Inside Pangaea Castle, where some unknown method kept the interior as bright and sunny as the world outside—
the place was bustling with people.
Pangaea Castle was a city in the form of a building, its scale no less than that of a small nation.
Here, aside from Imu and the Five Elders, there were also a great number of high-ranking Celestial Dragons, along with many of the World Government's most important departments.
For example, the headquarters of CP0, the World Government's most famous intelligence agency, was located inside Pangaea Castle.
Whether it was training or daily life, everything could be carried out within this building without disturbing any of the other departments or residents of Pangaea Castle.
That alone was enough to prove just how colossal this structure belonging to the world's strongest organization truly was.
And at this moment, under Red's Psychic Power, the Straw Hat Pirates suddenly appeared inside CP0's headquarters.
"Who goes there?!"
The sudden intrusion of unfamiliar presences shocked every CP0 worker in the area.
Though their strength was mediocre and they had not been qualified to accompany the Five Elders on their operation in Whitebeard's waters, they still all possessed the most basic mastery of the two colors of Haki.
But in the next second—
Swish!!!
Several pitch-black figures shot out from among the Straw Hats like bolts of lightning, darting crazily through the entire CP0 zone.
Everywhere they passed, one or more CP0 members collapsed to the ground, dead or alive unknown.
In no more than a dozen seconds, the entirety of CP0 had been completely crippled. Not a single member remained capable of normal movement.
"All done, Red!"
Tap!
After finishing everything, Zoro, Sanji, and the others returned to Red's side and grinned at him.
"Mm." Red nodded, then immediately ordered, "Nami, Robin, take over all of CP0's communication equipment and keep everything running normally."
As he spoke, a sly smile curled across his lips.
"That way, unless Imu notices something personally, the Five Elders definitely won't discover anything strange in Mary Geoise for a while."
As for Imu discovering the anomaly—
Even now, Red still did not know what Imu's abilities truly were, what kind of secret weapon the World Government held, or what sort of national treasure of the Celestial Dragons Doflamingo had once spoken of.
But judging from everything shown in the anime, Imu was a ruler who stood far too high above all others. His gaze had never once fallen upon anything beneath the Empty Throne.
Perhaps even the Celestial Dragons, in his eyes, were merely tools for ruling the world and accomplishing his own ends.
"So then, now that we've made it into the enemy's headquarters, let's use this time to gather as much intelligence as we can!"
Looking at his companions, all eager and ready to move, a strange gleam flashed through Red's eyes.
A powerful wave of Aura suddenly spread out from his body.
Compared to the Observation Haki and Psychic Power born from spiritual force in the world of pirates, Aura might not have been as precise in detection—
but because it was a power of the heart originating from the Pokémon world, no one in the pirate world could detect it by any means!
And besides, "weaker" was only relative.
The Gyms of Pokémon Sword and Shield had already been mostly cleared by Red and the others.
With the boosts brought by each Gym Badge, Red's most basic attributes had already reached the level of a top-tier Yonko commander.
Combined with all kinds of enhancements from Pokémon moves, his flexible use of energy, and the defensive buff he had possessed since crossing over—
his current strength might not allow him to crush an Emperor of the Sea outright, but he could absolutely drag one into a fight and wear them down to total exhaustion without suffering a scratch himself!
With power like that, the range covered by Red's Aura was naturally far beyond ordinary imagination.
Whoosh~
The invisible ripple instantly enveloped the entirety of Pangaea Castle, leaving no secrets hidden from Red's "eyes"!
And just moments ago, it was by this very method that he had accurately located CP0 headquarters.
A short while later, one special location after another was memorized by Red and marked with a mental imprint.
When he finally opened his eyes again, he was met with the expectant gazes of his crewmates.
The corners of Red's mouth rose slightly as he answered their anticipation with a confident smile.
"I've confirmed the locations of the World Government's major departments. Next…"
"The hunt begins!!!"
Snap~
Once Nami and Robin had finished dealing with all of CP0's communication devices, Red lightly snapped his fingers, and the Straw Hats vanished once more.
At the same time, in the World Government's financial administration zone—
A slight ripple suddenly flashed through the calm air. Before the staff could detect anything unusual, several black shadows moved first, directly engulfing the entire financial district.
Wherever those shadows passed, heads rolled!
Those staff members who were qualified to enter Pangaea Castle had long since become loyal supporters of the Celestial Dragons.
Aside from the fact that they had never earned true recognition from the Celestial Dragons and were still regarded as lowly trash—
inwardly, they had already been assimilated by them. There was no need to save them.
So Red had already made it clear to his companions from the very beginning.
This time, they had come here to kill!!!
Kill everyone they saw! Take every piece of wealth they could find!
Inside Pangaea Castle, aside from the unlucky slaves and test subjects, not a single one deserved to live.
And after coming this far, the Straw Hat Pirates had long since matured and completed their transformation. Though they did not like slaughter, when the time came to act, none of them would hesitate in the slightest.
Thus, in only a few short minutes, the entire World Government financial administration zone had been turned into a living hell. Corpses and severed heads were everywhere, and blood flowed like a river.
Quite a few had even been drained into mummified husks by Redfield, their blood all collected to strengthen himself.
And in the future, that blood would become an important reserve of lifespan for Red and the others as they roamed the cosmos.
After the killing ended, Nami and Robin naturally began handling all the communication devices on-site.
With Robin's Psychic Power, even the Den Den Mushi could be hypnotized by the illusions she created, transmitting false images back to the surveillance room.
That way, no one would notice anything amiss here.
And so, after finishing off the financial administration zone, Red and the others rampaged onward, slaughtering one World Government administrative district after another.
For all that the world was one giant patchwork operation, the World Government had still managed to remain stable for over eight hundred years. It relied on more than just the lofty Five Elders and the Marines who dominated the seas.
The World Government alone had over a hundred administrative departments, and beneath those lay countless smaller sub-divisions.
Some managed the kingdoms of the outside world. Some coordinated resources. Some oversaw culture and propaganda. Some were responsible for Celestial Dragon security…
In short, this time the Straw Hat Pirates truly became cruel executioners. Wherever they went, life was extinguished and none survived.
To make the entire world obediently submit under World Government rule, the manpower reserves required were unimaginably vast!
An hour later, even Red had forgotten how many administrative districts they had passed through and how many senior World Government officials they had killed.
Among them were countless figures like Spandine—men who carried Golden Den Den Mushi and possessed the authority to summon a Buster Call at any time. They had killed so many they had lost count.
For a time, all of Pangaea Castle was steeped in the aura of death.
The sharp stench of blood replaced the fragrance that had once filled the place.
And only at this point did some of the World Government staff finally begin to realize that something was very wrong.
But when they picked up their receivers and tried to report to their superiors or the relevant departments, all they got in return was a hopeless busy tone.
"Ah!…"
For some unknown reason… a faint scream suddenly came from a corner of Pangaea Castle.
In an instant, the entire castle seemed to explode into chaos. Everyone abandoned what they were doing and began investigating the anomaly.
And then—
they saw a horrific scene that sent chills down their spines, as though they had fallen into an icy abyss.
Dead!
All dead!
Whether it was the superiors who usually barked orders at them, the Celestial Dragons who had never regarded them as human, or even the military departments responsible for the castle's security—
from top to bottom, from inside to out, they could not find a single living soul still drawing breath!
What terrified them even more was that all of this had happened right under their noses.
And at the time, they had all been working as usual, carefully carrying out their ordinary duties.
"H-how… how is this possible?!"
A sharply dressed staff member's legs gave out beneath him, and he collapsed to the floor as yellow liquid spread beneath his crotch.
But in that moment, no one laughed at him.
Because none of the others were in much better shape.
…
…
Meanwhile—
just as the staff of Pangaea Castle discovered that something was wrong, Jinbe, who had just beaten a Celestial Dragon clan head to death with Fish-Man Karate, showed an apologetic expression.
He tossed aside the Celestial Dragon's corpse and hurried over to apologize to the Straw Hats.
"My apologies, everyone!"
"I made a mistake and accidentally let him cry out!"
"Haha~ It's fine."
Red waved a hand, not taking Jinbe's slip-up to heart.
After all, after killing so many people and watching so many lives vanish before their eyes, even if those people deserved death, the kind-hearted members of the Straw Hat Pirates were bound to feel some wavering in their emotions and a trace of pity.
But the fact that it had taken this long for something like this to happen had already far exceeded Red's expectations.
It was clear that all the "eradicate the weeds by pulling out the roots, or they'll grow back with the spring breeze" and "showing mercy to the wicked is cruelty to the innocent" rhetoric he had been drilling into them from the start had worked quite well.
Even little Chopper had not suffered any mental collapse from killing too many people.
On the contrary, it was Jinbe, the old veteran who had only joined recently. Because his personality had already fully matured, and because Red had not specially guided him, his mentality in this regard was actually slightly inferior to Luffy and the others'.
In the end, that was still a failure on Red's part as vice-captain.
Fortunately, they no longer needed to continue killing.
"Perfect timing. We've already cleaned out all the World Government's high-level functional departments. What's left are just small fry—they won't be able to cause any real trouble."
"It's time to move on to the next step."
A sharp light flashed in Red's eyes.
With another snap of his fingers, their figures vanished once more.
And when they reappeared, the Straw Hats had arrived in the core region of Pangaea Castle, not far from Imu's Room of Flowers and the Empty Throne—
the administrative district of the Five Elders!!!
That's right!
Now that the slaughter was over, what came next was naturally the time for harvest.
Last time, in Saint Saturn's research district as the Warrior God of Science and Defense, they had looted quite a few Devil Fruits, including many precious Mythical Zoans.
And this time, ever since entering the interior of Pangaea Castle, Nami's Pickup Ability had been constantly alerting her.
Only now, her mental strength had grown enough for her to suppress the greed brought about by the Ability.
But perhaps because she had suppressed it too harshly, the moment she let go, an enormous flood of information about precious items poured madly into her mind.
At this moment, they stood inside a room that was setting Pickup off like crazy.
And according to the internal structural map of Pangaea Castle they had found in one of the departments—
this room was the treasure vault of the Warrior God of Finance, Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro, the bald Five Elder!
It was called a vault, but its area was so vast that it felt more like a museum.
All kinds of precious paintings, gold, silver, and jewels were piled in the corners like garbage.
Within the entire vault, only one particular section seemed to be reserved for storing the truly valuable objects.
Nami, no longer suppressing her Ability, quickly made her way toward that area.
Snap~
With a casual lift of her hand, Nami released a light source above the room that blazed like a miniature sun, illuminating the entire chamber.
Only then did everyone clearly see what she was holding in her hands—
three longswords!
"That's!?"
The Straw Hats, no longer the ignorant rookies they once were, all had their eyes light up.
The well-informed Redfield stepped forward immediately and exclaimed in shock:
"They're actually the Supreme Grade Meito—Excalibur, Hikareshi, and Shigure!?"
"These are all among the Twelve Supreme Grade Meito that vanished from the seas decades ago!?"
"To think the Celestial Dragons had collected them all this time!?"
"What a complete waste of heaven's gifts!"
"And not just that~"
Hearing Redfield's explanation and realizing just how extraordinary the three blades were, Red grinned and swept his gaze around the room.
"These three Supreme Grade Meito should be the most valuable items in this room…"
"But anything worthy of being displayed beside Supreme Grade Meito definitely isn't ordinary either!"
"What!?"
At Red's reminder, everyone immediately tore their gazes away from the three Supreme Grade blades and looked around.
Only to see that beneath the three elevated sword stands, more than a dozen other blades and weapons were displayed in ordered rows.
Redfield's sharp eyes recognized them at once.
"These… they're all among the Twenty-One Great Grade Meito, along with demon blades that once stirred bloody storms across the seas, and all kinds of famous named swords."
"This is insane!"
"Looking at these famed blades, I actually feel like even the Fifty Skillful Grade Meito of the world don't deserve to be displayed here!"
"Mm… I don't think you're the only one having that thought."
Red chuckled and patted Redfield on the shoulder before pointing with his hand.
In a dark corner, a pile of Skillful Grade blades and ordinary famous swords had been casually stacked together like trash.