"Where... am I?"

  Tsuru felt as if she’d just awoken from an impossibly long and terrifying dream.

  She had dreamt of being trolled, forced to take down a World Noble, only to be harshly ordered by the Wovero face punishment. The Navy’s Fleet Admiral, Hammons William, had fought to mitigate her sentence... until she ultimately drank the poison aed for the afterlife. Ironically, they deceived themselves, ving themselves this was in the name of "justice" and that there had been no other choice but to promise.

  "Sh-shh…"

  No. This wasn’t a dream!

  The instant she opened her eyes, Tsuru, drenched in cold sweat, abruptly so attention, only to find herself face to face with figures she could never fet—Charlotte Linlin and her crew, the very people who had brought her to this moment. Her body tensed, her gaze hardening with both anger and vigince as she gred, g her teeth. "Charlotte Linlin—"

  "Mamamama, so you’re awake?"

  Linlin sat nearby, looking down at Tsuru with a smug smile. "How does it feel to be betrayed and discarded by the Navy you devoted yourself to?"

  “That’s all thanks to you…” Tsuru replied bitterly, her voice ced with both shod disbelief. “But I drank the poison, didn’t I? Did… did you save me?”

  Tsuru, ever sharp, quickly pieced together the situation. She was a Navy officer who had defied the Celestial Dragons, and, as far as the Navy was ed, she’d beely senteo death. For Linlin to infiltrate and tamper with the poison to save her, they’d need an informant within the Navy. The thought was as astonishing as it was disturbing.

  “Ihe Navy headquarters is no easy target,” drawled Rock, who sat nearby, leaning back as he chuckled at the still-shaken “Navy’s Flower” before him. “Especially since you were under heavy guard as a high-profile criminal. We weren’t even sure if we could pull this off… But as it happens, luck was on your side.”

  “Hah. Do you wao join you? Bee a pirate?” Tsuru scoffed. Though her faith in the Navy’s “justice” had wavered, she had never inteo bee a pirate, let alone join this crew of ruthless criminals. At first, she might’ve been willing to go undercover if her life had been spared by the Fleet Admiral. With her sense of justitact, she would’ve used her position to rey information and assist the Navy in bringing these criminals to justice.

  But as someohe Navy had now “executed,” she had no such purpose or privilege anymore.

  “Why not? You’ve already been cast aside…” Linlin grinned, Tsuru as her expression gradually steadied. “Join us, and I could restore your youth.”

  "Dream on…” Tsuru’s voice was resolute as she gred back. Her expression firm, she said coldly, “I won’t be intimidated by pirates, nor would I ever sink so low as to join criminals like you.”

  Tsuru despised the Fallen Angel Pirates for pushio this, for ruining her life. How could she ever willingly join them?

  “Is that so? Seems like dying once has made you even tougher.” Moss approached, sneering as he looked down at her defiant figure. “ht—I heard you’d hoped to have your ashes scattered at sea after you drank the poison, but it seems your Fleet Admiral didn’t pn to honor that wish. He had your body secretly sent to the Holy Land, Mariejois, to appease the angry nobles. We intercepted it halfway.”

  “What?!”

  Tsuru’s expression shifted dramatically. She didn’t believe for a sed that he was lying.

  “Damn it…” Her face darkened as she ched her fists, biting her lip. The Fleet Admiral’s grand words had beey; he hadn’t even granted her a final act of dignity. A bitter rage filled her, crumbling the beliefs she’d g to for so long.

  "Mamamama, if your body had actually made it to Mariejois…” Linlin’s smile turned sinister, her brow raised as she tinued, “they’d likely have chopped it up a to the dogs. Or maybe they’d hang your head for dispy. Or, sidering the cruelty and arrogance of those Celestial Dragons, they might’ve preserved your body as a human spe, to be viewed at leisure."

  “This is the ‘justice’ of the Navy.” Nef sneered, her tone dripping with disdain as she added, “Those self-righteous nobles, so full of their own sense of honor… So easy to preach when sacrifig others. But how many of them would truly sacrifice themselves for ‘justice’?”

  “Hmph…”

  Though Tsuru’s faith in the Navy had eroded pletely, her disdain for Linlin was no less evident.

  “Justice or not, you pirates are in no position to lecture—criminals who pilge and harm the i have no moral standing whatsoever!”

  “No morals?” Roorted, crossing his arms. “Now, now, watch your words…”

  “Am I wrong?” Tsuru’s expression was steely as she demanded.

  “Most pirates might fit that description…” Moss replied, gng at her coolly. “But the Fallen Angel Pirates were formed to oppose the Wover, to create a nd where all races coexist. So far, we’ve only fought the Navy and other pirates; we’ve argeted civilians.”

  As for colteral damage, that was unavoidable in war. Even the self-procimed “just” Navy couldirely prevent i casualties.

  “An ideal try where all races coexist peacefully? Quite ambitious…”

  Tsuru’s expression was skeptical. They could make it sound as noble as they wanted, but at the end of the day, it was all for El’s ambition.

  “Believe it or don’t… You’ll see in time.” Fishman Jaeon remarked indifferently.

  “Speaking of which…” Nef looked at Tsuru with a smirk. “Ever heard of Hell’s Trading pany?”

  “What?!” Tsuru’s eyes widened in shock as she looked at Nef. “The Fallen Angel Pirates… are behind Hell's Trading pany?”

  She’d certainly heard of the anization, which had risen to prominen ret years. Hell's Trading pany was a major influence, monopolizing the grain and medie markets across the New World and the West Blue, and gradually expanding into other seas. She hadn’t expected it to be supported by the Fallen Angel Pirates.

  “You think all that grain and rare medie just appears?” Nef asked, giving her a sidelong look. “It’s all thanks to El-sama, who grows it with his Devil Fruit abilities.”

  “What?” Tsuru inhaled sharply, starting to uand. El’s Mythical Zoan ability allowed him to produce resources on an incredible scale. Most people with such powers would never devote the necessary time and energy to mass-produg crops. But with his Lunarian and Giant bloodlines, El had the strength and stamina to make it happen, geing substantial profits without needing to plunder.

  “Hey, Nef, careful about spilling io outsiders… She’s not one of us yet!” Giantess Lily warned.

  “It’s fine,” Linlin, reing zily, waved her hand. “El said that since we’ve already made such a grarahe Wover will iably trace Hell's Trading pany back to us.”

  “Every branch is ready to go underground when necessary,” Linlin added. “We’ve got everything io keep our operations running, even out of sight.”