"You're saying you want Princess Violet to join the New World Marine?"
Inside the royal palace, King Riku, who had been released and returned to his home, looked on with a flicker of doubt.
"That is correct. This is Fleet Admiral Sean's wish. After all, Violet's ability is exceptionally rare; she would be an invaluable asset to the Marine, just as she would be to any pirate."
"At the very least, compared to the risk of being kidnapped by pirates in the future, joining the New World Marine is the best possible option for both Violet and Dressrosa itself, is it not?"
"As for her safety, you need not worry. Given the nature of her ability, she will not be deployed to the front lines of combat."
King Riku fell into a long silence.
He knew exactly what his daughter's power was: the Paramecia-type Glare-Glare Fruit.
With this ability, Violet could conduct surveillance from thousands of kilometers away. Just as Admiral Akainu had stated, while she lacked offensive combat power, her ability was critical for any organization, whether it be the Marine or a pirate crew.
If she remained in Dressrosa, what would happen if another pirate crew—or even one of the Three Emperors—came to seize her? Not only would they be unable to protect Violet, but Dressrosa itself could face total annihilation.
Regardless, Violet was still his daughter...
"Let Violet decide this for herself."
"I'm willing!"
"Violet, you..."
Just then, Violet, who had been eavesdropping outside, stepped directly into the room.
"Violet, you don't have to force yourself. If you are unwilling, I'm sure the Marine won't compel you. After all, Dressrosa is an Affiliated Nation of the World Government."
"No, Father, I want to do this!" Violet shook her head, her voice firm. "The New World Marine are the saviors of our family and all of Dressrosa!"
"Furthermore... though it wasn't my choice, I did some things I'm not proud of while I was part of the Donquixote Family. I need to atone for the mistakes of those years."
"If my ability can be useful to the Marine and Fleet Admiral Sean, then I am more than happy to join."
The room remained silent for a while. Finally, King Riku let out a deep sigh.
"Admiral Akainu, I leave my daughter in your hands."
'''
At the headquarters of the World Economic Journal.
Morgans was juggling a Den Den Mushi in one hand and a pen in the other, scribbling notes at a furious pace. The expression of pure excitement on his face was so intense that one might wonder if he were on some kind of drug.
On the other end of the line, naturally, was Sean.
At this moment, Sean was telling Morgans a "story."
Specifically, a story about how Doflamingo had usurped the kingdom years ago, and how he had used Sugar's ability to erase any who opposed him.
A Warlord officially appointed by the World Government had actually stolen an entire country—and the World Government had ultimately turned a blind eye to it.
Most crucially, because of the Hobby-Hobby Fruit, the current state of Dressrosa was utter chaos. There were even cases of married men and women suddenly discovering they actually had another spouse.
Such a bizarre series of events was the perfect material for a scoop. Morgans could already envision the explosive sales the next edition of the World Economic Journal would achieve.
"Sean, you are absolutely brilliant!"
"It's alright. Same as usual—don't expose my identity. Do whatever you want with the rest."
"No problem! We've collaborated so many times that we have a perfect understanding. I'll let you go now; I need to rewrite the front page and tell the staff to double the print run for tomorrow. No, triple it! At least triple!"
Morgans was beyond ecstatic.
On the other end, the corner of Sean's mouth curled up slightly before he hung up the phone.
"Robin, start the preparations. The World Military Draft."
"Set the date for one week from now. Let the events in Dressrosa ferment for a while. Once the prestige of the New World Marine reaches its peak, we will launch the draft."
"When the time comes, I'll have Morgans publish the news prominently in the latest issue of the paper."
Beside him, Robin nodded.
This had been decided from the moment Sean first resolved to take down Doflamingo and liberate Dressrosa. Thus, Akainu's operation had never truly been about Vergo or Doflamingo.
It was a warm-up for the upcoming World Military Draft.
Although Sean had been eye-catching during the Paramount War—having defeated Whitebeard in a one-on-one fight—the New World Marine was a newly established entity with no official track record of its own. If they launched a global recruitment drive out of nowhere, the results might be mediocre.
Sean needed a major event to make the New World Marine truly famous. Dressrosa was the perfect choice.
The message was clear: 'The things the Marine Headquarters are too afraid to do, the New World Marine dares to do!'
Even if Doflamingo was a Warlord, and even if he held the status of a former Celestial Dragon, as long as he dared to terrorize the people, the New World Marine would dare to eliminate him.
Through Morgans, this was the point Sean wanted to convey to the world. Once public opinion surged, the New World Marine would ride that wave to launch the World Military Draft.
The effect would be...
"Sean, the intelligence department just sent over a report. I think you'll find this interesting," Robin suddenly spoke up.
"Oh? What is it?"
"An hour ago, almost simultaneously with Admiral Akainu capturing Doflamingo, a pirate crew attacked Enies Lobby. In response, Marine Headquarters triggered a Buster Call. In the end, all of Enies Lobby was wiped out."
Sean went silent instantly.
This plot sounded far too familiar.
But the contradictions were too many!
Robin was currently working under him, and the grass on Spandam's grave was already several feet high. So how on earth did the incident at the Judicial Tower happen?
Most importantly, in the original story, Aokiji had given the authority to trigger a Buster Call to Spandam, who then accidentally pressed the button in a fit of panic.
But as mentioned, Spandam had been dead for a long time. Aokiji couldn't have seriously given the Buster Call authority to some other idiot, could he?
"Which pirate crew did it?"
"An old acquaintance of yours—the Straw Hat Pirates!"
Hearing this, Sean froze once more.
"Wait... isn't Luffy currently at Headquarters under Zephyr's supervision?"
"No, that's not right. Now that old man Zephyr has joined the New World Marines, I really haven't seen Luffy come along. What on earth is going on?"
"Word is that Straw Hat Luffy escaped during the Paramount War and was placed on the deserter list. Not much is known about what happened after that, other than the fact that there are currently five others in the Straw Hat crew besides him!"
...
'Escaped again?'
'I guess he really is the Child of Destiny. As long as he isn't killed, no matter what happens, this guy will eventually find his way back to the path of a pirate.'
'Is that impressive... or just pathetic?'
'Bound by the convergence of the timeline, always walking a predestined path. Isn't that just pathetic?'
"Do you have any files on the Straw Hat Pirates?"
"I do, here..." As she spoke, Robin pulled a document from the stack in her hands and handed it to Sean.
'Oh...'
The first sighting was confirmed two months ago. There were two members: Captain Straw Hat Luffy and Vice-Captain Buggy.
'What? Buggy?'
'With his personality, would he actually be content as a second-in-command? No, no, that's not the point. The point is, how did these two end up together?'
Then again, there were two Children of Destiny in the world of pirates. One was Luffy, and the other was Buggy.
While Buggy wasn't the main protagonist, in terms of sheer luck, he was arguably even more powerful than Luffy. Look at the man—completely weak, yet he somehow clawed his way up to becoming one of the Four Emperors after the Paramount War.
When it came to luck, who in the entire pirate world dared to compete with Buggy? Even Baccarat would have to take a backseat...
After a moment of surprise, Sean continued reading. He reached the last confirmed sighting of the crew: the Enies Lobby incident.
By this time, the Straw Hat crew already had six members.
Besides Luffy and Buggy, Sean spotted several other familiar names: "Black Leg" Sanji, "Iron Mace" Alvida, "Fox" Carina, and the pink-haired Koby.
According to the intelligence reports, the current Luffy had mastered the Six Powers and developed his fruit ability up to Gear Third. Not only that, he had even awakened all three types of Haki. Though he was only at the introductory level, compared to the seventeen-year-old from the original story... he was already far, far stronger.
It seemed that Garp keeping him under control at Headquarters, combined with old man Zephyr's training, hadn't deterred his desire to become a pirate. Instead, it had acted as a catalyst for his explosive growth in strength.
"And how did the incident at Enies Lobby happen?"
"About that..." Hearing the question, Robin's expression turned strange.