Marineford, Marine Headquarters.
"What did you say?! Adolph D. York is suspected to have appeared in Water Seven?"
After almost a year of waiting, the long-anticipated news finally arrived, and Sengoku, who happened to be resting at Headquarters, wore a grave expression.
Ever since York appeared in the Sorbet Kingdom in the South Blue and massacred a large number of nobles, the Marines had dispatched the Marine Hero Garp together with the elite Vice Admiral Tsuru, the two joining forces in an attempt to strangle the newly formed Red Flag Pirates in the cradle.
However, when Garp and Tsuru arrived at the Sorbet Kingdom, the Red Flag Pirates had already left and disappeared without a trace.
Later, someone reported that the Red Flag Pirates had allegedly appeared in Alabasta, because one man's features matched those of Kaido on the wanted poster.
Garp and Tsuru rushed to Alabasta again.
The final outcome was the same as in the Sorbet Kingdom.
By the time they arrived, the Red Flag Pirates had once again left just ahead of them.
After that, the Red Flag Pirates seemed to vanish completely, with no further news at all.
The hot-tempered Garp kept searching for several months, but in the end could only call it off in frustration.
Now, information on the Red Flag Pirates had finally resurfaced, and Sengoku immediately took it very seriously.
Time was tight.
He could not confirm the accuracy of this report, nor could he guarantee that this pursuit would not end in another near miss like the last two.
But following the principle of "better to strike by mistake than to let one slip away," Sengoku still contacted Garp and Tsuru at once and informed them that the Red Flag Pirates were suspected to have appeared in Water Seven.
"That idiot son of mine! He's finally willing to show himself, huh? His old man is coming to beat him up right now!"
With a single punch, Garp flattened the pirate crew he was in the middle of chasing, then immediately gave the order for the warship to turn around and head for Water Seven at full speed.
…
Water Seven.
Tom the fish-man shipwright was now in his prime, but his build was already not much different from in his later years, so York recognized him at a glance.
After a brief negotiation, Tom agreed to York's shipbuilding request without much hesitation.
There was nothing to refuse. It was business for profit; a commission was a commission, no matter who placed it.
In the end, the two sides agreed on a construction fee of ten million Berries, with Tom responsible for design and building, this being pure labor cost.
As for the shipbuilding materials, those would be supplied by York.
It was not that York thought the materials Tom could purchase would be inferior, but that he himself had access to the best source of supply.
After leaving Tom's place, York and Stussy immediately entered the Mirror World.
Through the Mirror World, they located a mirror in Idda's tavern and, in an instant, York and Stussy crossed tens of thousands of kilometers to appear inside Idda's tavern on Elbaf.
"Yo, Idda, long time no see."
The sudden greeting made Idda, who was busy behind the bar, freeze for a moment.
Her eyes swept left and right before she finally noticed York and Stussy, who had appeared on the bar counter out of nowhere.
"York! Stussy! How are you two here?"
As she spoke, she turned her head toward the window, but saw no sign of a pirate ship.
Stussy smiled and cut her off, demonstrating her Devil Fruit power that allowed her to travel through mirrors.
"We're still in the first half of the Grand Line right now. We came here directly using my ability."
"How incredible."
Idda could not help but sigh.
"To think there's such a convenient Devil Fruit ability."
After some brief small talk, York casually asked, "Where's Harald? Is he on Elbaf?"
Idda nodded slightly. "He is. I'll let him know you're here."
With that, Idda took out a Den Den Mushi and contacted Harald in the royal palace of Elbaf.
After waiting a short while in Idda's tavern, Harald pushed open the door and entered, his face dark and gloomy.
"Yo, Harald, long time no see."
York greeted him with a smile, deliberately ignoring Harald's sour expression.
Harald wanted to force a smile, but his mood was so heavy that his whole face twisted instead.
"What happened, Harald? You're in quite a foul mood."
Harald sat down at the bar, took a sip of his drink, and let out a long, heavy sigh.
"It's the World Government. They've been getting a bit too full of themselves lately."
York understood at once.
Rocks's death had probably cut down the World Government's fear of Harald by a large margin.
After all, the friendship between Rocks and Harald was no secret.
Even setting aside Wang Zhi, that traitor who had likely sold out every bit of intel on the Rocks Pirates, it would not have been hard for the World Government to uncover on their own.
In the past, when Rocks was still alive, the World Government had been wary of forcing Harald and Rocks into a corner and pushing them into an alliance, so whether in their words or their actions, they always gave Harald sufficient face, even when turning him down.
But now Rocks was dead, and their greatest mortal threat was gone.
Harald, at least as far as public perception was concerned, had lost his strongest ally as well.
From here on out, the only thing the World Government had to face was Elbaf alone, with no external forces attached.
Naturally, their attitude was bound to become completely different from before.
Harald's resulting depression was only to be expected.
"You still haven't given up on the extravagant hope of joining the World Government?"
York lowered his gaze slightly as he questioned Harald.
The latter took another gulp of his drink and sighed. "My goal was never really to become a member nation. What I want is for the world to understand that Elbaf is not just about savagery. We are a civilized country too, a civilized country that can be negotiated with."
York chuckled softly and raised the small-sized glass Idda had prepared specifically for people of their stature, taking a sip.
"There's no difference. The logic is exactly what I told you back then."
"Only a country whose sword is sharp enough can be called an ancient civilization."
"If your sword is not sharp enough, then no matter how many thousands of unbroken years of history you have, you're not a civilized nation, just a savage land where people eat meat raw."
Harald frowned slightly.
In truth, he had already started to accept York's theory in his heart.
It was just that his many years of effort still left him holding on to a bit of naive fantasy and wishful thinking.
"Forget it, I won't argue with you about this. Tell me instead, what brings you suddenly to Elbaf this time?"
"Nothing major."
York signaled to Stussy, who began carrying out several crates from the Mirror World and placing them in front of Harald.
Click, click.
The crates opened, and stacks of green Berries filled Harald's vision.
"I just came to buy some shipbuilding materials from you."
"Treasure Tree Adam is ranked the number one shipbuilding timber in the entire world of us humans."
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