Inside the office of Fleet Admiral Sengoku, many of the Marine high command had gathered.
Garp, Tsuru, Sakazuki, Kuzan, and of course, the recently returned Borsalino were all present.
"So… Golden Lion was defeated by Rosinante?" Sengoku asked, his expression solemn.
"That's right. Rosinante's Devil Fruit awakening is extremely powerful in suppressing Devil Fruit users. Combined with Bins setting up the wormhole trap, once Golden Lion tried to escape a certain range, he would be transported right back next to Rosinante. There was no way to flee, and in the end, he was defeated," Borsalino explained.
Hearing this, everyone present grew gravely serious.
They all knew the terror Golden Lion represented. Just a few years ago, he had single-handedly stormed the Marine Headquarters, slaughtering indiscriminately, and no one could stop him. Only the combined effort of Marine Hero Garp and Fleet Admiral Sengoku managed to subdue him—but even then, half of the Headquarters had been destroyed in the process.
Even with Golden Lion's legs gone after Impel Down, the Marines did not believe he could be defeated so easily.
"We need to be careful of Bins's traps in the future. Once caught in a spatial trap like that, even if the opponent doesn't attack, they can just hold you there. Without food or water, you'd starve to death!" Tsuru said, her face serious.
"Starving to death? That's terrifying!" Garp exclaimed.
"They're all troublesome adversaries," Sengoku said darkly.
"What's most puzzling is that during the fight, Rosinante didn't seem to want to kill Golden Lion. In the end, he captured him alive and even applied the Healing Seal. I wonder what Rosinante's intention is!" Borsalino remarked.
"Healing Seal? Is he trying to recruit Golden Lion? Hahaha, that's the funniest thing I've heard. That guy can't be tamed," Garp said.
"Not necessarily recruitment—maybe Rosinante seeks cooperation," Sakazuki suggested.
"That's unlikely. If Rosinante wanted cooperation, he wouldn't have struck so heavily. The Sky Pirates were almost wiped out, and Golden Lion had all his limbs severed!" Borsalino said.
"Perhaps he just didn't want Golden Lion to die. Considering the Grey Kingdom pirates' safety during the floating island battle—those islands are held aloft by Golden Lion's Devil Fruit power. If he dies while the fight isn't over, the floating islands would fall, and the Grey Kingdom crew could be crushed!" Kuzan explained.
"That makes sense, but I feel there must be another reason," Borsalino said, stroking his chin.
"Golden Lion's limbs are gone, and repeated defeats have drained all his energy. He's of no value now, except for his Float-Float Fruit," Tsuru added calmly.
"Do you mean Rosinante has the ability to extract a Devil Fruit from someone's body?" Garp asked, puzzled.
"Impossible. Though his power can suppress Devil Fruits, it cannot forcibly remove them. If he could, all his subordinates would already be Devil Fruit users," Sengoku said, shaking his head.
"Isn't that Reaper under Rosinante's command now? Could he be controlling Golden Lion to use the Float-Float Fruit?" Kuzan asked.
"That Reaper controls only the dead. There's no need to go to such lengths to preserve Golden Lion's life. Besides, whether a corpse can use their former Devil Fruit is questionable. When a Devil Fruit user dies, their power leaves them. A corpse puppet shouldn't be able to use it," Tsuru replied.
"Then there's only one possibility: Rosinante has found a way to extract a Devil Fruit from a user's body after death, or at least make the fruit appear where he wants," Sengoku said.
"Seriously?" Kuzan asked, astonished.
"The World Government once attempted a similar experiment, using the Devil Fruits' aversion to Sea-Prism Stone. They placed Devil Fruit users in sealed Sea-Prism Stone chambers to force the fruit to manifest in the room. But success was limited, mostly with lower-tier Zoan fruits. High-tier fruits, like the Float-Float Fruit, never succeeded. Eventually, they abandoned the project," Tsuru explained.
Rosinante was not the only clever person in the world. If he could think of such a method, the World Government, which has ruled for 800 years, certainly could too.
Hearing this, even Sengoku was surprised. He hadn't realized the World Government had conducted such experiments.