Mihawk left, having left behind an arm.
Ren hadn't originally intended to make him leave anything behind. But this stubborn fool refused to give up even after losing — he insisted on seeing the legendary Muken no Itto with his own eyes.
He even said he wouldn't care if it killed him.
Ren didn't kill him, but he did take his left arm.
Losing just one arm wasn't that much of a burden on Mihawk. Hadn't Shanks become a Yonko with one arm missing?
Besides, Mihawk could no longer be number one in the world. Being number two wasn't so bad.
After witnessing the legendary Muken no Itto, Mihawk departed following a brief recovery. Ren didn't know whether he would be crushed by this defeat or whether he would press onward through the pain (Mihawk: Just you wait — I'll train a Kazuha to come after you). At least for now, he didn't particularly care.
Once Mihawk left Inazuma having lost an arm, the news spread across the world in no time.
Heaven knew how many eyes the Marines had stationed outside Inazuma's waters. After all these years, they had long suspected that the spies and agents they'd sent had been turned.
Even the few who hadn't been implanted with the Great Serpent Mark could only operate at the very bottom rungs of Inazuma.
There was no helping it. Inazuma received a steady influx of new blood every year, and Ren couldn't personally bite every single one of them. If he did that, he wouldn't have time for anything else.
Now only those who had truly proven themselves worthy of holding important positions were given the Great Serpent Mark — members of the Fatui's Skirmishers, the Oni Force, and so on.
As for the cannon-fodder extras, let them be. They would never get close to the core secrets anyway.
In any case, this incident caused quite a stir. After all, Mihawk was one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea established by the World Government. The very purpose of the Seven Warlords had been to counterbalance the great pirates of the New World.
At the time, the term "Yonko" didn't even exist. It had only risen to prominence in recent years.
The initial newspapers had clearly named two emperors. But as the Red Hair Pirates and Buggy's crew emerged as rising powers with one blockbuster story after another, Morgans had started hyping a big game.
Two days ago he was calling the Red Hair Pirates' captain the "Third Emperor," and two days later he was hyping Buggy of the Buggy Pirates as the "Fourth Emperor."
There were even more titles floating around afterward, but none had gained official recognition.
Yet the title of Yonko only grew louder.
The Seven Warlords were now generally seen as the fighting force the Marines and World Government used to keep the Yonko in check. But with Mihawk's defeat, many had begun to realize that the Seven Warlords weren't quite living up to expectations.
But the Marines and the World Government were perfectly satisfied.
The notion that a single Warlord could rival a Yonko? They wouldn't even dare dream of that!
The fact that Mihawk could walk away from Inazuma after challenging the Raiden Shogun — having lost only an arm as the price — spoke volumes about his potential. Hadn't Moria, the same Supernova, lost even his shadow?
Besides, losing an arm to the Raiden Shogun — was that really so shameful?
Having your arm eaten by a fish was what was truly humiliating!
Just look at that poor fool Shanks. That little bit of history had kept his fans from holding their heads high for the rest of their lives.
Shanks?
First, get past the Lord of the Coast!
In any case, although Mihawk had been defeated, the World Government and the Marines saw it as proof of his value. Crocodile had shared a similar fate.
Crocodile was not yet a Warlord.
This brat had been incredibly arrogant before, only to be taught a lesson by Whitebeard — almost having his spirit broken entirely. But surviving an encounter with a monster like Whitebeard, regardless of whether Whitebeard had held back or not, proved that Crocodile still had some fight in him.
"Why not list Crocodile as a candidate for the Seven Warlords?" The Five Elders sat around doing nothing all day, posing in the living room like they were hot stuff, when in reality they were discussing trivialities. They never got anything serious done.
Over the years, some of the Warlords had been challenged. A couple had actually been toppled by rookie pirates. But because no suitable replacements had been found, the positions had remained vacant.
Adding Crocodile would be a solid choice.
But not all five agreed.
"First Mihawk, now Crocodile — our Seven Warlords aren't a collection of Grand Line losers!"
"Don't get it wrong. They lost to Whitebeard and the Raiden Shogun," another said. "Conversely, if they could actually win, wouldn't that be a problem?"
The old man who had been voicing his opposition fell silent.
If every Warlord had the strength of a Yonko, would they even need to be Warlords?
Though he felt the other had a point, he wasn't about to concede. "Even so, Crocodile may not agree to become a Warlord. Don't forget — he already turned down our offer once."
"Youthful pride is understandable. Now that he's seen how cruel the world can be, he'll come around."
What the Five Elders didn't know was that the Crocodile they were discussing had already followed in the footsteps of the Ohara scholars and begun searching for traces of the Poneglyphs.
In an endless yellow desert, this man in a black coat trudged forward through the dry, sandy wind, clutching a roll of old newspaper.
"Six years ago, the World Government destroyed Ohara in the West Blue. The reason was that those scholars were secretly researching Poneglyphs, attempting to resurrect the Ancient Weapons that could destroy the world."
"If that's the case, then once I find the Poneglyphs, I might be able to find clues to the Ancient Weapon Pluton." The Sand Crocodile walked along, thinking darkly.
"The royal family of Alabasta was once a branch of the Celestial Dragons eight hundred years ago. If that's true, this country likely hides clues to the Poneglyphs."
"Ancient Weapons — I will have them!"
"I will have my revenge. Just you wait, Whitebeard!"
The dark man lowered his head and looked at his arm, which had been replaced with a large golden hook. The wound at his wrist still ached faintly.
…
Sea Circle Calendar, Year 1508, October.
Crocodile received the World Government's invitation and officially became one of the Seven Warlords.
The Desert Kingdom of Alabasta welcomed its "hero."
The following year, in the Grand Line, two fresh faces joined the Red Hair Pirates — known as the Pirate Emperor.
Although the Red Hair Pirates had no shortage of pirate followers, everyone knew that actually joining the crew was no easy feat.
But these new recruits were not this year's hot-shot Supernovas. They were two unknown kids.
——One was a girl named An, about a teenager. The other was a small boy named Ace, probably only a few years old.
[
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