One Piece: New Order

Bullet let out a sinister smile and turned to look at Judge, cracking his knuckles.

Terrified, Judge immediately began begging for his life, "No! You can't kill me! If you do, the government won't let you go! I'm a king of a World Government member nation!"

His voice cracked with desperation. He trembled uncontrollably, tears streaming down his face. He didn't want to die… he couldn't die.

The dream of restoring Germa still hadn't been realized. He threw away all pride and wept, just for a sliver of hope to survive.

"Pathetic. Shut up." Bullet scoffed.

The scientist instantly fell silent, still shaking.

Bullet lost all interest in him. He preferred the type who stayed proud, even when broken. Slowly crushing their bones and seeing how long they'd endure: that excited him. But guys like this, who gave up everything just to survive, were boring.

Enel also didn't say anything else. He was now completely absorbed in Judge's experiment records. As he flipped through the logs, shock filled his face. The contents were horrifying.

'This guy… no wonder he comes from an illegal organization,' he thought. 'He's just like those lunatics at Punk Hazard who mess with bioweapons. No humanity at all.'

* * *

After a long time, when the screen finally displayed "Copy Complete," Enel came back to his senses and stopped reading.

"It's done, Bullet." He stood up, unplugged the device, and picked it up. Then looking at Judge, he frowned slightly. Killing him now… might be tricky.

Bullet gave a nod and walked over, nudging Judge with his foot. "All the data is in that device, right? You're not hiding anything?"

Judge jolted. "No, nothing. Absolutely nothing! It's all there!"

"You sure?" He asked again.

"Yes, yes!" The man quickly replied.

"Good." Bullet grinned. "Enel, leave the one in your hands for him. We're taking the original."

Enel froze. "Huh? Oh! Got it!"

'Damn it…' Judge's pupils shrank as the realization hit him. Just as he was about to open his mouth, he caught the sight of Bullet's smirking lips… and choked the words back down.

He clenched his fists in silence, furious but not daring to speak.

Bullet tossed a wanted poster at him and it slapped onto his body. "Congratulations, you're free. But we're taking this suspicious data back for investigation. Are we done here, Enel?"

Hugging the device, Enel responded, "Yeah. Let's go."

Bullet gave a soft grunt, then stomped his foot and blasted through the ceiling, vanishing from sight.

Enel's lower body turned to lightning as he shot into the sky with the equipment in hand.

Once the two were gone, the tension that had held Judge's body and mind taut finally snapped. The pain in his body and the mental strain overwhelmed him, and he fainted.

No one knew how much time had passed before someone found him, limbs broken, and rushed him to get treated.

* * *

North Blue. A small island in front of Reverse Mountain. Fleet rest stop.

Sakazuki looked at Enel, who was grinning with excitement. "I'll give you a few days off. Take it to Dr. Vegapunk."

"Mm!" Enel agreed, then he asked, "Uncle, are we really going to be fine? I mean, that guy isn't exactly a good person, but he's still a king of a member nation, right?"

Sakazuki chuckled. "If it were any other member nation, it might be tricky. But Germa Kingdom is different. A kingdom led by a naive scientist with ambition but no political skill. They won't be making a fuss about this. Since for a family that once 'unified the North Blue,' this would be a disgrace. And in a world ruled by the World Government, dreaming of unifying the North Blue… you think the government would ever allow that?"

Enel shook his head. "Yeah, guess not."

The admiral continued, "You've seen their soldiers, right? How do they compare to standard marines?"

This time, Bullet answered, "They're emotionless killing machines. Each one is on par with elite soldiers from the branch seas."

Sakazuki nodded. "Indeed. And yet, even with those soldiers and that technology, Germa still couldn't unify the North Blue. Most countries in the Four Blues are still in the agricultural era. For a nation focused entirely on technology and weaponry, wiping out those farming nations should've been easy. Like crushing ants.

"And they did have their peak, back when they took down four major kings in a row. But not long after, they sank back into silence. The reason wasn't just the alliance of the North Blue kingdoms resisting them. The World Government was interfering in the shadows too. Let's see how long it takes for him to finally wake up."

Sakazuki wasn't just guessing. In the original timeline, Judge didn't realize the truth until twenty years later.

For two decades, he fought as a mercenary under the government, essentially working for free. The government didn't even need to pay. That's why, later on, he chose to give up his title as a member nation and sought an alliance through marriage with the Charlotte family.

Because he finally understood that even with all that technology and military power, without real strength, he'd never break free. The World Government had been playing him like a puppet from the start.

Twenty years of effort only brought him money. No land. The dream of unifying the North Blue remained far away. So, for that dream, he took a gamble and arranged a political marriage with Big Mom.

That kind of obsession… could even be called childish. Given that he had neither the political mind nor emotional intelligence to match his ambition.

He overestimated his own importance and completely underestimated Big Mom's greed. She saw Judge as a pig for slaughter. The plan was always to lure him in, then take everything: his country and his tech.

As a government member, he was treated like a disposable worker. As Big Mom's ally… he almost lost his life, and nearly gave away everything. If not for the classic villain's flaw of talking too much, Perospero might've wiped out the whole Vinsmoke family. Every member, gone. Only Sanji would've survived.

All those insane decisions left Germa in an awkward place after the war. Hated by both sides.

Just then, a Den Den Mushi started ringing.

Purururu~ Purururu~

Sakazuki smiled faintly. "Here comes the questioning."

He picked up and said, "This is Sakazuki. Go ahead."

From the other side came the voice of Nusjuro...

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