"You really are insane..."
Momonga couldn't help but let out a wry smile as he listened to Darren's audacious words.
"Are you sure I'm the one you should be saying this to?"
Darren gave a quiet chuckle.
"Why not? Ever since the day you said you'd come with me, I knew you had it in you."
"The World Government, with its centuries of propaganda and indoctrination, has carved up this sea into rigid hierarchies. The Celestial Dragons sit high above, puppeteering the world. But times change, and with them rise those strong enough to challenge the old order. That kind of ideology... it's bound to collapse."
He leaned back in his chair, the motion graceful, as he lifted a wine glass and took a slow sip.
"Of course, this is just a theory. I'll need more data, more examples to confirm it."
Momonga shifted uncomfortably under Darren's half-smiling, unreadable gaze.
"You're using me as a test subject, aren't you?"
Darren laughed.
"Isn't your name 'Flying Squirrel'? Sounds like fate already chose your role as the lab rat." (Momonga's name in Chinese is 鼯鼠 (wúshǔ), which literally means "Flying Squirrel.")
Momonga: …
Darren burst into louder laughter at Momonga's face, which looked like he'd just swallowed something vile.
After a long moment, Darren sobered slightly and spoke again, more seriously:
"I'm not entirely joking. I'm not comfortable leaving the North Blue in anyone else's hands."
"Now that I'm heading to Marineford, someone has to take charge here—and that someone is you, Momonga."
His tone turned steely.
"Doflamingo may be playing nice after our last 'conversation,' but a snake doesn't shed its ambition that easily."
"The Germa are still a useful piece on the board. Stir the pot between the two of them. Let the North Blue Marines play mediator. We don't need to show our hand. When the house joins the game, the players fold."
"But all the politics and scheming... it means nothing without strength to back it."
Momonga nodded deeply, his voice resolute.
"Don't worry. Not a day goes by that I neglect my training."
Darren gave a slow nod.
Just then, the urgent chirping of a Den Den Mushi sliced through the air.
"Buru buru... buru buru..."
Both men turned toward the desk, where a military-issue transponder snail blinked.
"Darren here."
He reached out, voice calm but alert.
"Darren, it's me."
The stern voice of Admiral Sengoku came through, heavy with concern.
"Admiral Sengoku. What's the situation?"
Darren exchanged a glance with Momonga, tension instantly rising. According to the last intel, Sengoku was supposed to be coordinating with the CP to capture Byrnndi World—the so-called World Destroyer.
"The operation to take down Byrnndi World hit a snag. His bounty increase made him paranoid. Now he's gone to ground somewhere in the North Blue. We've already sealed the only route into the Grand Line."
On the other end, Sengoku's tone was like ink pressed too hard—thick, tight, and smudged with frustration.
"Darren, you've worked the North Blue for years. You have connections. I need you to find out where World is hiding."
Darren raised an eyebrow.
After he'd taken the fall for Saint Shaldes, Byrnndi World's bounty had skyrocketed from 200 million to 400 million berries. And apparently, that was enough to rattle even a legend.
"Admiral Sengoku, using the North Blue fleet and my network isn't a problem."
"But I need to know—have you already engaged World again?"
Sengoku's reply was sharp, immediate.
"You're trying to assess how violently he might retaliate, aren't you?"
Sharp as ever.
"Yes. If he's wounded, there's a chance he'll lash out—not just at us, but civilians too."
There was a pause.
"We've clashed a few times already... and yes, he's injured."
Darren smiled slowly.
"Understood, Admiral. I'll begin mobilizing the search right away."
A gift-wrapped merit mission—one he wouldn't miss.
The North Blue was locked down. With today's sailing tech, there was no way for World to cross the Calm Belt into the New World. Which meant...
A game of cat and mouse in a closed arena.
Byrnndi World—once compared to Whitebeard and Roger.
Darren wouldn't pass up the chance to measure just how far he still had to go.
---
Meanwhile.
North Blue.
Rubeck Island, Port District.
A scorched and battered pirate ship drifted into the harbor.
At its prow stood a massive, iron-bodied man with arms crossed.
He wore a horned helm, sported a beard tinged green, and his pale green eyes gleamed with cruelty through a haze of pain.
Byrnndi World.
Blood-soaked bandages wrapped his chest.
"Tch... Brought down in a sewer like a rat... Damn that sneaky little monkey..."
He touched the wound on his chest—scorched by a laser beam. Though the bleeding had stopped, the pain throbbed beneath the gauze.
No one had expected that towering Rear Admiral to be such a rat-faced bastard, landing a cheap shot while he and Sengoku went head-to-head.
"World... Are you all right?"
A frail, hunched old man hobbled over, an IV bottle dangling from one arm. His face was lined with age, voice little more than a whisper.
Byojack—the vice-captain and strategist of the World Pirates. More than that, he was the older brother World had followed all his life.
World's grim face cracked into a clumsy grin.
"I'm fine, big bro."
They'd grown up with nothing but each other, dreaming of one day circling the globe in a legendary adventure.
Byojack gave him a worried glance, lips parted, but said nothing in the end.
"So, you're sure the North Blue's biggest underworld broker is based on this island? That guy called Doflamingo...?"
World narrowed his eyes, scanning the bustling island ahead.
Byojack nodded weakly.
"Yes. The Donquixote Family is the largest mafia in the North Blue now. They're so entrenched that even the Marines tread carefully around them."
"But World... Are you sure about this?"
"There's still time to turn back."
World burst out laughing.
"Big bro, our dream of sailing the world—it's far from over!"
"The World Pirates' grand adventure won't end in this tiny sea!"
He raised a fist, aura flaring.
"Go find that kid named Doflamingo. We'll take from him the power to bring the Marine to its knees!"
---
To be continued...