Saint Khristin smiled, all quiet confidence. "Our intelligence makes one thing clear: Tengetsu Ares is unusually close to two of Rocks' division commanders Edward Newgate and Shiki."
"Their friendship is deep enough that, when Ares vanished, Newgate and Shiki actually ca to blows. They've been like strangers aboard ever since, and there's been friction all year."
"In other words, Ares holds real weight with them."
Both Five Elders nodded. The files said as much; what they wanted was Khristin's playbook. They listened on.
Khristin paused, then pressed his advantage. "If a rift opens between Ares and Rocks, who do Newgate and Shiki back? Ares? Rocks? Or do they sit on their hands?"
"That's key point number one."
"Key point number two: Ares' missing year is a gold mine. We fabricate incidents that suggest he's a Governnt asset. We seed doubt water it, let it root deep in Rocks' heart."
"Whether Ares is our mole doesn't matter. What matters is that Rocks believes he is."
"With Ares' current power, a schism between him and Rocks would shake the entire crew possibly tear it apart."
"Maybe even collapse the Rocks Pirates altogether."
A trace of a smile reached an Elder's eyes. "Not a bad plan. Sounds like you've thought it through. Very well you have full carriage of it."
"If you succeed, a seat among the Five Elders is yours."
Khristin's heart seed to stop for a beat. Excitent flashed in his gaze. "I will see it done. The Rocks Pirates will be destroyed."
"Go," the Elder said, dismissing him with a flick of the hand.
When Khristin was gone, the senior Elder glanced at his colleague. "What do you give its chances?"
"That hinges on execution," the other mused. "But yes the plan has teeth. Worth the gamble."
"And it doesn't conflict with our other operations. Run them in parallel. Anyone who pits themselves against the World Governnt ends one way Rocks included." His eyes went cold. No pirate band could shake the Governnt.
The senior Elder's mouth curved, almost wicked. "This year's 'Rocks victories' have mostly been our pretext to purge the troubleso and the disloyal."
As if everything lay under their hand even Rocks, reduced to a pawn to sweep the board. Few knew the larger design; the rest were tools.
Rocks was a threat, true but also a lever to draw more kingdoms under the Governnt's umbrella. The more signatories, the more recalcitrant states there were to discipline… and to replace.
Cut to sea.
Aboard Wang Zhi's returning ship, Tengetsu Ares began his daily regin. Fla roared across his bare torso; the air around him flashed to furnace heat.
It was suffocating.
Silver Axe's skin puckered with gooseflesh despite the scorch. He winced. "Ares don't tell you've spent a year tempering your body in open fla."
"Just watching makes my scalp itch. I'm heading below before I lt."
He disappeared into the companionway.
This went beyond anything he could stomach. Tempering flesh with fire? Only a madman like Ares would devise it. The old thods he could accept; this one made his body rebel on sight.
Better not to look.
The other pirates stared like they'd seen a ghost, then fled the deck one by one. The heat drove even New World toughs indoors.
Left in the glow, Wang Zhi's face glead red with reflected fire. Sweat stread down his cheeks. Concern edged his voice. "Ares are you sure this won't do permanent damage?"
Even ten ters out, he felt like at on a spit. And at the center…
Could any human endure that?
Within the blaze, Tengetsu Ares flashed a grin. "I'm fine. I've trained this way nearly a year. It works I'm growing fast."
Wang Zhi's mouth twitched. He's smiling? Was the roasting pleasant to him?
Kaido clapped Wang Zhi on the shoulder. "Don't worry, captain. Big bro Ares knows his limits. His heat tolerance is way higher than when we started. This is nothing. He can keep it up for hours."
No one knew Ares' routine like Kaido. He'd watched the teoric rise with his own eyes, left breathless by the pace. He didn't understand Ares' talk of "seeing the world differently," that strange cheat but he'd seen the results.
Wang Zhi exhaled, a little easier. "To reach admiral-level combat strength so quickly most n can't imagine the pain behind it."
"Right put in the work, reap the reward," Kaido muttered, half numb. "Ares' payoff is tenfold. … "
He cut himself off. So people were the world's darlings born blessed, every effort multiplied, and Ares still outworked them besides.
You couldn't compare. A year of daily reality checks had taught him that and hardened him with every hit.
Wang Zhi smiled, a touch of weathering in his eyes. "There are things you just can't envy into being. Do your own part. That's how you live happy."
"Everyone has a reason to be here."
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