"That's great!!!"
"Ozz-sama is coming back!!!"
After the Den Den Mushi call ended, Shakky was practically glowing with excitement. She did not take Ozz's warning about Sabaody "getting a little lively" seriously at all.
Because Ozz himself was coming back.
So what if it got lively?
What, were they going to launch a Buster Call?
And even if a Buster Call really did show up, so what?
As long as Ozz was here, nothing was a problem.
Before long, Ozz's two little maids got the news too.
One wore white thigh-highs, the other black. Years had passed, yet the two of them still looked like cute, slender girls straight out of a picture.
"Ozz-sama is finally coming back."
"Let's tell everyone too!!!"
Watching the two breathtakingly pretty girls scamper off to spread the news, Shakky laughed helplessly, still smiling herself.
Because they were Ozz's personal maids, they never had to do any real work. So they had stayed innocent and sweet all these years.
On Sabaody, they were practically a special breed of their own.
"Mm… if Ozz-sama is back, we should welcome him properly. Maybe…"
"Shut down the red-light district for a day and throw a private party?"
Shakky quietly began planning.
Meanwhile, the two maids bounced around delivering the news. The whole red-light district lit up with celebration. Even some customers could feel the mood shift in the air.
Even Rayleigh, who was freeloading drinks in a bar, got notified.
"Uncle Rayleigh! Ozz-sama is coming back!"
"Hm?"
Rayleigh took a swig, paused, then chuckled as he processed it.
"Is that so. It's been a long time."
"Ten years, give or take."
As the outside world erupted in joy, Rayleigh's lips curled slightly. He poured himself another drink, then lowered his gaze back to the bounty poster in his hand.
It was a rookie's wanted notice.
HADES
Bounty: 412,000,000 Berries
Extremely Dangerous. Dead or Alive.
"Hades…?"
Rayleigh frowned at the photo.
A muscular man with spiky hair, sunglasses, and a wide grin.
This…
Didn't this look like Scopper Gaban?
And those twin axes.
Even Gaban's own son wouldn't look this similar.
Or maybe this really was Gaban's son…
"So young, and already worth over four hundred million."
"These rookies these days really do have some fire in them…"
…
That latest photo had been taken in Mock Town, by some unknown seagull braving a storm.
It captured Hades at his most striking.
While Ozz headed for Sabaody Archipelago…
Mock Town.
"Zehahahaha… Lafitte already secured us an opening at Marine Headquarters!"
"Now all we need is a head with a bounty over a hundred million!!!"
"Straw Hat Luffy, you'll do just fine!!!"
"Zehahahaha!!!"
Riding a raft lashed together from a few logs, the Blackbeard Pirates surged toward the distant Going Merry.
But before they could catch up, a massive sea current began to churn from the deep.
"Sky Island!!! Let's go!!!"
Luffy shouted in delight.
The Blackbeard crew's crudely built raft, however, instantly shattered into a pile of driftwood under the violent upward blast.
"Telekinesis: Levitation."
A strange force rippled out.
Blackbeard and the others stood atop the floating debris, hanging in midair instead of falling.
Everyone stared in amazement at the hovering planks.
"Zehahaha… this kind of power feels just like Golden Lion Shiki's!!!"
"Hey! Hades!"
"Let's fly up there like this and take Straw Hat Luffy's crew down!!!"
Teach grinned viciously, but the wood under his feet did not move at all.
He turned.
Hades had already drifted back into that drowsy, vacant stare again.
"Hades, you bastard!!!"
…
The reason Hades had gone blank was simple.
Ozz had called.
"Moshi moshi. Little Hawk?"
On the Seagull King's back, Ozz was eating local specialties he had just bought. A Den Den Mushi sat before him.
Its eyes were cold, the pupils ringed in layered circles.
Elsewhere, Mihawk sat on his coffin-shaped boat. After refusing Doflamingo's invitation to share a ride, he left Marineford alone.
The moment he departed, he contacted Ozz.
"The meeting at Marine Headquarters is over. Just as you expected, a man named Lafitte showed up."
Mihawk paused, curiosity slipping into his voice.
"This Teach… I've never even heard the name."
"Yet you seem to know a great deal about them."
Ozz only smiled.
"My Observation Haki is enough to see through fate and the future."
"The future is going to be very interesting."
"…"
On the other end, Mihawk stared at the Den Den Mushi's crimson gleam and the mischievous curve of Ozz's mouth.
A bead of sweat slid down his face.
Hard to comprehend.
It felt like this man held the entire sea in his palm.
But hadn't he already retired?
Was this "control of the whole board" really just Observation Haki?
Mihawk's thoughts churned, then he forced himself to stop digging into that question. Instead, he brought up what he needed to report.
"And also, about the laboratory…"
…
The New World, in some unknown waters.
Gale winds howled. Waves raged. Rain fell in sheets.
A secret World Government vessel was struggling forward across the sea.
On the deck, several figures in white braved the storm, scanning the darkness ahead.
"Something's wrong… the needle's magnetic field is completely chaotic!"
"It's like something is interfering with it!!!"
Guernica listened to the report, his expression growing heavy.
"How? The logs from the CP0 team that got wiped out shouldn't be wrong."
"So why is the sea's magnetic field in total disorder?"
"Unless…"
As if realizing something, Guernica suddenly looked up.
Lightning churned overhead, rumbling again and again within the clouds.
"Don't tell me there's an enemy in the sky…"
Bang!!!
A violent impact slammed into the hull. The entire ship lurched, almost capsizing.
"No!!! There's an enemy under the ship too!!!"
"What is that strength?!"
"Is it a Sea King attacking?!"
Among the CP agents, only Guernica had the Observation Haki and eyesight sharp enough to guess who was doing this.
"All units, on guard! Something monstrous is coming!"
For once, Guernica broke into a cold sweat as he assumed a defensive stance.
"An insect dares provoke a god into acting."
"I'm merely a penitent."
Two terrifying forces swelled together, taking shape like a combined technique.
"Ten Billion Volts: Raigo!!!"
"Fish-Man Karate: Tsunami Over-the-Shoulder Throw!!!"
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