Crocodile was not as young or inexperienced as the two swordsmen standing before him.
He studied Zoro and Kuina for a moment before finally nodding.
"I'll have someone assign you to a team responsible for clearing out the demons. You won't receive special treatment, so you should already understand how dangerous fighting those creatures can be."
"We do."
Zoro and Kuina nodded together, with Kuina answering for both of them.
After all, they had already fought those monsters themselves.
Judging from their expressions, they genuinely seemed to know nothing else.
Crocodile watched them carefully, then called someone in to take them away.
"What's going on?"
Reiju suddenly stood up.
"You noticed it too?"
Crocodile looked at her.
"They're both the chairman's juniors. They've been travelling with him all this time, and now he suddenly sends them here. Something must have happened."
"The chairman wanted the situation to remain deadlocked for a while. Is something about to change?"
Crocodile guessed.
"There is a change, but it doesn't have much to do with either of you."
Cyrus's voice sounded the instant Crocodile finished speaking.
Flames gathered and formed his body.
"Chairman!"
Both of them tensed.
"The passage to another world is about to appear."
That single sentence made their hearts jump.
"Imu probably hasn't noticed yet. There's still some time." Cyrus continued.
"Use that time to stabilize the situation as much as possible. Once the passage opens, I'll force her to leave this world."
"But before that happens, another large group of people may suddenly transform into demons."
"You need to keep that under control."
"Yes!"
Crocodile immediately answered, his expression tightening.
"Chairman…"
His eyes shifted uneasily.
"There could be an even worse possibility, couldn't there?"
Cyrus raised an eyebrow and looked at him.
The look alone made Crocodile tense.
"You guessed correctly."
Cyrus nodded.
"There is a worse possibility, and unfortunately, it isn't something I can control."
"I don't know what will happen to Imu's corruption once she completely disappears from this world."
"Every dormant infection might suddenly activate."
"Or they might all disappear."
Cyrus's expression became unusually serious.
"If they disappear, consider yourselves lucky."
"If they all activate at once, the chaos in this world will double."
"The one advantage is that by then, you'll be able to eliminate the remnants of the World Government first, then unite everyone else to deal with the monsters."
His tone remained calm.
Crocodile and Reiju, however, understood exactly what kind of nightmare that scenario would create.
"I won't interfere with your plan to have Germa produce clone soldiers."
Cyrus added.
"If you can make it work, have them manufacture as many combat-ready clones as possible."
Crocodile froze.
Reiju did too.
Both stared at him in shock.
"What?"
Cyrus smiled.
"Were you planning to hide it from me?"
"I generally don't care what the two of you do as long as it helps the Guild develop faster."
Most of the Guild's actual work had always been handled by the people beneath Cyrus.
He had never cared much about the details.
Likewise, Crocodile's desire to retain influence over the future world order did not bother him.
If Crocodile was capable of earning that power, Cyrus had no reason to stop him.
"Yes, Chairman."
Crocodile slowly exhaled and bowed his head respectfully.
"You won't have much time. Move faster."
A doorway appeared in front of Cyrus.
"Chairman!"
Crocodile called out as Cyrus prepared to leave.
Cyrus turned back.
Crocodile hesitated briefly before asking, "If you leave this world, do you know when you'll return?"
"I don't."
Cyrus answered honestly.
"But the Guild still has plenty of time."
"Issho and Mihawk will become two of its main pillars after I'm gone."
"As for the people I released, none of them will make any major moves for a while."
"After that, everything will depend on what all of you are capable of."
Cyrus waved once and stepped through the doorway.
The portal vanished behind him.
Crocodile and Reiju looked at each other.
"He doesn't know…"
Crocodile's mood grew heavy.
Cyrus's deterrent would remain for some time, and the Hunter Guild was undeniably the most powerful organization on the sea in both reputation and influence.
But Crocodile understood one truth better than most.
At the end of the day, this world respected strength.
Cyrus had been able to reshape everything because of his overwhelming personal power.
If he disappeared, problems might eventually arise from other powerful individuals.
Mihawk and Issho were certainly among the strongest people alive.
But Crocodile could not order either of them around.
Issho, perhaps, might be willing to cooperate in certain situations…
If Cyrus truly had no idea when he would return, Crocodile needed to start planning for a future without him.
…
Boom!
The atmosphere cracked.
Fractures spread through the air as an enormous shock wave swept across the nearby island.
"Go."
After nearly flattening the entire island with a single punch, Whitebeard waved one hand.
Large numbers of pirates immediately poured from the ships following the Moby Dick and rushed onto shore.
Whitebeard himself did not move.
He sat cross-legged on deck and lifted the bowl of sake beside him.
"Still doing things the same way, huh? You haven't changed at all."
An unfamiliar voice suddenly sounded.
"Who's there?!"
Blue flames erupted around Marco as he spun toward the source.
"What are you doing here?"
Whitebeard paused with his sake bowl halfway to his mouth and looked in surprise toward the figure sitting casually on the Moby Dick's railing.
"Just giving you a little push."
Cyrus smiled, then glanced toward Marco.
"I thought you lot might have improved by now, but apparently you're still the same."
Marco's expression tightened.
He instinctively looked toward Whitebeard.
"This is my family's business."
"Fair enough."
Cyrus waved dismissively.
"But speed things up. Progress in the New World is too slow."
His body dissolved into flames and vanished.
"Pops… what was that about?"
Marco stared at the empty railing, completely baffled.
Why had Cyrus even come?
"I've got a bad feeling about this."
Whitebeard was already wondering the same thing.
Why would Cyrus personally come to see him just to tell them to move faster?
Something was clearly about to happen.
…
Not long afterward, Cyrus visited Charlotte Linlin as well.
Then he found the Red-Haired Pirates.
His gaze briefly settled on the young giant prince before moving toward Shanks, who was watching him warily.
"What are you planning?" Shanks asked with a grave expression.
Everyone aboard had gone silent, their attention fixed on Cyrus.
"You came here telling us to move faster. Are you about to do something again?"
"Maybe there's a better solution." Shanks continued.
"Looks like you know quite a lot."
Cyrus was not particularly surprised.
Shanks had clearly understood far more than most people for a long time.
Perhaps he had even spent years considering how Imu could eventually be dealt with.
But that had little to do with Cyrus.
He only needed to carry out his own plan.
"I don't have that much time."
"No time?"
Shanks blinked.
"Are you dying?"
---------
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