"Tsuru—"

  "Sengoku—"

  Two days ter, in the Marine Headquarters, Marineford.

  Ihe pristine white hospital room of the Marine Hospital, the figures on two hospital beds slowly woke up from unsciousness.

  “Is that…Garp? Sengoku?”

  Bouo-toe in medical baheir bodies immobilized, the two mao turn their heads just enough to make eye tact, reizing each other through void gaze.

  “Garp, where’s Tsuru?” Sengoku asked, filled with ay, trying to lift himself but feeling an overwhelming weakness. His chest wound throbbed with pain, causing him to wind fall bato the bed.

  “I don’t know; I passed out too…” Garp grunted, his voice ced with bitterness. “That damned Fallen Angel hit hard; I feel like every bone in my body’s broken. It’s a miracle we even survived—probably thanks to Admiral Hark’s intervention.”

  Garp hesitated, his voice low, “As for Tsuru…”

  Though he didn’t finish, his face showed his . Knowing Tsuru had lost fifty or sixty years of her lifespan to Charlotte Linlin’s abilities, he doubted she’d be in good shape even if rescued. The thought of El, the leader of the Fallen Angel Pirates, also sent a shiver down his spine—his presence had been terrifying, like a primal beast that stirred fear. Not even Admiral Hark could easily face him.

  “You’re both awake…”

  In that moment, footsteps sounded heavily from the doorway as Admiral "Steel Bone" Koered, haviurned urgently from the New World.

  “Admiral Kong, how long have we been out?” Sengoku asked anxiously. “And what about Tsuru?”

  “You’ve been unscious for three full days. As for Tsuru…”

  Steel Bone Kong paused, his face grave.

  “What happeo Tsuru?” Sengoku and Garp exged uneasy gnces, a sense of foreboding creeping over them.

  “Two days ago, sihe Wover decided to punish her, Tsuru was captured by a member of the Fallen Angel Pirates who had infiltrated Marine Headquarters. They staged her death as a suicide and then fled, leaving a trail of destru…”

  Kong tinued solemnly, “The infiltrators brutally murdered Fleet Admiral William’s nephetain Merkel, using a Devil Fruit power to impersonate him. Disguised, they left Marineford by ship, even going as far as to brazenly impersonate him in the Holy Land of Mariejois to iate with the Wover.”

  “Just this m, a bounty was issued for Tsuru.”

  Kong pulled out a wanted poster from his coat, presenting it to the two. On it hoto of Tsuru in her Marine uniform, exuding the fierce, heroiergy she was known for.

  Tsuru the Strategist. Bounty: 55 Million Berries, Dead or Alive.

  The poster dispyed her youthful likeness because the higher-ups assumed she had turned her ba justid allied with the Fallen Angel Pirates, and that they had likely restored her lost years.

  “What!?”

  “You ’t be serious!”

  At these words, Sengoku and Garp minds went bnk. A wave of anger and disbelief surged within them, nearly causing them to bck out again. The iy of their rea caused fresh blood to seep through their bandages as their wounds reopened.

  “Damn it—”

  “This is insane!”

  ……

  "Twisting the truth, those bastards—"

  Setting aside Sengoku and Garp's intense fury, Tsuru, on the floating fortress Atntis far away, looked at her own bounty poster and the report in the neer. Her face turned ashen, her entire body shaking with rage.

  “Well, well, the rebellious Marine Rear Admiral Tsuru fled to evade punishment?” Lig her wounds, abandoned justice tain her youth by joining the Fallen Angel Pirates, even spiring with them to murder Marine Captain Harry Merkel…”

  “Daring to offend the Celestial Dragons and then going AWOL… not a bad bounty at 55 Million Berries!” chuckled Linlin, Lily, and Gerd as they looked away at the neer and then at Tsuru, amused.

  “Humph, I was truly blind to trust such a deceitful man…” Tsuru ched her fists, her chest heaving as she struggled to calm her fury, her eyes like daggers as she gred at Linlin ahe two instigators, now grinning with delight. “But isn’t this exactly what you all wanted?”

  She had mentally prepared herself for a bounty, but she was stunned by the btant lies. Hammons William, that “righteous” Fleet Admiral, had driveo the point of poisoning herself, but through sheer luck, she survived—and now he had the gall to smear her name, painting her as a traitor who willingly joihe Fallen Angels out of vanity and a desire for life.

  “Well, Tsuru, sihings have already turned out this way…” Lillian hugged her cheerfully, “Why not go along with it and join us? It would drive them crazy!” Tsuru had grown close to Lillian, a member of the Three-Eye Tribe, reciated how Tsuru had never looked down ohird eye.

  “…”

  Tsuru stayed silent, feeling deeply flicted. She had lost all faith in Marine “justice,” but a part of her still held onto the vow she’d made to fight pirates, the ones who had orphaned her when she was young. The idea of being a pirate herself felt unnatural.

  Yet, the past two days had given her a ce to observe the Fallen Angel Pirates, and she had to admit they seemed… different. The leader, El, had a charisma that was undeniable. It was clear why his crew would follow him into unimaginable risks.

  “Take your time; you don’t o rush your decision,” said El, his imposing figure walking toward her with a calm smile. She was in his territory now; he could wait.

  “Thank you…” Tsuru replied, nodding slightly.

  “Moss is back,” Linlin said suddenly, pointing te bird gliding toward them. The bird ransf bato a Lion Mink Moss, who handed El a blue box without dey.

  “Here you go, Boss. This is from Tain,” he said.

  El opehe box, revealing a strange Devil Fruit that looked just as he expected.

  “That’s the Gre-Gre Fruit?” Tsuru, who’d memorized the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, reized it immediately.

  “The Gre-Gre Fruit?” Linlin, Lillian, Gerd, and nced curiously at the fruit in El’s hand.

  Tsuru nodded, expining, “Acc to the Encyclopedia, this fruit grants the ability to see through objects and read minds; eveears bee a on. The ability to see into a person’s heart alone is remarkable.”

  “So, it’s like an X-ray fruit?” Linlin asked, ughing.

  El smiled, handing the Gre-Gre Fruit to Lilliahree eyes widened in shock.

  “Sihis is aed ability, it could be well suited for you, Lillian. It may even enhance your ihree-Eye abilities in ued ways. Besides, now that Atntis is our ‘flying ark,’ we need an exceptional navigator,” he said. “You’ve already show navigation skills, so you could serve as both our navigator and lookout.”

  Lillian looked at the Devil Fruit in her hands, torn but intrigued. “But…El…” she begaantly, clearly relut to give up her ambition of being a master swordswoman.

  “Who says a navigator or lookout ’t fight?” El ughed, patting her on the head with a grin.

  “Really? I ?”