Following the subtle hints provided by Shanks—who pointed him toward the geopolitical unrest generated by a leader obsessed with freedom—Kelean piloted the Crimson Monolith into the tumultuous weather of the North Blue. The Monolith moved through massive storms and electrical interference as if they were nothing more than mist, eventually arriving at the Revolutionary Army's hidden headquarters—a remote, storm-lashed island shrouded in constant, dark weather.
The air here was different. It carried the scent of ambition, strategy, and cold, calculated defiance.
Standing on the black shores to greet the colossal vessel was Monkey D. Dragon. Unlike his father Garp, Dragon did not rush into a punch. He stood utterly still, his dark cloak billowing around his massive frame, his face permanently etched with the weight of global tragedy. He was accompanied only by Sabo, his Chief of Staff, and Bartholomew Kuma.
When Kelean stepped off his ship, the two men stood separated by forty feet of churning, wet sand. Kelean, ancient and imposing, and Dragon, the very image of a modern revolutionary icon.
"I am Dragon," the leader stated, his voice a low, commanding rumble that fought against the wind. "I know who you are, Ancestor. I read the documents Garp provided the instant he returned, crippled and silent. The World Government's worst nightmare has indeed awakened."
Kelean narrowed his amber eyes, looking past Dragon's impressive physical presence and into his soul. He saw a man who carried the world's pain, yet organized it into lines of resistance.
"You lead an army," Kelean observed, his tone bordering on contempt. "You use banners and ranks and systems. We, the D., were the embodiment of boundless chaos, the antithesis of rule. Why have you built a cage of organization to fight a prison of lies?"
Dragon's gaze, usually unreadable, hardened. "The world changed, Kelean. Your 'boundless chaos' ended with our defeat and eight centuries of silence. You were strong enough to fight without strategy; we are not. The enemy learned to control the flow of information, food, and logistics. You cannot destroy the system if you cannot feed the people you liberate."
Dragon gestured to the island, hidden by perpetual fog. "We fight for the liberation of nations, not just the destruction of a throne. That requires structure, supply lines, and a unified voice. We fight with compromise, because the only pure fight available is the one you lost."
Kelean understood the pragmatism, but it tasted like ashes. "A limitation of vision, Dragon. You seek to fix the structure they created, rather than returning the world to the open freedom of the Ancient Times. You seek to rule the liberated, not to free the rulers."
"No," Dragon countered instantly. "I seek to guarantee that when the old power is broken, a new tyranny cannot immediately rise to replace it. My compromise is stability for the next generation. A stability that Garp—and your other descendant, Luffy—will require."
The mention of his son and nephew brought a flicker of familial warmth to Dragon's eyes, a shift that Kelean instantly recognized and respected.
"You know the boy with the straw hat," Kelean stated, his interest suddenly intense.
Dragon stepped forward, shedding his composure. "Luffy is the only D. I have ever met who has completely rejected the compromise. He doesn't seek to fight the government; he ignores it entirely. His freedom is absolute and non-negotiable. He is the key to your boundless chaos, Ancestor, because he doesn't understand the meaning of 'limit.'"
He paused, then delivered the crucial intelligence. "Luffy and his crew are currently in Wano Country, battling one of the Four Emperors, Kaidou. It is a region steeped in the history of the Void Century, a place of isolated power. If you seek the destruction of the current era's greatest weapons and the true spark of the D. lineage, that is where you must go."
Kelean absorbed the information. A hidden nation, an Emperor holding the World Government's most dangerous weapons, and the convergence of his two most significant descendants (Luffy and Ace's legacy through Yamato/Wano).
"Wano Country," Kelean repeated. "The distractions are gathering in one place."
He looked at Dragon one last time. "Your compromises will not save this world, descendant. But they may keep the stage set long enough for the pure fire to be ignited."
Kelean turned, stepping back onto the Crimson Monolith. The ship didn't wait for him to give a command; it turned immediately, the colossal iron prow slicing through the storm and pointing directly toward the isolated fortress of Wano.
Dragon watched the founder depart, the sheer, crushing power of the Ancestor confirming every fear he had.
"Dragon-san," Sabo asked quietly, "was that the right decision? To send him after Luffy?"
Dragon didn't look away until the Crimson Monolith was swallowed by the storm. "If Luffy is truly the man Garp and I believe him to be, then this meeting was always inevitable. The Ancestor goes to Wano to judge his most promising heir. And if Luffy survives that judgment, then the true Dawn will finally begin."
Kelean is now en route to Wano Country, the land of samurai and the current epicenter of chaos, where his great-grandson, Monkey D. Luffy, is fighting to liberate a nation.