Chereads / Phantom Blade Zephyr: One Piece / Chapter 85 - Drums of War

Chapter 85 - Drums of War

On a very nice morning, Donquixote Doflamingo got a very disturbing call from him in-house mad scientist Ceaser Clown. He was frantic to the point of extreme. With laboured breadth he conveyed how the whole Punk Hazard was being invaded by Big Mom Pirates.

"How the fuck did they know about the facility?"

"I don't know, Joker. Send a few of your people here quickly! Otherwise we're all going to die!"

"Where's Monet?"

"What? My assistant? She died trying to protect the giant experimentation subjects."

Doflamingo's brow turned tense hearing that. He felt sorrow for the death of his family. But not that much sorrow that he'll lose all reason. His family lived to serve him after all.

"Try to stay alive for sometime. I'm sending Baby 5 and Buffalo."

Saying this Doflamingo cut the signal. He ordered Baby 5 and Buffalo after half a day. Doflamingo knew very well that if Big Mom Pirates have actually attacked the facility, then he can't actually do anything. So, he chose that it was to minimize the damage as much as possible.

The losing of the facility will surely anger Kaidou. He was the main customer for SMILE fruits after all. A sense of worry wasged over Doflamingo. He really didn't want to anger Kaidou.

But that sudden worry was replaced with maniac grin the very next second. If Big Mom Pirates actually did the facility, that meant a war was going to follow. And for an arms dealer like him, war meant more business.

With renewed energy, the Heavenly Yaksha gathered all of his family. It was time for them to prepare for the inevitable and for Doflamingo's connections to be even stronger than before. It was time for him to take over the whole underworld.

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After getting the report from Joker, Kaidou, King of the Beasts went on a rampage for an hour or so. In that little time, topology of a few areas of Wano Country changed forever. A simple temper tantrum from a man of his level of power was dangerous to an enormous degree.

After getting calmed down by his right hand man, King, Kaidou issed an order to send one of the Tobi Roppo member to investigate the incident. Although Joker has sent him attatched pictures with his report, Kaidou didn't trust the underworld lord.

At the same time, he instructed another member of the Tobi Roppo to attack a small island under the control of Big Mom Pirates. Kaidou might be impulsive, but he was also smart enough to know that a full scale war between him and Lilin will mean enormous losses on both sides. So he decided to chip away her territories one by one before he went for the big attack.

The drums of war was already in the background.

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On the same time, X-Drake sent this important information to the Navy base. After a lot of discussions between the Admirals, Fleet admiral and the Elders it was decided that the Navy will not intervene in this upcoming war.

It was not in their best interest to send troops to a war between Yonkos. Rather it was better for them to attack after both sides were weakened enough.

Admiral Fujitora strongly disagreed with thus strategy saying that innocents might get hurt if these two powerhouse were left unchecked. But he was easily outvoted by the others. The navy has long since lost their purpose of protecting the citizens. Now, they were more focused with hunting down pirates and delivering 'Absolute Justice'.

This was the reality with the leadership of Fleet Admiral Sakazuki.

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Couple of weeks after the start of war between Big Mom Pirates and Beast Pirates, Sword King Zephyr made his first move in months. He hasn't shown himself publically after forming his new crew. Sword King, Crocodile and an unidentified oni visited Marine Base G-5.

The base was practically unharmed and their target was clear. Vice Admiral Vergo. He was killed with a single clean stab to the heart. Beside his dead body, a file was left. A file suggesting how Vergo had been betraying the Navy for decades.

The admirals recieved the report. They weren't surprised that Vergo lost. He might've won against Zephyr three years ago. But now he was nothing but fodder in front of Zephyr. He was a Yonko candidate after all.

Like usual, Navy hid Vergo's betrayal from the public eye. But there was another more important thing that piequed their interest.

How did Sword King find the location of G-5?

The location of the Marine Bases were secret from the public. There was only one possible explaination behind this.

A spy inside the navy.

Rumors began forming inside the navy about a high ranking marine traitor working for the Sword King. The speculation brought distrust among themselves.

Sakazuki recieved the report with a grim expression,

"Kuzan. What have you gotten yourself into?"

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In Hachinosu, a man over three meters recieved the new bounty poster with a grin on his face.

'Sword King' Zephyr- 3,100,000,000 berries

'Sin of Greed' Crocodile- 750,000,000 berries

'Sin of Wrath' Akane- 500,000,000 berries

"Zehahahahaha! You've finally decided to finish this dance of ours, have you?" Blackbeard laughed, "Good. You should be the first one to witness my new powers."

Saying this Blackbeard opened his palm. Darkness seeped out of him palm like usual. But within seconds, the element changed. A hellfire from the underworld that seemed to destroy everything it touched came out. But he wasn't done. The element changed again. Now, it was deadly green poison. It changed again. Cracks formed in his hand as the gravity around him increased by tenfold.

This was just the lowest level of power he could use from his new devil fruit powers.

"Zehahahaha! The future is surely going to be interesting!"

The mad pirate laughed like crazy as drums of war rang in the background. The momentary peace was gone. New World is going to face changes, changes that will determine the fate of the world.