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It's been three weeks since Marco the Phoenix led his remnants in a desperate and thus naturally, ill-fated assault on Blackbeard's stronghold. That the entire clash was driven by greed and foolish ambition, and more importantly that the whole world knows it, is readily obvious in how the public has begun referring to the conflict as the PAYBACK WAR.
That the battle resulted in a more peaceful New World without need of Marine Intervention is surely of no importance at all. Especially when one considers that it finally decided who would occupy Whitebeard's empty throne…for now. Though…was it worth the cost? While it is undoubtedly true that the Whitebeard Remnants were decimated in their ill-planned assault on Hachinosu, it seems obvious that the Blackbeard pirates did not escape unscathed either. Experts cite the cessation of all activity by Marshall D. Teach and his crew of savages and cutthroats ever since the war as proof that they too needed time to recuperate from their heavy losses.
The World Economy Newspaper however (as loathe as we are to admit it) did offer a few choice insights, which we have not been able to independently verify as of yet. We are also uncertain as to what sources allowed Big News Morgan to describe the battle as if he'd witnessed it from a bird's eye view, but being an honest and transparent and dedicated source of news that we are, we did not wish to withhold potential information from our dear readers.
The WEN claims that, despite having been left to die by his ostensible comrades, the 14th division commander Speed Jiru led the rearguard in a spirited if foolish countercharge. Yet, in a contest of foolishness and incompetency, few could trump the Blackbeard pirates, who prematurely drunk on their victory, were incapable of preventing the enemy from reaching their ships. (It goes without saying that if our brave marines had been present, they would have never allowed the Whitebeards to breach prepared positions and reach their target.)
Sadly, that's where Speed Jiru's luck ran out. For before the first of the newly captured vessels could set out to sea, Avalo Pizarro reorganized the lines and drowned the Whitebeards in a sea of bodies. When the sun set over the battlefield, not a single Whitebeard pirate remained alive, lying dead amongst Blackbeard's slain who easily numbered thrice their own. And featured prominently amongst them was the Corrupt King, Avalo Pizarro* himself, his head blown apart when Blenheim dived into it with several metric tons of dynamite. Surely it is a lesson that bravery will get you nowhere and is useless as a virtue when it comes to ensuring the survival of a military organization.
This means, that when combined with the loss of Sanjuan Wolf, Blackbeard is currently down two of his senior officers. To make matters worse for the fledgling Emperor, just before his position was overrun, Speed Jiru put a torch to every tar-soaked vessel moored on the beaches in a spiteful act of arson. The resulting chaos didn't help either, the bumbling Blackbeard pirates doing more to spread the fire than extinguish it. Eventually, the flames lit by Speed Jiru died down, but not before they had reduced Blackbeard's entire armada to cinders. Thus, while no one will deny that he has the strength to stand amongst the other Emperors as their equal, he will no doubt be licking his wounds for a very long time.
This comes as a stroke of luck for the Whitebeard Remnants who are currently very busy kidnapping and forcefully dragging the populations of entire islands off to places unknown. This drastic change in their MO is likely a result of a regime change, with Marco having been removed from his post as commander in chief for the incompetence and callous abandonment of his allies. His successor is Firefist Ace, who after a year of being suppressed by the first division commander, is obviously very eager to make his immature ideas of leadership into reality. Already, marine experts are predicting that the complete dissolution of the Whitebeard Pirates is not far off. We can only hope that his youthful folly will accelerate the demise of his wicked band of crooks and criminals.
On to more positive news, Uta's live streaming shows have now been expanded across the globe. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, as thousands have outright stated that her uplifting music is the only thing holding their hope upright in these trying times. Especially when faith in traditional institutions is justifiably at an all-time low.
And as always, please follow us to never miss an update on the best news reports this side of the Red Line.
This was Marineford Daily reporting.
*Let it be known that the marines claim credit for his death, as the notorious criminal was no doubt still suffering the from the severe and possibly fatal wounds inflicted upon him by Vice Admiral Garp during the Summit War. As such, he could have dropped dead at any moment and that he died during the Payback War is a pure coincidence.
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– Sarquiss –
"What a load of bollocks."
"What's a load of bollocks?"
"This Marineford Daily Special Edition coverage of the Payback War. I mean, look at it!" Sarquiss exclaimed, waving the offending article about in Bellamy's face. "Whatever happened to journalistic integrity?"
"The truth doesn't sell. It's as simple as that." Bellamy answered, taking the newspaper and riffling through it. "People only want to see what they want to see and have their thoughts and beliefs confirmed. All so that they can be outraged and feel justified in doing so. It's why you seldomly see good news being published."
"That's rather cynical of you. If you have such a low opinion of the official news outlets, why do you keep paying for them?"
"Because, as aggravating as they can be, it's still better than being completely oblivious to what's going-on in the wider world. You just have to be able to read between the lines."
"I suppose. Most of the events described in the article did happen in one form or another. Now, if they had gotten the motivation right, we'd have an almost truthful piece of journalism."
"They were correct on one count at least, though this is the one case where I wish they hadn't been. The Whitebeards and their allies have been gutted by this war." Bellamy grimaced. Sarquiss was tempted to do the same.
If anything, gutted was an understatement. Of the sixteen division commanders the Whitebeard pirates had boasted prior to the Summit War, only six commanders were left after the catastrophe that was Hachinosu.
"Seven actually. Karma got himself and Rakuyo out of there at the last minute. The advantages of being a fishman, I guess. That said, they are currently semi-comatose from the long swim, so it'll be a while before Rakuyo is ready for duty."
"I mean, they are the cream of the crop as far as commanders go, but…geez. Izou and the others are going to have their work cut out for them if they want to rebuild."
The amazing thing was, that even in their much-reduced state, the Whitebeard remnants were stronger than Bellamy's entire network of allies. And that was when one included Gecko Moria amongst that number, which went to show how ridiculously powerful the late Emperor's armada had been. Or Blackbeard for that matter. Bellamy certainly hadn't been lacking in ambition when he decided to surpass these titans in his quest to become the strongest man alive.
"Yeah. Marco and the others have been busy little bees, evacuating as many people as are willing to safer locations."
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If Whitebeard's death had left chaos in his wake, the Payback War made peaceful life an impossibility in his former territories.
"Doesn't that mean that they'd be vulnerable to attack? If they're gathered up in one small area, Blackbeard or one of the others could take them all out in one swell swoop."
"That is a worry, but Izou is of the opinion that it probably won't get that far. The other emperors were willing to let Teach be because they viewed Marco as the bigger threat. Now, they're going to be actively hindering him, which should keep him from being able to amass a force strong enough to easily finish the job."
"And with the sort of losses he's suffered, a close fight is going to be the last thing he wants right now."
"Exactly, you get it."
"Still seems like a risky gamble."
"Not like they have much of a choice left, to be honest. It was either this or spread out to protect as many islands as they can. They just made the choice to set up as much of a deterrent as they can, rather than wait to be picked off one by one."
"And you had no hand in the decision-making process, huh?" Sarquiss asked his captain, one eyebrow raised. Bellamy's responding smile was the very picture of innocence.
"I may or may not have thrown in my two cents here and there."
"Captain."
"Yeah?"
"I may not have observation haki, but my bug sense is pretty close."
"So?" Bellamy cocked his head, as if he did not understand. Sarquiss was undeterred.
"You weren't being particularly quiet either."
"Eh…" Sweat drops began to coalesce on Bellamy's brow, even as his eyes began darting about seeking a viable exit. There were none.
"You gave Marco and Ace a four-hour lecture." Sarquiss said, giving his captain a deadpan look.
"…"
"Each."
"It was for their own good?"
"Whatever you say, captain. Whatever you say." Sarquiss sighed. It wasn't as if it really impacted him in any meaningful way either, so the fate of the commanders' hearing didn't matter. "Though, that does mean the Whitebeards will be laying low for a while, right?"
"We won't be moving together if that's what you want to know."
"What are we going to do next?"
"Well, I may have an idea or two."
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– Bellamy –
I'd made a lot of promises in my time, but I liked to think myself a man of my word. Of course, I'd also done my best to only make arrangements which benefitted me to some extent whenever possible, so keeping them wasn't much of a burden. That being said, the manner in which such promises were fulfilled could vary a lot, depending on the circumstances and available resources at the time. This meant, plans needed to be flexible enough to adapt to new variables which inevitably turned up, though in this particular case it probably wouldn't have mattered if the original plan had been as rigid as a brick.
"Law-buddy, could you repeat that last bit again? Because I think my hearing may be going."
"I know for a fact that your hearing is just fine, Springtrap-ya. I gave you a medical checkup last week. But just in case senility is setting in early this year…"
No matter how lovingly and care takingly a plan may have been crafted, no matter how painstakingly potential loopholes were explored and no matter how skillfully the rules of the game may have been bent… none of it mattered if the variable changed the game itself. In such cases, there was nothing to do but accept fate and go back to the drawing board. Though because this bore repeating, this didn't necessarily have to be a bad thing.
"…I awakened my devil fruit."
Having an awakened devil fruit user onside was a huge boon to any mission. Furthermore, when one considered who my next target was, an awakened Op Op Fruit was literally a game changer.
"I'll probably regret asking this, but how'd you do it?"
"Beats me. I'm just as clueless as you are." Law shrugged irresponsibly. "All I know is that something...clicked as I was desperately searching for a cure to Doc Q's shrinking disease."
In the original timeline, Trafalgar Law's expanded skillset post time-skip included the ability to switch souls in between bodies. Something which he demonstrated to great effect on Punk Hazard to a bunch of people, including but not limited to Tashigi and Smoker. It stood to reason that in order to shuffle souls around, he'd have to be able to extract and implant a human soul first. Or at least something close enough to it for the difference not to matter.
"Well, I suppose congratulations are in order."
"Springtrap-ya. Please, don't take this the wrong way, but I don't like the face you're making right now. You look incredibly…hungry." Law said, wrapping his arms protectively around himself.
"I'm sure you're just imagining it." I reassured him. I probably would have succeeded too, if the freeloader raiding my pantry hadn't decided to join the conversation.
"The beanstalk is right, midget. You looked like you found the legendary goose that lays golden eggs and couldn't wait to carve it up."
"Ah, shut up ya big lug."
"Not calling me a pufferfish anymore?"
"It doesn't roll off the tongue as nicely."
Anyway, if one went back to my own wrangling on the question of identity, the hypothesis that the soul was intrinsically linked to the body it was born into had been shown to be fundamentally flawed. However, just because it was flawed didn't mean that there wasn't a kernel of truth to it. If we staked our hopes unto Kuma's odd interactions with Bonney at Marineford, assuming for a moment that it hadn't merely been a result of Dr. Vegapunk's programming but also the echoes of his soul… If that were to be the case, Law should be able to extract the scraps of Kuma's soul from his body, tattered and frayed as they may be. And more importantly, if we eventually were to be successful in returning his soul to a semblance of healthiness, to reimplant it into his body.
Mind you, I had no idea if this was even possible and even if it was, the herculean task of fixing a disembodied soul was way outside my own field of expertise. However, I did have – in some cases tentative – connections to people who might be able to help.
Alchemy was an art that was not fully understood by anyone. However, what most would agree upon is that it wasn't merely the facilitation of chemical reactions. Rather, its core was the manipulation of the metaphysical, to foster the awakening of latent potential and ultimately bring forth into the world that which was impossible to exist. If anything could aid in the restoration of a soul, it would have to be alchemy and as it so happened, the greatest alchemical mind in the world owed me a rather large favor.
I'd say it was worth a shot.
Of course, before I could call in Myskina Alcier to help, I'd have to secure Kuma's body first. Thankfully I knew precisely where the former Warlord would be at this point in time, unless I'd done something horribly wrong to change that. Barring that hopefully unlikely scenario, Kuma's mindless body should be guarding the Thousand Sunny against all comers. Or at least that had been Disco's last memo.
My friends had been surprisingly ok with the idea of kidnapping Bonney's dad, including Bonney herself who eagerly pulled out a lengthy piece of chain, custom made for just such an occasion. A construct of solid seastone, which she claimed was a belated father's day present. None of us had the courage to disagree that it was a thoughtful gesture.
Long story short, our little fleet of three ships and a submarine made way for the Sabaody Archipelago. Full of hopes and dreams, blissfully unaware of the noose tightening around our necks.