The Marines were already too busy dealing with a massive expanding war in the New World: the brutal clash between Red-Haired Shanks and Charlotte Linlin.
The outcome of that war could literally change the balance of power across the entire New World.
Compared to those Emperor-level pirates, as long as Cyrus didn't fly a Jolly Roger, the Marines could afford to turn a blind eye.
"Just don't cause any more trouble," Sengoku muttered under his breath.
"That's a wishful thinking!" Vice Admiral Tsuru walked into the office.
She had clearly heard Sengoku talking to himself and knew exactly who he meant.
"Cyrus is definitely going to cause more trouble. Our latest intel says that Hawkeye and that blind man, Issho, are currently hanging around Area 13. Their target is Dark King Rayleigh."
Sengoku's face completely froze.
He stared at Tsuru.
"And then what?" Sengoku asked quickly.
"We don't know yet. Cyrus left Water 7 a while ago. It turns out he really was just there to get a ship built. He should be arriving at the Sabaody Archipelago any day now." Tsuru sat down, looking deep in thought before turning back to Sengoku.
"He's almost certainly going to meet up with Dark King Rayleigh, but I honestly have no idea how that's going to play out."
"Should we prep our forces?" Sengoku asked, frowning hard.
"I don't think we need to. We shouldn't rush to get involved. Knowing how Cyrus operates, he might end up fighting Rayleigh, but I doubt they'll actually become blood enemies," Tsuru reasoned.
"It might have something to do with that 'Hunter Guild' idea he keeps bringing up."
"You think he's going to ask Rayleigh to join him?" Sengoku looked shocked.
"Probably not. But Rayleigh is a living legend. If Cyrus fights him, he's going to become famous all over the world, whether he wins or loses."
"He's already too famous!" Sengoku groaned, rubbing his face.
"Only we are paying this much attention to him. The sea is huge, and crazy things happen every single day," Tsuru pointed out.
She had already checked the intelligence reports.
While top-tier fighters were watching Cyrus closely, normal people barely knew his name.
Some didn't even know what he looked like.
The general public only knew that someone out there had managed to fight off two Admirals.
And that was it.
But Dark King Rayleigh was entirely different matter.
As the former first mate of the Pirate King, his name carried unbelievable weight among pirates.
Even though he had been hiding for years, his legend was still very much alive.
"I see. If that's what he's planning, then Cyrus has some serious ambition," Sengoku said quietly.
This wasn't good news at all.
"The sea is already a mess. We don't have the spare troops to hunt Cyrus down right now, so keeping him neutral is our best bet. If we can just convince him to become a Warlord, it solves everything."
"He said no. Garp already told us that."
"Times change. But I do need to remind you—the Celestial Dragons visit the Sabaody Archipelago all the time," Tsuru warned, locking eyes with Sengoku.
Sengoku nodded slowly. "Tell Borsalino to head over there, just in case everything goes wrong."
After all, Cyrus hadn't exactly hidden his disgust for the Celestial Dragons when he talked to Garp.
Given Cyrus's personality, he wouldn't hold back.
If he ran into a Celestial Dragon on the streets, it would instantly turn into an international disaster.
And by the time the Marines got the call, it would be too late.
"Good idea. Borsalino is strong enough to handle it, and he won't start a fight unless he has to." Tsuru nodded.
Even though Kizaru was incredibly lazy, he always got the job done when he was given a direct order.
"Now, back to Red-Haired Shanks and Charlotte Linlin. The war is still spreading. The pirate fleets loyal to Red Hair and the Big Mom Pirates are ripping each other apart across a massive stretch of the ocean. This could easily drag on for months."
"What are you suggesting?" Sengoku asked.
"We need to step in. Force them to stop, or figure out a way to end it fast. If this war gets any bigger, we won't be able to clean up the mess," Tsuru stated bluntly.
Normally, pirates killing each other was great news for the Marines.
But a war this big was a totally different story.
Because as the fighting spread, more and more independent pirate crews were being forced to pick a side.
If Whitebeard or Kaido decided to jump into the chaos, the entire New World would collapse into pure anarchy.
At that point, nobody could control it.
Not the Marines, not the World Government. Not even the Yonko themselves.
"Then we just have to wait for the perfect opening. Honestly, I'm really curious to see if Cyrus decides to jump into this war once he finally enters the New World," Sengoku said suddenly.
"If he doesn't stay in Sabaody for long, that's a very real possibility," Tsuru agreed.
"Right. I'll let Garp and Kuzan know. For now, we just sit tight and wait for a chance to act."
"By the way," Tsuru added, "even if Cyrus leaves Sabaody quietly, he might cause chaos on Fish-Man Island or in Dressrosa. He already has bad blood with both Jinbei and Doflamingo."
"Is that so? Then I'll have Kizaru meet with him before he leaves," Sengoku decided after a moment of thought.
Tsuru paused, taking a moment to silently pray for Kizaru's safety.
'Let's just hope nobody throws a punch.'
'If a fight broke out this time, Kizaru would find himself staring down four monsters.'
After all, Hawkeye and Issho were currently sitting in a bar with the Dark King himself.
....
Sabaody Archipelago
A massive, beautifully crafted new ship finally pulled up to the docks.
The giant, glowing orange flower carved into its bow was impossible to ignore.
Once the ropes were tied, Cyrus walked over to the railing and looked down at the group of people waiting patiently on the pier.
He gave them a lazy wave before walking down the gangplank with Robin, followed closely by Tom.
"You guys took forever!" Cyrus called out cheerfully as his boots hit the wood of the pier.
"We got here as fast as we could. I didn't stop once after we left Alabasta. You guys are just ridiculously fast." Crocodile sighed, then looked past Cyrus to stare at the massive fish-man.
"Is this the shipwright you kept hyping up?"
Tom looked equally surprised.
'The guy Cyrus wanted to introduce me to is a Shichibukai?'
"He's the shipwright who built the ship for the Pirate King, Roger. He built my ship, too. Once the Hunter Guild is officially running, we're definitely going to need a guy with his skills."
"Not bad at all," Crocodile admitted, clearly impressed. "So, how's the Sky Island plan going?"
Hearing Cyrus bring up Sky Island instantly made Crocodile's face turn serious.
"I've got my agents looking for a safer route up there. The Knock Up Stream method you told me about is way too suicidal, normal people can't use it. The survival rate is basically zero."
Cyrus nodded, agreeing completely.
It was true.
Even if you took Enel out of the picture, just trying to sail up to Sky Island was a death sentence for most crews.
"Try to speed it up. I want to use Sky Island as the main testing ground for new Hunters. The trip up there can be part of the test, but we still need to manage the safety risks."
Watching Cyrus casually hand out massive orders made Crocodile's eye twitch.
'Good grief, this guy is seriously treating me like his personal secretary.'
But strangely enough... he was also kind of excited about it.
When he first agreed to follow Cyrus back in Alabasta, he had felt a bit forced into it.
But during the long trip to the Sabaody Archipelago, he had spent a lot of time thinking about this "Hunter Guild" concept.
The more he thought about it, the more he realized how brilliant it was.
'Maybe this is what true vision looks like,' Crocodile thought to himself, nodding at Cyrus.
Back in Alabasta, Crocodile's grand plan had been to dig up an ancient battleship and build a fake utopia.
But Cyrus's idea had the potential to completely rewrite the rules of the entire world. It was on a completely different level.
The only annoying part was that Cyrus clearly viewed him as free labor.
Still, being the guy who actually built and ran this massive organization made Crocodile's blood pump.
Simply put, he was fired up!
"Hey, are you listening?" Cyrus asked, waving a hand because Crocodile was totally spacing out.
"Hm?" Crocodile snapped back to reality, looking at the confusion on Cyrus's face.
"Hunters are not pirates. Don't forget that."
Crocodile nodded, chewing on what that actually meant.
"If I just wanted to be a pirate, I wouldn't be jumping through all these hoops. I'd just buy a boat and form a crew."
'You haven't jumped through any hoops at all. You literally dumped all the hard work on me,' Crocodile thought bitterly, though he kept his mouth shut.
He had a sneaking suspicion that if he complained out loud, Cyrus would probably just punch him.
"So, what's the actual difference? The way you explained it, anyone can be a Hunter. But a treasure hunter isn't all that different from a normal pirate," Crocodile pointed out.
"If we're too strict, it's going to stop the Guild from growing."
Robin and Tom stood nearby, watching Cyrus closely.
They both really wanted to hear his answer.
Cyrus glanced at Crocodile, then turned his head to look out at the vast ocean.
Standing there with his back to them, he felt totally separated from the noisy, crowded docks.
It was like he was standing in his own little world.
Robin and the others waited in silence.
Truthfully, Cyrus was struggling to put the definition into words.
In his past life, the Hunter Association he remembered from HxH didn't exactly have strict morals.
But Cyrus didn't want to run a guild full of murderers and thieves.
'I'm really just making things harder for myself, aren't I?' Cyrus let out a long sigh, then finally turned back to look at his crew.
"Do what you want, but do no harm to civilians." He said the words softly, but clearly.
Crocodile froze, his eyes widening in shock.
Robin blinked as a look of deep longing flashing across her face.
Tom the Fish-man took a sharp breath, then broke into a massive, jagged grin.
Seeing their dramatic reactions, Cyrus sighed inwardly.
Maybe it was just his personal code.
He had heard that phrase a lot in his past life and never really thought deeply about it.
But now, living in a brutal world where the strong took whatever they wanted and the weak suffered, he finally understood it.
'You had to draw a line in the sand somewhere. After all, I'm not a villain,' he thought.
"Alright, let's get moving. I'm taking you to meet someone. He's the only guy who can help you manage the Guild's daily headaches. Just treat him like our personal bodyguard."
With that, Cyrus walked right past the three of them.
Snapping out of their daze, they immediately fell into step behind him.
'What unbelievable spirit,' Crocodile thought, genuinely amazed. 'This guy really is incredible.'
Just as Crocodile was hyping him up in his head, Cyrus suddenly stopped walking and turned back around.
He awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
"Uh... which way is Area 13?" Cyrus asked, looking completely lost.
'Yeah, I was definitely giving him too much credit,' Crocodile thought, his eye twitching again.
He took a very deep breath to calm down.
"We can take a Bubble Bike straight there," Crocodile grumbled.
"Lead the way. Oh, and have your guys check in with the crew still on the ship. Make sure they keep a close eye on it—that boat cost me a fortune," Cyrus ordered.
"Understood," Crocodile sighed.
He turned and gave a few quick hand signals to Daz, who was waiting quietly in the distance.
Daz nodded sharply, showing he understood the orders perfectly.