Morgans went about his daily work as usual, as if nothing had happened.
Until night fell.
When he returned home, it was as if something unseen had dropped. Not long after stepping inside, he hurriedly left the house again.
...
In Morgans' home, deep within the basement—
A whole wall of monitors displayed surveillance feeds of the island's various locations, covering even the most hidden corners.
The "Morgans" who had just left was, in fact, a double...
As one of the underworld's leading figures, he naturally had a few life-saving measures prepared—especially given how many people he had offended over the years.
Morgans stared repeatedly at the images on the monitors, carefully checking whether anyone had infiltrated his premises.
That news bird carrying a listening device had already been dispatched that afternoon...
"Who could it be... the Government? The Marines? Or the Revolu—"
Slash—
Morgans' head flew off.
As his spinning vision flipped upside down, his pupils shrank violently.
"Wha—"
Crack—
Enel reached out and clamped Morgans' beak in one hand, answering his question:
"The answer is the Marines."
The sound of cracking bones came from the crushed beak.
Law stepped out from behind Enel, swinging his long blade. Morgans' body was neatly sliced apart, the pieces hovering in midair.
Pointing a finger toward Morgans' chest, he murmured,
"Scalpel."
From a distance, Law's power took effect—Morgans' heart was extracted and turned into a floating cube, still beating inside.
Law hooked his index finger, and the heart-cube appeared in his hand. He squeezed it lightly.
Morgans convulsed in agony, cold sweat streaming down his feathered face.
Enel chuckled, gripping Morgans' beak and lifting him closer.
"Pretty creative, huh? Using a double to protect yourself."
"Too bad... that kind of trick doesn't work against the strong."
He released Morgans' beak, staring at him indifferently.
Suspended in the air, Morgans shuddered and asked fearfully,
"What do you want?"
He didn't dare to move a feather. Having one's heart literally in another man's grasp... the feeling was unbearable. He could die at any moment!
Enel snorted softly.
"What do we want?"
"Everything you have, you idiot."
A chill shot straight through Morgans' brain.
"What do you mean..."
Enel's smile faded.
"Time to get to work."
"Make him quiet."
Law nodded and made a hand gesture.
A large equipment case appeared on the floor.
He raised his long sword and brought it down vertically—splitting Morgans' head cleanly in half.
The pain mixed with anesthetic effect made Morgans instantly lose consciousness.
Law coated his hands in his Devil Fruit's power and reached inside—
Extracting Morgans' entire brain.
Enel opened the equipment case, received the brain, and placed it on a machine.
Several mechanical arms extended, connecting neural components as they began to work.
They implanted a chip into Morgans' brain, continuously modifying its structure.
Since current technology wasn't advanced enough to turn him into a full cyborg without it being noticed soon, they instead buried a control chip that could seize control of his brain at key moments—also allowing for eavesdropping and subtle manipulation of his thoughts.
But it would not interfere with his daily behavior.
Half an hour later...
A green light lit up on the machine's screen—operation successful.
The robotic arms slowly retracted. Enel grabbed the modified brain and tossed it back to Law.
"Done."
"Let's go."
Law nodded and flicked his finger.
The disassembled body parts floating in the air began to reassemble, reforming into a complete Morgans who stood there with eyes closed.
Then, with a mechanical stiffness, he opened his eyes and turned expressionlessly toward the monitors.
Swish—
Law activated his ability, and both he and Enel vanished.
A few seconds later, Morgans seemed to regain consciousness. He examined the monitors, scanning for intruders...
"Who could it be... the Government? The Marines? Or the Revolutionary Army..."
The words he repeated were the very thoughts that had just flashed through his mind.
It was as if he'd been reset.
Completely seamless...
...
Up in the sky, aboard the Ark.
Enel yawned.
"It's done. We're heading for the New World."
"Keep an eye on the flight course."
Law's lips twitched.
"I gotta ask... what are we even doing?"
"All we've done lately is run around doing dirty jobs. Doesn't seem like we're training much at all."
Enel raised a brow.
"Not training?"
"Who was the one sweating bullets when we ran into Kaido last time?"
A vein bulged on Law's forehead.
"That's because you didn't say a damn thing beforehand, bastard!"
"Who would've thought a Marine would march straight into a Yonko's stronghold to cause trouble?!"
Enel grinned wide.
"That's the whole point—it's only real training if you don't know what's coming."
"Otherwise, what's the fun in it?"
"That's how you get that tension, that sense of danger pressing down when death is right around the corner."
"Didn't you come out fine even after fighting two of Kaido's top officers? Not bad at all."
Law's expression darkened. Sure, he came out fine... but still—damn it...
Enel looked at Law's scowling face, chuckled, and closed his eyes.
"Alright, I'm sleeping."
"When we reach the New World, there'll be another fight waiting."
"Another Yonko, too."
"I'll give you one night to guess who."
With that, his breathing steadied as he drifted into sleep.
Law raised an eyebrow, tightened his fists, and steered the flying ark...
Thinking about which Yonko it could be.
Hmm... Kaido's already off the list...
...
Grand Line, Alabasta.
Inside the secret base of the Sand-Sand Clan, Princess Vivi of Alabasta grabbed the arm of an enraged young man.
"Wait! Koza!!!"
"It's not what you think!"
Koza shook off Vivi's hand and shouted furiously.
"Not what I think?"
Behind a giant boulder in the distance—
King Nefertari Cobra, who had secretly followed Vivi with her maidservant, nearly charged out on the spot. He muttered in a low, furious voice,
"That bastard! How dare he!!!"
Beside him, Minister Igaram, also in disguise, hurriedly grabbed him and whispered,
"Please, Your Majesty, calm down!"
"If you rush out now, we'll be exposed!!!"
...
Inside the base—
Koza glared at Vivi, demanding,
"Then tell me!"
"Why has the rain stopped everywhere except the capital?!"
"Sure, Alabasta doesn't get much rain, but for every other city to suddenly dry up like this—there's only one explanation!"
He stormed off to the side, grabbed a bag, and hurled it to the ground in front of her.
"Look at this!"
"These were all found in Alubarna!"
"This is Dance Powder!"
"You still need me to explain why the rest of Alabasta's been suffering droughts?!"
"And you've been lying to the people, saying that the weather is in the hands of the gods, that humans can't interfere?!"
"You think that's fun?!"
"This hypocritical royal façade of yours... it's just..."
"Disgusting..."
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The fanfic is Finished on p@treon/tambeerg. 414 chapters in total