Chapter 641: A Twist of Fate
Although Ian and the others had each gone their separate ways, the repercussions of their actions were far from over...
On the sea, a Marine warship was sailing, with a Marine soldier holding a telescope to observe the surface.
Just then, a black dot appeared in the telescope's field of view. The Marine soldier was startled, then adjusted the telescope's focus to get a clearer look at what the black dot was.
A... ship?
The Marine soldier stared blankly through the telescope. The distance was too great; although he could make out that it was a ship, he couldn't clearly see the flag on it, nor tell if it was a pirate ship or a merchant vessel.
However, as time passed and the ship continued sailing toward them, the Marine soldier finally saw the flag fluttering on that ship.
But suddenly, the Marine soldier screamed in terror, nearly throwing the telescope from his hands. He stumbled onto the deck and shouted, "Alert! Alert!"
Hearing his cry, the entire ship's Marines were alarmed. They swarmed out, weapons in hand, and gathered on the deck.
"What's going on!?" A Marine Captain emerged and quickly asked the soldier who had shouted.
"It's... it's the Whitebeard Pirates' ship!" the Marine soldier stammered. "It's at ten o'clock!"
"What!?" Upon hearing this, the faces of all the Marines on the ship turned pale instantly. The Captain frantically grabbed the telescope, looking toward ten o'clock, and said, "Impossible! How could a Whitebeard Pirates' ship appear here?"
When the Captain finally saw the ship's flag clearly through the telescope, he flew into a rage. He kicked the shouting Marine soldier away and roared, "Bullshit Whitebeard Pirates! Can't you look more carefully?"
The other Marines paid no attention to the unfortunate soldier who had been kicked away. They were stunned by the Captain's words. So it wasn't a Whitebeard Pirates' ship?
Just then, a voice came from behind, asking, "What's happening?"
The Captain turned around and, upon seeing the newcomer, quickly raised his hand in a salute and said, "Admiral Arest, my apologies. It was a false alarm from the lookout! He mistook the flag on that pirate ship for the Whitebeard Pirates' flag!"
"Oh, a mistake?" Arest said with some surprise. "What kind of flag could be mistaken for the Whitebeard Pirates'?"
"Hmm..." The Captain raised the telescope again to look carefully, comparing the flag in his mind with his memory. Finally, he recalled and said, "Admiral Arest, that should be the mark of the Weevil Pirates! This pirate crew's flag does look somewhat similar to the Whitebeard Pirates'!"
"Weevil Pirates?" Arest frowned and asked, "Since they're pirates, they must have a bounty, right? How much is it?"
"It seems to be over 400 million!" the Captain said. "In the New World, that bounty amount is quite formidable!"
Arest smiled and said, "Since we've encountered them, let's capture them. A bounty of over 400 million is worth my intervention..."
The Captain was taken aback and said, "But Admiral Arest, aren't we supposed to be heading to Gran Tesoro? We're almost there. Should we avoid unnecessary complications?"
"Gran Tesoro is finished!" Arest sighed. "Just now, the World Government sent an urgent message. The Dragon Hunter Pirates, the Big Mom Pirates, and former Marine Admiral Aokiji ransacked Gran Tesoro's treasury. The operation to capture Revolutionary Dragon has also failed. Gran Tesoro was swallowed by a tsunami, and most of the city's buildings were destroyed. We won't make it in time..."
"Ah!?" Hearing this news, all the Marines on the ship were stunned.
They never imagined that despite rushing, they were still too late.
Arest now felt immense pressure. He hadn't expected to encounter such a major incident right after taking office. There were also some details he hadn't shared with the Captain. Fleet Admiral Sakazuki had just called, saying that according to reports from surviving World Government intelligence agents, the Celestial Dragon they were supposed to protect had also been killed. The murderer was former Warlord Black Dragon Ian, and countless people had witnessed the Celestial Dragon's death at that moment.
Coupled with the theft of 500 billion Berries and the complete destruction of Gran Tesoro, it could be said that the entire World Government and Marines were now enraged.
Gran Tesoro had been a massive source of revenue for the World Government. They had granted Tesoro privileges, and in return, Tesoro paid them enormous sums of money each year. Now that it was destroyed, not only had the Celestial Dragons lost their Heavenly Tribute, but the World Government had also lost a source of income.
Although the newly appointed Arest had nothing to do with this incident, the World Government had given him orders, and he had failed to arrive in time. He would inevitably bear some responsibility.
When Fleet Admiral Sakazuki had called him earlier, he had said that Arest must, by all means, make some kind of gesture to at least give the Celestial Dragons and the World Government an explanation.
He had even hinted that Tesoro must be arrested!
The implication was that Gran Tesoro was Tesoro's territory, and it was precisely because of his failure to protect it that the World Noble had been killed...
And Arest's intuition told him that Tesoro alone would not be enough to quell the anger of the World Government and the Celestial Dragons. So, when he spotted the Weevil Pirates and heard their bounty, he immediately saw it as a good bargaining chip.
So he said to the Captain, "Given their course, they might have come from the direction of Gran Tesoro. They might know something about the Gran Tesoro incident..."
The Captain immediately understood and agreed that Arest's idea was correct.
Thus, the Marines on the ship quickly sprang into action, turning the cannons to aim at the Weevil Pirates' ship.
Edward Weevil was currently on his ship, frantically trying to control it. After being thoroughly fooled by Ian at Gran Tesoro, he had left early. However, the Weevil Pirates originally consisted of only two people: him and his mother, Bakkin. Now, due to Sugar's Devil Fruit ability, all of Edward Weevil's memories of Bakkin had been erased, leaving him alone to manage the ship.
A single person cannot sail, especially for someone as intellectually challenged as Edward Weevil. When Ian had tricked him into heading to Marine Headquarters, he had forgotten to consider this. With the New World's bizarre climate, Edward Weevil sailing alone would likely result in shipwreck and death before he even reached Marine Headquarters...
But fate works in strange ways. Edward Weevil's course happened to intersect with that of the newly appointed Marine Admiral, White Wolf Arest, causing him to be encountered by Arest before his ship could capsize.
And most importantly, Arest had taken a liking to capturing him.
If the surviving World Government intelligence agents at Gran Tesoro had been a little slower in relaying the message, things might have been different. If Arest hadn't learned that he was already too late, he might have let Edward Weevil go in his haste to reach Gran Tesoro. But now...
Poor Edward Weevil. He never made it to Marine Headquarters at Marineford to show off and trade for roast pig. While he was still struggling to control his ship's course, his vessel had already entered the range of the Marine's naval guns, and what awaited him was a thunderous barrage of cannon fire...
The most direct consequence of this incident was that when Aokiji and the others sailed in pursuit to this sea area, all they saw were some floating wreckage on the water!
Although surprised that Dragon and Ian knew each other, Aokiji hadn't forgotten about Edward Weevil after leaving. This man had cut off the arm of his teacher, Admiral Zephyr. Although Aokiji didn't know what Ian had said to him that made him scurry away earlier, he understood that a man sailing alone would be easy to catch up with. So he hadn't been in a hurry at the time. Only after dealing with other matters did he pursue from behind.
But when Aokiji, along with Smoker and Kuina, finally caught up and saw the Weevil Pirates' flag among the wreckage on the sea, his expression turned grim!
"What happened? Did that guy encounter a shipwreck?" Aokiji frowned. "Or did he run into some enemy?"
Smoker picked up a piece of salvaged wreckage, examined the marks on it, and said, "He was hit by cannon fire. His ship was destroyed!"
"So, is he dead?" Aokiji asked uncertainly. "I remember Edward Weevil is a Devil Fruit user. If he fell into the sea, he might not have survived..."
"Who knows!" Smoker shrugged. "At least here, we don't see any trace of him. Should we send someone down to check?"
Just then, Kuina interjected, "Earlier, we saw a warship heading toward Gran Tesoro from a distance. Could it be related to that warship?"
"If he was captured by the Marines rushing to support Gran Tesoro, that would be good!" Aokiji said. "The Marines will avenge Teacher Zephyr!"
With that, Aokiji stopped dwelling on the matter and said, "Alright, let's go!"
Aokiji and the others also sailed away into the distance. But what Aokiji didn't know was that Edward Weevil being handed over to Zephyr by him personally, versus being captured by Arest and handed over to the World Government along with Tesoro, were two completely different things...