He is back?!

Meanwhile in Pangäa Castle

BeruBeruBeru!

BeruBeruBeru!

BeruBeruBeru!

Clank!

Elder Saint Topman Warcurry took the call but remained silent, as if he was waiting for the other side to start speaking first.

"Case 0778AR4. CP0 Squad Leader Silver Rat, reporting on the latest progress of Big Mom's battle against the Jackson Pirates."

"Proceed."

"Portgas D. Jackson is still absent from the battlefield."

Elder Saint Marcus Mars, who was sitting right next to Topman couldn't suppress a frown from appearing on his face, though it was gone, as quickly as it appeared. Jackson's prolonged absence was an unforeseen but crippling circumstance for their planned assassination of him.

"Big Mom's battle against Shimotsuki Kuina, Van Augur and Trafalgar Law took a sudden turn of tides. According to agent Night Eagle's observations, she created a new homie out of Van Augur's fired laser beam. It's abilities show suspicious similarities to Navy HQ admiral Kizaru's devil fruit powers."

Another piece of bad news but none of the elders reacted to it so Silver Rat continued with his report.

"Sabo, the vice captain is currently holding back the whole of Big Mom's troops as well as her children from reaching her. The rest of the crew is either attending to their wounds or actively helping their vice captain."

"How many are wounded and who are they?"

"Nico Robin, Shachi, Penguin and Tahm Kench. A total of 4 people."

Silver Rat answered elder Shepherd Ju Peter before continuing with his scheduled report.

"Charlotte Brûlée, the owner of the Mirror-Mirror fruit is positioned at the back of the battlefield. It might be possible to extract her from there and use her ability to enter the mirror dimension, where Portgas D. Jackson is still in."

Topman Warcurry didn't answer immediately, he first looked around and into the eyes of the other elders before giving his order.

"Negative. Do not risk any confrontation. Your unit must not be discovered. Keeping number 007 hidden until Portgas D. Jackson's return is your highest priority."

"Understood. Agent Silver Rat out."

*Clank*

He hung up and left the elders sitting in silence until Sain Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro exhaled loudly.

"What a damn mess."

He commented. Despite his efforts to appear and sound calm the others could clearly see and hear his frustration.

"For the first time in nearly 800 years we send out a sacred number, yet nothing goes as we planned, not to mention that we will have to 'silence' the whole CP0 squad that we sent out with them regardless of the outcome."

"Hmmm."

Jaygarcia Saturn didn't speak his mind as unrestrained as Ethanbaron, but he too agreed with him.

"Restrain yourself, Ethanbaron. After all it was the first time in 800 years that he announced someone to be of such high priority to kill. Unofficially even higher than Monkey D. Dragon. We did what we thought was best, going as far as to order Sengoku to stealthily clear out the sea area around Whole Cake Island so our units could slip through more easily."

"We made a rush decision."

Ethanbaron admittedly countered. The words IM spoke during their last meeting still lingered in his mind.

"Shaken up by his declaration, we hurried things too much, fearing that he could grow to be as big of a threat as prophesied in an instant. At that time, sending number 7 to kill him while he fights Big Mom seemed like the best and safest decision, but it ultimately came around to bite us."

"Not yet."

Marcus Mars decided to stop this discussion.

"Just as Portgas D. Jackson has yet to return to the battlefield, number 7 have yet to be unsealed. Whether we lose them in vain, order them back without doing anything or actually accomplish our goal will depend on how we react to the progress of their war."

Silence returned to their grand conference hall. What elder Mars said made sense and any more words redundant. Now they would just need to wait for more update reports and give orders according to how the situation might change.

So, they waited without speaking, each elder lost in his own thoughts. They waited and waited some more until-

*BeruBeruBeru*

*BeruBeruBeru*

*BeruBeruBeru*

*Klang*

This time it was elder Saint Shepherd Ju Peter who accepted the call.

"Case 0778AR5. CP0 Squad Leader Silver Rat, reporting on the latest progress of Big Mom's battle against the Jackson Pirates."

"Proceed."

"Until now we underestimated Sabo's Prowess. He managed to buy his comrades enough of an advantage by destroying nearly the whole Chateau and burying most of Big Mom's troops."

That was just as unpleasant for the elders to hear as Big Mom's increase in strength. If they somehow managed to win this battle without Jackson and helped him get out of Brûlée's mirror dimension they will have to give up this attempt and somehow get all sent troops back without anyone noticing. Meanwhile Silver Rat continued with his report.

"After he joined Shimotsuki Kuina, Van Augur and Trafalgar Law, Big Mom was put at a massive disadvantage. As per our collective estimations, she might loose at this rate. Asking for instructions regarding this matter."

"How long do you estimate, will the fight go on?"

Ju Peter asked while in his mind he was going through multiple scenarios and matching orders to give.

For a second the agent was silent not sure what to answer or perhaps he was thinking of what the right answer could be. After a short while he made up his mind.

"Apologies but it is too difficult to correctly estimate. Going by how Big Mom fought so far it could last for days but it might end in half a day just as well."

Having heard his answer, it was now Ju Peter's turn to be silent and think on how to proceed.

"First, continue observing. If the fight ends before the return of Portgas D. Jackson, you all are to sneak out and return immediately. If he returns before they end their fight, proceed with his assassination according to plan A."

"Understood. Agent Silver Rat out."

*Clank*

Silence returned once more. This time no one broke it, no one spoke, and no one discussed. They were all eagerly waiting for another report, hoping it would state that Jackson reappeared before Big Mom was beaten. As long as that happened, they were absolutely sure he would die, for no devil fruit nor any amount and mastery of haki could save him once number 7 activates their fruit power. That is as long as the likes of Augur, Enel and Law were kept busy so they couldn't interfere with number 7.

After all sacred numbers were one of their absolute top weapons, even above the 7 knights in importance and strength and biggest contributor as to why they emerged victorious from what happened 800 years ago. Number 7 was one of their best aces they had in their sleeves.

One hour went by and soon turned into two and just before the third hour passed completely it rang again.

*BeruBeruBeru*

*BeruBeruBeru*

*BeruBeruBeru*

*Klang*

Saint Jaygarcia Saturn picked up it up.

"Case 0778AR6. CP0 Squad Leader Silver Rat, reporting on the latest progress of Big Mom's battle against the Jackson Pirates."

"Proceed."

"The Jackson Pirates are facing annihilation."

!!!

Elder Saturn was completely taken by surprise and almost asked his agent to repeat himself. Just a few hours ago, it seemed like Big Mom's defeat was imminent but now? Now it was the complete opposite.

"Explain in more detail."

He actually ordered after sharpening his focus.

"Big Mom awakened her devil fruit and overpowered all her opponents. She successfully reunited with the remnant of her troops and children and appears to be determined to kill them all. If we don't-"

Silver Rat suddenly paused in his report. Under normal circumstances this would be extremely unbecoming since relaying all information is a top priority for field agents, yet no one could be bothered by it after what he told him next.

"Night Eagle reported Portgas D. Jackson's reappearance just now. He came out of a strange hut in the middle of the forest. Awaiting further instructions."

Another shocking turn! Just when their battle was about to end Jackson returned. Jaygarcia took a moment to discuss with the other elders before relaying his orders.

"Proceed with plan A before he can regroup with his crewmates. See to it that they all perish on Whole Cake Island today."

"Understood. Agent Silver Rat out."

*Sigh*

For the first time since sending number 7 out, all 5 elders felt a small sense of relief. They wouldn't lose one of their greatest aces for nothing and at the same time accomplish a kill order of the highest importance. Now that Jackson was out it would be impossible for him to survive no matter how strong or resilient, he is.

All that is left is to clean up those remaining CP0 agents, since they were informed about numbers and their powers… or so they thought.

*BeruBeruBeru*

After a short while the transponder snail rang again.

*BeruBeruBeru*

But they weren't expecting another report so timely. Saint Ethanbaron was overcome by a sudden sinking feeling in his gut. He felt like something had just gone horribly wrong but alas, there was only one way to know for sure. He picked up the call.

*Clank*

"…"

"…"

No one answered but the transponder snail mimicked a deathly glare.

"You broke you deal."

!!!

*Crack*

All five elders stood up, their chairs cracking, one even turning completely into dust from their reaction after hearing his voice.

"What did you do?!"

Saint Ethanbaron lost his temper and shouted despite having already guessed what he did to their agents and most importantly to number 7.

"Deal or not, you should not have meddled! This will have consequences you can't possibly imagine! This I promise you! You made yourself and your whole crew an archenemy of the World Government!"

"Then make your move. We all know what is on the line and why I hold the reins."

*Clank*

He hung up, leaving all 5 elders seething in anger and frustration in their grand hall. This man turned a secret mission of highest importance into a major failure and a cornerstone for grand changes to come.