Chapter 295: Unprecedented

Who am I? Where am I? What just happened to the script?

Cavendish looked utterly bewildered.

"Could it be... I didn't actually fall asleep just now?"

At the mere thought of this possibility, Cavendish decisively shut his eyes, determined to fall asleep again at lightning speed.

Whoosh—

In an instant, he succeeded. A bubble of snot formed at his nose as his body began to tip backward.

Pop!

But the very next second, the bubble burst abruptly.

It felt as if someone had struck him with a hammer—Cavendish's mind jolted, and he snapped his eyes open.

"What... just happened?"

With a faint pain throbbing at the back of his head, Cavendish looked ahead, only to see Maude still standing there, unscathed and unmoved. His confusion deepened.

But he refused to give up and tried closing his eyes again.

Once more, he failed.

"Something's wrong..."

Cavendish's mouth was slightly agape, his eyes wide with disbelief, as if he were experiencing something beyond comprehension.

Normally, due to the influence of the alternate personality within him, whenever he had the intent and took action to fall asleep...

He would always enter slumber within a second or two, allowing his alternate personality to take over his body.

This phenomenon had never failed before.

Yet now, it wasn't working.

A strange sense of unease crept over him.

It felt as though he had personally lifted the lid of a coffin to let his inner persona out, only for that persona to refuse, kicking him aside instead.

And not only that—his inner persona even nailed the lid shut with a few giant iron spikes for good measure.

Never before had Cavendish experienced anything like this, leaving him utterly at a loss.

Maude had no interest in explaining anything to Cavendish, nor did he have the patience to deal with his antics. Without hesitation, he flickered behind Cavendish and struck him with a precise chop, knocking him unconscious.

"Captain!"

Seeing Maude attack Cavendish, the Beautiful Pirates' crew members immediately erupted in outrage.

"Shut up."

Maude cast a sharp glance in their direction.

Damn it!

They had nearly forgotten that this was the very man who had managed to scare away the Kamaitachi of Rommel.

The emotional and dramatic crew members of the Beautiful Pirates instantly fell silent.

An hour later, at Shakky's Rip-Off Bar.

Bound tightly like a rice dumpling, Cavendish groggily regained consciousness.

The first thing he saw was his own crew—including his beloved steed, Farul—all kneeling in an orderly, submissive manner, heads bowed as if they were mere commoners before royalty.

"You guys...!"

Cavendish's expression darkened, but seeing that his crew was unharmed, he let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"Captain..."

His crew members cast him pitiful looks before shifting their gaze toward Maude, who was casually drinking at the bar.

Following their line of sight, Cavendish turned to look at Maude as well. His face instantly darkened, his eyes burning with rage.

Maude glanced back at him briefly before ignoring him entirely, resuming his conversation with Shakky and Rayleigh.

"So, the last Supernova has already set sail for Fish-Man Island?"

"Yes."

Shakky nodded with a smile. "It seems they saw you bullying poor little Cavendish and decided to change their plans, setting off for Fish-Man Island immediately instead. Honestly, not a bad decision."

"They ran? Oh well, nothing to be done about it."

Maude set down his glass and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Still, the heads of five Supernovas should be enough."

"Even without those 'chips,' given the World Government's usual approach, they'd likely be more than happy to see you take Moria's place voluntarily."

Shakky removed an empty bottle from the counter and replaced it with a freshly opened one.

Brook tilted his head curiously. "Why is that?"

Shakky glanced at Brook and smiled. "Because the World Government cares about one thing above all else."

"What's that?"

Brook's curiosity deepened.

Shakky tapped her cheek lightly and grinned. "Their reputation."

"Ah, their reputation!"

Brook suddenly straightened up as if deep in thought.

A moment later, he let out a long "Ahh—" as if he'd just reached enlightenment.

The others turned their gazes toward him.

Brook then cupped his skeletal face with both hands. "Yohohoho! I have no face!"

"..."

For a moment, an awkward silence filled the room.

Yet Brook remained utterly unfazed, taking a relaxed sip of hot tea.

Shakky chuckled, finding Brook's antics amusing, before continuing her explanation:

"For the World Government, seeing a Warlord of the Sea they handpicked and recruited being defeated is equivalent to being publicly slapped in the face. To quickly save face, their best option would be to cover it up."

"But with the World Economy News Agency having already exposed the incident, covering it up is no longer possible."

"That being the case, the fastest way to resolve the situation would be to find a replacement for Moria—someone with comparable strength and notoriety. However, finding such a suitable candidate isn't easy."

"So in this scenario, having the one who defeated Moria—little Maude here—proactively step up for the position gives the World Government an immediate and convenient solution."

Listening to Shakky's explanation, Brook finally understood the true weight of the World Government's so-called "reputation."

"The Warlord position..."

Cavendish stared blankly at Maude, who remained seated at the bar.

He had been jealous of Maude for stealing his spotlight and taking the title of the strongest Supernova.

That jealousy had driven him to stay on Sabaody instead of venturing into the New World, just so he could challenge Maude.

But he hadn't realized that while he was fixated on the Supernova title, Maude was already making moves to secure a Warlord position.

A rookie becoming a Warlord?

Just how much attention would that draw?

"I've completely lost..."

The burning jealousy in Cavendish's eyes faded away, replaced by an overwhelming sense of defeat.

Strength, ambition, vision...

They weren't even on the same level.

Let alone the fact that he hadn't even managed to claim the Supernova title.

Cavendish slowly lowered his head, suddenly feeling like comparisons like this were enough to drive a man to despair.

His crew, sensing the shift in their captain's demeanor, dared not utter a word in this situation.

...

Marine Headquarters, Fleet Admiral's Office.

"Fleet Admiral, of the Warlords summoned for this meeting, three have already arrived at headquarters—Crocodile, Donquixote Doflamingo, and Bartholomew Kuma."

A Marine officer wearing sunglasses stood straight as he reported the progress of the Warlord gathering.

"Oh? Three of them are here already?"

Sengoku raised his head slightly, surprised.

Usually, if even two Warlords showed up for a meeting, it was considered decent attendance.

Yet this time, a day before the meeting, three had already arrived.

This was unexpected.

"Yes, sir."

The Marine nodded solemnly and continued, "Additionally, Sea Knight Jinbe is currently en route to headquarters."

"..."

Sengoku's brow twitched slightly.

Four of them?

Truly unprecedented.

Knock, knock.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door.

"Come in," Sengoku said, looking toward the entrance.

The moment his words fell, the door swung open.

Stepping inside with an air of refreshing fragrance was Gion—also known as "Momousagi."

Sengoku regarded her calmly, waiting for her to speak.

Gion got straight to the point. "Fleet Admiral Sengoku, I'm heading to Sabaody Archipelago."

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