Let us return to the moment when Golden Lion Shiki first led his floating island fleet toward the indigenous village.
Upon spotting Shiki through his telescope, William calmly handed the instrument back to Hatcheson and activated his Den Den Mushi. Once connected, he issued a decisive command: "You may proceed with the operation."
Simultaneously, near Merveille Island, Aramis held his own transponder snail, which perfectly mimicked William's composed expression as he echoed: "You may proceed with the operation."
After ending the call, Aramis moistened his lips and dialed another number to reach Edmond aboard a separate airship. "We can now advance," he stated simply.
"Shiki thinks he can conquer the East Blue?" Edmond's cold laugh carried through the receiver. "Let's see how he feels when we seize his stronghold first!"
In reality, William had strategically divided his airship fleet into three distinct groups, each assigned different objectives.
The first group was tasked with deploying poison gas bombs across various islands, decimating the wildlife and threatening Shiki's experimental subjects—forcing him to engage quickly. The second group, personally led by William, made a conspicuous appearance at the indigenous village to threaten Shiki's labor source while providing him with a clear target.
These maneuvers were calculated to create an opening for the third group—an elite force commanded by Aramis, Edmond, and other senior officers—to strike Shiki's palace while he was distracted elsewhere.
"Luring the tiger from the mountain"—a simple stratagem, but effective strategies are those applied at precisely the right moment and context. Besides Shiki himself, his organization lacked any truly formidable figures. With the additional advantage of inside agents, capturing the palace presented minimal difficulty.
William fully understood the immense power of Shiki's Devil Fruit and had witnessed his Conqueror's Haki firsthand. Recognizing that numerical superiority offered little advantage against such an opponent, he had never intended to confront Shiki with a large force.
Meanwhile, within the palace, the inhabitants remained oblivious to the unfolding plot.
In the command center, as Dr. Indigo directed staff to search for functional surveillance feeds, the navigation team monitoring weather instruments suddenly tensed. Their leader approached Indigo with visible anxiety: "Doctor, we've detected a sudden atmospheric pressure drop. A severe storm appears imminent—Captain Shiki should be notified immediately to evacuate the area."
The navigators' concern stemmed not from worry for Shiki's safety, but from intimate knowledge of their captain's brutality.
Even for skilled navigators, accurately predicting weather patterns in unfamiliar waters presented significant challenges. Shiki, however, showed no tolerance for such difficulties—he had previously executed multiple navigators for failing to provide timely weather warnings.
The team leader spoke openly, his words reaching the ears of Don Krieg and Kuro who stood nearby.
Krieg stretched his neck with a knowing expression and silently mouthed to Kuro: "Cartography Bureau."
For years, William had meticulously mapped the East Blue's geography and climate patterns. This region constituted his power base, and William's methodical nature ensured he maintained comprehensive knowledge of his territory. What kind of regional power would remain ignorant of their own domain?
William's extensive preparations had proven their worth. As the ancient wisdom states: "With preparation comes success; without it, failure." Shiki epitomized external strength masking internal weakness—his legendary reputation belied his diminished capabilities. Without airships and hot air balloons, without the Six Powers and Life Return techniques acquired from Captain Nezumi, without the Fish-Man Karate knowledge extracted through interrogation—defeating Shiki would have remained impossible.
William's meteorological department might not individually surpass Shiki's navigators recruited from across the Grand Line and beyond, but their intimate familiarity with East Blue weather patterns, combined with coordinated intelligence from hot air balloon reconnaissance teams and various specialized departments, provided advantages Shiki's crew couldn't match.
The East Blue's relatively stable climate, compared to the Grand Line's volatility, enabled William's meteorological division to develop detailed weather maps. Through years of systematic observation and data collection, supplemented by pre-operation intelligence gathering, predicting a major storm during the already precipitation-heavy rainy season presented minimal difficulty.
Indigo dismissively waved his hand, signaling the navigation team leader to handle the matter independently.
As he turned away, a sharp crack echoed through the room. When he spun back in alarm, he discovered Krieg had somehow approached the navigation team and crushed their dedicated transponder snail with his bare hand.
The surrounding personnel froze in momentary shock. Indigo, already overwhelmed by issues with surveillance systems and the M.H.5 poison gas, grew even more furious. "Krieg! What do you think you're doing?!"
"The weather's so oppressively hot—a rainstorm would be refreshing," Krieg remarked casually, discarding the snail's mangled remains and wiping its viscous fluids on his shirt without a trace of remorse. "Why spoil the entertainment by warning Captain Shiki to leave?"
Indigo's expression darkened as he commanded the hall guards: "Arrest him immediately!"
Krieg's insolence had pushed Indigo beyond his limits. Though perplexed by this sudden betrayal, Indigo chose decisive action. However, because Krieg had surrendered early in their conflict, neither Indigo nor the palace personnel fully understood the extent of his capabilities.
Behind Krieg, the nearest guard—a shirtless man with bodybuilder-like musculature—stepped forward at Indigo's command.
Krieg, towering over the guard, remained motionless, merely tilting his head to observe with a sidelong glance.
"Playing it smart, are you?" the guard sneered as he reached for Krieg's arm, intending to twist it behind his back.
In the next instant, the guard's vision blurred as Krieg—whose physique revealed an even more imposing inverted triangle torso—seized his head with one massive hand. Like a ragdoll, the guard found himself helplessly slammed face-first into the marble floor.
CRACK!
The guard, powerless against Krieg's overwhelming strength, collided with the ground with devastating force. Before he could recover, Krieg delivered a crushing blow to the back of his skull.
A sickening impact resonated through the hall as the marble floor fractured beneath the guard's head, sending stone fragments flying. Blood spattered across Krieg's face, eliciting a sinister grin.
"With pathetic weaklings like you..." Krieg spat, releasing the now-motionless guard whose skull had visibly caved in. "You actually presumed to dominate the East Blue?"
Indigo reacted with surprising agility, stepping backward as a small fireball with an eerie green luminescence materialized in his palm. Suddenly, he detected movement from his periphery.
"Danger!" his instincts screamed.
Alarmed, Indigo pivoted sharply, hurling the fireball toward the approaching threat.
Kuro had already closed the distance, wearing metal gloves with short blades extending from each fingertip. With calculated precision, he intercepted the projectile, crushing it in his grasp.
The dissipating energy and ghostly green illumination cast sinister shadows across Kuro's features, enhancing his predatory appearance.
Indigo, primarily a scientist rather than a combatant, possessed minimal fighting ability. Kuro effortlessly tackled him to the ground, straddling his chest while pressing the razor-sharp blades against his throat.
"Do you comprehend the consequences of your actions?" Indigo snarled defiantly. "When Shiki returns, he'll annihilate you both!"
Kuro's lips curled into a cold smile: "That assumes he'll survive long enough to return." ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📚 BOOK COMPLETED ON PATREON!📚
This story has reached its conclusion on my Patreon!
🔥 Full story available now
💎 Exclusive bonus content & early access to new books
👉 Join my Patreon community today!
[✨ patreon.com/GoldenLong]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━