At the docks, CP0's black warship slowly eased into port.
On the deck, more than a dozen agents in white suits stood in formation.At their head was a man wearing a mask, a cloak embroidered with the emblem of the World Government draped over his shoulders.
Gern Reginald Sigmar stood at the very edge of the pier, one hand casually tucked into his pocket.The shadow cast by his cap brim concealed half his face—and the faintly upturned corner of his mouth.The untucked hem of his black shirt fluttered in the sea breeze.Behind him stood Tesoro and Stella.
"Vice Admiral Gern?"The leading CP0 agent descended the gangplank, his voice filtered through the mask, carrying an unmistakable air of condescension."Saint Charlmark has gone missing. As the highest-ranking Marine authority in the West Blue, you're telling me you only just showed up—despite being on leave?"
"Why the hell is that any of your business?"Gern snorted softly and tipped his hat up just enough to reveal his eyes.
"What kind of attitude is that?"The CP0 agent let out a cold laugh."Have the Marines forgotten even basic etiquette now? Under special circumstances, CP0 has the authority to take over Marine command."
As he spoke, he raised a hand.The agents behind him immediately spread out, encircling the dock.
"So, Vice Admiral Gern. I suggest you report everything you know truthfully. Otherwise—"
"Otherwise?"Gern's lips curled into a sneer."Otherwise what, exactly, do you think you can do?"
The CP0 leader was clearly enraged by his attitude and stepped forward sharply.
"Otherwise, I'll report your dereliction of duty to the World Government!Don't forget—the Marines are nothing more than a subordinate organization!"
For a brief instant, the sea breeze fell utterly still.
Gern suddenly turned his head, utterly unconcerned, and spoke toward Tesoro as if talking to himself.
"By the way, let me introduce him. This is a promising talent I just discovered—planning to take him back to Marine Headquarters for cultivation."
The CP agents were momentarily stunned by this abrupt shift, but soon, one of them fixed his gaze on Stella behind Tesoro.
Although her slave collar had already been removed, the marks it left behind could not vanish so easily.
"A blond slave?" an agent blurted out."Saint Charlmark's last known location was a slave market!"
Hearing this, the CP0 leader instantly drew his long blade.
"Take her in for interrogation!"
Two CP agents lunged toward Tesoro in an instant.
Stella cried out in alarm.Tesoro instinctively pulled her behind him, gold condensing into sharp spikes in his palm.
At that moment of extreme tension—
A pitch-black blade of light suddenly tore through the air.
Shhkk—
Time seemed to freeze for a single second.
The CP0 leader was still holding his command posture, blade half-raised—
Then, in the next instant, his head slid cleanly off his neck.
Thud.
It struck the wooden planks of the dock, and blood erupted from the severed neck like a fountain.
The headless body swayed once… then collapsed heavily to the ground.
Gern was already standing beside the corpse, though no one had seen him move.A single drop of blood slid down from the tip of the black blade Eight Desolations.
He lifted his foot and stepped on the fallen head, his leather shoe grinding over the shattered fragments of the mask with a sickening crack.
"Apologies."Gern smiled at the remaining CP0 agents, who stood frozen in place."It seems I possess special enforcement authority over the entire West Blue."
The tip of his blade lightly tapped the ground, producing a crisp metallic ring.
"I've determined that this man was suspicious, so I killed him.Gentlemen… you don't have any objections, do you?"
Deathly silence fell over the dock.
From far away, the cry of a seagull rang out—piercing in the stillness.
Seeing their leader decapitated before they could even react, the remaining CP agents unconsciously took a half-step back, their bodies trembling.
"D-do you even know what you've done?!" one of them shouted shakily."That was CP0! Directly under the World—"
"Oh?"Gern tilted his head, his smile growing almost gentle."So what you're saying is… you want to accompany him on the road to hell?"
As he spoke, he slowly raised his black blade.
"Or would you rather…""…cooperate obediently with my investigation into the Celestial Dragon's disappearance?"
Tesoro's breathing nearly stopped.
He watched those once-arrogant CP agents shrink like lambs under Gern's gaze.
He also saw the terror frozen in the wide-open eyes of the severed head beneath Gern's foot—the despair of realizing death had arrived, without even time to react.
"A monster…" one agent muttered hoarsely."How can the Marines have a lunatic like you…"
Gern's smile vanished.
He stepped forward.Black military boots splashed through the pool of blood, and with every step, the CP agents retreated another pace.
"Three days ago, the 'Bloodhand Pirate Crew' landed on Lilikaya Island."Gern casually pulled a thick stack of wrinkled bounty posters from his coat.
"This morning, I received intel that they purchased explosives on the black market."
The papers fluttered down like snow.At the top poster, a scar-covered man grinned viciously at the camera.
"There are traces of an explosion on Saint Charlmark's carriage wreckage."Gern's blade tip hooked up a golden button from the ground—
one he had just torn from Charlmark's corpse.
"And this was found on one of the pirates."
The CP agents exchanged uncertain glances.
One of them mustered his courage and picked up the button, his voice shaking.
"B-but this doesn't prove—"
"Do I need proof?"Gern cut him off softly."Doesn't 'special enforcement authority' mean—"
The black blade suddenly slashed sideways.
The agent's mask split cleanly in two.
"That whoever I say is the culprit…""…is the culprit?"
"In fact, the World Government already has an excuse prepared, doesn't it?"Gern continued calmly."Whether you find anything or not, in a few days the newspapers will say—
'Saint Charlmark has safely returned to the Holy Land.'Isn't that right?"
"Y-yes…"The agent whose mask had been split turned deathly pale.
Gern leaned close to his ear and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear:
"Tell the higher-ups that piracy in the West Blue is getting out of control.Even Celestial Dragons are being targeted…"
He straightened up, his voice returning to its normal volume.
"And I will personally purge this sea."
The wind rose again.
Gern turned and walked toward the warship, his black coat billowing behind him.
"Tesoro, bring Stella. We're heading back to the 133rd Main Branch to continue the investigation.
"Oh—and don't forget to thank these agents…for generously providing us with a warship."
"Oh—! R-right, thank you."Tesoro snapped out of his daze and hurriedly nodded toward the stunned CP agents, then pulled Stella along as he followed.
...
Several hours later, aboard the Marine warship.
Tesoro stood on the deck, gazing at Lilikaya Island as it gradually disappeared into the distance, his heart filled with tangled emotions.
He had never imagined he would leave that city—so heavy with pain and memories—so easily, without suspicion ever touching him.
Beside him, Stella also looked relieved. She spoke softly:
"A new life… has begun."
Tesoro nodded, tightening his grip on her hand.
"Yeah. This time, I won't let anyone take you away again."
Gern emerged from the cabin holding a Marine uniform and tossed it to Tesoro.
"From today on, you're a Marine.Get used to your new identity. You were too tense earlier when facing CP."
Tesoro stared at the uniform. After hesitating for a long time, he finally asked in a low voice,
"Vice Admiral Gern… those pirates you mentioned earlier…"
"They were wiped out by Sakazuki's fleet months ago," Gern replied without even turning around."Their bodies should be drifting somewhere in the Calm Belt by now."
Stella covered her mouth in shock.Tesoro's pupils shrank sharply.
In that instant, he understood everything.
From the moment Gern killed the Celestial Dragon, the entire scheme had already been set in motion.
Those pirates were nothing more than preselected scapegoats.And CP0… merely pieces casually moved across the board.
Charlmark's body would never be found.The World Government would investigate in secret, but publicly, they would take the graceful way out.
"Remember this, Tesoro."Gern's voice blended with the sea breeze, cold and unmistakably clear.
"In this world, true power isn't gold—it's the 'truth' that everyone is forced to believe."
"Then… Vice Admiral Gern, why did you choose to help me?"
Gern glanced at him and replied flatly,
"Because I saw your potential.The combat power of the Gold-Gold Fruit is something I'll need in the future—and…"
He paused briefly.
"I also need companions who can understand what my 'justice' truly means."
"So you're cultivating your own inner circle," Tesoro said quietly.As a man who had survived in casinos, he grasped Gern's intent instantly.
He wasn't aiming to become an admiral.
He was aiming to become Fleet Admiral.
Tesoro fell silent for a moment, then nodded solemnly.
"I won't disappoint you."
Gern smiled faintly and lifted his gaze to the vast blue sky.
By the timeline…I wonder if our "god" has already landed on a Sky Island by now?
(Enel was not originally a native of Skypiea. He only went there after destroying his homeland, Birka.So even Gern himself doesn't know which Sky Island Enel is currently on—or which one is Birka.After all, the pirate world has countless Sky Islands hidden among the clouds.)