As for Vergo—while others might not know, how could he not?
Vergo must have gone into hiding.
In Vergo's perspective, his identity had already been exposed. Returning to the G-5 Branch would be like walking right into a trap.
Little did Vergo know that Lancelot had never actually revealed his true identity.
'Fine then!'
Although being away from the center of power would mean a significant reduction in authority, it also meant more freedom.
If handled well, it wouldn't be impossible to establish the G-5 Branch as a second center of power for the Marines.
In his previous life, many historical frontier officials... had their own miniature courts.
Creating a small court at the G-5 Branch wouldn't be difficult for him.
And in this world where strength is respected, powerful individuals were the foundation.
So, to build a small court, he needed to find true warriors who could fight alongside him.
Zoro and the others hadn't fully grown yet!
Bringing them over might provide some assistance, but at his level, that assistance would be relatively weak.
If he wanted to recruit strong allies, who could be more suitable than Vergo?
A master of physical combat, top-tier Haki user.
His strength was at least at the level of a Shichibukai, possibly even surpassing the elite Vice Admirals at Headquarters.
After all, he had single-handedly taken on both Trafalgar Law and Smoker.
And wasn't Law a Shichibukai at that time? Smoker was already a Vice Admiral.
So Vergo's strength, even if not quite equal to Doflamingo's, couldn't be too far off.
If he were given a powerful Devil Fruit, he could reach the level of a Yonko Commander in no time.
Moreover, Lancelot had already mentally reserved a specific Devil Fruit for him.
But before that, he needed to go to Wano Country first—there was something there he absolutely had to obtain.
Having made up his mind, he immediately nodded.
"Understood!"
Sengoku and Vice Admiral Tsuru: "???"
Did they hear correctly? They began to doubt their own ears.
Because Lancelot was being unusually compliant.
First, they canceled his promotion ceremony, and now they were directly exiling him.
Yet he showed not the slightest intention of resisting...
Akainu, Aokiji, and Garp: "???"
This... They were clearly quite surprised by Lancelot's reaction as well.
Especially Akainu and Aokiji, who couldn't help but exchange glances.
To be fair, if they were being targeted like this, they definitely wouldn't be able to tolerate it.
Even from their perspective, they felt Sengoku and Vice Admiral Tsuru were going too far.
Canceling the promotion ceremony was normal suppression tactics.
Putting aside Lancelot's Holy Land background for a moment, just considering his age alone.
It was indeed appropriate to assign him some pressure—they had all gone through the same process back in their day.
However, never to this excessive extent.
What they never expected was that he'd actually get exiled outright...
That was truly excessive, to the point where even they found it somewhat unacceptable.
Yet this young fellow before them had accepted everything with complete composure.
Why did they both come back? Wasn't it to help keep this little guy in check?
But now... what's going on?
'Look how obedient he is—whatever you say, he agrees.'
'And you specifically called them all back... This whole thing really... really... feels like bullying a child.'
Kizaru: "!!!"
As the person who had interacted with Lancelot the most, he didn't believe for a second that Lancelot would be this compliant.
He looked at Lancelot, his face revealing a meaningful expression.
Lancelot wore an utterly harmless expression.
"Then I'll go assume my post now. After all, the G-5 branch can't be without a commanding officer for even a day. Secondly, Vergo has been out of contact for a month—every extra day increases the danger. It's best to find him as soon as possible."
Sengoku and Vice Admiral Tsuru exchanged glances.
They thought to themselves: 'Since you've put it that way... what else can we say?'
They nodded decisively.
But both of them felt something was off.
...
The New World — Wano Country
Lancelot left, but he didn't head to the G-5 branch.
Instead, he went directly to Wano Country, while ordering his subordinates to search for Vergo.
A month later, Lancelot had arrived in Wano Country.
He stood high above Wano and began using Observation Haki to conduct a wide-area search.
He quickly locked onto a direction...
Soon, he found the person he was looking for.
There was a cute-looking, petite little girl strolling leisurely through the forest.
She had large, round purple eyes and medium-length hair in deep lilac, usually styled in a bun adorned with a yellow comb and a pink flower hairpin.
She wore a light green short kimono with many patches.
A light orange wide obi was tied around her waist, and she had long, slender legs. She was barefoot, wearing green-strapped sandals.
This was Lancelot's primary target in Wano Country.
Tama.
A Paramecia-type Ability User of the Millet-Millet Fruit (Kibi Kibi no Mi / "Dango-Dango Fruit").
The Ability User could pluck edible sticky rice dumplings from her own face.
Ferocious animals that ate them would become tame and obedient; this also worked on Artificial Devil Fruit animal Ability Users.
Animals or SMILE Ability Users that consumed the dumplings would regard the Ability User as their master and obey her commands, but the Ability User had to personally issue the command to tame them, ensuring their obedience.
Only the Ability User could pluck the dumplings from her own face—others could not remove them from her.
In Lancelot's view, this ability was the strongest among the Paramecia-type for army building.
With this ability, and by controlling Caesar Clown, who could create Artificial Devil Fruits, he could quickly assemble a powerful army of absolute loyalty.
It would also rapidly form a small squad with formidable combat strength.
"Hah..."
Lancelot took a deep breath.
Swish...
Lancelot appeared directly in front of Tama.
"Ah!"
Tama was startled and quickly stepped back, looking at Lancelot with a guarded expression...
Lancelot looked at Tama, raising an eyebrow. "My apologies!"
Tama: "???"
She looked utterly confused.
Swish...
The next moment, Lancelot's hand was already on his sword hilt.
In an instant, the blade was drawn, its sharp edge slicing through the air with a cold gleam.
Tama's eyes widened, and she slowly collapsed.
Lancelot had already prepared a water-filled container and quickly caught it.
Soon, a new Paramecia-type Dango-Dango Fruit was born.
In truth, he could have taken Tama away and used her to control the Artificial Devil Fruit Ability Users.
Just like Sugar.
However, such an ability is safest and most secure when kept in one's own hands.
After all, once Tama is exposed, she too would become a blade in someone else's grasp.
Even the army and powerful fighters he painstakingly built could overnight become another's strength.
They could even become sharp blades turned against him.
This was absolutely unacceptable to him.
So...
Lancelot looked up at the sky, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned as he revealed a sinister smile.
"Indeed, immense power and great authority can make people lose their humanity!"
Faced with the choice between a child and becoming the sole ruler of the world, he decisively chose the latter.
From this moment on...
He had completely integrated into this world, no longer the ordinary person from his previous life who, though flawed, still had moral boundaries.