The Enies Lobby incident had come to an end, and after some negotiation with the Marines, CP0 submitted a report to the World Government. The report was carefully worded, stating that Enies Lobby was bombarded, causing significant casualties among the Fishmen, with key figures like Fisher Tiger and Tom listed as "missing, presumed dead," while the Marine traitor Wood was reported as seriously injured and on the run.
The phrase "missing, presumed dead" was deliberately chosen. The CP0 officer didn't dare claim that Fisher Tiger and the others had been killed because he knew better. However, if the report had outright stated they were still alive, the World Government would have been furious to learn that they used massive firepower—enough to obliterate Enies Lobby—yet failed to kill even a single important target. The consequences would have been severe.
By saying they were "missing," CP0 managed to imply some level of success while avoiding any definitive statements. After all, if Tiger and Tom resurfaced later, they wouldn't have to explain why they hadn't been killed.
As for the general casualties among the Fishmen, that was of little concern to the World Government. Apart from Fisher Tiger and a few other key figures, the rest of the Fishmen were of no importance to them.
Even with such careful wording, the World Government was still enraged. However, with Spandam and his father taking the fall, CP0 managed to escape the worst.
When Spandam regained consciousness, he fiercely defended himself, but with the Marines' testimony against him and the undeniable evidence that he had delayed the report, his fate was sealed. Worse still, he dragged his father, Spandine, down with him.
Meanwhile, the Sun Pirates had taken the members of Tom's Workers and the others to a deserted island. There, Tiger noticed that Wood's life paper was burning rapidly. Ignoring Jinbe and the others' attempts to stop him, Tiger followed the life paper's trail and found Wood, who had been floating in the sea for hours.
Luckily, Wood wasn't a Devil Fruit user, and thanks to his strong vitality, he had managed to survive despite being on the verge of exhaustion. In the pirate world, people were known for their tenacious life forces and impressive recovery abilities. After just a few days of rest on the deserted island, Wood, Tom, and the others were back to full health.
Once Tom had recovered, the first thing he did was kneel and express his heartfelt thanks to everyone. He was genuinely surprised that Wood, Tiger, and the others had risked their lives to storm Enies Lobby for him, even though they didn't know him that well. They had even made enemies of the World Government in the process.
Moved by their selflessness, Tom decided it would be dishonorable to continue hiding the truth from them. So, he confessed to Tiger and the others about why Spandam had targeted him and revealed the location where he had hidden the blueprints for Pluton.
When they heard that Tom had hidden Pluton's blueprints inside the Rocketman's engine, everyone was stunned. Franky and Iceburg exchanged shocked looks, unsure of how to explain themselves to their mentor.
"What?! You used the Rocketman to storm Enies Lobby and left it there?!" Tom was thunderstruck by Iceburg's words. He had done so much and risked his life to keep the Pluton blueprints out of the World Government's hands, and now Franky and the others had practically delivered it to them!
Tom understood all too well how dangerous Pluton was. If the World Government got its hands on it, it would spell disaster. Upon hearing that such a terrifying ancient weapon might fall into the hands of the World Government, even Tiger and Jinbe looked deeply troubled.
At this point, the Sun Pirates were second only to the Revolutionary Army in terms of how much they had provoked the World Government. The Fishmen didn't want to see the World Government obtain such a dangerous weapon, so they were even considering storming Mariejois once more to destroy the Pluton blueprints.
"If the Pluton blueprints were hidden inside the Rocketman, then there's no need to worry," Wood interjected. "Before I left, the World Government's forces unleashed a Buster Call on Enies Lobby. Now, there's nothing left—not even a trace of the Rocketman."
Though the Rocketman was reduced to rubble, Wood had secretly retrieved the Pluton blueprints beforehand. But would he tell anyone that? Of course not. Everyone knew the value of keeping quiet when you're sitting on a treasure.
"Well, that's one way to look at it," Tom sighed, relieved. "Even though we've lost our ancestors' wisdom, it's better that such a dangerous thing never sees the light of day again."
Hearing that the Pluton blueprints might have been destroyed along with Enies Lobby, Tom's expression was somber, but he soon came to terms with it. Losing the ancient wisdom was regrettable, but as long as the World Government didn't get it, that was all that mattered.
Tiger and Jinbe seemed to accept this outcome, but the other Fishmen, like Arlong, couldn't help but feel disappointed. Given the favor they had done for Tom by saving him, and considering they were all fellow Fishmen, if Tiger had asked Tom for the blueprints, he probably wouldn't have refused.
With an ancient weapon like Pluton, the Fishmen would have a much better chance of standing up to humans. They'd be one step closer to their dream of living on land.
As everyone processed their mixed feelings about the apparent loss of the Pluton blueprints, a Fishman suddenly burst in, waving a newspaper and a stack of wanted posters.
Enies Lobby, one of the World Government's three main institutions, had been the site of a major incident, and the head of the News Organization, Morgans, wasn't about to let that go unnoticed. Fisher Tiger, the Fishman hero who had already caused an uproar at the Holy Land of Mariejois, had attacked Enies Lobby for the sake of his fellow Fishmen.
The Sun Pirates' name had once again spread across the seas. Not only had Tiger's bounty increased significantly, but so had those of Jinbe, Arlong, and all the other officers. Their bounties had nearly doubled.
But aside from the Sun Pirates, another pirate crew had made its debut on the world stage—the Nirvana Pirates, who were thought to have just been along for the ride. Due to their relatively low-profile performance, Ruth and the others' bounties had only seen symbolic increases.
However, when they flipped to the last wanted poster and saw a face identical to their captain's staring back at them, along with the bounty amount listed underneath, they were collectively stunned.
In disbelief, Ruth and the others checked the poster several times over. No matter how many times they looked, all the zeros were still there!
But it didn't make any sense. The World Government's greatest enemy should be Tiger, who was once again considered the mastermind behind the whole incident. So why was their captain's bounty so much higher than Tiger's?
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P/S: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 320+ at p@treon.com/Betek and change @ to a