Colon Island.
This was a name Whitebeard had personally mentioned just yesterday.
Located near the entrance to the New World, it was once one of the islands under the protection of the Whitebeard Pirates.
Later, the Marine Headquarters seized it, establishing G-14 Branch as a foothold to gradually extend their control over the New World.
The base commander was none other than Vice Admiral Duo Er, who had once clashed with the Curtain Closer.
Realizing this, Xiano frowned slightly.
What was Blackbeard—a Pirate who had just betrayed an Emperor Crew—doing at a Marine base?
Was it merely a coincidence? Or… did he have ulterior motives?
After a brief moment of contemplation, Xiano shrugged indifferently, closed the Marauder's Map, and revved his motorcycle's engine.
Whatever the reason, it didn't matter.
No one could stop him from killing his target!
————
The next morning.
Colon Island.
The morning mist had yet to disperse, and the G-14 Branch fortress loomed faintly through the haze.
The pure white stone walls, weathered by sea winds, bore a stark, unyielding aura.
At that moment, inside the base commander's office on the top floor.
"Zehahaha! Vice Admiral Duo Er, I gave you the whole night to report and analyze… You've had enough time to think it over, right?"
Blackbeard lounged on the sofa, legs crossed, his gap-toothed grin wide and unbothered.
Opposite him, behind the desk.
Vice Admiral Duo Er, draped in the Marine's "Justice" cloak, clenched a cigarette between her teeth, her brow furrowed as she tapped the desk lightly with her fingers.
Spread before her were stacks of documents—black ink on white paper—detailing the intelligence Blackbeard had provided.
"Frankly, your proposed deal is quite tempting," Duo Er said slowly.
"The internal structure of the Whitebeard Pirates, the distribution of their core forces… This intel is invaluable to the Marines."
"But…"
She raised her head, scrutinizing the Pirate before her—a supposedly veteran member of the Whitebeard Pirates who had remained obscure until now—and sighed.
"I don't trust you."
"Hmm?"
Blackbeard's grin faltered, a shadow flickering in his eyes before he resumed his carefree demeanor.
"Zehahaha! So that's the issue? But a deal of this magnitude… Can a mere Vice Admiral even decide? Shouldn't you consult your higher-ups at Headquarters—"
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku personally heard my report last night," Duo Er interrupted, exhaling a smoke ring. "His opinion aligns with mine."
"Marshall D. Teach, a 'son' who followed Whitebeard for over twenty years, suddenly betrays him without reason? And voluntarily hands critical intel to the Marines?"
"It's far too bizarre. Hard not to suspect you're a double agent. Honestly, if Admiral Borsalino suddenly claimed to be Whitebeard's son, it'd be less shocking."
"Tch, what high praise for my character!"
Blackbeard spread his arms wide and laughed heartily, "Hearing you say that actually makes me quite happy. But to put it bluntly, with this attitude of yours, you're asking me to hand over a letter of commitment, aren't you?"
"Exactly, that's right."
At that moment, a steady voice came from outside the door.
Following that, the door creaked open.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku?!"
Rear Admiral Duo Er widened her eyes in disbelief at the newcomer, "You... weren't you still at Headquarters yesterday? How did you get here?"
"I rushed over overnight."
Sengoku's face showed exhaustion, with heavy dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept for several nights:
"The surveillance ship from G-1 Branch urgently reported yesterday that Whitebeard and Xiano had a meeting. I was worried there might be some unusual developments, so I came to the New World to oversee things for a few days."
He left the rest unsaid.
But Duo Er understood immediately.
Normally, such matters would be assigned to one of the Admirals. Yet, it was the Fleet Admiral himself who had come.
It seemed the Three Admirals were all currently on external missions and not at Headquarters...
"Please have a seat, Fleet Admiral."
She quickly stood up, offering the armchair to Sengoku, while she herself stood behind him.
"Marshall D. Teach."
Sengoku didn't stand on ceremony. After sitting down, he removed his seagull cap and rubbed his temples, "From what Duo Er said, the position you're seeking is that of a Warlord of the Sea, correct?"
"Zehahaha, exactly!"
Blackbeard grinned widely, "Didn't you Marines lose another Warlord at the end of last year? There must be a vacancy now, right? Speaking of which, ever since that kid set sail, you Marines have been busy recruiting Warlords, haven't you?"
Sengoku's hand, rubbing his temple, froze momentarily.
"That's none of your concern."
After a brief silence, Sengoku looked up, his expression cold:
"Let me be clear with you. At the end of the day, you're just a nobody. Whether you've truly betrayed Whitebeard is one thing, but whether you have the strength to be a Warlord is highly questionable."
"So if you want that vacant Warlord position, a letter of commitment is absolutely necessary. At the very least, you must hand over a notable core member of Whitebeard's crew to the Marines—preferably at the division commander level, dead or alive. Additionally..."
At this point.
Sengoku stared intently at Blackbeard's face, growing increasingly uneasy. His eyes narrowed slightly:
"Your face looks familiar. Have we met before?"
Blackbeard's pupils constricted sharply, his body tensing instinctively.
"Maybe."
He immediately adopted a nonchalant demeanor, crossing his arms:
"Back in the day, Whitebeard fought your Marines countless times, and I participated in many of those battles! It's normal that we might have crossed paths. But for the Fleet Admiral of Marine Headquarters to remember a nobody like me—I should feel deeply honored!"
"No, this has nothing to do with the Whitebeard Pirates. It's from much further back..."
Sengoku paused, then decided it was just an uncertain suspicion and not worth discussing with this man face-to-face.
He shook his head and was about to steer the conversation back to the letter of commitment when his expression suddenly changed. He stood up abruptly and turned to look out the window.
"What is it, Fleet Admiral?"
Rear Admiral Duo Er asked in confusion.
"An extremely powerful presence is rapidly approaching this base."
Sengoku's expression was grave, a drop of cold sweat trickling down his temple. "No attempt at concealment, utterly arrogant, yet unfamiliar... I've never encountered this before..."
He had met all the Four Emperors of the New World.
Which meant the only one who fit this description was...
"Xiano!!!"
Sengoku roared furiously at the sky, and almost simultaneously—
BOOM!!!
The entire ceiling was abruptly torn apart, along with the upper sections of the surrounding walls, collapsing in a thunderous crash!
Amid the billowing dust, a handsome black-haired youth with dark eyes descended from above, stepping steadily into the fortress's top floor.
"Seems I arrived at a bad time."
His indifferent gaze swept the room before finally settling on Blackbeard. He smiled faintly, revealing sharp white teeth. "Apologies for interrupting your little transaction."
"Xiano?!"
Under that gaze, Blackbeard felt a chill shoot up his spine straight to the crown of his head.
He sprang up from the sofa, fists clenched, his face twisted in fury. "How the hell did you find me here, you brat?!"
At dawn the previous day, after his injuries had slightly healed, he had used his Devil Fruit's low-altitude flight ability to traverse the sea for an entire day, putting thousands of nautical miles between them in one go!
How had this bastard pinpointed his location so precisely?!
And how had he caught up so quickly?!
Xiano showed no intention of answering. He didn't even spare Blackbeard another glance, instead turning his attention to Sengoku and speaking leisurely:
"Though this is our first meeting, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, you should already understand my temper. Given our temporary ceasefire with the Marines, step aside. I have some personal business to settle with this toothless green-headed fly."
"Personal business?!"
Sengoku had already positioned himself in front of Duo Er, his body faintly glowing with golden Buddha-like radiance as he bellowed:
"Since when do Pirates settle personal grudges in Marine bases?! And Marshall D. Teach is currently a potential collaborator under Marine evaluation! You think you can just kill him as you please? With me here, I won't allow such insolence!"
"I'm not in the mood for lengthy debates."
Ignoring the faint Buddha light illuminating the entire room, Xiano continued calmly:
"Out of respect for Garp, I'll say this one last time—move. This doesn't concern you, and you can't stop me, Sengoku. If you keep getting in my way, I'll have to beat you down too."
"Such arrogance! Such audacity!"
Sengoku laughed in furious disbelief. "Have I been away from the battlefield so long that youngsters like you dare look down on me?! Has the world forgotten the reputation I forged with my own fists?!"
"Then by all means, test me."
Xiano smirked coldly, a flash of icy intent in his eyes as his figure vanished instantly.
So fast!
Sengoku's heart lurched. Behind his round glasses, his pupils gleamed crimson for an instant before his golden palms shot forward with explosive force!
BOOM!!!
The two figures collided violently at the room's center, the shockwave instantly shattering all four walls.
Sengoku felt searing pain in his palms—the fist wreathed in black-red lightning had pierced straight through his shockwave, slamming squarely into his chest.
"Cough!"
Sengoku spat out a mouthful of blood, his body sent flying backward before crashing into the ruins.
"Seems like you've declined even more than Garp! At your age, daring to take my Supreme Haki Infusion head-on without even using your Devil Fruit powers?"
In a low voice, Xiano took a step forward, about to pursue, when he suddenly sensed something and paused slightly.
BOOM!
A fierce and domineering fist wind surged from the right, accompanied by the faint scent of smoke and Duo Er's furious roar:
"Sound Soul Explosion!"
Without even turning his head, Xiano casually raised his right hand, blocking Duo Er's punch precisely with the back of his hand.
The veteran vice admiral had poured all her strength into the strike, yet it left not even a scratch, failing to budge Xiano's palm even slightly.
"I remember you. It takes some courage to still dare attack me at this point."
Only then did Xiano glance at her through the gap of his arm:
"But it's not commendable. If I were you, I'd be evacuating the lower-ranking Marines below to minimize casualties, instead of pointlessly throwing your life away here."
"You—!"
Duo Er gritted her teeth, her face filled with resentment, but the moment she spoke, a tearing pain erupted in her abdomen.
Xiano's right foot had already slammed into her stomach at some point.
BOOM!
The terrifying impact made her eyes bulge as she was sent flying like a cannonball, crashing straight through the fortress walls and landing in the center of the base plaza.
"Vice Admiral Duo Er!"
The Marines in the plaza rushed over in shock, about to help her up, but Duo Er had already struggled to prop herself up.
Looking around, recalling Xiano's words, she hesitated for a few seconds before finally wiping the blood from her lips and shouting hoarsely:
"All units! Retreat to the perimeter and secure the island's borders! This is not a battle you're qualified to participate in!"
Meanwhile, atop the fortress.
After being ravaged by shockwaves, the top floor had been reduced to complete ruins.
Sengoku climbed out of the rubble, golden Buddha light suddenly flaring as his body swelled to over ten meters tall in an instant—nearly the size of a giant.
Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Great Buddha Form!
"Xiano!"
Sengoku's roar boomed like a great bell. "Cease this at once! This is a Marine base! I won't tolerate your recklessness here!"
"Now that's more like it!"
Xiano's figure suddenly appeared above Sengoku's head, grinning as his right leg descended like a battle axe. "Only in this form do you have the right to fight me. But I'll give you the same advice..."
"Stay out of my way!"
BOOM!!!
A kick wreathed in black-red lightning clashed with the Buddha's palm once more—but unlike before, the golden Buddha's hand was also surging with an overwhelming density of Conqueror's Haki.
He was the Fleet Admiral, Sengoku!
The justice he upheld was that of supreme authority!
Naturally, he too had mastered Conqueror's Haki Infusion!
THUD!
The two Conqueror's Haki forces collided violently, thick bolts of lightning crackling as the entire G-14 base fortress trembled from top to bottom, its very foundations shaking violently.
A shockwave many times more terrifying than before erupted in all directions, the upper structure of the fortress collapsing like paper. Countless documents and debris spiraled into the sky before crashing back down in unison.
Finally going all out against each other, huh...
Zehahaha, what a perfect opportunity!
Blackbeard, who had been slowly retreating to the side, saw this and couldn't hide his wild excitement. Without hesitation, he activated his ability!
Buzz!
In the blink of an eye, his body rapidly shrank to about half a meter, transforming into a large green-headed fly with a greasy sheen, flapping its wings as it darted toward the distance.
However.
Just as it flew a hundred meters, the surrounding air suddenly became as thick as a swamp, stagnating unnaturally. An intense sense of danger surged in his heart.
This is...
Instinctively, Blackbeard turned his head—just in time to see a crimson blade light illuminate his entire vision, pouring down like a galaxy, enveloping him completely.
At the same time, Xiano's cold voice rang out:
"Where do you think you're running off to? Did I say you could leave?"
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