Aslan would have never thought he would be the one to sort the World Government's mess. Not because he didn't feel up for the task, he certainly had the means to solve the Impel Down conundrum.

“Hunt them down. Every single one of them. We've both already resigned, so this is not a superior's order. You are free to do as you please...”

It was only a question of time before the matter of Sengoku's resignation became public, and Aslan's future as a marine was compromised already. He was a free man once again!

The five elders might bury the prison breakouts and leave the public sweetly asleep, but Sengoku’s conscience couldn’t rest easy as long as even one those criminals was around.

Aslan had always thought it strange that the Grand Admiral actually complied with those elders’ bastard logic. How could Sengoku retire knowing full well hundreds of extremely dangerous criminals were back in the sea under his watch?!

However what caught his eye was that among the names listed there was actually an old acquaintance from East Blue!

The fishman’s mug was unmistakable, his broken nose testified to his fall at Strawhat’s hands. It was Arlong the Saw!

Aslan couldn’t help but smile, fighting this early boss seemed to be fate! He would be his stepping stone to freedom, just as he was Luffy’s ladder to the pirate world!!

"Strange though, he shouldn't be among them... Has the storyline shifted this much already? Even his escape is suspicious to say the least."

It was an organised breakout, and across the four seas to booth. Hundreds of imprisoned fishmen had broken out of their prison and disappeared overnight.

The jailers talked about flying pouches flashing through the corridors before chaos ensued, fortunately that wasn't the end of their clues.

"Could it be that one? But in the manga he could only target people he had touched... Could he have awakened his Devil Fruit?"

Aslan thought about Van der Decker, he was the best fit for the culprit, be it range and precision, but what could that pirate gain out of this scheme?

Pushing these whims aside, he focused back on the task at hand.

Sengoku nodded quietly at Aslan's choice while taking out a few files and a live map showing a moving red dot's path.

If Aslan had chosen a more fearsome target right after recovering, Sengoku would have cancelled the whole scheme.

"Looking for a fishman in the sea is like trying to get a pin out of a haystack. Luckily we already implanted a tracing snail under the convicts' skin."

With a wave of his hands, Aslan stored everything in his newly crafted finger ring, his move deeply shocked Sengoku. The ex Grand Admiral's reaction confirmed that spatial storage equipment wasn't available in this world.

"Thanks Grand... ehm."

"Just call me master for now. Be sure to come back alive, I trust in your judgment and capabilities..."

"Thanks, ehm, master... I'll make sure to complete the mission!"

Sengoku grinned before sending him off, a mysterious glint flashing under his glasses. It seemed his master still had some surprises hidden for him! Pushing up his glasses, he couldn't help but add a few words before his disciple's departure.

"You might lack an official position, but I've already talked with Garp about establishing a new special unit besides the Cipher Pol... We haven't decided the name yet, maybe The Five Elders' attitude has clearly shown us that sometimes we need to take matters into our own hands."

Aslan couldn't help but agree, it seemed this disagreement was the origin of the special SWORD unit!

"So they have the backing of the Grand Admiral's faction... No wonder Garp could trust them with his disciples, he was actually lending an arm to his old friend!"

Getting out of Sengoku's study room, Aslan was greeted by Jannah's cheerful smile livening him up, but what really made his day were the three additions to his team.

Noticing Aslan's gaze, Jannah chipped in updating him on the humanoid weapon's status.

"Pacifistas, straight out of East Blue's front! They sustained quite a bit of damage against the Revolutionary Army so they got sent back for maintenance..."

Aslan grinned, he wouldn’t have to deal with Arlong unarmed.

...

*Clang*

Aslan parried another of Arlong’s flurries while rapidly retreating deeper into Alabasta’s desert.

The fishman was already a hollow shell of himself, yet an unnatural vitality coursed deep in Arlong’s eyes powering each attack to another high.

“He is actually clashing head on with my cleaver in that weakened state... How could he change so much in just half a day?”

Aslan tried to observe any abnormality on the target’s body, and movement while leading Arlong further along the dunes. Suddenly his pupils constricted as he noticed, the man’s hair had turned white at the roots!

*Crash*

With a sudden burst in speed, Aslan retreated farther away as he let the fishman close the distance, it became evident how erratic the criminal’s rhythm was.

“No wonder he could breakout on his own, he is way stronger than in the original storyline...”

Aslan thought back to the legendary pills behind Hoody Jones' take over of Fishman Island, still seeing them in Arlong’s hands made him shiver.

“Have they achieved mass production? These pills seem to be different”

Driving away the wandering thoughts, Aslan leisurely turned his attention back to Arlong. His nonchalant attitude driving the fishman crazier.

"It's time..."

He hadn't led him here for naught, now that Arlong had stepped right into their trap he was already dead!

Focusing his mental energy, Aslan blasted Arlong's mind with a powerful spiritual strike stopping the fishman dead in his tracks.

“Die, human! You never stood a chance by yourself!!”

Sneering evilly, Aslan left him one sentence before sealing Arlong’s fate.

“I’m not alone. Besides, thanks for field testing my weapons!”

Before he could understand Aslan's taunt, the fishman punched empty air while the sand beneath his feet gave way.

“Quicksands!? This lowly trick won’t work on...”

The sand in a hundred meters started rumbling, while Arlong’s escape attempts failed miserably as he couldn’t find any foothold.

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However that wasn’t the end.

Deep into the desert quagmire, it was too late when the Arlong realised the extent of his enemy’s cunning. Three pairs of dots were ferociously gazing at him! Dooming him forever!

“PACIFISTA, how could you...”

On the surface, Aslan disregarded Arlong’s words. From the start he had always treated him like fish on the chopping board, and the fishman was about to become an extra crispy one at that.

-Jannah, do it now!!

Deep in the pit, Arlong couldn’t even scream before getting blasted by three laser beams. The heat scorched the sand into glass, while blowing a huge dust cloud into the sky.

“Excellent timing, I’ll be sure to reward you plenty on our trip back!”

No one could survive such a close blast, Aslan had even maximised their power output thanks to the location, it seemed Pacifistas used the sunlight in the environment to form their laser beams, and Alabasta’s noon sun provided them with the best firepower!!

Aslan’s necklace rang with his wife’s praise.

“He fell right into it, darling. No wonder the Admiral took special care of you... I want to see whether my mother will still bother us after this!”

Still, Arlong brought them another surprise. Climbing out of the pit, the Fishman’s iconic nose had already melted away while the lasers had already cauterised the gouged pits in his abdomen.

Jannah was readying the Pacifistas for another round, when she heard Aslan’s voice through her communication crystal.

“Keep the Pacifistas for the other breakouts, we wouldn’t want to risk damaging our assets any further against such a small fry.”

Aslan’s cleaver shone ominously, dispelling any hope for the fishman’s survival. With a leap, he crossed the distance between them leaving Arlong no time to react before his severed head turned Alabasta’s dunes red.

"First one down, now I have better leverage with Sengoku."

Aslan smiled satisfactorily, but that wasn’t the end of the fight. Before Arlong’s head could even touch the ground, a sudden outpour of information shocked his mind sea while Aslan’s blood started boiling in a frenzy.

Clutching his head, Aslan barely suppressed a scream as he felt a huge amount of information squeezing into his head while his muscles squirmed like worms under his skin as they were being forcefully branded with the muscle memory of a lifetime.

“Fishman karate? No that’s not all, my body is changing on a genetic level!”

Aslan could feel power surging in his veins, sealed segments of his lineage factor were forcefully awakened bringing his strength to a new high!

Swinging his cleaver, Aslan instinctively tested his newfound strength. The blade left a silver arc in the air before leaving a deep ridge on a large dune over a few hundred meters away.

“It seems like it’s just so so... A pity, but I wonder what might be the cause of...”

Before Aslan could finish his thoughts, hundreds of dull thuds resounded in his surroundings, Aslan gasped in shock as all the palm trees had been clearly sawed off!

“Ok, I’m taking that back.”

Jannah was too far away to notice Aslan’s change, but the strength behind the cleaver’s swing was clearly on a league of its own. Even in the Cipher Pol, only Agent Kaku could boast such a destructive power and that was in his zoan form.

Ever since Aslan had woken up, Jannah felt many subtle changes had taken place. The Aslan she knew always behaved with nonchalance, caring little about hierarchies and it was really part of his charm.

His craftsmanship had been a big surprise but Jannah couldn’t help but smirk at her husband’s power, she wouldn’t have to worry as much now.

“You have been hiding many things, haven’t you?”

Aslan didn’t reply, his forced smile was enough of an answer. It was inevitable for people, especially his close ones, to notice something. In fact he didn’t really care that much. Ever since he woke up in this world, nothing would be the same again.

However, they still had some business with Arlong. It's said that in the hands of a skilled detective, a corpse could say many things and Aslan's spiritual energy gave him many more abilities than any coroner could ever hope to master.

Picking up the severed fishman's head, Aslan put his middle finger onto Arlong's glabella pouring a wisp of spiritual energy in his brain rapidly skimmed through the man's life. The experience would have fried a normal human's mind, but Aslan managed thanks to his bountiful spiritual energy.

Closing his eyes, he saw Fishman Island's slums, Fisher Tiger's legendary life and even his defeat at Strawhat's hands however Aslan's target was actually the last few weeks. He wanted to know who was behind the simultaneous breakouts.

"Meet us at Long Ring Long Land, two weeks from now. The Royal Butler wills it! Maaaaaahahahahaha!!"

Aslan felt the fishman flinch, when the Royal Butler was mentioned, Arlong's hands started to shake so much that he dropped the white transponder snail on the floor.

"No wonder they couldn't eavesdrop the message, they actually used encrypted snails, and on such a large scale nonetheless. I really wonder who that butler is though, I guess they would have never thought the caller's laugh would help me catch their tail..."

It was Wapol, without a doubt. Aslan was a hardcore fan, he already knew by heart all the character's special laughs!

"It seems like I've got my cash cow! Two weeks huh? That's two days from now!!"

With Wapol's riches he could implement his plans much more easily. Aslan threw the fishman's head into the ridge while kicking the corpse along, after a night the sand will bury any evidence of their fight.

“Let’s get back to Nanohana, we don’t wanna miss our train back!”

Jannah’s cheerful reply broke the silence, they could finally rest!!

...

Deep in the night the Puffing Tom was charging relentlessly toward its destination, even the fabled sirens would have trouble matching its speed!

The chilly breeze blew through the train’s window bringing inside the saltiness of the ocean the hot tea on the table seat had long turned cold. Jannah, had already gone to sleep leaving him some privacy.

Under the moonlight, the sea waves broke again and again while the moon was the only witness of Aslan’s crazy challenge.

He had a deep desire to test his swimming ever since his battle with Arlong in the desert, but it was only now, surrounded by water all around, that Aslan’s desire had become an unstoppable compulsion.

The chilling sea water couldn’t stop Aslan, nor could the ocean’s ever-changing currents hinder him, it wasn’t long before he found himself at home. The ocean was embracing him, charging him up and pushing him forward just like parents teaching their children how to walk.

The scenery beneath the water was also marvellous, the coral reefs seemed to glitter like jewels under the moonlight while the boisterous marine life seemed unaffected by the surface’s calm reminding Aslan of Earth’s metropolitan night scene

And soon, he found that he didn’t need to rely on his teacher anymore. No, Aslan had become the master of the waves, exploiting the deep oceanic currents to propel himself forward his endurance increased exponentially under the sea’s blessing.

The shocking scene of a man speeding beyond the sea train became even more wondrous in the sea, it didn’t take much time before it was the Puffing Tom who had to catch up with him!

Coldness gripped Aslan’s heart as he realised how much he had underestimated Arlong, if not for such a suitable environment like Alabasta’s, then nothing could stop any fishman from escaping when they were close to their element.

Ultimately it was Arlong’s overconfidence in those doping pills that spelled his end, while thinking about his spoils he tried to test his diving ability.

It was when he got surrounded by darkness all around and he could only rely on his spiritual perception that he realised how his true limit wasn’t neither breathing nor depth but light.

“Fwaah...”

Resurfacing with a splash, he quickly caught up with the train and leapt on it, raising a column of water behind him

Besides great swimming abilities he also had to test Arlong’s fishman karate.

“Hya!”

Before the water column could settle down a fist sized hole appeared through it before propagating and dispersing the column into fine water drops.

“Incredible, it seems like he didn’t stop refining his martial arts after Strawhat broke his saw-nose lol.”

Enveloped by the mist, Aslan cupped his palms while the thin vapour quickly condensed into a thin sword hovering on his side.

Under the moonlight it shined like silver yet anyone could feel a hidden sharpness radiating from it.

Watching the sea, Aslan quickly found a target for his new technique in the form of a hungry shark swimming by the train.

“Go!!”

Thousands of fine daggers swam swiftly through the air leaving behind them a silver trail, their murderous dive seemed unstoppable! Aslan’s expectations however were broken though as the shark seemed unaffected by the onslaught.

BOOOOM

The Puffing Tom rocked a couple of times under the shockwave’s power, Aslan had already turned away when he felt the shockwave, he quickly dove into the sea to seek the cause of the disturbance.

“Mama... yawn... there was someone next to the train.”

“Go back to sleep darling, no one can swim in such a cold weather... Maybe it’s a sailor checking the train tracks...”

“But...”

“We are close to a winter island, and no one can follow such a fast train under water... we have to wake up early tomorrow...”

Shortly after his dive, a few engineers came to check the train roofs. They stopped on a particularly wet wagon roof after one of them almost slipped down into the sea.

“Boss, it seems like it rained pretty recently...”

“What did I tell you Merrio, you should stop drinking on duty!!”

“But Boss...”

“What? You mean to say that in one hundred miles of clear skies, it suddenly began to rain on just this one wagon?!?”

“I didn’t mea... And look, that shark has become sashimi!”

Yet before his boss could see it, the shark had already sunk to the bottom. Merrio truly began to doubt his own eyes.

“Well, it’s clear that you should take a break, Merrio. The sea is getting to you. I’ll have you on ground for the next few trips.”

...

He almost couldn’t believe his eyes, the gorgeous coral reef stretching for hundreds of miles uninterrupted had been gouged out, what remained was but a sieve of sand and rocks.

Suddenly smelling blood, Aslan looked up to find how his living target had long become a dead shark. Apparently his attack was swift to the degree it was only when the shark lost its momentum, did it split and sink.

The attack was also fine enough that none of the shark’s blood vessels were torn.

Watching the coral reef’s remains with wonder, Aslan realised he now had another life saving trump card in his hands now.

“Well, it seems I won't have to rely on ships to get to Wapol!!“