Chapter 285
"And you... aren't worried?"
She looked up into his golden eyes.
"Worried?"
The corner of Zaraki's mouth lifted.
"Why would I be?"
There was an eagerness in his gaze now that made Gion even less comfortable.
"I'm actually looking forward to it."
He slapped one hand against the bulwark hard enough to make her flinch.
"Rather than sitting around while they scheme behind my back like rats, I'd rather settle it face-to-face."
His grin sharpened.
"I'm curious what those bastards who spend their lives looking down from above, convinced they control everything, will look like when one of their own pieces decides to cut their heads off."
Gion stared at him.
Cut off the Five Elders' heads?
The idea itself was insane, yet Zaraki had said it as casually as if he were talking about killing a Sea King.
"They'll bypass Sengoku and Garp," he continued, his expression settling again. "They'll set the trap directly."
Gion remained silent.
"But I have my own ways of dealing with that. Whatever comes, I'll handle it. If one comes for me, I'll cut down one. If two come, I'll cut down both."
He glanced at the time and gave a faint yawn.
"Help the Oni Slayer's senior captain with the return and put your battle report together."
Zaraki patted Gion on the shoulder.
"And send Sengoku a message for me. If his only way to stop the Five Elders from putting a leash around my neck is to hide me on indefinite medical leave, I'd rather resign before they get the chance."
Gion's eyes widened.
"You're serious?"
"Yeah." Zaraki yawned again. "I'll write it properly before I sleep."
He did exactly that. Before returning to his cabin, Zaraki dictated a short formal resignation addressed to Sengoku, surrendering his position as Marine Headquarters special envoy once the necessary discharge procedure was complete.
After that, he simply walked away as though the matter no longer deserved any more of his attention.
Gion remained beneath the howling wind and watched him until he disappeared into his private quarters.
Her thoughts were still in turmoil.
She had always known Zaraki was powerful, but his strength had already moved far beyond anything she understood.
What unsettled her even more was the contempt he showed toward the Five Elders and the confidence with which he actually seemed to welcome the idea of being targeted by them.
He had spoken about cutting down whichever Elder came after him as though the outcome were obvious.
Part of that confidence reassured her.
Another part only made her wonder how much he was still hiding.
'What exactly does Zaraki have?'
'What is he planning?'
The door to Zaraki's cabin clicked shut before she found an answer.
...
Holy Land Mary Geoise — Pangaea Castle
The Chamber of Authority was suffocatingly tense when the report from the front finally concluded.
A CP0 agent in a pale mask and white robe knelt on one knee before the men gathered there.
"Zaraki..."
He hesitated.
"Correction. Zaraki himself did not pursue Charlotte Linlin after severely wounding her. Instead, he took Boa Hancock and the surviving Kuja forces under his protection."
The masked agent lowered his head.
"And he has now formally submitted his resignation to the Fleet Admiral's office."
A bead of cold sweat slipped from beneath the edge of his mask and vanished into the expensive red carpet.
Even for an intelligence officer accustomed to dangerous assignments, standing before the men who ruled from the summit of the world was enough to make the air feel oppressive.
"Resignation?"
Director Dapus, field commander of CP0's Aegis Execution Unit, slowly raised his head from a lower seat near the wall.
He had been summoned to provide the field assessment from Kalles, not to sit among the Five Elders as an equal, and the arrangement of the room made that distinction clear.
"He certainly chose an interesting moment to leave."
A cold smile appeared on Dapus's face.
"His Marine rank and special-envoy authority were never more than clothing to him. Something he could take off the moment it became inconvenient."
Nearby, Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro sat quietly with his sword at his side. One hand rested near the hilt as he considered the report.
"Severely wounding Charlotte Linlin and then defeating Dracule Mihawk was more than a demonstration of strength," Nusjuro said. "It also showed how little the restraints we once relied upon mean to him now."
The room fell silent.
Zaraki had accumulated connections with Garp, Gion, Zephyr, Jinbe, the giants, Trafalgar Law, and even Hancock and Mihawk, but very few of those relationships could be exploited safely.
The attempt to use Gion as leverage had already turned Totto Land into an international disaster, and threatening anyone else close to him risked provoking the same response.
The strongest institutional bond the Government could still identify was Garp, and Garp himself was hardly obedient enough to make that reassuring.
"A weapon that escapes control must be destroyed."
Dapus lifted the cold tea in front of him and took a sip.
"He thinks resigning will make him truly free?"
His eyes narrowed.
"Naive."
He set the cup down and turned toward Nusjuro.
Their gazes met.
"If he wants to resign, let him."
Dapus lowered his voice.
"Once the resignation is formally accepted and he takes off that coat of Justice, he will no longer have the legal protection of a serving Marine officer."
His expression remained calm.
"He's giving us an opportunity. Perhaps the last one we'll have to make him disappear."
Nusjuro slowly settled his sword fully into its sheath.
"You intend to prepare something for after his discharge?"
"Exactly," Dapus said. "If the Elders authorize it."
He rose and walked toward the enormous window overlooking the cloud-covered Red Line.
"There are plenty of Marines, pirates, and bounty hunters in this world who would like Zaraki dead. We don't need to dirty our own hands. We only need to put the right people in the right place and give him a sufficiently grand funeral."
His fingers moved lightly across the cold glass.
"Once his resignation is complete and he's outside direct Marine protection, every mile of whatever route he chooses can become part of the trap."
Dapus turned slightly.
"It has to be clean. No evidence, no witnesses, and nothing that can ever point back here."
Nusjuro rose to answer, but stopped before he could speak.
Something had changed.
For the briefest instant, a presence from a palace positioned even higher within Pangaea Castle seemed to settle over the Chamber of Authority.
There was no anger or killing intent in it.
What Nusjuro sensed was colder than either, a presence so utterly devoid of anything human that even someone of his level felt a shiver reach deep into his soul.
Uncertainty appeared on his usually unreadable face.
Slowly, Nusjuro turned toward the other Elders.
Director Dapus had gone rigid as well, not because he understood what had touched the chamber, but because every one of the men above him had changed expression at the same time.
For the first time in a very long while, genuine gravity settled over the Five Elders.
Whatever the matter concerning Zaraki had been a moment ago, something had just changed.