination through saliva and exhaled gas could turn food about to enter his mouth into poisonous dark cuisine. Because of this, Magellan had never eaten a meal that didn't give him diarrhea.
The potent poison, sent from the mouth and esophagus to the stomach for digestion, was reabsorbed through the intestines, making even the Doku Doku Fruit user, a poison man himself, unable to withstand his own poison, resulting in severe diarrhea.
The Warden, enduring the abdominal pain, had no choice but to confirm with Sengoku again: "Is Vice Admiral Sakazuki on his way?"
"Ah, Magellan, you don't need to force yourself like this. We old folks all know your situation. No need to sit here with us. Wait until Sakazuki arrives at Impel Down with Moria, then we'll have your Vice-Warden notify you." Sengoku comforted the Doku Doku Fruit user whose face was full of pain. This feeling of forcibly holding back the urge to defecate was certainly uncomfortable: abdominal cramps, breaking out in a cold sweat, muscles around the buttocks tensed, unable to even walk quickly.
And Magellan experienced this utterly unlucky feeling every day, making the few people present feel deep sympathy.
"Phew!" Magellan gently exhaled and wiped the cold sweat beading on his forehead. "Then allow me to excuse myself first. Shiliew, take good care of the Fleet Admiral and the others."
The Vice-Warden whose name was called was calmly distributing gas masks to the Navy members. He laughed in a muffled voice, tapping the mask he had put on with his finger: "Of course, please go relieve yourself first. When you're not here, we don't need to wear these things."
"Shiliew of the Rain, are there still any troublemakers in this prison?" Seeing Magellan leave, the three from Navy Headquarters all took off their gas masks. Fleet Admiral Kong looked at the Vice-Warden who had started smoking a cigar and asked.
The Vice-Warden with the strange nickname laughed deeply: "Hahaha, of course, Fleet Admiral Kong, you know what kind of characters are imprisoned here. But please rest assured, the overly active guys have all been used by me to 'christen my sword'."
Tsuru frowned almost imperceptibly. She knew this Vice-Warden; his ability to handle and coordinate affairs and his strength were absolutely top-notch, but what was most worrying was his bloodthirsty nature.
The Navy Headquarters Great Staff Officer couldn't help but remind him, "Shiliew, you need to be careful. In the Great Deep Sea Prison, only the Warden has the authority to execute any prisoner. Others cannot kill indiscriminately. After all, Devil Fruit powers will reappear anew on the sea with the death of the host."
Shiliew hesitated for a moment, then nodded. But whether he actually took it to heart was not something Tsuru could guess.
"Purupurupuru!" The Den Den Mushi Sengoku carried with him rang at this moment. The Wise General exchanged a look with Kong and picked up the receiver: "Sakazuki, how is the mission completion?"
_____________________________________________
read more on patreon
patreon.com/iamsuzu