The one who appeared before Magnus was a tall, red-haired woman, nearly matching his height, wearing the iconic white Navy cape draped over her shoulders.
The moment she arrived, she launched an attack—though clearly a woman, the force behind her strike nearly overwhelmed even Magnus.
Magnus was already among the top fighters on these seas.
But if there were any who could be considered above him—
They were the current Admirals of the Navy, and the future Yonko (Emperors) of the sea.
And standing before him now, was one of those Admirals.
"Hihebi" (Crimson Serpent), Von Braun Rona.
One of the very few female Admirals in all of Marine history, and equally one of the most elite swordsmasters in the world.
She was one of the rare people who had repeatedly forced Magnus into tight spots during pursuit missions.
In Magnus' memory, this woman didn't exist in the future.
But that wasn't too surprising.
There were still over fifty years before the main story began.
Among all the Navy personnel, Magnus only recognized Kong—
The man who would one day become Fleet Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the entire World Government's forces.
But even someone that renowned…
At this point in time, hadn't even made it to Admiral.
He was just a candidate.
So who were the current Admirals?
The answer stood before him.
Time might have left its mark—
Even the most beautiful woman of youth could not escape the touch of age.
And yet, despite that, the woman before him still radiated beauty.
Like a fine wine—
Time had not dulled her essence, only deepened it.
"Rona Von Braun… Why are you here?"
Magnus' tone turned solemn. He never would've guessed that CP0 was just bait, and the real danger lay hidden in the shadows.
"Hehe… Woman's intuition."
Rona's crimson lips curled into a dazzling smile, her eyes staring at Magnus like a viper watching prey.
"Five years, huh? I thought you'd have aged into a crumbling wreck.
Instead, you look even better than you did five years ago."
Her appearance in Elbaf had been a coincidence.
For powerful non-WG-aligned nations like Elbaf, the Navy typically adopted a hands-off, cautious approach.
Without a direct order, not even an Admiral would dare set foot here.
In fact, had Magnus not appeared, Rona wouldn't have shown herself at all. She cared nothing for the lives of CP agents.
After spotting their ship, she recalled that the Navy had once held dealings with Elbaf's "Holy Mother" Carmel—
And where there was Carmel, there had always been traces of Magnus.
With the White Wolf Pirates missing for half a year, Rona decided to follow the CP0 team, curious to test her hunch.
Who would've thought—
Fate had granted her such a delightful surprise.
"Magnus, surrender yourself."
Rona smiled, beautiful and dangerous.
"Five years ago you couldn't beat me. And now? Even less likely.
If you surrender, I'll personally arrange a luxury cell for you in Impel Down."
"...Heh. I'll pass."
After finally regaining his youth and strength with the help of the system, there was no chance in hell Magnus was surrendering—
Not to an Admiral, not even to a Fleet Admiral.
"Then I'll just have to beat you into submission!"
As her voice fell, Rona's gaze sharpened.
She poured dense Haki into her blade, and its deadly sharpness erupted.
"Zan-ka (Petal Severance)!"
A crimson crescent-shaped slash tore through the air, surging toward Magnus with terrifying force.
It wasn't a probing attack—it was full power from the start.
She didn't even care about the CP0 members behind him.
"Damn it!"
"Evade!!"
Magnus bore the brunt of the slash head-on, but the residual force still sent the three CP0 agents flying.
If Magnus hadn't absorbed most of the blow, just that one attack might've seriously wounded all three.
And despite being caught in the aftermath, Rock dared not complain.
Because anyone who knew Rona knew one thing well—
The Admiral codenamed "Hihebi" had a notoriously bad temper.
"Fall back!"
Rock had expected total failure—maybe even death.
But then, in a wild twist of fate, their Admiral had appeared.
As for why Rona was even here…
Rock didn't dare ask.
"Quick, while Hihebi-daisa (Admiral Crimson Serpent) has his attention—let's carry out our mission!"
He lowered his voice.
In this world, Admirals were top-tier powerhouses.
Even if Magnus teamed up with Elbaf's King of Giants—
They still couldn't stop Rona from leaving if she wanted to go.
The three CP agents bowed slightly toward Rona, then darted toward the giant village.
Seeing this, Magnus' brows furrowed.
"Oh? You're thinking of chasing them?"
Rona's tone turned teasing.
"Ten years ago, maybe you could've kept up.
But now? You think you still have that speed?"
Though he looked more spirited than five years ago, Rona didn't believe he had returned to his peak strength.
No one—no one—grows stronger with age.
It was unheard of.
"Wanna test that?"
Magnus exhaled slowly.
From the moment he saw Rona, he knew—he had to go all out.
Strangely, the system hadn't reacted at all.
This was an Admiral, for heaven's sake!
Magnus could only assume that in the system's timeline, Rona was already a retired, feeble old woman, possibly no longer in active service.
Suddenly, Rona's eyes narrowed.
As a pure swordswoman, not a Devil Fruit user, her Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) was among the finest in the world.
And she didn't like Magnus' gaze just now.
"Setsugekka (Moon Slice)!"
A seemingly plain slash flew outward—
But the range of the cut was wide enough to cleave over a thousand meters of forest in two.
And Magnus' answer—
"Frost Howl!"
The already below-freezing forest dropped even further in temperature.
Winter was his battlefield.
Thanks to the biting cold—
Thanks to last night's snowstorm—
A massive ice wolf lunged toward Rona.
Beauty and the Beast.
But this wasn't a fairytale.
It was a clash to the death.
—
In the Giant village, after seven days of fasting, the dazed and starved Linlin (Charlotte Linlin) groggily woke up.
She wanted to munch on snow, pretending it was cake—
But three figures in white suits suddenly appeared before her.
"We don't have much manpower. Who do we grab?"
"How about one of the Giant kids? If we take one of them, even that 'Holy Mother' will have no choice but to negotiate."
"…"
Rock casually hoisted a sleeping giant child—several times his own size—over his shoulder.
Then he approached Linlin.
He leapt up and struck with a knife-hand chop.
"Sleep."
Landing back on the ground, Rock expected the usual thud—
But nothing happened.
In fact, his hand hurt.
He looked up to see Linlin, unphased by the hit, staring at him blankly.
"…What are you doing?"
Charlotte Linlin, still chewing her finger, asked in confusion.
(End of Chapter)
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