Chapter 168 Say Thank You!
"Three-Eye Zane, what did you mean by the Donquixote Pirates just now?"
It was unclear whether the pressure of the Conqueror's Haki had finally cleared his head.
A Marine Rear Admiral swallowed hard.
Though he had originally stood before Vergo to protect him, he instinctively backed away, shouting at Zane in confusion and suspicion.
The others who remained conscious reacted in much the same way.
"As I said, your Marines are rotten to the core. To think you'd let a pirate climb all the way to the rank of Vice Admiral." Zane spared the man a brief glance.
Six Powers: Shave!
Having remained silent while keeping his focus locked onto Zane, Vergo immediately launched a ruthless attack the moment he saw Zane's attention drift.
From the moment of Zane's sudden arrival to the words he spoke, it was clear enough to Vergo that his cover was blown.
Facing Zane, Vergo harbored no delusions of luck.
He lunged forward.
Appearing before Zane as if he had teleported, Vergo erupted with his full strength, thrusting a Finger Pistol directly at Zane's throat.
Snap!
Though it seemed his gaze had drifted, Zane's eyes were already fixed back on Vergo the instant he lunged.
He reached out, grabbing and twisting in a single motion.
Vergo's thrusting index finger was snapped by Zane's overwhelming speed and power.
[LET'S DUEL!]
With a single glance.
Zane and Vergo vanished together.
Inside Equality Space.
Zane gave Vergo no time to react.
The right hand that had snapped the finger shifted into a claw-like grip. With a phantom-like swipe, he caused Vergo's head to burst instantly.
A Supreme Officer?
After everything he had been through, a so-called Supreme Officer of the Donquixote Pirates couldn't even last a single round against him.
He casually snatched the Mental Attribute light orb that had manifested from the corpse.
After absorbing it, Zane exited Equality Space.
From disappearance to reappearance.
Only a couple of heartbeats had passed.
The Marine officers outside watched as Vergo vanished, only for Zane to stand before them again a moment later.
To a man, they scrambled backward, their eyes filled with sheer terror as they looked at him.
"Say thank you!"
Zane looked at the officers with a smile.
He had just purged a bad apple from their ranks; surely a 'thank you' wasn't too much to ask.
"Tha... thank..."
The Rear Admiral who had questioned him earlier started to speak out of habit, but he quickly realized the absurdity of the situation and clamped his hand over his mouth.
"Three-Eye Zane, what did you do to Vice Admiral Vergo?"
As one of the few Marine branches in the New World, G5 naturally had more than one Vice Admiral.
This officer, the Vice-Commander of the G5 base and a Vice Admiral himself, questioned Zane with a voice that betrayed his internal fear.
Even if there was no evidence yet that Vergo was a pirate, it didn't matter.
Even if it were true, the way to handle it should have been an internal Marine matter.
Especially not something to be handled by another pirate.
"Hmm? I admire your courage, but I really dislike your attitude." If they weren't going to say thank you, then how dare they question him?
Zane raised his hand and rewarded the man with a blast of God's Judgment.
BOOM!!!
Facing the incoming beam of terrifying lightning, the Vice-Commander's face paled. With no time to dodge, he desperately coated his body in Armament Haki for defense.
The thunder roared with immense power.
The lightning beam swallowed the Vice-Commander whole and then continued its rampage across the plaza. It blasted a massive hole through the base's outer wall, leaving a wide trench that stretched all the way to the horizon.
"AAAAARGH!!!"
As the lightning dissipated, the Vice-Commander lay in the scorched trench, his body blackened as he screamed in agony.
Clearly, his Armament Haki was nowhere near the level required to withstand the devastation of God's Judgment, leaving him severely wounded.
"I'm done playing with you lot. Try to respect in the future. And pass a message to Sengoku for me: I'm a Hunter, so stop treating me like some common pirate."
Dispelling the crackling electricity in his hand, Zane casually extended wings of lightning from his back.
With those parting words, Zane took to the skies, transforming into a bolt of lightning and vanishing into the distance.
"Quick, save the Vice-Commander!"
"I'll go check Vice Admiral Vergo's Vivre Card!"
"Damn it, how can he say he's not a pirate after murdering Vice Admiral Gion and Vice Admiral Garp? What else do you call someone that vicious?"
"Shhh! Watch your mouth! He's not someone we can afford to provoke. I'll contact Headquarters and report everything that happened here!"
"..."
The remaining Marine officers stared at the spot where the lightning had vanished, finally catching their breath as the crushing weight of his presence lifted.
They immediately sprang into action.
Some rushed to the side of the critically injured Vice-Commander.
Others dashed into the building to find Vergo's Vivre Card to confirm if he was truly dead.
Still others silenced those talking too much while reaching for a Transponder Snail to contact Marine Headquarters.
Regarding the death of the Celestial Dragon.
Very few within the Marines even knew about it due to the World Government's information lockdown.
But even without that.
The deaths of Gion and Garp were enough for Zane to be classified as the Marines' top priority enemy, with a status perhaps even exceeding that of the Four Emperors.
Now that Zane had appeared at the G5 branch, the Marine officers dared not delay reporting the news, regardless of what had happened with Vergo.
Ignoring the subsequent chaos within the Marines.
Zane headed straight for Totto Land.
That was his second stop upon returning to the New World.
More specifically, his target was Pudding.
'I'll gauge her attitude first. If she doesn't want to come with me, I'll drop it. But if she's willing to follow me, I'll have to trade a few blows with that monster of a woman, Big Mom.'
Looking out toward the edge of the sea, Zane thought silently.
Disposing of Vergo was merely a matter of convenience.
His true purpose for coming to the New World was to meet the only other member of his tribe he knew of.
The Three-Eye Tribe member—Pudding.
Since she was his only known kin, how could he not care?
Totto Land was the pirate kingdom built by the Yonko, Big Mom.
The entire nation consisted of Whole Cake Island and thirty-four surrounding islands.
Each island was governed by a member of the Charlotte Family acting as a Minister.
Compared to when she appeared in the original story.
Pudding was currently only fourteen years old.
She wasn't even a candidate for a ministerial position, let alone a Minister herself.
However, within the unique atmosphere of the Charlotte Family and driven by her own passion, Pudding had chosen to reside on the chocolate-themed Cacao Island.
She had also opened a cafe called Caramel quite early on.
On this day.
"Hmm hmm hmm... Hmm hmm... Hmm hmm hmm hmm..."
Dressed in a pink dress with her light brown wavy hair tied back in a ponytail, Pudding was at the cafe counter, humming an unknown tune while experimenting with a new coffee blend.
"Done! I'm simply a genius! This new blend is definitely going to be a massive hit!"
After finishing the latte art, Pudding looked at her creation and cheered happily, raising her hands in the air.