After a long silence, Momonga let out a deep breath.
He looked again at Daren's silhouette standing before the floor-to-ceiling window. For a moment, it was as if he could see the soul within this so-called "scum of the Marines"—a soul housed in a body covered with scars.
Unyielding, untamed, always pressing forward.
Yes, it was because he was that kind of man...
That he would be—and could only be—the one Momonga was willing to follow for a lifetime.
"Those two have made a lot of progress lately."
Daren suddenly shifted the topic, his gaze turning toward the distant training grounds.
The training field, bathed in the golden light of the setting sun, swirled with dancing sand.
Among the 321st Branch Marines undergoing their usual drills, two figures stood out.
On the left side of the grounds stood a figure wielding a long blade, a cape fluttering behind her. Holding her breath, she focused intently, swinging her sword again and again.
The golden Meito slashed wildly like the wind, leaving behind dazzling streaks of light.
With Daren's keen eyesight, he could clearly see countless sparks erupting along the edge of the blade with each furious swing.
Those were bullets.
It was Gion—precisely cutting through the bullets fired from dozens of meters away using her swordsmanship alone!
On the other side of the field, Tokikake's face was flushed red as he gritted his teeth and dragged a small, abandoned warship forward with immense effort.
His muscles bulged under strain, veins standing out as if about to burst, and he muttered under his breath:
"I'm not some damn mutt! I'm not a damn mutt!!"
Following Daren's line of sight, Momonga couldn't help but chuckle.
"You've given them both PTSD. Now they chant about getting stronger every single day..."
"They really have gotten stronger. They just haven't realized it yet."
He glanced at Daren and added silently to himself—
'After all, their training partner is you.'
Daren gave a small laugh.
"Gion is no surprise—she's always been the perfect student in that old man Sengoku's eyes."
"But what I didn't expect... is that someone like Tokikake, who seems so unreliable, would have that kind of tenacity."
Momonga nodded in agreement.
"Lieutenant Commander Tokikake... really has something special."
"After every day of intense training, he pushes himself even further with extra routines. His workload goes way beyond standard."
"Even when he's the one who gets roughed up the most, showing up battered and bruised, he's back on the field the next day, full of energy like nothing happened."
"You've put him through the wringer dozens—maybe hundreds—of times, and not once has he shown signs of giving up. No matter what happens, he keeps coming back. Gotta admit, that's admirable."
"Yeah... though his focus is a little off sometimes."
"Off?" Daren raised an eyebrow and looked at Momonga, curious.
Momonga gave a helpless smile.
"Lately, there's been a growing number of complaints at the branch... seems Lieutenant Commander Tokikake has been spending way too much time in the female soldiers' dormitory."
Daren: ...
Figures it's you, Tokikake.
There was actually one more thing Momonga didn't dare mention—that Tokikake often showed up at all kinds of noble parties under the pretense of "caring for the people," only to return in complete disgrace. Yet he never seemed to get tired of it.
Daren shook his head, then asked,
"How's that little brat Doffy doing lately?"
Momonga's expression turned serious as he replied in a low voice,
"Progress has been fast. In just half a month, he's already taken over 30% of the mafia territory and underground businesses in the North Blue. The Donquixote family has expanded significantly—its numbers have surged past what they were before, nearly reaching two thousand."
"Doflamingo is definitely capable. He crushes rebels with ruthless efficiency, uses brutal methods to intimidate, but shows mercy to those who submit. He keeps drawing in subordinates... while also restraining them, trying to avoid harming civilians as much as possible."
"If I hadn't seen it for myself, I wouldn't believe he's just a twelve-year-old kid."
"And… his methods always remind me of someone else."
There was a complicated tone in his voice as he said the last part.
"Who?"
"You."
Daren suddenly chuckled.
"Sounds like I didn't make the wrong choice in naming him my godson."
He shook his head again.
"But there's probably a 'but' coming after that, isn't there?"
Momonga froze for a second, then gave a bitter smile.
"…Nothing gets past you, huh."
Daren took a sip of whiskey from his glass.
"Go on. This is the North Blue we're talking about. The underworld here isn't exactly easy to deal with."
Momonga began slowly,
"Yeah. The Donquixote family's expansion has been aggressive—but it's exactly because Doflamingo's rise has been so fast and so attention-grabbing that the mafia forces across the rest of the North Blue are now on high alert."
"Under shared pressure, they've already torn up their agreement with the Marines. They're frantically recruiting and launching bloody turf wars, trying to grow their influence to counter the Donquixote family's rise."
Daren narrowed his eyes.
"I thought they'd have a bit more backbone."
Seeing that expression, Momonga felt his heart clench.
He knew someone was about to have a very bad day.
"What are you thinking?"
The Captain sneered.
"If they were capable of setting aside their differences and uniting against the Donquixote family, I'd have no reason to get involved in this underworld power struggle."
"They've shown me enough respect."
"The game was fair... but the Donquixote family broke the North Blue's rules, so I wiped out over a thousand of their men as punishment."
"If he wants to become the kingpin of the North Blue underworld, then he's got to start from zero. I'm not giving him a single ounce of help."
"He has to prove himself."
"Donquixote family versus the entire North Blue underworld—that's the game I set."
"If he loses, if he can't even take the North Blue, then that's all he amounts to."
"What I didn't expect... is that the North Blue underworld turned out to be so damn useless."
"They dared to tear up the deal, break my rules, target civilians, and snatch territory in the chaos."
Daren's eyes narrowed further.
"...That pisses me off."
Momonga took a deep breath.
"When do we move?"
He didn't bother asking for reasons or details.
Because they didn't matter.
In the North Blue, no one defied the rules of Rogers Daren.
As for so-called fair play?
There's no such thing as a truly "fair" game.
Even the house will step in when needed.
And when that happens, the game ends instantly.
Because in the North Blue…
The underworld was nothing more than a word from Daren.
"Let's head out now... Give my adorable godson a little gift."
Daren yanked his uniform off the hanger and slipped it on without hesitation.
"After all… I don't have much time left in the North Blue."
Momonga froze.
"You've... hit a bottleneck?"
He had a rough idea of Daren's unusual talent—and he knew the man had been pushing his body to the limit with all kinds of hellish training.
Daren nodded.
"Yeah. I need stronger opponents... There's not much left for me here. The Grand Line—that's where the real stage is."
The Officer Training Camp at Marine Headquarters!
There, he'd compete with elite Marines from across the world, inherit the legacy of the Admirals, master the superhuman skills of the Rokushiki… and gain the most powerful force in this sea—
Haki!
As he spoke, Daren fastened his black necktie.
Then he threw on his wide, white Marine cloak.
His face cold, he said,
"Before I go... I want the entire underworld of the North Blue unified."
(40 Chapters Ahead)
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