"Marshal Sengoku, today is my day off. Is there something urgent that has me coming here in such a hurry?"
Kizaru, already 36 years old and one of the admirals of the Navy Headquarters, walked calmly into the marshal's office and sat down across from Sengoku, crossing his legs leisurely.
Sengoku picked up a document and tossed it to Kizaru. After catching it, Kizaru glanced through it and spoke lazily.
"The Black Crow Pirates have arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago. If nothing unexpected happens, they'll be heading for the New World. To prevent greater turmoil there, you need to go to the Sabaody Archipelago and arrest them."
"Is it that main pirate who led the jailbreak in Impel Down?" Kizaru chuckled after reading the document. "How terrible! The newcomers these days aren't like the newcomers of old at all. They're no different from some of the big pirates already."
As he spoke, Kizaru scratched his head and muttered,
"But after all, they're from the North Blue like me, so it's understandable."
Sengoku's mouth twitched slightly but he pretended not to hear Kizaru's comment, replying in a serious tone,
"Once the Black Crow Pirates enter the New World, they'll become the eye of the storm, which would be extremely disadvantageous to the Navy's operations there. You must head there as soon as possible. Moreover, several Celestial Dragons are scheduled to visit the Sabaody Archipelago soon. Although we don't know much about Black Crow's personality, we believe he's ambitious and arrogant. If he encounters the Celestial Dragons, it could be very troublesome."
"Celestial Dragons?" Kizaru curled his lips in displeasure. "That's really troublesome, those guys…"
"No matter what, they are important protected assets of the World Government," Sengoku said, though he himself didn't particularly like the Celestial Dragons either.
"And what about my vacation?" Kizaru asked, pouting slightly.
He had finally managed to get a vacation and wasn't too thrilled to be pulled back into work, especially for pirates who didn't seem easy to deal with.
After all, according to the intelligence, there were two individuals in the Black Crow Pirates with space-related abilities.
Even though Kizaru possessed the Pika Pika no Mi and had unmatched speed, spatial abilities could match or even counter his advantage.
If it were ordinary pirates wielding such fruits, Kizaru wouldn't care much, but the Black Crow Pirates were anything but ordinary.
Sengoku raised his eyes and said lightly,
"Your vacation will have to wait."
"That's more like it," Kizaru nodded with a resigned expression. He stood up, shoved his hands into his trouser pockets, and lazily walked out of the office.
At the Same Time
First Half of the Grand Line
Elsewhere, Doflamingo sat with a wicked smile playing on his lips, watching the black shadow warrior standing in front of him holding a newspaper.
"You have so many cards… my friend," Doflamingo muttered softly.
The meaning was clear—the black shadow warrior was offering to sell him a newspaper.
How could Doflamingo forget this black shadow warrior? He had seen similar figures when he previously discussed cooperation with Mio.
Now, these shadow warriors had started selling newspapers?
Was the newspaper agency established by Mio?
Or someone else?
If it was someone else, it would only prove that the Black Crow Pirates' strength and influence were even greater than he had originally estimated.
Setting up a newspaper was no easy feat. After all, the major newspaper outlets were controlled either by the World Government or the Navy.
Smaller newspapers that displeased the wrong people were often ruthlessly crushed.
However, running a newspaper brought an enormous advantage: access to information.
Doflamingo knew this very well, having once considered starting a newspaper himself, only to drop the idea due to the World Government's restrictions.
From the appearance of this newspaper, it was clear that Mio had grand ambitions.
But what exactly Mio was planning remained a mystery.
Taking out a coin, Doflamingo casually bought a newspaper.
Once the coin changed hands, the black shadow warrior sank into the ground and disappeared without a trace.
Doflamingo narrowed his eyes, then shifted his gaze to the newspaper content.
The title on the top right corner read: Linglong Newspaper.
The headlines were straightforward:
The Black Crow Pirates have arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago.
The article mentioned the Celestial Dragons' upcoming visit to the same location and speculated about the potential chaos if the two parties crossed paths.
All the news focused on events in the first half of the Grand Line; there was no information about the New World.
There was also another piece about a rookie pirate named Talos, who had destroyed a Navy branch base, seized two warships, and converted them into pirate ships, causing outrage within the Navy.
"It's only expanded to the first half of the Grand Line and hasn't entered the New World yet…" Doflamingo mused after skimming through the newspaper.
A grin appeared on his face as he set the paper down, picked up his wine glass, took a sip, and chuckled darkly,
"New World… fufufufufufu… I'll be there soon too."
Meanwhile, on the Sea
On a random pirate ship, a black shadow warrior appeared on the deck, holding out a newspaper for sale.
However, the pirates aboard paid him no mind, refusing to buy.
In the next moment, over a dozen black shadow warriors materialized on the ship.
They slaughtered everyone, leaving only one survivor.
This scene was repeated many times across the first half of the Grand Line and even the Four Seas.
Each time, only one survivor was left to spread the tale.
Because of these survivors, the name Linglong Newspaper Agency quickly spread across the seas.
Before long, many people—whether in the Grand Line or the Four Seas—knew the name "Linglong."
East Blue
The Weakest Sea
Currently, the Linglong Newspaper Agency's headquarters was located on a relatively unknown island in the East Blue.
Inside the headquarters were only two people: Renee and Penny.
All the other work—copying, selling, accounting, intelligence gathering—was handled by the black shadow warriors.
Looking at today's profits, Penny couldn't contain her excitement.
"Sister! We made so much money today! Selling newspapers is way too profitable!"
"What are you thinking?" Renee frowned and tapped Penny's forehead.
"Besides selling newspapers, we also made money by robbing the ships of those disobedient guys."
"Ohh… So what should we do next, Sister?" Penny asked eagerly.
"No rush," Renee said calmly, her eyes gleaming with thought.
"We'll wait for Master Mio to head to the New World. Then we'll expand there too. For now, we need the pirates across the New World to know the name of Linglong Newspaper Agency."
As she spoke, two black shadow warriors silently appeared behind her, kneeling on one knee.
Renee ordered in a cold voice,
"Celestial Dragons will soon arrive at the Sabaody Archipelago. Go sell newspapers to their ships. If they refuse to pay, don't kill them. Just rob them clean and record the whole thing. Send the footage to our newspaper base in the New World."
Hearing this, the two black shadow warriors nodded and immediately vanished.