Queen the Plague, the man whose bounty mostly comes from taking the blame, even Zeraora acknowledges this. In situations where Arceus doesn’t want to attract attention, Queen’s identity draws most of the fire.
So, when Queen asked for help, he came, even if he didn’t verbally agree with him—he still helped out quite a bit in his actions.
Within the Beasts Pirates, emotional outbursts aren’t exactly rare. A drunk Kaido often cycles unpredictably through joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, so Zeraora has already gotten used to it. Even if it’s Queen going through this, the intention is to help him return to normal as soon as possible.
After all, no one had ever used such a strange move before, and it wouldn’t be good if the guy really went crazy.
He could tell Queen was fantasizing about some weird things. If that’s the case, then he’d need to face reality.
Listening to Zeraora’s words, Queen blinked slowly, a bit dazed, before realizing something unpleasant.
“You just… said what?”
“I said, you used that move right in front of a Marine Admiral, isn’t this like confessing yourself?”
They had all been in the middle of a fun game of Werewolf. The Marines and World Government believed that either Arceus or Queen was a wolf—or possibly both—but they had no proof. Everyone had already put on their costumes.
But just now, Queen made a self-revealing statement—“I’m a good person, I stabbed him last night. [TN: You can search Werewolf game on perplexity for more info.]
To be more precise, he practically hit the self-destruct button.
“Hey, hey? Are you okay?”
The size difference between Zeraora and Queen was considerable, so he had to pat Queen’s head to get his attention.
“Did I… do something really bad?”
“Not really, you just used the Natural Gift with a Devil Fruit in front of Akainu. They don’t understand what Natural Gift is, so they probably think you’ve mastered the technology to bring the Devil Fruit to life, since it looks quite similar.”
“Is it possible that… that mad dog saw it wrong? Or maybe they wouldn’t think in that direction?”
“What do you think?”
“I didn’t want it to turn out this way. Really, that b*stard forced me…”
Queen rested his right hand on his face. His left prosthetic arm, having been damaged beyond repair in battle, had likely been lost somewhere in the fray.
The only reason he fought so desperately, with no regard for the consequences, was only for one reason—he’d lost control.
Initially, upon receiving news of the banana plantation’s critical condition, his mood had been very low, and he was worried about what he might encounter out here.
After creating the antidote, he thought the banana plantation was saved—only for Akainu to appear out of nowhere.
Losing, gaining, then watching helplessly as it slipped away again—for a foodie, this had already shattered his bottom line. That’s why he’d used his strongest move without a second thought.
Without using this, with Rain Dance and thunderstorm, they could’ve eventually escaped, given a bit of time.
“Hey, mind lighting a smoke for me?”
Queen took out a cigar and put it in his mouth, but with his mechanical hand damaged, he couldn’t find a lighter.
Looking at the solemn-faced Queen, Zeraora lit the cigar with a spark of electricity, and Queen began contemplating life.
Previously, he was in Schrödinger’s state of blame—the question of whether he was responsible or not hinged on what the Marines’ Intelligence Branch thought, which could change at any time. But now, he’d successfully transferred a part of the blame onto himself.
And he’d done it completely of his own accord.
In the end, he still couldn’t save his banana plantation, rendering this whole outing meaningless.
Meanwhile, at the place where they just fought.
The once-lush island had turned into a barren wasteland, with dense vegetation wiped out, leaving only a thick layer of dust. A lake-like crater had formed at the center of the explosion, but it was a lake of magma.
Magma continued to gush from underground, gradually taking on Sakazuki’s form.
Since consuming the Magma-Magma Fruit, he hadn’t experienced the full force of an explosion like this in a long time.
Sakazuki did not resist the blast head-on; instead, he took advantage of the shockwave generated by the explosion to follow the magma into the underground, thereby avoiding a large amount of damage.
But the explosion was so powerful that it took him quite some time to reassemble his body.
“Cough… cough…”
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and steadied the flow of energy within his body. Looking at his right hand, he remembered how, when he used Hound Blaze earlier, his entire right arm had plunged into that scorpion. It took the brunt of the explosion, and the forearm was now blackened and red.
But this wasn’t magma—it was the color of his own flesh and blood. For an ordinary person, a burn of this severity would undoubtedly lead to fatal infection, but for someone with his monstrous physique, it was just a flesh wound.
“Cease pursuit and return.”
The soldiers’ deaths must serve a purpose. Queen and Zeraora had likely already gone back. It’s hard to say how much fighting ability Queen has left, but Zeraora is different. The people on the ship can’t deal with him, so it’s pointless to confront him.
Besides, this was pirate territory. Dragging this out any further would spark an all-out war, something the World Government wouldn’t allow.
Failing to capture Queen meant the battle was lost, and this mission was effectively over.
…
“Admiral Sakazuki, your wounds have been treated. A few days of rest should be enough; it won’t affect you afterward.”
“Alright, you’re dismissed.”
His shoulder and arm were now fully bandaged. Most of the injuries from the battle weren’t serious, but the cut Zeraora dealt with the Seastone, along with the explosion, had caused him considerable trouble.
After the medic left, Sakazuki took out his Den Den Mushi.
“Hello, Fleet Admiral Sengoku? This is Sakazuki. The mission failed.”
“Failed?”
At Marine Headquarters, Sengoku was visibly shocked by the call. This mission had been in planning for a long time. To avoid tipping their hand too early, they hadn’t deployed too many troops, thinking one Admiral would be enough.
He’d anticipated Sakazuki might go too far, but he hadn’t expected him to be unsuccessful.
“Yes, it was due to Thunderclap and Plague Calamity. Thunderclap’s speed was annoying and kept me occupied. One-on-one, it would’ve been fine, but Queen… he used a completely unprecedented technique. I’ll report the details when I return to HQ.”
“Return immediately.”
They didn’t waste words. Sakazuki’s warship was in bad shape, with even the main cannon damaged, and such a ship in the New World’s waters was vulnerable to attacks.
…
After dealing with a few oblivious pirates, Sakazuki returned to Marine Headquarters, where he reported what he had witnessed.
“You’re saying… he ‘revived’ a Devil Fruit?”
“I saw it with my own eyes.”
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