Rayleigh, with a whole group in tow, arrived where Camie was.
With the same cool flick of his wrist—
*BOOM!*
A deafening explosion rang out as sunlight poured through the shattered wall.
The sheer force of the blast had completely destroyed it.
Camie and Luffy’s crew were stunned.
This collar’s explosion was this powerful?!
Thank goodness they hadn’t tried to forcibly take Camie earlier—otherwise, her head would’ve been blown clean off by now.
Camie was just as terrified.
After rescuing them, Rayleigh didn’t linger.
He immediately led everyone back to his old hideout.
In the original story, Rayleigh had taken them back for tea, wine, and some casual chat.
But now…
Rayleigh just wanted to pack up and leave.
Though, he didn’t even need to do the packing himself.
Shakky, being a professional info broker, was already ahead of the curve.
There was no way an incident this big would escape her notice.
Almost the moment things went down, she got word.
The bags had already been packed.
She was just waiting for Rayleigh to return so they could set off immediately.
At that moment, Shakky was sitting calmly at the entrance of her bar.
Waiting quietly for Rayleigh’s return.
“Sigh… I knew that kid wasn’t one to mess with—after all, he casually takes on Vice Admirals, neither Aokiji nor Akainu could do anything to him, and Momousagi was also suspected of being…”
“But I never expected him to actually kill Celestial Dragons. And not just one… but three.”
“Kids these days… How reckless can you get? Those are Celestial Dragons. Does he have a death wish?”
Shakky exhaled smoke as she sighed deeply.
She had a full grasp of everything Vir had done.
From her perspective, she thought Vir would maybe rough them up a bit, teach them a lesson.
After all, everyone knew laying a hand on a Celestial Dragon would bring disaster.
But nope.
The kid went through with it anyway.
He knew what would happen—and still did it.
What the hell was he thinking?
Like, seriously… what was he even after?
Just as Shakky was about to dive deeper into her thoughts, Rayleigh and the others arrived, interrupting her.
“Quick! Let’s go, Shakky! There’s a lunatic on this island—we can’t take the blame for him, hurry!”
Rayleigh was uncharacteristically urgent.
Without another word, he started tossing the luggage Shakky had been sitting on toward Luffy and his crew.
All the while, he grumbled about Vir’s recklessness.
By now, Luffy and the others understood the gravity of the situation.
The best course of action was to retreat immediately.
Because an Admiral was not an enemy they could fight right now.
That much had already been proven—twice.
So everyone chipped in, eager to help with the luggage.
“Old man, I don’t think that kid is that dumb. He’s got to be after something.” Shakky said with a frown as she watched Rayleigh bustle around.
Rayleigh paused.
‘After something?’
‘What could he be after?’
‘…It can’t be me, right?’
‘What would he want with an old geezer like me?’
Shrugging off the thought, Rayleigh slung the last bag over his shoulder and glanced at Shakky.
“Who cares what he’s after. Maybe he’s just lost his damn mind! Either way, we’re not sticking around to find out. Whatever he’s plotting, he ain’t getting me involved!”
With that, Rayleigh grabbed Shakky by the hand and bolted toward Grove 40—the location of the Thousand Sunny.
Luffy and the others followed closely behind.
But Grove 40… was not close.
—
Two minutes earlier.
Marineford – Fleet Admiral’s Office.
Sengoku sat at his desk, buried under a mountain of paperwork.
Not far away, Garp and Kizaru were slumped on a couch.
One sipping tea, the other munching on rice crackers.
Both looked utterly lifeless, forming a stark contrast to Sengoku, who was scribbling away furiously.
Garp watched Kizaru, who seemed to be surpassing him in laziness, and nodded approvingly.
‘Hmph. Good.’
‘This old man’s legacy is in safe hands.’
*CRUNCH—MUNCH MUNCH—*
*Sluuurp… gulp gulp*
“Ahhh~ What a lovely afternoon tea, Vice Admiral Garp~” Kizaru drawled lazily.
“Bwahahaha! That’s right!” Garp laughed heartily.
Sengoku didn’t even have time to glare at them—he was too busy working.
A true corporate slave.
But then—
*Puru puru puru…*
The Den Den Mushi on his desk buzzed, forcing Sengoku to pause.
He picked up the receiver with one hand, still scribbling with the other.
“Moshi moshi?” Sengoku muttered.
“Fleet Admiral! Emergency!!”
Sengoku frowned at the first sentence.
But as he listened further, his pen stopped moving.
Beads of sweat formed on his forehead—
Not out of fear, but because he knew his workload was about to skyrocket.
‘Three.’
‘Three Celestial Dragons.’
‘All dead.’
‘Vir… it’s you again!’
‘You killed their entire family!’
‘How the hell do you have the guts?!’
Sengoku’s sweat intensified. His expression grew darker.
‘Vir… You little bastard!’
‘If I’d known it’d come to this, I’d have personally skipped out on work back then to arrest you!’
‘Now look what you’ve done—you’ve torn the sky open! And my dignity along with it!’
At this point, Sengoku felt like he was sitting on needles, with knives at his back, a bone stuck in his throat, standing on the edge of a cliff, walking on thin ice…
Sure enough.
Before he could even order Kizaru to move—
*Puru puru puru…*
—more calls came flooding in.
“Sengoku! What the hell are your Marines doing?!”
It was the Five Elders, yelling furiously.
“We’ve already deployed! Already en route!” Sengoku replied quickly.
*Puru puru puru…*
“The Marines haven’t even arrived yet?! Do you still want to keep your position, Fleet Admiral?!”
A bubble-helmeted Den Den Mushi screeched through the line.
“I’m working, I’m working!”
*Puru puru puru…*
“Fleet Admiral—!”
“Sengoku—!”
It was chaos.
Sengoku had one receiver in his ear, another balanced on his shoulder, a third wedged under his chin.
He was on the brink of a breakdown.
“KIZARU! Three Celestial Dragons were killed at Sabaody! Get your ass over there and eliminate the culprit NOW!”
“GARP, YOU OLD FOOL! GO INFORM SAKAZUKI! LET HIM GO ALL OUT THIS TIME—WIPE OUT THOSE PIRATES!”
Sengoku roared, abandoning all decorum.
He even dispatched Akainu.
That’s how furious he was.
The two men who’d been lounging with their legs up were now stunned.
What did he just say?
Three Celestial Dragons… dead?
Garp blinked, still trying to process.
But Kizaru was already sweating.
Without a word, he turned into light and vanished.
He’d already heard snippets from the earlier call.
At first, he didn’t want to believe it.
But now… no doubt about it.
That guy really did it.
He actually killed three Celestial Dragons!
What was he thinking?
Does he have a death wish?
Couldn’t he just… sit still like a normal person?
Why stir up so much trouble?
Forced to work overtime, Kizaru was not happy.
But with Sengoku’s rage practically burning through the room—
He was lazy, but not stupid.
If he didn’t act fast…
They might dock his pay.
—–
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