There was excitement thrumming through the Comms Room when Sakazuki poked his head in to ensure that the Horned DDMs were prepared for deployment. Lieutenant Commander Berbec grinned at him, saluting smartly, "Big Boys are ready ta work, sir. How ya want us to run 'em?"

Sakazuki made a thoughtful noise, stepping further into the room and running one of his hands over the smooth shell of the nearest DDM. The snail's eyes narrowed in contentment at the gentle, warm touch, purring softly. "Continuously until I'm sure no one on the island is going to send out any unauthorized communications. Think they can handle that?"

"Oh, they can handle it." The LC popped his hands onto his hips, watching as a couple of his staffers fussed over the larger-than-average DDMs. Their prominent horns twitched as they listened to the Comms officers' quiet cooing. Sakazuki thought Berbec looked very much like a proud father sending his children off to school for the first time.

His white teeth flashed in another grin, "Each of 'em should be able to keep the island jammed for twenty-four hours apiece. Which'll give the other three plenty o' time for recovery between turns."

Sakazuki nodded approvingly. "How directional can you get them?"

"Eh…shouldn't affect us on the ship. They're pretty good about just gettin' where we want 'em to."

"Good." He raised his voice so the others could hear him, "I want all of you monitoring for any incoming transmissions. Everything meant to go to Branch One gets vetted through this room. Anything suspicious, anything, you inform one of the Rear Admirals."

LC Berbec nodded, his team giving a resounding, "Yes, sir!"

"We won't let you down, Admiral Akainu."

Sakazuki left the comms room, bemused. It was always odd to realize that the Marines aboard his ship did not think of him as the monster that had destroyed the civilian ship at Ohara. They were loyal to him despite his past actions. And despite Kuzan's repeated casual attempts to undermine him to his officers.

"What's so funny?" He blinked, glancing over his shoulder at Drake as she fell into step with him. His adopted daughter glanced up at him with a lopsided smile, her red hair pulled back into a simple braid down her back. She was wearing the sleeveless uniform favoured by the commando units, and Sakazuki noted several new scars on her arms, raising his eyebrows at one that looked like a gunshot wound.

"It's nothing." He pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind. "Ya know, LC, the goal is to not get hurt, right?" He muttered, tapping the circular scar pockmarking her skin.

Drake wrinkled her nose at him, pale hand covering the mark with some embarrassment, equally pale skin now tinged pink, "I'm aware." She shrugged, "I've still got significantly fewer scars than the other commandos."

Sakazuki snorted, "Only because your skin's a little tougher than theirs." Being able to turn herself into an allosaurus certainly had its benefits, and Sakazuki found he had little reason to fret about sending Drake into fights—not that it stopped him from worrying. She was his daughter and would always be his little girl in one way or another.

They climbed the stairs to the main deck, squinting past the glaring sunlight. Sakazuki frowned and adjusted his hat, looking out across the glittering blue waves. They were probably still about ten miles out from their destination. The action wouldn't start until they were less than three miles out. From the corner of his eye, he saw Drake had begun to turn a startling shade of pink under the sun. "You haven't put on any sunblock, have you?"

Holding up her arms with a scowl, she asked, "How could you tell?"

"Your ginger curse," he deadpanned, and he was pleased when her blue eyes flashed with laughter. Drake had always been serious, but Sakazuki's dry humour had always earned him her amusement. He didn't think he'd ever look at her and not see that scared kid he'd pulled out of a wardrobe after he'd led the raid that'd brought Diez Barrels down, underfed, scarred, bruised, and afraid of even the kindest touches.

Drake turned away from him to return to her unit, but Sakazuki, thinking fast, stopped her. "Swing by my office later. I've got something to talk to you about." It was past time he told her about him and Crocodile.

Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion, but she nodded, "Sure. Just comm me when you've got some time." She waved her hand in the general direction of EB-1, "No solid promises, though. Who knows just how bad this mess is going to end up being."

Sakazuki huffed, rubbing his forehead, "Don't say that out loud. If we're lucky, it's all a big misunderstanding, and everything in the East Blue is just fine."

Drake scoffed, "If you believed that for even a second, we wouldn't be here." She retreated backward and signed Sakazuki a smile. "Sorry, Dad, but we'll probably be in the East Blue for months."

"You're an evil child."

She laughed, a bright, clear sound that Sakazuki wished he had heard from her more, "I'm a ginger. We have no souls."

"That much is clear."

–

East Blue Branch One, or EB-1, was the biggest marine base in the East Blue, staffed by twenty-five hundred marines at all times. When the Admiral Flagship docked, with two Vice-Admiral commanded battleships alongside her, a third of those twenty-five hundred started to panic. A veteran captain with stern eyes and half of his right leg missing, replaced with a basic prosthetic, saluted Admiral Akainu as the imposing man disembarked, a selection of officers following him down the gangplank.

This veteran captain, Sakazuki noted with a hint of humour, didn't seem very surprised to see him. "Been here long, Captain?"

Standing no less than a foot shorter than Sakazuki, Captain Amani Nero gave a faint smile. The barest quirk of his lips. "A little over a year, sir. Was assigned to the East Blue after I lost my leg." He recognized the dark, angry look in Sakazuki's eyes and a flash of satisfaction settled over him. A lot of marines in the East Blue were about to be in for a rude awakening.

"Who's in charge at this base, Captain?" Vice Admiral Dalmatian asked, scowling darkly, the top of her fluffy, curly blonde head not even to Sakazuki's elbow in her human form.

"That'll be Rear Admiral Ajax, ma'am."

Sakazuki heaved a quiet sigh, "And where is Vice-Admiral Omashi?" He knew the answer, of course, but he needed to hear it.

"As far as I know, sir, dead." Nero really didn't feel that beating around the bush would be appreciated by any of the officers before him. Sakazuki made a quick, irritated noise, a little click of his tongue, and Nero was half tempted to take a step backwards.

"Send someone to inform Rear Admiral Ajax that I've arrived and that I would like all Commanding Officers assembled for a meeting ASAP."

"Of course, sir."

Nero was capable, and within half an hour, Sakazuki was sitting behind a table, Dalmatian on one side of him and Doberman on the other. They faced a room filled with all of the officers in EB-1. If they looked like a tribunal passing judgment, it was because they were. Sakazuki had ordered his officers to place themselves around the room and to keep their eyes and ears open. Commander Martinez, with all of his easy charm and effortless confidence, had, along with his commandos, corralled any reluctant marines into the room, guarding the entrances so that no one could slip away.

At their forefront was Rear Admiral Ajax, a man the Marineford record room had quickly identified as Omashi's second in command. He was in his early forties, with slicked-back blond hair, cold, calculating blue eyes, and a pointy blond goatee. Dalmatian had commented under her breath that he looked like he was playing at being a supervillain when she'd first caught sight of him.

Sakazuki folded his hands together, resting them on the table. His expression thunderous, glower pinning Ajax in place, Sakazuki began, and a hush fell over the room. "Perhaps you'd like to explain, Rear Admiral, why exactly Vice-Admiral Omashi's death was never reported to Marineford?"

Ajax was either braver than Sakazuki thought or far more stupid. "We reported it, sir. Less than a week after it happened. We never heard a response." Jax's whiny, nasal voice grated, and he flinched backwards when Sakazuki's clenched fists began to smoke. The wood beneath his hands started to blacken, and he had to force himself to cool his hands, reigning in his temper.

"If that's the case, it is odd that EB-1 would continue to send reports signed with Omashi's name and marked with his seal as though he were still alive," Doberman speculated, stern visage showing nothing, not even the contempt Sakazuki had seen in his eyes earlier. His stoicism was quite the contrast to Dalmatian's sneer. She was too used to her emotions being hidden by the nonhuman features of her hybrid form.

Ajax had no defence for the pure logic of the statement.

Sakazuki turned his head, "Filomena."

The Rear Admiral stepped forward with a perfunctory salute, "Sir?"

"Go back to the ship and contact HQ's records room. If the Rear Admiral is speaking the truth and they reported Omashi's death, it'll be easy enough to verify. And ask Vice-Admiral Montefelgro to send copies of every transmission sent from the East Blue in the past two years."

Filomena didn't blink at the admittedly tall order, "Of course. It may take a while."

"We have all the time in the world." Sakazuki kept his eyes trained on Ajax as Filomena swept from the room, noting the expressions on the faces of the other officers in his peripherals, which ranged from nervousness to quiet satisfaction.

Idly, he wondered just how many of them were involved in the tip sent to HQ.

"Smoker." Smoker pulled both cigars from the corner of her mouth with a brisk 'Sir?'. "Take control of the communications room; I want all DDMs on the island confiscated. All transmissions are to be sent through the ship; no personal calls. Everything is to be reviewed by my Comms Officers." Smoker nodded firmly, replacing her cigars as she left.

When she'd disappeared out the door held open for her Martinez, the man's smile turning flirtatious, Sakazuki fell silent and leaned back in his chair. After a moment, when he was sure Ajax was sufficiently wary, he spoke, "I suggest, Rear Admiral, that you start talking. Better for you if that's before we start finding things that you'd rather we didn't."

–

Ajax hadn't wasted any time squealing, likely hoping that the faster he started talking and naming names, the lighter his own punishment would be. It left Admiral Akainu and his Marines with thousands of names to sort through. More than eight hundred from EB-1 alone.

Sakazuki slumped in his chair, arms dangling off either side, finally back on his ship and sequestered away in the peace of his office. He scrubbed at his face and groaned. A knock interrupted his moment of self-pity, and he cracked an eye open when Drake let herself in. She held a coffee out for him, steam rising from the cup, and he took it gratefully. He took a sip and breathed a quick laugh when he tasted the whiskey she'd spiked it with.

"Thought you might need that."

"You thought right," he said, taking a deep drink. Placing the mug on his desk, he nodded for Drake to take a seat. "This is no less of a mess than I expected but a much bigger mess than I'd hoped."

"There are still marines turning themselves or others into Doberman and Dalmatian in the mess," Drake bypassed the two chairs in front of his desk for the far more comfortable sofa against the wall. She sat in the corner closest to Sakazuki, looking at her dad curiously.

"I already sent some relief for them." He sighed, taking a moment to organize his thoughts. "So about what I wanted to talk to you about–"

Drake cuts him off with a small smile, "Is it about your relationship with Lady Crocodile?"

He gaped at her, opening his mouth to say, 'Yes, about that,' but the words remained caught in his throat.

Drake picked a spot on the arm of the couch. "It was pretty obvious when she was on board, Dad. Plus, seeing you two together really freaked Smoker out, and she kind of blurted it out when she saw me afterwards."

Sakazuki dropped his head into his hands and lamented silently that there really were no secrets on a ship.

Drake snickered, "Are you guys dating, or was it just a fling?" Drake was always more chatty when it was just the two of him. Sakazuki was her safe person, a position he had no problem with, not after finding out the depths of abuse she'd faced at her biological father's hands from the time she was young.

"Dating," Sakazuki muttered, refusing to lift his face.

"Well, good. I was worried you were gonna be lonely forever."

That got him to lift his head at least, indignant, "It's not like I've never dated."

"True, but never with anyone you actually wanted to stick around. Kiko was the only one you dated for more than a few months." Kiko had been one of the few Sakazuki would call a girlfriend whom he'd dated when Drake had been twelve for about a year. Their relationship had had a natural breakdown when it turned out Kiko needed a lot more attention than Sakazuki had been able to provide her with. "She got married a few years ago, did you know? Ran into her when Aunt Salina had me running some errands for her on Marineford."

"I'd heard," And he'd been entirely unphased by the news. Kiko had wanted the whole nine yards. A husband, a couple of kids, and a house with a white picket fence. He was happy she'd found someone who could give her that. "So I wouldn't say I was lonely."

Drake waved her hand in a yeah, yeah gesture, "But Crocodile…you seem to really like her."

"I do."

"Then you aren't going to hear anything from me against your relationship."

"Well, that's good because she's pregnant. According to her, this means I am now permanently stuck with her because she is, quote, 'Not doing the single mom thing again.'" He chuckled at the utter shock on Drake's face now. "Ah, I did have something you didn't already know about. Point for Dad."

Drake scowled, "Way to just drop that bomb…I'm going to have a sibling 21 years younger than me."

"Not to mention the three step-siblings you'll get if Crocodile and I end up getting married."

She squinted, "And how much trouble are they?"

"High to severe amounts of chaos. The youngest, Luffy, is Garp's granddaughter."

Drake snorted, "I'm not even going to ask."

"Better if you don't."

–

The updates that Sakazuki sent to her were quick. He sent little notes via DDM transmission to assuage Crocodile's curiosity and anxiety, which had come hand in hand with her pregnancy—a pregnancy that had been markedly different from her last one so far. There was none of the morning sickness that had plagued her first trimester with Luffy. Instead, she got to experience a bone-deep exhaustion that left her falling asleep in odd places.

Daz took it upon himself to babysit her so that she wouldn't be caught unaware by someone.

The kids were getting suspicious. Sabo and Ace had taken to trailing after her like a duckling, sitting in the corner of whatever room she happened to be in with their eyes trained on every move she made until Crocodile inevitably got annoyed and shooed them out.

Luffy was clinging to her more, seemingly hesitant to let go of her mother for more than a few minutes, her face pressed against Crocodile's thigh.

Crocodile was ready to tell them just so they'd stop acting so weird.

She stretched her arms above her head, groaning at the pop in her spine. Hours spent hunched over her desk probably didn't help with her exhaustion. Glancing around her lair, she was shocked to find her gremlins were nowhere to be found.

Standing up, she was about to go and find them when Ash appeared at the top of the stairs, rubbing the back of his neck with a tense look around his mouth. Crocodile blinked, unable to remember the last time she'd seen him look so worried.

Her anxiety flared, "What's wrong?"

He froze halfway down the stairs and looked at her, raising his hands in a soothing way, "The demons are fine, don't worry, Mama. Daz is keeping them busy upstairs."

His words were enough to put her at ease. Narrowing her eyes at him, she said, "Then what's with the look on your face?"

He glanced back towards the door briefly before visibly forcing a smile onto his face. "You have a guest," he said.

"A guest? Who? I don't have any appointments today."

Ash shrugged, "Don't know him. But he asked if you were in and if you'd have time to meet him."

Crocodile tilted her head, "What about him is making you so tense, Ash?"

His smile became a grimace, "Something about him is putting my teeth on edge, but I'm not sure what."

Something about him setting Ash, of all people, on edge was a novelty. Ash was usually the one making people uncomfortable, not the other way around. Her curiosity piqued, Crocodile started up the stairs, "Well, now I want to meet this mystery man."

Ash opened his mouth and reached out, maybe to stop her, but thought better of it and instead fell into step with her, "I showed him to the north VIP lounge."

Crocodile nodded, flowy skirt bouncing around her legs and heels clicking against the polished marble floor as she swept through the main lobby. The VIP lounges were situated past the stairs to the second floor, and the northern longue was the one that commanded the best view of the lake and the sunbathing bananawani.

Crocodile pushed open the door with only mild trepidation.

Sitting on one of the plush leather armchairs was a tall man with black hair, grey threaded through the hair at his temples. He wore all black, which made the silver colour of his eyes pop handsomely. Crocodile felt a brief flare of attraction, and her breath hitched ever so slightly before she yanked her hormones back under control.

He was sitting with his legs crossed, one of his elbows resting on the arm of the chair, a cigar held between two fingers. He looked at them when they stepped inside, and his eyes scanned Crocodile from head to toe.

"So you're Crocodile." His voice was rough, with a fascinating grating quality underneath the main tone.

"I am," she cocked an eyebrow, "and you are?"

"Name's Elias Harmon," He uncrossed his legs and leaned forward to stub out his cigar in the ashtray on the table in front of the armchair. Seeing her blank look, he tsked and pushed himself to his feet. He propped his hands onto his hips and grumbled, "The boy is as stubborn as ever, I see." He cleared his throat, "I'm retired Admiral Kuroyu and–"

"Sakazuki's adopted father."

He snorted and said blandly, "Oh, he did mention me. I'm shocked. I have to hear about his girlfriend from his sister, but he tells her about me."

Crocodile chuckled, " He did say something about how there was no point in telling you because he was certain she already had."

"Brat." Crocodile heard the fondness in his voice loud and clear. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think that we shared genes." He shook his head and looked back at her, "Salina also told me you're pregnant."

Crocodile eyes narrowed, "That I am."

"And you already got a couple of kids, too."

"Three."

For some reason, when he smiled, a dimple popping into existence on one cheek, Crocodile felt her heart skip a beat. "Here I was worried I was only ever gonna have one grandkid."

"What the hell is that?" Crocodile almost slapped her hand over her mouth, the question coming out unprompted. She saw Ash glance at her in the corner of her eye.

"What's what?" Elias put his hands in his pockets.

"Why am I so attracted to you?"

"Most women are," he said idly as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "It's because of my devil fruit."

"Which is?"

"Ryu Ryu no Mi; model Fafnir." He shrugged. "My dragon side is near constantly pushing out pheromones. Sorry about that."

Ignoring the very literal implication that Sakazuki's dad unconsciously drew in women like bees to flowers, Crocodile stared at him like he'd just grown another head, "You're a dragon? I thought that was just your code name."

"Kuroryu? Well, yeah. I was the first Admiral to ever receive a codename. Mine was just a tad more literal than the others."

Crocodile shook her head, "I thought Kaido was the only dragon."

"Kaido?" Elias sounded unimpressed. "That punk thinks he's the baddest thing in all the seas. Dragons are rare, but not as rare as he likes to make people believe." He gestured her further into the room and held out his hand to lead her to a seat in a surprisingly gentlemanly move.

Maybe it wasn't just the pheromones pulling woman to him.

Once she was settled, he retook his place on the armchair, and Crocodile raised an eyebrow, "So what brings you to Alabasta?"

"The boy's in the East Blue," Elias said, stopping at that like it was all the explanation she needed.

Crocodile waved her hand, frustrated. Who knew there'd be someone more recalcitrant than Sakazuki? "Yes. And?"

"You're a pregnant logia-type user."

"This isn't my first time being pregnant while having my devil fruit."

"Then you know what to expect. Good."

Crocodile opened her mouth to give him a sarcastic reply, but the door slammed open, interrupting, "Mama! I met a pretty cat lady!" Luffy bounced into the lounge, unrepentant that she was somewhere she knew she wasn't supposed to be and flung herself at her mother. "She's so fluffy, with the prettiest white fur!"

Crocodile huffed, "Do you mean a mink?"

"I guess," Luffy noticed Elias then and blinked at him, "Whossat?"

"Sakazuki's father."

"Saka's got a daddy?" Luffy slid off Crocodile's lap and approached Elias without any caution. She met his gaze unflinchingly, "I'm Monkey D. Luffy."

"Elias Harmon," He smirked, "Monkey D, eh? You know Garp?"

Luffy beamed, "My Gramps!"

"Well, isn't this a coincidence? I've known your Gramps since he wasn't much bigger than you."

"Really?" Luffy wiggled onto the chair beside him, looking very excited, "Gramps was never as small as me, silly." Crocodile was tempted to ask how a man who couldn't have been older than sixty had known Garp as a child, but she decided it probably had to do with his devil fruit.

"As big as he is now, I don't blame you for thinking that, but he was. He used to cause no end of his trouble. Drove his old man crazy."

Luffy tilts her head, grinning impishly, "I drive mama pretty crazy."

Crocodile sighed, "Like grandfather, like granddaughter."

That was the moment the aforementioned feline mink sauntered into the room, tail swishing back and forth hypnotically, "Are you done yet, Elias?" She whined, but before Elias could answer, she noticed Luffy sitting with him on his chair, "Oh, I'd wondered where you'd gotten off to, little sunshine."

Luffy jumped across to the sofa, pointing at the mink. "Mama, see! Look how pretty she is!"

"She is very pretty," Crocodile indulged, eyes darting between Elias and the mink.

She dropped down onto the arm of Elias's chair, and Crocodile saw Elias' hand wrap around the base of her tail, "Crocodile, this is one of my girlfriends, Lola."

One of? Someone gets around. "Nice to meet you."

Lola's golden eyes widened, "This is Saka's sweetie?! Oh, I've been looking forward to meeting you ever since Salina told us about you."

"Where are Nana and Daisy?" Elias interrupted before Crocodile could respond.

"Playing cards," Lola pouted, "I got bored with that and came looking for you. That's when I met this cutie," She gestured at Luffy, who dimpled at the compliment.

"Nana and Daisy?"

"Elias' other girlfriends!" Lola chirped.

Well, as long as they know about each other. Crocodile told herself, listening with half an ear as Lola started talking.

And holy crap, could that mink talk.

–

The Conomi Islands were beautiful: lush greenery, temperate climate, rarely if ever hit by storms and summer-locked thanks to their unique position in the East Blue. All in all, Arlong considered them the perfect place to build up his empire, especially when he took into consideration the pitiful marine presence and the cowardly nature of the islands' inhabitants.

He had himself set up like a king, with a monthly tribute from the villagers. The icing on the cake was finding a skilled ocean cartographer to join his crew amongst the cowardly human masses.

It didn't matter that that cartographer was an eight-year-old girl.

Nami was worth twenty humans for her skills at drawing ocean charts alone. Arlong couldn't help but admire her determination to buy Cocoyasi Village.

He didn't believe she'd ever manage to scrounge up a hundred million berries, of course, but he'd honour their agreement if she ever brought the money to him. He was a Fishman of his word, after all.

Arlong towered over the girl, standing in the middle of her room, examining the painstakingly drawn chart she'd finished only moments before. He ignored the coppery, sweet smell of blood coming from her crudely bandaged hands and the apparent exhaustion in her small frame. The chart was practically a work of art, as always, and Arlong made a pleased noise.

Glancing over his shoulder at one of his crew lingering in the doorway. "Now, get started on this stack of data." He told her, the other fishmen carrying in a dropping a large stack of paper in front of the girl. He ignored the pitiful look on her face as he turned away.

Arlong left her there and returned to his place next to his pool. He was surprised to see the rat-faced marine Captain, Nezumi, waiting for him.

Arlong greeted him, liking the greedy little human for keeping Marine HQ unaware of Arlong's actions in the East Blue for nearly two years now, "Shahahaha, if it isn't my greedy little mouse. Eager for your cut this month?" He noted the human's haggard appearance and the furtive look in his eyes disinterestedly.

Arlong had a guess as to why Nezumi was here. He'd heard the rumours that one of the Navy's Admirals was in the East Blue, sweeping through the marine bases and cleaning out the dirty marines.

Arlong wasn't concerned. He was a Fishman, the strongest and most vicious race in the world. What could one human do to him and his crew of superior Fishmen? What did it matter to him that it was the 1st fleet that patrolled the waters of the East Blue now?

Arlong was the strongest; it had taken the Marines a cowardly ambush to take down and arrest most of Fisher Tiger's Sun Pirates. And he remembered how many marines it had taken to keep him in chains and how many he'd injured when they'd dragged him to Impel Down.

What did it matter that Fisher Tiger had been taken down by Vice-Admiral Borsalina years before she was named Admiral Kizaru? Who cared that she and her fellow Admirals were called the Navy's Fleet Destroyers?

"Just came to warn you," Nezumi began, his hands fidgeting and his nose twitching like a little mouse scenting danger.

Arlong sneered, "What? That one of the Navy's big bad admirals is in the East Blue. I'm pretty sure you and your corrupt buddies have more to worry about than I do." Arlong barred his teeth, "Don't they execute marines that accept bribes from pirates?"

Nezumi barely hid his flinch, and Arlong curled his lip, disgusted by the man's blatant cowardice. "You think you and your crew stand any chance of survival when Akainu turns his attention to the Islands. Akainu's a fucking monster, and I don't think you understand how little of a fight you're going to give him." Arlong was amused by the glare Nezumi shot him.

"Shahahaha! Oh! I've heard all about the ferocious Admiral Akainu! Slayer of innocents and monsters alike." Arlong's tone was scathingly mocking, and he didn't notice the exasperated look that flashed across Nezumi's face. Arlong's voice becomes bland, dismissively waving his hand, "As soon as the 1st fleet's ships get close, I send my crew into the water, and the Admiral's ships start sinking." His sneer returned, and he leaned his head back, staring the marine down.

Nezumi, for all his greed, wasn't an idiot. He wondered just how painfully the saw-nosed shark Fishman wanted his death to be. He began speculating whether turning himself into the Admiral's authority now would be less painful than waiting for Arlong's inevitable downfall.

–

After months in the East Blue, they were finally in a place to go after Arlong.

Crocodile had provided them with some frighteningly detailed information about the Conomi Islands, including that the Fishmen, when not out collecting monthly "dues" from the islands' citizens, typically stayed on the main islands' western shore, where Arlong had built "Arlong Park." Even Sakazuki had to snort at the fishman's arrogance.

While the Marines of the East Blue had been unprepared to deal with an influx of Fishmen Pirates, the Marines of the Grand Line were well accustomed to dealing with and subduing Fishmen.

Smoker, who had never experienced a fight with a water-bound Fishman, stood attentively at Sakazuki's back beside a yawning Drake. When exactly Sakazuki had gotten her more interested in learning to rely on her Devil fruit powers less, Smoker wasn't sure, but she enjoyed his patient mentoring.

When she'd first been assigned to his ship, Smoker had thought Akainu to be a stick in the mud and the exact sort of marine Smoker couldn't stand. It hadn't helped that Admiral Aokiji was always talking shit about him. However, as the years passed, Smoker discovered that the Admiral was a much more complex person than he was made out to be by his critics.

From his unexpected and unmentionable romance with Lady Crocodile to his enjoyment of teaching and mentoring younger marines to his respect for justice and even his respect for his fellow marines, nothing about Sakazuki was straightforward and clear-cut. He was the type to shoulder the burdens of others so that they could excel.

And he had earned Smoker's respect and loyalty.

Sakazuki stood on the deck of his ship, his Admiral's jacket billowing in the warm ocean breeze, his eyes on what they could see of the multiple shores of Conomi's east coast. His cap was pulled low, shielding his eyes from the spray of seawater and the bright light of the moon.

Without any preamble, he glanced over his shoulder at her, "I'll be recommending you for a position here when we're through with our investigation." He saw her glance at him, startled by his words. He continued before she could respond. "HQ has ignored the East Blue for much too long. I want to see officers who actually give a damn about the people here running the bases. I can't promote you three ranks, or I'd make you a Vice-Admiral in a heartbeat and have you take over EB Branch One."

Smoker flushed, flattered by his quiet praise, ignoring Drake's teasing smile, "Any word on who'll get that honour."

"It looks like Sengoku might be able to convince Vice Admiral Gion to take the post. Cancer would be good for the position as well."

Smoker snorted, blowing out a plume of smoke, "I'd be surprised if Admiral Kizaru let Cancer go."

Sakazuki huffed a brief, amused exhale. "Oh, Salina'll fight tooth and nail to keep him." They fall back into a companionable silence. Sakazuki turned his head when he heard someone approach them.

Rin looked wired like he'd drunk an entire pot of coffee by himself, "Just received word, Admiral," Sakazuki ignored Rin's lazy salute and waited for him to continue, "Dalmatian and Doberman are in position on the west coast of the islands. They also say everything seems quiet, and they're getting the sonic weapon into position."

"Good." Sakazuki turned and gestured to the map table they'd brought up earlier that afternoon, behind the wheel of the ship, on the quarter-deck. "We know that Arlong Park," he heard his Captain muffle a laugh and smothered his own smirk, "Is less than a kilometre west of Cocoyasi Village and about a kilometre south of Gosa village. Gosa and Cocoyasi, thanks to their unfortunate positions, seem to have borne the brunt of Arlong's worst behaviour. Crocodile's contact in Gosa claims that Arlong keeps an unbearably close eye on them. Especially after Arlong almost killed most of the inhabitants of Cocoyasi."

"Do we know why?" Smoker asked.

"Apparently, they tried to stop him from taking one of the children from Cocoyasi captive."

"What would he want with a child?" Rin scowled, leaning his palms on the surface of the table. "If he already had control of the islands, there wouldn't have been a reason to take any hostages."

"The contact wasn't sure. Only that the girl is now, supposedly, part of Arlong's crew," Sakazuki rumbled quietly, "I did manage to get a hold of Jimbei; all he had to say was that Arlong has a particularly vicious hatred for humans. She'd have to be of some use to him for him to name her as crew." He looked up, "And this girl is the reason we aren't just levelling Arlong Park to the ground. If we can get her out, if we can save her, then we can bring it down."

–

Nami was stubborn and fierce. She wanted nothing more than to chart the World's Oceans and see Arlong dead for what he did to Belle-Mere. She wanted to free at least Cocoyasi Village from Arlong's tyranny. And she wanted to see that little rat-faced marine punished for taking bribes and ignoring the suffering of Conomi's people.

It was luck that had her looking out the window of her tiny room when the massive Marine ship appeared over the horizon. She couldn't make out many details in the moonlight except for the massive black Marine Logo upon the mainsail—the swooping seagull, the cleanly stamped word. She'd overheard Arlong's scathing mockery the day before when Nezumi had come to warn the arrogant Fishman.

An Admiral in the East Blue. Had it ever happened before? The East Blue was the weakest of the four seas, and Arlong had the highest bounty at twenty million. Mr. Genzo once told her that Pirates on the Grand Line had starting bounties twice as high as Arlong's. Nami grits her teeth; Arlong would be nothing to an Admiral.

She hoped.