Although the sun had already risen, the interior of the room remained quite dim, shielded by thick, heavy curtains.
Clack—clack— The sound of hurried footsteps echoed.
Black Crow Fred paced restlessly back and forth in his room. Distraught, he had barely slept a wink last night. His golden bangs, which hung down to the bridge of his nose, covered most of his face; otherwise, the Rear Admiral's current "panda eyes" would have certainly drawn unwanted attention.
"Damn it! At such a critical moment, why did that godforsaken Enemy of Nature have to stick her nose in???"
Fred felt extremely bewildered. Given Rear Admiral Alan's usual nonsensical and borderline neurotic behavior, she shouldn't have been interested in such a troublesome matter.
Feeling incredibly anxious, Black Crow suddenly wanted a cigarette to calm his nerves. He reflexively reached for his pocket, only then remembering that he had been forced to quit smoking ever since he ate that Devil Fruit a year ago. His expression grew even more unsightly.
(If any of them get caught and reveal who the mastermind behind this operation is...)
At that thought, Rear Admiral Fred shuddered, fine beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead. Just thinking about the worst-case scenario sent a chill down his spine.
"No, no... that bastard Spandam sent men from CP5!"
Fred stopped pacing and sat in a chair, resting his head in his hand as he whispered self-reassuringly:
"Even if they aren't on the level of those supermen from CP9, they are still special agents specifically trained by the World Government. Lurking in this oversized, clumsy fortress for a while shouldn't be a problem for them..."
Bulu-bulu-bulu— The familiar ringing of a Transponder Snail suddenly went off.
For some reason, the moment Fred heard the ring, an extremely bad premonition welled up from the depths of his soul. He pulled the Transponder Snail from his coat pocket, hesitated repeatedly, then took a deep breath and snatched up the receiver.
"Speak! What happened?!"
"Rear Admiral Black Crow..."
The Transponder Snail vividly mimicked a terrified expression. "Latest intel: just a moment ago, Rear Admiral Alan and Master Chief Petty Officer Tashigi caught an intruder in the hallway."
"Pfft..." Fred nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.
Holy crap, how long has it been and you've already been caught? That was way too fast! Did you come here to break someone out of prison or just to increase the head count in the cells?!!!
"He... how exactly was that bastard caught?" Struggling to suppress the urge to crush the receiver, the Rear Admiral asked through gritted teeth.
"Uh, well..."
The man on the other end of the line hesitated for a moment before whispering, "According to Master Chief Petty Officer Tashigi, the intruder got lost inside the fortress. Then, in his confused state, he just so happened to run head-first into Rear Admiral Alan while she was wandering around..."
Fred fell silent. He stiffly raised his head, looking like a man who had lost all hope in life.
"Lost? Hee-hee-hee... Is this the professional quality of special agents specifically trained by the World Government?"
Fred laughed out of sheer fury. At this moment, he suddenly felt that if CP5 were all of this caliber, then CP9 and even CP0 probably weren't much better.
At this rate, the World Government is well and truly doomed!
(Wait... Father once said that one shouldn't look at things so superficially.) Fred took a deep breath, trying to quickly calm his agitated heart.
(What if that guy was caught on purpose...)
Black Crow's eyes, hidden behind his blonde hair, suddenly lit up. He slapped his thigh hard and said joyfully, "I see! They were caught on purpose! The goal was to infiltrate the prison quickly!"
(Hee-hee-hee, Spandam's subordinates are actually quite witty, coming up with a plan like this. It's certainly bold enough.)
(Still, this way I don't have to worry about that little jinx, the Enemy of Nature, ruining things.)
Exhaling a long breath of turbid air, the blonde Rear Admiral—whose ability to "fill in the blanks" had surpassed the heavens—stroked his chin smugly. He silently gave a thumbs-up to his own wit and that of the "CP5 agent."
It must be said that this guy's preconceived notions were far too strong. He didn't have the slightest suspicion that the pirates who invaded the Marine fortress last night might actually be the real Straw Hat Pirates!
"By the way, Rear Admiral Black Crow," the subordinate continued over the Transponder Snail, "we discovered a very suspicious long-nosed man at the shipyard. We've already quietly taken him into custody. What are your orders...?"
"A long-nosed man?" Fred blinked.
(I do recall that Spandam has a subordinate with a particularly long nose... was he CP5 or CP9?)
(But for his movements to be so conspicuous, could it be that he also wants to be caught on purpose? Fine, have it your way. It just so happens I have some details to discuss with them.)
"Lock him up first, then throw him into the prison. Remember, move quickly and don't alert the others," Fred ordered his subordinate.
"Then, I will personally 'interrogate' this 'intruder'! Hee-hee-hee."
If one were to ask which place in the Marine fortress had the tightest security, the Archives, which stored intelligence and records, would definitely be at the top of the list.
Navarone was indeed a heavily fortified Marine fortress. However, ever since a certain notorious "Great Figure" was imprisoned here, Vice Admiral Jonathan had been forced to redeploy a large number of elite Marines who were originally stationed elsewhere. This made the flaws of G-8's oversized nature even more prominent.
Just as a lion hunting prey will always choose to bite the throat first, the first thing a certain man in glasses did in an unknown location was exactly the same.
And that was: gather intelligence!
With the current meager security of the Archives, they were essentially defenseless in the face of a cat-burglar specializing in theft and an occultist with a "cheat-like" Devil Fruit ability.
"Regulations of the Marine 8th Branch."
"First: Wash your hands before meals."
"Second: Absolutely no leftovers."
"Third: No talking about work during meals."
"Fourth: You must brush your teeth after eating..."
Reading this, Sherlock shook his head slightly. "Heh, it seems the commander of this fortress isn't exactly a 'serious' Marine."
Putting the documents back where they belonged, the Occultist turned his head to the "Cat Burglar" beside him, who was intently clutching several sea charts. "How are things on your end, Nami?"
"Mmm... very, very good!"
Reluctantly putting down the sea charts, the Navigator spoke with excitement. Looking at her spirited appearance, one wouldn't think she hadn't slept all night.
"Although the years on the charts stored here vary, the level of craftsmanship is superb, and the quantity is enormous. It likely covers all the nearby sea areas."
"With these charts as a reference, our upcoming voyage will be much easier!"
Nami understood the true value of these charts very well. Although the authority of information on charts in the Grand Line is much lower than in other seas, they were still of immense reference value in the eyes of a top-tier navigator like her.
"Indeed. And isn't your dream to draw a map of the entire world?"
Sherlock nudged his glasses gently. "With these official charts published by the World Government, you'll be able to save a lot of trouble. These Marine-use charts aren't easy to come by."
"Mm-hmm! Thank you so much, Sherlock!"
Nami's face bloomed into a smile. As she gazed at the thick stack of charts before her, the worry and gloom she felt from accidentally entering the Marine base had long since vanished.
"When you mentioned 'luck' before, did you mean these?"
"That's right. When experiencing misfortune, you shouldn't just complain and blame others. Instead, you should think about what you can do to make up for your losses."
After spreading some "positive energy," Sherlock pointed to the mountain-like pile of documents he had sorted through. He spoke calmly to the orange-haired navigator, who looked at him with admiration:
"From the looks of it, I've obtained far more intelligence than I imagined. It seems I'll be busy for quite a while."
(Unfortunately, there's still not a single piece of information regarding the New World...) The Occultist sighed inwardly.
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