Vice Admiral Tsuru's warship drifted closer until only fifty meters of open water separated her Marines from the Nightfall Pirates. Both sides stood at attention, eyes locked across the gap.
Teach raised a hand in greeting, smiling as if he were welcoming an old friend. "Vice Admiral Tsuru, long time no see. You look as sharp as ever."
Tsuru regarded him calmly, arms crossed. "Have we met? You little brat from the Whitebeard Pirates."
Her gaze moved past him, studying the men and women at his back. She was weighing their strength. She had to acknowledge the truth that the Nightfall Pirates already possessed power worthy of the New World. Their combined bounty surpassed every crew in the first half of the Grand Line, including the Four Seas.
She also sensed something else. A silent, growing threat emanated from Teach.
The Wash-Wash Fruit was technically a support ability, yet no one wished to be altered by it. Once Tsuru washed someone, even they could not be certain they remained themselves.
Combined with her Observation Haki that could read the moral nature of others, Tsuru had once labeled Doflamingo as pure, corrosive evil, a mind that should never go free. It was the sole reason she would never stop chasing him.
Teach, on the other hand, radiated ambition. His presence reminded her of another infamous man from decades past. Golden Lion Shiki.
Teach laughed lightly. "Of course we've met more than once. But someone of your stature has no reason to remember a nobody like me."
Facing her, he showed no tension. Tsuru recognized that recklessness. Under it, she felt the calculation of a man who planned every step. That combination made him deeply dangerous.
She frowned. "What is it, then? Do you intend to keep me here?"
She did not attack. She wanted to understand him.
Teach shook his head. "Of course not. I want nothing to do with Garp or Sengoku. This is just a friendly greeting. I imagine we will cross paths again."
He knew all too well that if Tsuru fell here, Garp's fist and Sengoku's shockwaves would chase him across the ocean.
In Teach's mind, Admiral-class combatants could be placed in four tiers.
The first tier was standard Admirals.
The second tier held peak Admirals.
The third was Emperor-level, capable of fighting two Admirals without collapsing.
The fourth was legendary-level, the apex, which included the current Garp, the late Roger, the elderly but still monstrous Whitebeard, Golden Lion Shiki before his imprisonment in Impel Down, and Rocks D. Xebec.
Tsuru shook her head. "Such arrogance." His words implied he believed he could defeat her.
Teach smiled. "Then a small gift for Vice Admiral Tsuru. Fire!"
All six ships under his control released their cannons at once.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Dozens of cannonballs arched through the sky toward Tsuru's warship.
Tsuru's expression sharpened. Her Observation Haki read each trajectory. The volleys were unnervingly precise, each one angled to strike critical points of the ship. Rumors had spoken of Teach's uncanny accuracy, but seeing it forced her to consider that some other power was guiding these shots.
She suspected a Devil Fruit ability. She had no time to investigate further.
The blast would tear her warship apart, and she had recruited several young female soldiers aboard it.
"Wash-Wash."
She swept her arm forward. A soft green light unfurled and wrapped around the incoming shells. Their metallic sheen brightened for an instant before every cannonball dropped harmlessly into the sea.
Teach had no intention of clashing with her directly. The three pirate ships and three seized Marine warships swung away, fleeing while maintaining steady fire.
Tsuru washed away each volley without effort. These scattered shots were never going to trouble a veteran from the previous era. She had honed the Wash-Wash Fruit to the extreme. She could cleanse objects, minds, and the very force behind an attack.
She also had no desire to pursue. Her purpose here had already been met. She had seen the crew, weighed their strength, and confirmed her suspicion. Capturing Teach would require a larger plan.
"Let us go," Tsuru said quietly.
Behind her, her female soldiers waited for orders. She watched the Nightfall Pirates fade into the horizon, lost in thought.
Back on Modern Island, the port was in ruins. It looked as if a full battle had erupted. Most pirates had fled or died. Several were captured by the Marines.
Because word of the Marines had spread early, many crews escaped before the encirclement tightened. Even so, the Marines still rounded up a large number of criminals.
Of the eighteen warships, only twelve remained. Three had been seized by the Nightfall Pirates. Three more had crashed into pirate crews while rushing toward the island, resulting in one warship being destroyed and two captured.
Teach had unintentionally popularized a new saying among criminals. "If you want to get rich, seize a warship." It made the Marines grind their teeth, especially Vice Admiral Brom.
Brom arrived once the cleansing of Modern Island was complete. "Tsuru, did he escape?" he asked, holding onto a last sliver of hope.
Tsuru gave a small shake of her head.
Brom deflated. "Tch."
"Brom, be cautious of Teach. His strength is not simple," Tsuru warned.
He scowled. "I know. I will catch him."
Tsuru could tell he was not listening. She could sense the danger Teach represented. Brom saw only an obstacle to overcome.
She chose not to push further. Teach was a threat that required monitoring, and Brom, despite his frustrations, was still a seasoned Vice Admiral.
"I will return to the North Blue. The matter of the Nightfall Pirates is yours," she said.
She had received fresh intelligence. One of the Donquixote Family's hidden bases had been exposed. Doflamingo himself was likely nearby.
She would not waste the opportunity. Doflamingo had eluded her countless times, but her constant pressure had slowed his growth. Even if she failed to capture him, disrupting his expansion was a victory in itself.
The North Blue had become increasingly turbulent. The Great Pirate Era had fueled chaos, but wars between kingdoms, driven by arms dealers, had accelerated it.
She had no proof, but she felt Doflamingo's hand in the shadows.
And despite her interference, his power only grew.
There was only so much she could do.
North Blue. A small, unremarkable town. Hidden here was a Donquixote Family base.
And within it sat Donquixote Doflamingo.
He had sacrificed multiple bases to mislead Tsuru and pull her attention away. For months, their conflict had been a battle of wits. One hunted. One vanished. Both refused to yield.
The Wash-Wash Fruit restrained the String-String Fruit. No matter how hard Doflamingo's threads were, Tsuru could wash them limp and harmless. His physical strength was decent, but Tsuru far surpassed him.
"Doffy, intelligence on Vice Admiral Tsuru," Trebol said, shuffling forward with his usual runny nose.
He leaned too close, and Doflamingo turned aside with a twitch of annoyance. "Hey. Too close."
He snatched the documents. For two months Tsuru had been relentlessly pursuing him, and more than once he had barely escaped with his dignity intact.
"She went to the West Blue?"
"The Nightfall Pirates?"
A grin crept across his face. "Fufufufu. Interesting."
Teach surfaced in his thoughts. Doflamingo had been watching him for a long time.
"It may be time to make contact."
Trebol blinked. "Doffy, you mean the captain of the Nightfall Pirates?"
"Yes. We met once. I did not expect his power to grow this quickly. They should be collecting Devil Fruits."
Trebol nodded. "They are. Likely to strengthen their crew."
Doflamingo's smile sharpened. "Then let us trade. We acquired two Devil Fruits recently. Our expansion needs funding, and the Nightfall Pirates have money. Mutual benefit can only help both sides."
Trebol hesitated. "Who should we send? We haven't expanded into the West Blue yet."
Doflamingo stood. "Forget it. I will go myself."
Trebol panicked. "But Doffy, Tsuru is watching us. She should already be back in the North Blue. If you leave, what happens to us?"
Doflamingo waved the concern aside. "Contract our forces. Abandon a few more bases if needed. I will return soon."
His red feathered coat fluttered as he walked. Confidence radiated from him, commanding the room.
"If this succeeds, our development will accelerate. Some things cannot be stopped. This era is an unstoppable tide. And I intend to ride it."
Trebol bowed his head, overwhelmed by Doflamingo's presence.
Elsewhere, Teach studied the intelligence he had gathered. The Nonook Kingdom was their next stop. It was closer than Kraken Kingdom, but required a small adjustment to their route.
He now possessed detailed information on Kraken Kingdom. Shakky had provided a general outline earlier, but reading the full reports clarified everything.
Kraken Kingdom was a nation built on warfare, a land of battle-hungry soldiers.
It occupied one-sixth of the massive Kanosfa Island. Sandy Island in Alabasta was comparable in size, yet Kanosfa was far richer in resources.
The remaining five-sixths belonged to Tirisfal Kingdom, a rare super kingdom. It commanded immense economic power and military strength. It held abundant resources and suffered no internal conflict. Its monarchs had always been competent rulers, generation after generation.
Tirisfal Kingdom ranked among the top ten nations in the world. Even the World Government did not carelessly provoke it.
As two nations sharing an island, Tirisfal and Kraken Kingdom naturally existed in constant opposition.
Kraken Kingdom had begun as a rebellion led by one of Tirisfal's generals more than a century ago. Its survival under such overwhelming pressure was only possible because of covert support from the World Government. They favored division over confrontation. Break strong nations apart. Support rival factions. Keep giants weak.
In the New World, St. Louis Island and Christie Kingdom were being weakened in the same way.
Kraken Kingdom persisted because it provided a counterweight to Tirisfal. Militarism had become its lifeline. Without it, it would have been crushed long ago.
Teach closed the documents. New routes. New wars. New opportunities.
The sea was about to become far noisier.