CHAPTER 609: CHAPTER 128: THE SHICHIBUKAI INVESTITURE CEREMONY?!

Marine Headquarters, Fleet Admiral’s Office.

Admiral Sengoku was wrapping up the meeting. "That concludes today’s agenda. Implementing the Shichibukai system requires a capable officer to oversee it..."

His gaze swept the room.

Sakazuki lifted his head, meeting Sengoku’s eyes with a fiery stare.

Sengoku paused, frowned slightly, and moved on. He didn’t linger on Borsalino. A glance at Kuzan found him red-faced, hand waving like a student desperate to be called on.

Sengoku sighed inwardly and fixed on Darren. "...This task will be entrusted to you, Vice Admiral Darren."

Darren smiled, unsurprised, and snapped a salute. "Yes, Admiral Sengoku. I’ll devote myself to it."

"Good." Sengoku nodded, pleased. "Then today’s meeting is adjourned. Dismissed."

In the gallery, officers filed out under the guards’ direction, pausing as they passed Darren.

"Vice Admiral Darren, thank you for your hard work."

"Truly a pillar of the Marines."

"To single-handedly draw the ire of all the Shichibukai—no—single-handedly subdue them..."

They knew what he’d borne to bring the system this far.

Our Vice Admiral Darren isn’t the Marines’ greatest disgrace... he’s our hero.

When the observation seats had cleared, Sengoku addressed Darren and the remaining officers, tone grave.

"The Government insists on a grand ceremony to commemorate the system’s establishment—publicly bestowing the title of ’Shichibukai’ on the chosen."

"Two purposes. First, to show that the Shichibukai’s power and status are granted by the Marines. Second, to send a message to the world..."

"...Even pirates as formidable as Douglas Bullet must submit to the Marines and the Government’s overwhelming might."

Sengoku straightened, fists closing, confidence radiating. As the Headquarters admiral in charge, he was the system’s architect and driving force. If it succeeded, the achievement would be monumental—and would lift his standing within the Government, a major political boon for a future promotion to Fleet Admiral.

Most took the announcement in stride. Only Sakazuki frowned, lips pressed thin, as if he wanted to speak—but said nothing.

"Twenty days," Sengoku declared with a grim smile. "In twenty days, the Shichibukai will gather at Marine Headquarters for the investiture ceremony."

"Most of the world’s news agencies will be there. We’ll broadcast live via Visual Den Den Mushi."

"Don’t you dare botch this..." His glare speared Borsalino, still idly tending his nails. "I’m talking to you, Borsalino! Are you listening?!"

Borsalino lifted his hands in mock surrender, drawling, "No problem at all, Admiral Sengoku."

---

Leaving the Fleet Admiral’s office, Darren spared little thought for the ceremony. His mind was on Magellan’s training—or rather, on his own.

Compared to the staggering gains of the first month of "poison resistance," he’d hit a new plateau. In that initial month, his Physique had leapt by three full points, with overflow boosting his other stats. Over the last month, even as Magellan’s Devil Fruit kept advancing, his Physique had crawled up a mere single point.

Outside the office, Darren opened his Perception Talent and scanned his metrics:

Physique: 96.017 (Indestructible Body) Strength: 86.677 (Giant’s Strength) Speed: 86.747 (Soru’s Divine Speed) Devil Fruit Development: 86.186 (Island-Covering) Armament Haki: 74.792 (Internal Destruction, Demon Form) Observation Haki: 76.521 (Magnetic Field Sensing) Conqueror’s Haki: 81.469 (Manifesting Influence)

Looks like my immunity’s well established, he thought, brow creasing. Unless Magellan’s Venom-Venom Fruit takes a quantum leap—maybe even reaches Awakening—this route won’t push me much further.

He’d expected as much. Since the North Blue, his physique had been his edge. Even now, only freak talents like Kaido and Charlotte Linlin could compare. In raw physical defense and resistance to abnormal conditions, he arguably surpassed them.

Kaido’s "Indestructible Body" favored regeneration and vitality—Oni blood and the Mythical Zoan Azure Dragon’s boons. Big Mom, by contrast, was pure brute force; at eight she could topple grown Giants. Her "Steel Balloon" was just the skin of that power.

He had his own strengths.

And he knew what this level meant: climbing higher would be hellishly hard. Conventional methods—unconventional ones, too—had all but stopped working.

Should I ask Sakazuki to harden me against magma?

The thought flickered, mad and tempting. Fire had long since stopped affecting him. Even against a Flame-Flame user, only a devastating "Flame Emperor" posed meaningful risk. Pretty tricks like Mirror Flame wouldn’t even singe him, much less serve as training.

To be continued...