At the capital—the castle, Pangea, the chamber of authority. Five elderly men could be seen sitting with one another. Their faces were stern and their voices heavy.
They thought of one man at this moment.
Kaizen!
"So—" Saint Warcurry interjected.
"...He defeated CP3 and wrecked CP7 entirely. Two highly trained teams, especially CP7. A highly trained devil fruit laden special unit."
"Effortlessly too. He also does not wield the battle experiences as those CP units singularly, much less put them all together. He shouldn't be able to stand a chance—Yet, he devoured them mercilessly." Saint Mars reminded.
The air seemed to grow heavier at the mention of that. Kaizen, the anomaly was growing beyond their initial expectations. It was both concerning yet a part of them still felt confident when it came to reeling him under their absolute control.
Their reason for that confidence?
The one that sat atop the lonely throne—the overseer that truly governed the world.
Imu.
The creator.
A moment of silence passed. Every one of the Elders held a contemplative expression upon their faces. Haki churned around them, a silent storm brewing.
Saint Jaygarcia broke the terrible silence, "Let's keep to the plan. Send him into Stillreach. Have CP7 go—and how about we send one more team with CP3?"
"Agreed." Saint Mars added.
"Yes." Saint Jupiter said.
All of them agreed with Saint Jaygarcia's idea. Exchanging a glance, they stomped the butt of their weapons down gently. A light rumble then traversed the castle.
Moments later, a marine informant wandered in with a straight posture and a nervous expression.
He knelt once reaching a certain distance, ready to receive instructions immediately. He was a diligent one. The Five Elders cared for none of that though. They scanned his small figure that seemed so tiny and incessant to them.
The instructions were given from Saint Jaygarcia, ordering him to summon the CP4 unit and have them cooperate with the recovered CP3 and CP7 unit on a retrieval mission with The Anomaly Kaizen.
——————
Elsewhere.
Time flew, moments blurred into hours and finally, it was time to set sail. Kaizen stood at the port of the capital. His massive frame leaned against the marine ship that was currently docked at the boardwalk.
A hum of breath escaped his mouth, his chiseled jaw, sharp and defiant eyebrows and straight nose illuminated in a striking manner as the rays of sunlight crept through parted clouds.
From the distance of the port three units of five members each threaded towards Kaizen's direction. They marched forth with not only little to no haste but also confidence.
Though, towards Kaizen, even from afar the lingering fear of the two CP units that clashed with him was evident. As for the other one—the newly assigned one. CP4, there was only curiosity and a bit of shock staring at the giant of a teenager that was Kaizen.
CP7, wore their clean white tuxedos, dawning their Oni masks in their respective ranks leading at the center, CP3 followed slightly behind on the left wearing black tuxedos instead, dawning the regular masks of the World Government.
And on the right—there was CP4.
The new unit that joined in. They wore black tuxedos as well however, they did not dawn any masks or head attires. Their faces revealed entirely.
Minutes passed and they reached Kaizen.
He towered over them significantly.
CP7 and CP3 gazed towards Kaizen as though he was an immovable wall, their nerves aching slightly at the remembrance of the belt to ass—whopping they had received.
"Took you long enough." Deep and commanding, his voice was at its usual—not forced, not too much. It left a natural reverb lingering in their ears.
CP4 examined this man. Kaizen. The Anomaly.
They heard about him. The being that was nonstop growing. The monster that neutralized the deadly and efficient CP7 along with their own rivals, CP3.
They each shared a glance of understanding and proceeded to introduce themselves. With introductions out of the way, they finally boarded the ship.
A 15 unit team of highly trained assassins that could brawl with some of the strongest on this sea. And they were all led by one man.
"Kaizen." A voice called out as the units began to fasten the sails, coordinating their destination.
"Come, let us talk. It is urgent."
It was Raze, the commander of CP7 the bearer of the Inrokyu-Inrokyu no Mi or otherwise known as the Attraction-Attraction Fruit. A gravity based paramecia that allows him to control gravity as a localized zone rather than a universal one.
Unlike the future Admiral, Fujitora that wielded the Zushi-Zushu no Mi, Raze could not summon meteors, reverse gravity globally, create floating islands or manipulate space-scale gravity.
His Devil Fruit however could: make enemies stick to the ground, walls, or each other, cause attacks to curve unnaturally toward their targets, lock opponents in place by binding them to the terrain and create crushing attraction points that collapse bodies inward.
In short, Fujitora could bend the world and Raze?
He could bind everything that dwelled in it together.
Kaizen observed his entirety for a minute. Scrutinizing the man before him, his eyes carried a hint of what seemed like momentary judgement as he nodded to his request.
"What is it?" Kaizen rumbled.
Raze stepped to the side of Kaizen, pulling away from the crew that already got the ship up and going. Kaizen observed this and mirrored his intentions, stepping away from the ears of the other members.
A deep breath was swallowed. Raze began. Sternly at that too.
"Stillreach, it is not to be underestimated."
His words made Kaizen raise an unamused eyebrow. "Hm? I know this—" However before Kaizen could continue with his trail of words, Raze interjected.
"...No—You need to understand…" Right at that moment, Raze held it in no longer. A cold and spine chilling shuddering began to take him as he began his recount.
He continued, "Stillreach is far more terrifying than any of us know. Unbeknownst to you, there was a CP7 before us—" At that sentence, the air tensed slightly, the atmosphere growing heavier as Kaizen no longer leaned against the railing of the ship.
Raze said after a moment's silence, "At the time our unit was still under training when we were suddenly selected to be the successors of the original CP7 unit.
At first we thought it was a natural procedure, that they were either being granted a promotional reward or they were being removed due to other reasons.
That was until our battle had concluded. That day, after you left, returning to the capital. We rounded ourselves up and headed straight to the infirmary inside Pangea.
I wasn't so bedridden and so, I was able to move about. I was just wondering about the interior, trying to find myself in the kitchen area at that time. It had been so long since I had walked the halls of Pangea.
Then I saw it. Merely by chance but I got a glimpse of it. A room. Buried within the castle walls—it was not supposed to be recognized by anyone but the person in charge of ensuring its confidentiality. And I, well I got curious.
And so, I went in. And what I saw was nothing short of chaos. The files that lay open and spread out on the desk of the room were gnarly to say the least. Pictures of odd and grotesque creatures tearing away at pirates and marines alike.
Odd environmental phenomena that affected ships and those that had encroached upon the waters of Stillreach.
And among those that were never to be seen again? The original CP7 unit."
Raze's squinted beneath the mask. His words lingered in the air, the expression on his face unreadable even beneath that mask. He observed Kaizen's silence thoughtfully.
Hm.
"I see. I can't understand something though. Why are you telling me this? We're enemies. You didn't forget, did you?" Kaizen shot at him, not because he wanted clarification on his side but because he wanted to remind Raze that this was not a voyage of kinship or budding friendship.
Sensing Kaizen's tone of voice and his stern gaze, Raze immediately clarified matters.
"Don't misunderstand. Aside from myself, only you know of this information. I merely told you because you're the strongest of us here. So understand when I tell you this. We are heading straight to our deaths." He let those last words hang, not saying anything but staring at the expression of Kaizen with a saddened smile beneath that mask.
His intentions? Remind Kaizen that he was nothing but a tool that the World Government could discard whenever they deemed him useless in future. Well, if he even had one beyond this mission.
As though he saw a flicker of expression upon Kaizen's usual stoic face, he cackled inwardly before shooting up another sentence somewhat, hurriedly.
"Tell me, are you terrified ye—"
However, Raze was suddenly cut off.
"Enough." Kaizen warned, already sensing where Raze was getting at.
He then continued, "We walk towards our death everyday. Regardless of who they are, monsters or not, I do not care." He didn't say much. He did not need to.
His words hung in the air, a quiet authority permeated each word ushered within that sentence. His lips moved, delivering a sentence that left chills down those who heard the conviction behind it.
"Let them come."
It was not a taunt.
It was a declaration.
Kaizen was willing, unmoving. He was absolute.
Kaizen shifted, his eyes looking far out to the ocean as a cool ocean breeze passed and brushed his hair and face lightly.
Raze stood there, his eyes open, wide and staring. His mind replayed Kaizen's words before he simply shook his head. A soft cackle escaped his mouth as he turned around and went back over to his group.
Raze was not scared, his exaggerated tone during his confession of his discovery was simply a tactic to plant a seed of discomfort and lingering fear in the heart of Kaizen. Obviously, it didn't work.
He should have known better, he told himself, walking away with his hands in his pockets. He is, after all, a Conqueror.
Kaizen left the units to their own devices, his mind trailing off as he recounted Raze's words, in a contemplative light. If before he was extremely curious about Stillreach, then he was now obsessed with uncovering its veils of mysteries.
A chuckle escaped his throat, low and menacing. "Monsters? Frightened? Me?" His aura flared slightly and for a moment, he heard it.
A faint voice, calling out to him. Reaching towards his very being. His eyes narrowed, eyebrows furrowed.
'There it is again—that voice. From my dreams to reality, huh.' Kaizen passed his large hand over his face, rubbing his nose and squeezing his temples gently.
'It seems I have more business in Stillreach than I imagined.' He thought before turning and retreating into the main quarters of the deck.
From behind the closed door he uttered to them, "Stay on guard I'm going to relax for a few. If you can't handle it just call me." And with that, he plopped onto the bed, causing it to creek slightly at his heavy weight.
From outside, the CP units shared a glance at one another before resuming their tasks like nothing happened. Some trained, others ate whilst some even chatted with one another about their recent missions.
Meanwhile, Kaizen looked up to the ceiling of his room, his mind filled with thoughts of the future. And just like that, the coming days were more or less a repeat of the first. Nothing interesting ever seemed to play off. Aside from the unnatural weather phenomenon or a Sea King encounter, Kaizen would never be busy at other times.
They sailed for five days, when finally a member of CP4, Jax Dreyke, who had a lean build and average height encountered something from atop the mast of the ship.
"I see something!" His voice, somewhat light, called out in urgency as the other members focused too. Kaizen came out of his quarters at this moment as well. His Observation Haki focuses around his eyes, heightening his visual clarity and granting him near telescopic sight.
"A sea of fog?" His mind flashed, reeling back to the book he read up on that held the Stillreach. It said nothing about encountering a sea of fog. But he knew better. He knew that information was always withheld, not fully granted to those that wished to spread knowledge to all.
His heart cemented, his will absolute. He looked at the man that had controlled the course of their ship for the past few days. Valor Krepe, a member of CP4. A rather small man, short, a bit below the average height. His physique was neither muscular nor lean, just slim.
Kaizen gazed into his eyes, and sent a nod his way. Valor knew already what that meant. And so, he kept them on course. Seconds turned into minutes and minutes into hours. Finally, they stood silently before the stretch of fog.
Kaizen had them close the sails, his hand signaling one of the CP members to approach him. "Take out your Log Pose." He spoke. And the woman, Nyx, listened.
As she did so, they gathered around. A collective gasp left their mouths. This was it. The point before the Stillreach. The Log Pose's needle spun in a crazed manner nonstop.
This was the dead space before Stillreach. This was—The Margin.
Kaizen looked into the fog, so thick you could carve at it as though it was cake. He signaled them to let down those sails. It was time.
Time to retrieve not only what was requested but what belonged to him.