A few days had passed since the Neo Marines incident.
I left all the aftermath to the Marines, returned to the ship, headed straight back to rveille, and then... slept in a sulk for a good day or two.
During that ti, I made sure to read the newspapers, but the Neo Marines incident was never reported. Typical Governnt information manipulation and cover-up, it seed.
Well, it was a case where the re fact that a Forr Marine Admiral had raised the flag of rebellion was explosive enough on its own, and on top of that, literal bombs called End Points were involved. I suppose they couldn't exactly let it beco public knowledge.
Also, in the end I didn't learn anything beyond what Iris and the others told and what S-Ibis said about herself, but there's the matter of the World Governnt's new-model Human Weapons, the Seraphim. Those are probably still classified at this stage, so if word got out that so unknown faction had deployed them in combat, it would cause quite a stir.
Fortunately, if you could call it that, the only ones who participated in the battle in those waters were us and the Neo Marines.
The Marines who arrived afterward never saw the Seraphim, including the Kuma-types, so they had no opportunity to examine them.
S-Ibis had been "returned" twelve years by Zwei-chan's Return-Return Fruit powers and vanished. The other four Kuma-types were all recovered before the Marines arrived.
Including the one that sank into the sea. Iris ordered Pneuma to retrieve it from the ocean floor, had it travel along the seabed to a separate rendezvous point, and we picked it up with a Golden Lion Pirates ship. No need to worry.
Those units were handed over to Mama that very day. Right about now, she's probably beside herself with glee, analyzing the weapons and other systems installed inside them.
I hope that in the process she'll also shed so light on this thing called Green Blood.
A ans to reproduce Paracia-type Devil Fruits, huh... To develop sothing like that, Vegapunk really is sothing else. ...Though I've never actually t the man, so I don't know what kind of person he is.
...Still, knowing sothing like this exists really makes SMILE's half-baked nature stand out even more. That Artificial Devil Fruit where not only the ability itself but even whether it succeeds or fails is a gamble.
I still can't get over it: how is that stuff actually circulating on the black market as rchandise? Each one apparently goes for quite a high price, and you'd think the people who drew the short straw would hold a grudge.
That said, Mama being Mama... I have a feeling that through her research on Green Blood, she's going to create sothing terrifying again...
Not to put it too bluntly, but even Dr. Indigo managed to create TABOO, so she could make sothing even worse than that. It might take ti, sure, but she might actually end up creating Artificial Devil Fruits of the Paracia or even Logia type... A bit late to be thinking this, but was it really a good idea to hand those over to Mama...?
...Well, let's set that aside.
Now then, I seem to have gone off on a tangent at so point, but setting aside the spoils of war... let touch on how the incident concluded.
As I ntioned, this incident hasn't been made public.
Probably because it was too localized. It seems even Morgans couldn't catch wind of it, and nothing appeared in the World Economic News either. ...I didn't tip him off, though.
On this matter, I have no intention of telling anyone, not even Morgans. ...I don't want Zephyr-san's final monts written up as entertainnt.
As I said on the ship, I left what ca after to the Marines, but Fleet Admiral Kuzan quietly filled in on what happened next.
He only told the broad strokes, mind you... but that was enough.
Where Zephyr-san and his people ended up was, of all places, Punk Hazard.
That island from the Original Work, the one that's "half hot, half cold."
Of course, in this tiline, the duel between Akainu and Aokiji never happened, so it hasn't turned out that way. But Zephyr-san arrived there, and Fleet Admiral Kuzan and his forces pursued, and they fought.
And there, Zephyr-san was struck down. Or so I'm told.
Afterward, though... he was given a respectful burial by Marine volunteers.
Zephyr-san still hadn't been placed on a wanted poster, and while he was treated as a criminal, his case hadn't beco widely known.
Because of that, apparently nobody raised much of a fuss.
And since they told the location of the grave that was made for him... I'll be going to pay my respects soon.
Then there's the matter of what happened to the Neo Marines afterward.
Most of the Neo Marines mbers who were present at the naval battle were apprehended by the arriving Marines, but so apparently escaped on ships that hadn't been frozen.
And, separately from those... there were a few people we lent a hand to and helped escape from the scene.
Zephyr-san asked , at the very end, you see...
We saved three people.
Two Executives: Ain and Binz. And... Zwei-chan.
We picked them up before the Marines arrived and got out of there fast.
According to Zephyr-san, he wanted them to go on living in the era to co, to watch over it, to see it through.
Things didn't go the way Zephyr-san had planned, but even so... at the very end of it all, there was this world that Zephyr-san decided to believe in just a little more.
As soone who would go on living in that world, as one of the people who stopped Zephyr-san's ambition, I need to steel myself properly. That's what I thought.
As for those three, I plan to quietly release them when the ti is right.
I'll take them along for the grave visit first, and then... probably after that. Until then, sorry, but they're under soft confinent on one of the islands in our Territory.
All three have been well-behaved, at least. ...Maybe they're waiting patiently, wanting to say a proper goodbye to Zephyr-san?
For the record, convincing Alice, who had been fully intent on bringing Ain ho as a spoil of war, was a real ordeal.
In exchange for releasing her, I apparently owe Alice so kind of "compensation" later... and I'm quietly terrified of what she might demand.
And then, the biggest issue from this whole commotion... no, "issue" isn't quite right.
Anyway, the particularly significant event, or encounter, I should say, involved these two.
The twin sisters Snow and Iris. The daughters of and Alice, who ca from a future world.
By stopping the Neo Marines this ti, the Desperate Future they were born and raised in has been averted, and we also took down S-Ibis, who was apparently sent Terminator-style as an assassin from yet another future. So I think it's safe to say that this whole tangled chain of events involving multiple jumbled futures has co to a close.
And the primary purpose of their coming to this era was to prevent the Grand Reboot and keep the world from being destroyed, and they accomplished that splendidly.
However, as I ntioned briefly before... the two of them can no longer return to the future.
The person who sent them from the future, this Kozuki Hiyori, her Ti-Ti Fruit powers or whatever they're called only work one way. Unlike Future Trunks, who ca by ti machine, there's no return trip prepared for them.
And of course, I'm not about to toss out two people who ca to this era and worked so hard in every way to protect the world with a "Great, your wish ca true, see ya!"
"So with that said... let say it properly. Welco, Snow, Iris! The Second Generation Golden Lion Pirates welcos you both!"
"Yes! We look forward to working with you... Mother!"
"Sa here... I'll work my hardest, so take care of ! Mom!"
And that's how it turned out.
Both of them have been officially welcod as new mbers of our crew.
Of course, I don't an "new mbers" in the bottom-of-the-totem-pole sense.
Their circumstances are far too special for that, so, apologies, but they get special treatnt. I've placed them as my direct subordinates. Similar to the position Suzu and the Three Sisters hold. Though naturally their rank differs, since seniority counts for sothing.
This gives them a unique position within the chain of command, free from orders by others or unnecessary entanglents, so they should be able to live in peace.
My direct subordinates don't take orders from anyone but , after all. Just relax and live comfortably under my wing, without worrying about a thing. Well, I'll ask them to do so work, at least.
Also, with these two, the biggest concern is the powers they wield.
The Tremor-Tremor Fruit and Soul-Soul Fruit abilities they ate in the future world, and the Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Model: Green Dragon that Snow's weapon, the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, has been fed, are all abilities whose current-era wielders are alive and well. And every single one belongs to one of the Four Emperors.
If anyone saw them, it would go far beyond just "troubleso." Even if people assud they ca from Artificial Devil Fruits, it would still attract massive attention without a doubt.
Fortunately, they're reasonably strong even without their abilities, and they can camouflage things to a certain extent, so they'll need to be careful about that going forward.
Even so, keeping it hidden forever would be difficult, so soday I'll need to prepare so suitable excuse or justification and pave the way for them to step onto the public stage. Sothing to think about.
***
So, with Snow and Iris newly joining the crew, it occurred to : it's already been nearly a year since the Golden Lion Pirates beca the Second Generation.
In this past year, our Pirate Crew has grown trendously.
Not just the crew itself, of course, but the people around in particular, those in "direct subordinate" roles or similar positions, have especially increased.
Like Snow and the others, there are quite a few people who are, well, a bit complicated, people I want to keep close for specific reasons and give special treatnt to. The reasons vary case by case.
To give a concrete example, there's Marianne, whose combat ability is low, but whom I personally like and who's also my business partner as a writer and artist, so I keep her close and guarantee her status.
Up until now, there weren't that many people in such positions, and I could handle things by accepting them on a case-by-case basis and sorting out the situation as it ca. But as the number keeps growing like this, the ad hoc approach plus haphazard placent starts to strain.
I'll probably need to properly rethink and restructure the personnel arrangents for that area before long.
This idea of restructuring to manage and operate the rapidly grown Pirate Crew more efficiently was sothing Papa had been talking about for a while now.
Good timing. I'll take the opportunity to also reorganize the positions of the kids in my "special treatnt bracket."
Actually, if I'm going to do that... there are quite a few people now, so maybe the best approach would be to go ahead and set up dedicated buildings and whatnot from scratch.
Yeah. I'll consult Papa about this too.
It'll need to be done in a way that doesn't interfere with the "plan" Papa is currently working on, after all.
'Well, well. The big job is over, but... it looks like I'll be busy with all sorts of things for a while yet.'
To be continued...
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