After Dragon and his people had completely left the palace grounds, Momonga let out a breath.
He used his Mist-Mist Fruit ability to envelop the entire palace in a thin, imperceptible fog.
This allowed him to sense everyone within the building, ensuring no witnesses remained.
Only then did Momonga walk into the main hall.
Grover, the Captain of the Guard, still stood guard beside the abdicated King, holding a broken sword hilt.
Edward III didn't seem frightened at all. He was comforting Grover.
"Grover, don't be afraid. They promised we would be allowed to live safely. Rear Admiral Raleigh gave his word."
Grover didn't respond.
He didn't believe anyone could be that kind-hearted after a coup.
SHING!
Momonga drew Dojigiri Yasutsuna from his waist. The cold light glinting along the blade made the already tense Grover's palms sweat.
"Edward III," Momonga said, his voice echoing in the hall. "You know what our conditions are, right?"
"I know," the King nodded rapidly.
"Good. You will be escorted to a secure location. You will remain silent. In three years, we'll grant you freedom and a pension."
"Thank you! Thank you!" Edward III performed a clumsy noble salute to Momonga, then pulled the bewildered Grover away toward the side exit where Marines were waiting to escort them.
The remaining nobles—the corrupt ministers, the greedy dukes who had been frightened out of their wits—saw the King leaving safely.
They began shouting.
"Marine sir! We're willing to accept your conditions too!"
"Spare us! I'm willing to offer all my property! Just let me go!"
Belo Betty, sitting on the throne with the crown slightly askew on her head, stuck out her tongue and sighed.
"You fools," she said, her voice dripping with disdain. "Now that you know Momonga-san identity... how could we possibly let you live?"
Hearing this, the nobles froze.
They suddenly realized their situation.
"Wait! No! Sir, we know nothing! We saw nothing!"
"We won't talk!"
"Hmm," Momonga said, stepping forward. "You should have said that earlier."
The blade flashed.
Slash.
Momonga's sword drew arcs of cold light through the air.
Moments later, the magnificent main hall had transformed into a silent room filled with the smell of blood.
Momonga stood with his head lowered, holding a pure white cloth as he carefully wiped his blade clean.
Belo Betty walked to Momonga's side, stepping over a body.
She wrinkled her nose at the metallic scent.
"Momonga-san," she asked quietly. "Why couldn't they be kept alive? Like the King?"
After sheathing his sword, Momonga took Belo Betty's hand and walked her out of the hall, toward the balcony.
"They're different from the King," Momonga explained patiently. "Edward III didn't do anything wrong—though he didn't do anything right, either. He was a figurehead. So Raleigh decided we could spare him as a gesture."
"But these nobles are different," Momonga's eyes hardened. "Everything that happened in the Eryoku Kingdom—the oppression, the slavery, the human trafficking—was orchestrated by them. They were the ones manipulating the strings."
"Their connections are too complex. Their greed is too deep. Raleigh said it would take too long to subdue them, and we'd always have to worry about them plotting a counter-coup. So..." He looked at the stars.
"It's better to just eliminate them all. A clean country is much easier to manage."
Momonga gazed at the distant night sky.
The current scene reminded him of a moment years ago in the Academy classroom.
Raleigh had casually remarked that 'If one wanted to truly change a country, they must first eliminate its aristocratic class.'
Back then, Raleigh had been harshly reprimanded by the instructors for such radical talk.
But now... they had truly put those words into action.
...
Meanwhile, at the Donquixote Family's Stronghold on Rubec Island.
The bonfire celebration had died down.
The Marine soldiers were now fully mobilized.
Admiral Sengoku stood in the center of the square, his face dark with anger.
He held a Den Den Mushi in a grip so tight the shell was cracking. He glared at the nonchalant Borsalino and Raleigh standing before him.
The news had just arrived.
Due to the large-scale withdrawal of Marine forces to hunt Byrnndi World, the defenses of the Eryoku Kingdom had been left critically weak.
Taking advantage of this "gap," the Rebel Army had launched a massive uprising.
The report was concise: The Royal Guard is defeated. The Capital has fallen. The King has abdicated.
"So," Sengoku spoke through gritted teeth, barely containing his fury. "The moment you left... they erupted in rebellion. Is that it?"
Sengoku wasn't stupid.
He was unaware of the specific details, but the timing was too coincidental.
It was clearly a coordinated effort.
The Marine withdrawal and the rebel attack were perfectly synced.
However, neither Borsalino nor Raleigh—both thick-skinned as city walls—cared about Sengoku's glare.
Without concrete evidence, it was just speculation.
"Terrible timing, truly," Raleigh said, shaking his head with mock sadness. "If only we hadn't been so focused on saving the world from Byrnndi World."
"Scary~" Borsalino added.
"Alright," Sengoku snapped. "Let's set off. We're going back."
After some thought, Sengoku decided not to press further.
He couldn't prove it. And technically, Raleigh had ended the pirate threat.
Though he was an Admiral, the ones responsible for the North Blue were these two.
If they wanted to play games, he would watch and learn.
...
Later, inside Sengoku's office on the warship.
The candle was burning low.
Sengoku sat at his desk, reviewing a stack of files. It was every report on Raleigh's activities since arriving in the North Blue.
To verify their accuracy, he had also secretly asked Gion and Tokikake to submit their own independent reports for comparison.
After a long while, as the wax dripped onto the wood, Sengoku finally exhaled deeply.
He closed the file labeled "Christian Raleigh."
"Brilliant," Sengoku whispered to the empty room. "Ambitious. Ruthless. And skilled at manipulating hearts."
"What kind of monster are you... Raleigh?"
Perhaps the name he uttered was taboo, or perhaps it was just a passing breeze—but the candle on the desk flickered out, plunging the room into darkness.
Only a pair of gleaming, calculating eyes remained visible, staring into the abyss ahead.
...
Marineford, Marine Headquarters.
Fleet Admiral Kong, long past his working hours, was still toiling away at his massive desk.
He had just received the distress call from the Eryoku Kingdom, followed by Sengoku's after-action report.
Fortunately, the incidents had been "contained."
The King was safe (sort of).
The pirates were dead.
Kong was curious why the World Government hadn't reprimanded him yet.
Usually, if a kingdom fell, the Five Elders would be screaming.
He thought perhaps they had managed to contain the news quickly. He didn't know that the reason for the silence was simple: the CP agents who would have reported the coup were all dead, their bodies burned to ash by Momonga.
"Take a look, Tsuru," Kong said, handing a telegram to the woman sitting opposite him. "This is from Sengoku. It's a rather... tricky matter."
Vice Admiral Tsuru, the Great Staff Officer, took the paper.
She was the only one left at HQ since Garp had run off to the New World again to chase Roger.
"I don't think this matter has reached an irreparable point yet," Tsuru analyzed calmly. "The Eryoku Kingdom has experienced multiple uprisings in its history. It's unstable ground. Besides, we were following the World Government's orders to capture Byrnndi World. That priority justifies the depleted defenses."
Kong nodded. "The issue with the kingdom isn't the real problem. Regimes change. What's truly important in this telegram... is the footnote." He tapped the paper.
"Sengoku wants to know my opinion on this Christian Raleigh."
"Christian Raleigh?" Tsuru asked, her brow furrowing. "Borsalino's younger brother?"
She remembered the name.
"I recall... the last time I heard that name was in a report about a kingdom in the East Blue where the king and nobles were slaughtered by pirates. He was the responding officer then, too." Her eyes narrowed.
"Two kingdoms. Two slaughtered nobilities. And one Marine officer present at both."
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