One Piece : From Slave to Fleet Admiral

No matter how holy a place may be, shadows will always exist—and often, these shadows are blood-red.

As the Holy Light dissipated, Jake looked at Pica, who now lay on the ground nearly reduced to a puddle and let out a slight sigh of relief.

Fortunately, before coming to confront Pica, he had already upgraded his Holy Light Energy to level 30, successfully mastering new powerful skills like Valiant Aria, Saint Wall and Spear of Victory.

Otherwise, dealing with the thick-skinned Pica would have truly required considerable effort.

But as he looked at the remaining skills in his skill book, Jake couldn't help but feel somewhat troubled.

All the remaining skills required Clear Cube Fragments—how was he supposed to find those in this world?

Although he had used clear skills a few times during the trial period before, the only noticeable effect was a greater drain on his stamina, with nothing extra being taken from him.

However, there was no way to know if that was solely due to the trial card.

If, in the later stages, activating skills truly required Clear Cube Fragments—potentially locking him out of powerful abilities—then the Rumble-Rumble Fruit would likely become his main focus for further development.

But now wasn't the time to dwell on such things.

After retracting the scattered lightning and Holy Light around him, Jake took a photo of Pica's corpse before burying the corpse beneath a pile of rubble.

He had no intention of beheading Pica and sending the head to Doflamingo.

Though they were already sworn enemies, Jake still didn't want to commit such a cruel act.

Death was enough—there was no point in desecrating the dead.

From the stones he came, to the stones he returned.

Once Pica's body was fully buried, Jake went back to the prison cells, dealt with the remaining members of the Donquixote Family and after learning the location of the ships from the slaves, led everyone back to the previous Marine base.

All of this had taken less than six hours, with dawn just beginning to break.

Leaning against the ship's railing, Jake breathed in the salty sea breeze and closed his eyes to rest, preparing for Kuzan's imminent arrival.

Kuzan happened to be on a mission near the North Blue, while the others would take about a week to arrive.

Some of the top figures in the New World were also due for rotation, so Akainu would be coming as well.

However, the rotation of stationed officers wasn't decided by Marine Headquarters—it was mandated by the World Government.

The World Government feared that if the Marines remained stationed in one place for too long, regional tirany could emerge.

Thus, they required high-ranking Marine officers to be frequently reassigned, ensuring that commanders wouldn't grow too familiar with their troops and vice versa.

Many regimes implemented such policies.

But when it came to Kuzan, Jake had to consider the frequency and warmth of their interactions.

After all, he was now aligned with Akainu's faction.

Even if Akainu himself didn't mind, getting too close to Kuzan might stir discontent among the hardliners under him.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, Jake had to tread carefully.

*****

Meanwhile, on the other side, within the Donquixote Family's estate in Flevance, Doflamingo's expression darkened as he stared at Pica's silent Den Den Mushi.

He wasn't angry because Pica was late in reporting—he knew Pica's personality too well for that.

The only explanation for the lack of contact was that something had likely gone wrong.

Although he had sent Trebol to check the situation immediately, Doflamingo knew by now, with no news coming in, that Pica might already be dead.

Irritation twisted Doflamingo's brows tightly together, veins faintly pulsing on his forehead.

His hands were clenched, and the aura emanating from him was terrifying.

He turned to Rosinante beside him and asked.

"Still no word? What the hell happened over there with Pica?!"

Listening to his brother's voice, suppressed with anger, Rosinante silently lit a cigarette before writing his words in a paper. (he was pretending to be muted)

"It'll take about three to four hours to reach the island from here. Trebol only left a little over an hour ago, so he probably hasn't arrived yet. But if Pica doesn't respond within the next hour, we should head over ourselves. It's very likely something's already happened to him."

Rosinante words were rational.

Doflamingo raised his head, fingers twitching slightly as he cleanly severed the lit end of Rosinante's cigarette with his strings.

His voice carried a heavy tone.

"Don't smoke when I'm in a bad mood, Corazon. Also, handle things here temporarily for me. I'm going personally to see which bastard dared to mess with my business!"

With that, Doflamingo vanished on the spot.

The sound of a window being pushed open followed and Rosinante instinctively glanced outside.

Along with the chilly breeze entering the room came drifting threads from Doflamingo's body.

His method of flying through the air by embedding his String-String Fruit's threads into the clouds was indeed impressive.

After confirming Doflamingo's departure, Rosinante relit the half-cut cigarette and took another drag.

Simultaneously, a soundproof barrier expanded around him as he pulled out an extremely tiny Den Den Mushi from his pocket, dialing a number.

"Hello? Fleet Admiral Sengoku? Doflamingo's business on 'Carles Island' has been sabotaged. He's personally headed there now. Pica, the Donquixote Family's elite officer and Stone-Stone Fruit user, is likely already dead. I need to ask—was this the Marine's doing? If so, please have all naval forces in that area evacuate immediately!"

Rosinante spoke rapidly.

He knew exactly how cruel and vicious Doflamingo was and what fate awaited any Marine personnel who'd killed Pica if caught by him.

But the response from the other end made him freeze.

"Oh? That matter? Don't worry. While it was indeed our doing, Kuzan, Borsalino, me, Garp, Sakazuki, and Zephyr are all en route there now. Nothing will go wrong."

"Huh?!"

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Clear Cube Fragment :

Used for performing quests, casting higher-leveled skills, making Cube Contracts, and buying Crystallized Chaos.

(Source: Disassembled equipment. Cannot be repurchased from shops.)

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