One Piece: Rising to Fleet Admiral Through a Coup

Marineford Square.

Vice Admiral Momonga felt his head throbbing as if it were splitting in two.

Although he had managed to stop Boa Hancock from charging at the Holy Knights, he couldn't prevent the chaos caused by the crazed officers and soldiers of Marine Headquarters.

The moment Hancock stepped into the square alongside Momonga, even without doing anything, the soldiers present acted as if they had overdosed on expired aphrodisiacs, swarming toward them like a tidal wave.

Faced with the frenzied soldiers and officers, Hancock had no choice but to either unleash her full power up close, kick away anyone who approached with her elegant legs, or simply activate her Love-Love Fruit ability to petrify them.

Yet, despite her efforts, more soldiers and officers kept rushing forward, one after another.

Without exception, whether they managed to get close or were still charging from a distance, every single one of them ended up petrified. They all froze in ridiculous poses, hearts in their eyes, and even in their stone forms, they looked like hopeless love-struck fools.

This time, Momonga didn't stop Hancock.

Because short of Xayuki appearing in person, there was no other way to stop these crazed soldiers and officers.

Finally, as the last soldier to rush into the square was petrified by Hancock's Devil Fruit ability, the once-boiling square fell into an eerie silence.

Momonga scanned his surroundings, looking at the human-shaped statues scattered across the square. He let out a heavy sigh of relief.

However, the thought that the Seven Warlords of the Sea meeting wasn't until three days later, and that Hancock had arrived two days early, meant she would be staying at Marine Headquarters for an entire day tomorrow. The thought made his head ache even more.

If he had known Hancock would cooperate so readily, he wouldn't have rushed to Nine Snakes Island to bring her here so quickly.

But now that things had come to this, the only thing he could do was leave this mess to their Fleet Admiral.

After all, the Fleet Admiral's residence already housed one Warlord; adding another wouldn't make much of a difference.

Feeling suddenly unburdened, Momonga decided to keep things simple. "Hancock, I'll take you to see the Fleet Admiral now."

"Right now?"

Hearing that Momonga planned to take her to meet Xayuki immediately, Hancock, who had just been recklessly unleashing her Devil Fruit ability to petrify soldiers and officers, suddenly became shy. Covering her face, she blushed and murmured, "I... I'm not mentally prepared yet."

"What are you even thinking?!"

Startled by Hancock's sudden display of bashfulness, Momonga instinctively stepped back, widening his eyes. He pinched his thigh with one hand and gripped his dagger tightly with the other, exclaiming, "I'm taking you to meet the Fleet Admiral, not to go on a date!"

"Did I... did I say something wrong?" Hancock, her face flushed as if imagining some wild scenario, looked at Momonga with innocent, doe-like eyes.

"Stop talking nonsense and follow me!"

Momonga refused to meet Hancock's gaze any longer, throwing out those words before turning on his heel.

The Fleet Admiral's Residence, Marine Headquarters.

Meanwhile, Gunshi, who had arrived ahead of Hancock and Momonga, wasted no time getting straight to the point. She explained her purpose to Xayuki without any detours.

Learning that Gunshi had been sent by Imu and that she wanted to participate in his yet-to-be-launched Transformation Plan, Xayuki, who had been busy tending to his vegetable garden with a hoe, blinked in mild surprise. He then handed the hoe to Sakazuki, who was working beside him, and replied with a question of his own, "You used the teleportation array... just for this trivial matter?"

As he spoke, Xayuki casually pointed toward the main building of Marine Headquarters.

"Yes!" Gunshi, showing no embarrassment over having been blasted away by a seal infused with Conqueror's Haki, maintained a serious expression. "Lord Imu wants to know what this Transformation Plan entails!"

Xayuki nodded. "No problem. Since you're here, why don't you experience it firsthand?"

Before Gunshi could react, Xayuki picked up a sickle from nearby and tossed it to her. "Start by clearing the weeds in the garden. This is part of the plan—you can familiarize yourself with it in advance."

"????"

Gunshi looked down at the sickle that had landed at her feet, her lips twitching beneath the bandages that covered her face.

She had traveled all the way from the Holy Land, and not only was she not offered a place to stay, but she was also being asked to weed the garden?

She was a member of the Holy Knights, for heaven's sake!

Though she thought this to herself, Gunshi didn't dare voice her complaints.

First, she didn't want to risk being blasted away again.

Second, even Sakazuki, a Marine Admiral, was working hard, swinging a hoe with gusto. As for Xayuki, he had already turned his attention back to repairing a fence.

If even the Fleet Admiral himself and a Marine Admiral were doing manual labor, what excuse did she have?

After a brief moment of silence, Gunshi took a deep breath and decisively activated her Devil Fruit ability.

With a flick of her sleeve, a bandage shot out, wrapping around the handle of the sickle. The sickle seemed to gain a life of its own, moving at incredible speed as it cleared large swathes of weeds in the garden.

Xayuki glanced at her but said nothing. After securing the fence, he turned to Dracule Mihawk, who was lounging under a parasol, reading a newspaper. "Mihawk, come over here and help me with this fence!"

"!!!!!"

The sudden use of the nickname "Mihawk-kun" nearly made Mihawk lose his composure. His hand instinctively went to the hilt of his Supreme Grade Sword, and his hawk-like eyes shot a sharp glare at Xayuki, as if daring him to say it again.

Noticing Mihawk's reaction, Xayuki shrugged nonchalantly. "If you don't want me to call you by that nickname, then put down your newspaper and come help. Otherwise, I'll not only keep calling you that, but I'll also issue a bounty poster with the name 'Mihawk-kun' on it. Beneath that, I'll add: 'Formerly known as Dracule Mihawk.'"

Hearing this, Mihawk's face twitched uncontrollably.

He must have been out of his mind back then, struck by some inexplicable sense of pity, to have helped Xayuki when he was stranded on that deserted island.

Helping was one thing, but why did he have to help someone so devious?

Though he was internally fuming, Mihawk eventually set down his newspaper, took a deep breath, and walked over to join the "labor force."

Just as Mihawk began assisting with the fence, Momonga arrived at the gate with Hancock.

The scene inside the yard made Momonga's pupils contract in shock.

Admiral Sakazuki was enthusiastically wielding a hoe, digging up the ground. Gunshi, a member of the Holy Knights, was expertly and rapidly cutting weeds with her bandage-controlled sickle. And the world's greatest swordsman was crouched in front of a fence, working alongside the Fleet Admiral to reinforce it?

What in the world was going on here???

Momonga stood frozen at the gate, his mind blank, unsure whether he should interrupt.

"This... this—"

After a moment of stunned silence, Momonga finally snapped out of it. Without hesitation, he removed his Vice Admiral coat, rolled up his sleeves, and ran over to Xayuki. "Fleet Admiral, how can I let you do this yourself? Let me help! I'm great at weaving fences!"

"Momonga?"

Xayuki blinked, looking puzzled. "You haven't left yet?"

"Mission accomplished!"

Momonga pointed to the tall figure standing at the gate.

Following his gesture, Xayuki turned to look.

At the gate, Hancock was equally bewildered.

She recognized everyone in the yard except for the bandaged woman. But as for what they were doing... she couldn't make sense of it no matter how hard she tried.

"Tsk tsk, truly the most beautiful woman in the world!"

The moment Xayuki laid eyes on Hancock, his eyes lit up, and he didn't hesitate to shower her with praise.

Then, he clapped the dirt off his hands, waved at Hancock, and called out, "What are you standing there for? Come in and help!"

Before Hancock could respond, Xayuki grabbed two wooden buckets from under the eaves and brought them to her. He then placed a carrying pole on her shoulder. "You know how to fetch water, right? There's a well in the backyard. Be quick—I need it soon."

"???"

Hancock's brain seemed to short-circuit. The romantic scenarios she had imagined shattered instantly.

Reflexively steadying the carrying pole on her shoulder, she blinked in confusion and stammered, "I... I don't know how to fetch water."

Xayuki smiled warmly. "With your height, it'd be a waste if you didn't know how!"

Without waiting for her response, he turned to Gunshi, who had just finished cutting the grass. "Gunshi, go teach Hancock. There are two more buckets by the well!"

Hearing this, Gunshi, who had just put down the sickle and was about to rest, nearly exploded on the spot. "How would I know how to fetch water? I'm a member of the Holy Knights!"

Xayuki blinked. "Then should I send you back?"

"You—"

Gunshi was so furious she nearly burst a blood vessel. "Give me the pole!"

~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~

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