This novel is finished, and I have posted all the advanced chapters on my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395
Late at night, in the Fleet Admiral's Office at Marine Headquarters.
"What?!"
Akainu shot to his feet, his composure completely shattered as he stared blankly at the Den Den Mushi in his hand.
A moment later, he visibly forced himself back to reality and nodded sharply. "I understand. I'll inform the appropriate parties immediately."
With that, Akainu swiftly hung up the call, grabbed his great white cloak, and headed for the door.
"Vice Admiral Tsuru, I'll leave the rest of the night's work to you. I must leave immediately."
"What has happened?" Tsuru asked, her brow furrowed with concern. She had been working alongside him in the office, reviewing critical documents.
While the Fleet Admiral held supreme authority, he couldn't personally handle every single issue. Outside of a few extremely sensitive decisions that demanded his direct involvement, most routine administration required the Staff Officer's advice. In all but name, the Chief of Staff was half a Fleet Admiral. Entrusting these documents to Tsuru was not just reasonable, it was essential.
This necessity explained Tsuru's unique standing within the Marines. Even disregarding her connections to veterans like Garp, Sengoku, and Zephyr, her strategic importance was unmatched. Should the looming war with Im truly engulf the world, Tsuru would be the cornerstone maintaining stability on the home front.
Akainu paused at the doorway, turning slightly, his expression grave.
"Orrick's Devil Fruit ability has vanished. Based on observation, his body is now rapidly aging."
He pulled the door open and was gone.
Inside the office, Tsuru stared blankly at the doorway, her pupils constricting sharply.
"Orrick's Devil Fruit ability… vanished?!"
If Akainu had only delivered the second half of the sentence, it would have been less alarming. There were many Devil Fruits capable of inducing rapid aging. Even her own Wash-Wash Fruit possessed a lesser-known facet of that power. Washing away evil, or merely cleaning the corpse-oil flames left by 'Conflagration' King, feats requiring an undefended target, weren't enough to justify the terror Doflamingo felt for her, a fear that extended beyond simply having his evil nature scrubbed clean.
But the first half of Akainu's statement chilled Tsuru to the very core.
"To think… such a thing is even possible?!"
Regarding Devil Fruits, certain rules had been accepted as immutable truths across the entire sea. These rules weren't officially certified but were proven through centuries of accumulated data and common knowledge.
The two most famous rules were:
A person can only consume one Devil Fruit in their lifetime. Attempting to eat a second will result in the immediate and violent destruction of the body.
Only one of each specific Devil Fruit exists at any given time. A new one will only reappear in the world upon the death of its current user.
There were other, equally fundamental tenets, truths accepted as naturally as gravity. No one questioned them; they were simply fact.
And chief among them was this rule:
"A Devil Fruit's powers remain permanently within the first person who consumes it, and they will never disappear until the user dies."
Until death! What an unbreakable shackle that was!
Yet today, this fundamental truth had been utterly shattered.
A man who had consumed a Devil Fruit had suddenly lost its ability while still alive, and his body was rapidly withering away.
Akainu had left so abruptly because he had no one else he could spare in the Holy Land.
Kizaru had already been dispatched by Rowen to keep a close eye on Vegapunk. With his laid-back personality, involving him in a confrontation as dire as the one with Im would only result in a half-hearted effort, better to keep him occupied elsewhere.
Aokiji, given only half a month, had no time to spare. The moment the war meeting ended, he had rushed out to gather his team and depart. He had prepared in advance, but even so, the timeline was suicidal.
With Rowen now in control of the Holy Land, the Admiral roster was effectively halved, and both remaining Admirals were assigned to critical, immovable tasks. The position of the new Admiral was still a point of contention; neither Momousagi nor Chaton possessed the necessary credentials or universal support to be entrusted with major responsibilities.
Walking quickly toward the Scientific Force Headquarters, Akainu was met by the main gate guard, who looked at him in confusion before snapping to a hurried salute.
"Fleet Admiral!"
"Mm. How many soldiers are currently stationed at the Scientific Force headquarters?" Akainu asked, barely breaking stride.
"Report! Including the internal patrol squads, a total of three hundred and fifty personnel!"
This was, after all, the Scientific Force headquarters inside Marine Headquarters. Three hundred and fifty was a respectable number, certainly more than some remote Marine branches in the Four Seas could muster.
Akainu nodded, judging the number sufficient. He spoke quickly, his voice cold and commanding.
"Pass down my order immediately, lock down all entrances and exits. Without my permission, no one is allowed to leave. Anyone who violates this order, kill without mercy!"
As a man of the War Faction, Akainu's methods were never gentle, but they were unquestionably effective. The moment the words "kill without mercy" left his mouth, the gate guard's eyes went wide with shock before he stood rigidly at attention.
"Yes, sir!"
Several minutes later, the Deputy Director of the Scientific Force, an elderly, white-haired researcher in a lab coat, arrived before Akainu. Seeing the Fleet Admiral standing at the gate with a thunderous expression, the old man edged closer and whispered nervously:
"Fleet Admiral… what is the meaning of this lockdown?"
The Scientific Force had suffered immensely in the past two years. Their only two research giants, Vegapunk and M. Caesar Clown, had both been compromised. Caesar had been captured and executed for unspeakable reasons, a deed personally carried out by the current Holy Land ruler. Then, shortly after, Vegapunk had betrayed the Holy Land, ordering the Pacifistas to massacre civilians.
The organization had been shattered. With both the top and second-highest minds jumping ship, what were the rest of them supposed to do? Compared to CP0, the Scientific Force was arguably closer to total collapse.
Akainu could clearly see the old man's fear. He frowned.
"This has nothing to do with you. I am here looking for something."
He looked toward Chaton and the rest of the security force who had rushed over.
"Has anyone left?"
"Report! Not a single person!" Chaton answered solemnly, then his expression twisted into a forced, awkward smile. "Since the night Vegapunk betrayed us, Admiral Kizaru ordered me to assign men to keep watch on them. Over the past half month, anyone who tried to leave under false pretenses has already been thrown into the prison block to await judgment."
"Hmph, always playing these underhanded games…" Akainu's mouth twitched into a snarl.
Regardless of the circumstances, this debacle was his failure. A soldier does not offer excuses, least of all a Fleet Admiral. Fortunately, Kizaru was no fool; he had anticipated that the Scientific Force would face consequences sooner or later and had prepared in advance.
'They've all picked up Rowen's bad habits!' Akainu grumbled internally, then turned back to the elderly researcher.
"I don't have time to deal with your internal issues right now. Go, bring me all research materials related to Devil Fruits. Especially the experiments carried out by Vegapunk and Caesar Clown. All of them, bring everything you can find!"
Hearing that the crisis was merely about collecting documents, the old researcher released a massive sigh of relief. No matter how many disgraceful projects those two had conducted, their records and data, Devil Fruit research included, were safely backed up at Headquarters.
But the mere thought of what could make Akainu mobilize the way he had caused sweat to pour down the researcher's forehead again. If they couldn't find those documents, they were finished.
He spun around and dashed inside.
"What are you all standing around for?! Start searching!! Hurry!"
(End of Chapter)