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The sleeping giant had finally moved.
The Thunder God Pirates—a behemoth that had been quiet for years—had just roared, and the entire world was forced to listen. The news hit the stands like a cannonball, carrying the full, unrestrained fury of a New World Emperor.
Morgans's World Economic Journal plastered two bounties across every front page:
[WANTED: THE OP-OP FRUIT. PRICE: ANYTHING.]
[WANTED: ANY AND ALL INFORMATION ON THE REVOLUTIONARY ARMY. PRICE: YOUR WILDEST DREAMS.]
This wasn't a mere request for information. It was a declaration of war.
The paper included a flawless, high-detail image of the heart-shaped fruit, alongside the known faces of Revolutionary leadership: Monkey D. Dragon, Bartholomew Kuma, Emporio Ivankov, and Inazuma.
The message was simple—Arthur wanted them found.
And the world knew Arthur paid his debts. He had given Doflamingo an entire kingdom. He had honored a lost bet with a blind swordsman, halting his empire's expansion for three years.
He was a monster, yes—but a monster who kept his word.
The world went mad.
For the starving, the desperate, the ambitious... this was a golden ticket. The entire underworld, from the smallest bounty hunters to the largest syndicates, mobilized overnight.
An emperor's every move shook the planet.
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Dressrosa. The new royal palace.
Doflamingo's core family gathered, staring at the same newspaper.
Doflamingo, in particular, fixed on the picture of the Op-Op Fruit—his teeth clenched so hard his jaw ached, his trademark grin vanished.
He knew what that fruit really was. He had learned of its ultimate, terrifying power during his time in Mary Geoise.
The Immortality Operation.
Why? he seethed inwardly, veins pulsing. A man like him—why such desperation for that? He's young. He could rule for decades. Why the rush?
The thought of an immortal Thunder Emperor was a nightmare—game over for all of Doflamingo's plans, ambitions, and carefully cultivated hate.
Or... does it do something else? Something he wants more than immortality?
He couldn't wrap his head around it.
"Maybe it's just... an insurance policy, Doffy?" Trebol suggested, voice oily.
"This isn't good," Diamante hissed. "What's the plan?"
Doflamingo was silent a moment. "We find it first," he whispered. "Put all our resources into the hunt—secretly. Find the fruit, then force someone loyal to eat it. Find someone who can perform the operation... on ME."
He knew the risk. If Arthur discovered they'd hidden it, the whole family would be erased. But this was a risk he had to take.
Being a puppet was agonizing—but he was too weak to cut his own strings.
"For now, set the fruit aside," Doflamingo said, his mind already shifting. "Our contacts confirm the World Government is moving forward with a new 'Seven Warlords' project. That could be the perfect cover. And... Rosinante has reached out. He wants to come home."
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Sabaody Archipelago.
A new crew—the Silver Pirate Alliance—resupplied. Their captain, "Furnace" Bill, user of the Smelt-Smelt Fruit, stood on the mast and addressed his men.
"The New World is locked down!" he yelled, steam hissing from his body. "The four emperors own it all. We go in blind, we die. Simple as that."
"Everyone in this damn ocean is hunting that Op-Op Fruit! It's a fool's errand—we'll never get there first. But that second bounty—the one for the Revolutionaries—that's our ticket."
"Boss, the Revolutionaries are ghosts!" one man shouted back. "How are we supposed to find them when no one else can?"
Bill threw back his head and laughed—a wild, cackling sound. "Because we're not gonna look for 'em! The next island is Fish-Man Island. And who do we know is key to the Revolutionaries? The fish-man—Hack! We're pirates, aren't we? Hahahaha!"
He grinned. "We find him, break him, get the intel. We hand it to the Thunder God Pirates—and we buy our way into their fleet. That's how we get a foothold in the New World!"
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Mary Geoise. The Holy Land.
High above the world, the Five Elders gathered once more. The subject, as it so often was, was Arthur—and the newspaper on their table.
They knew—beyond doubt—that fewer than ten people on the planet understood the Op-Op Fruit's true power. Arthur hunting it so publicly and aggressively meant one thing: he knew about the Immortality Operation.
"Arthur's move is crude, but effective," the sword-wielding Elder said, voice a dry rasp. "We will counter with our own. A public bounty."
"A reward?"
"There will always be brave—or desperate—men under a high reward. We will offer Berries. If one billion isn't enough, we will offer 2. If two isn't enough, we will offer 5."
He placed his hand on his blade's hilt. "Money can move gods—and it's the one resource we have in infinite supply. The World Government will not be outbid."
...
The world split itself down the middle.
For the average person—the civilian, the small-time merchant, the bounty hunter—cash was king. 5 billion Berries was a tangible, life-changing fortune. But for the underworld, for the ambitious, for anyone with a grudge against the World Government... a single favor from the Thunder Emperor was priceless.
And the sea was overwhelmingly full of ordinary people. They were the true search party—the real engine that would tear the world apart looking for this fruit.
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