That denden mushi wasn't supposed to ring. Not today, nor next week. Probably not even next month. But it still rang regardless; the snail was awakened and ringing continuously, not aware of Drake's confusion of the error in timing. Besides, if it really had to ring, it was supposed to be in the middle of the night, the agreed time for them to communicate during the mission. Not so early in the day, where the first light of the sun was just breaking far in the east, among eternal winter island clouds that Drake had got used to.
Thus, Drake spent one good minute frozen on the spot, gawking at the snail that had been asleep most of the time for the last one year and six months.
Something must have had happened. Something really bad.
After putting some time to regaining composure, Drake finally picked up the receiver, putting it close to his mouth as he fixed his eyes on the snail.
Its eyes were turned wide open, mimicking the guy on the other side. Drake almost slammed the receiver back to hang up the phone, believing that their secret communication device was hijacked. Never, never in his life had he ever seen that man with an expression so distraught and so fearful. The snail must have been hijacked. There was no other explanation for the error in timing and in the snail's expression.
But then, he heard a familiar voice from the device.
"White City harboring to Minion Island," were the exact words that kept him from breaking the connection and eliminating the snail altogether. Drake froze on the spot, not having any other choice but to answer the other man.
"Minion Island copy," he finally replied, almost forgetting that he must confirm with his own answer so they both can be convinced that they are speaking on a secure line. "Doctor, is that you?"
"Yes, Admiral, it is me," the other man replied, sounding impatient. Another error on the whole scene. "There is a complication to our plan. We need to talk in person. Meet me someplace safe of your choice tonight at 11. Make sure nobody follows you."
Drake narrowed his eyes. No, this felt so wrong. Even though the voice was right, everything else about the other man on the phone was in the wrong. He wasn't supposed to sound so distraught, so impatient… so out of breath. The expression that the snail mirrored was also quite strange. It shouldn't give an impression that the man hadn't slept for two days in a row, because Drake had seen him doing exactly that, and the man still look like a normal person, if he ignored the permanent panda eyes under his eyes.
"Can I bring any of my crew?" Drake asked cautiously.
"Nobody can follow you," the voice repeated, every word was dripping with forced affirmation, as if the man lost his patience. "Tonight at 11, Admiral."
"Very well, but I will not mention the place," Drake replied, still somewhat cautious if the man on the other side was an imposter. "Follow my vivre card instead."
There. If this man was an imposter, he wouldn't show up. Drake gave a vivre card to a very small number of people, the ones that he trusts with his life.
"Fair enough," The man replied, and then he break the connection.
Drake was left with his own thoughts then. Assumptions came to his mind one after another, each one was getting worse than the other. The orange haired man could feel his heart beat faster with the fear of the unknown as he agonized over what could go wrong in their plan of taking down Kaido. Sure, Strawhat was not supposed to be involved in the plan, and Doflamingo was not supposed to be captured by The Marines. But the SAD factory was destroyed, Dressrosa was freed, and from what he heard, Caesar Clown's whereabouts were still unknown. There was no way Kaido could still make an artificial devil fruit right now. His supply was cut thoroughly.
Their grand plan was still intact. So what went wrong?
Drake stared at the sleeping snail once again. The smiley Jolly Roger on its chest glared back at him, grinning in a mischievous way that made Drake's mind wander to the first time he saw the symbol. Two years and three months ago.
-n-n-n-n-n-n-n
The symbol was printed on the yellow T-Shirt proudly. Drake could tell it was painted manually by hand at first glance. The circle was not perfect, and the lines that made for its teeth were inconsistent. However, the young man who wore it was far more intriguing than what looked like a Pirate Crew Jolly Roger. Even from a good distance, his steely grey eyes bore holes through him. A mischievous grin was spread on his lips, mirroring the symbol's expression.
"Welcome to Minion Island, Rear Admiral," he said as Drake stepped inside the cheap bar. With his opponent's voice and body language screaming confidence, Drake decided to stay calm until knew more about the lean young man in front of him. From all he could tell at first glance, the raven haired man couldn't be more than 25 years old. He looked rather slim, but from his time training younger soldiers in Marine Academy, Drake knew better not to underestimate the tattooed man's strength.
"Where is everyone?" Drake could remember asking coldly, too tired and impatient to free everyone in that island. Timing was of the essence, and if he had to fight this man, he would have no time to run before the reinforcement fleet sent by North Blue Marine Base came. If they saw what he did to the island and the people inside it, they would instantly put two and two together and Drake would have to kill them to keep them quiet. He would rather be not forced to kill his ex-coworkers right after he betrayed them, thank you very much.
The man raised his chin challengingly as he spoke with a low voice. "Everyone the Marines are trying to eliminate?" he asked.
"My intention towards them is none of your business, boy," Drake gritted his teeth. "I'm gonna repeat it once. Where is everyone?"
The man tilted his head. "In the last few months, Marines had been coming to this island to evacuate the people. They started to spread a news about this island being dangerous but when they could not provide any proof, they started to bribe people to leave this island. Again, the people of this island refused to leave their home. Therefore, The Marines started to create a plan to remove this island from existence so they can start to build a secret base, used specifically to train spies and plan espionage. Good number of Marine battleships are closing in to this island as we speak."
The young man said all this with a lazy tone, as if challenging him with the disclosed information. Drake raised his eyebrows, his hands were placed on his weapons as he felt an intimidating aura from the other man. It might be his animal side kicking in, but Drake always had a great sense of danger, even before he fully mastered his Observation Haki.
"Where did you hear that, young man?"
The man glanced at Drake, grinning as Drake realized that it was all he needed to confirm his theory. "It is true, then."
"Where is everybody?" Drake ignored his question, heart pounding as time was running out. He could practically hear the engine of the battleships closing in.
"Are you here to execute them then, Rear Admiral Diez Drake?"
The sound of his name from the other's low voice caused some sort of effect on Drake. He blinked, shocked at how that voice could have such impact on him that he couldn't quite understand. Did he just… mock him? Yeah, he might have. Even though it sounded like a politeness at first, Drake was sure that this lean man, without any visible weapon around, was actually challenging him; a man dressed in Marine uniform, with a high rank jacket draped over his shoulders, and an axe hanging beside him. There was no indication of fear in his body language, nor in his voice.
That man was indeed challenging him.
"No, I'm here to save Ikkaku and Clione from being murdered on the wave of battleships that won't give two shits about their lives, and take them in under my wing," he said, heart pounding as he could practically feel the watch in his pocket ticking faster.
"They have learned their place, Admiral. And it's not in the organization that took their grandma's life in the first place," the man looked up on Drake and grinned. Again, a slight hint of mockery showed in his voice. This nameless man truly had no fear.
At that, Drake grinned. That was what it took to finally admit what he had been planning in the past six months. The mocking tone in that low, confident voice was making his heart pump faster as he finally grinned, turning back the element of surprise to the perfectly composed man in front of him. "You're right, boy. The Marines is not a place for the likes of them. That's why I'm going to recruit them to my pirate crew," he said triumphantly. Once the words left his mouth, Drake felt the burden of keeping his secret and all caution lift from his shoulder at once, leaving him free for the first time since he started to think of leaving the marines - that corrupted organization - to pursue piracy.
To his satisfaction, Drake could see shock flashed on the other man's expression, and even if it didn't last for a second, it was more than worth it. "My, what a surprise," he said. "Finally see how disgustingly corrupted The Marine is?"
"Up close," Drake admitted. "And I'm not gonna see this island turned into a place of massacre again. Now tell me, boy. Where are they? I promised to pick them up…"
Before Drake could finish his sentence, an explosion could be heard, causing the ground to shake a little. The man got up from his seat, not losing an inch of his grin. "That's my cue," he said, not even sounding afraid of the possibility that that place would soon be a battleground. "And I wouldn't worry about Ikkaku and Clione now, Drake-ya. They are already safe and sound. In fact, they're about to set sail with another Pirate Crew."
"Yeah? And whose crew that might be?"
"Mine," the man turned and glanced at Drake over his shoulder, showing another grinning Jolly Roger painted on his back. "Trafalgar Law, Captain of Heart Pirates," he smirked smugly, satisfaction dripping from his voice before he walked further. "See you later, Captain Drake. We shall meet again in the sea."