Should I go over and take a look?
Blake was a bit hesitant about this sing-sing fruit incident.
First of all, this matter was not mentioned in the original work, which meant Blake had absolutely no chance to lay out plans in advance as he did with the Ope-Ope no Mi.
The riot in Mary Geoise had been planned ever since he sent Aramaki to capture Ginny, and even tricked Rosward into traveling to the West Blue.
Even for the Ope-Ope no Mi battle, Blake had let Aramaki spread rumors about the Perpetual Youth Surgery in the Blake market a year in advance.
But the sing-sing fruit came so suddenly that Blake was completely unprepared.
Garling had already called Shanks, and for all he knew, Shanks might have departed right after hanging up.
If Blake went over, he would only be able to watch from another dimension with Stella, just like during the Ope-Ope no Mi battle, without even a chance to make a flashy entrance at the end.
The Mary Geoise riot, just watching!
The Ope-Ope no Mi battle, just watching!
The sing-sing fruit battle, still just watching?
It really feels like I'm just lurking!
Wouldn't that just make me an observer?
Besides, Blake wasn't particularly interested in the sing-sing fruit itself, and because he hadn't planned ahead, he couldn't come up with any complex schemes.
So, he was more inclined to use this Devil Fruit to cause some trouble for others.
Blake had always been the type to enjoy watching chaos unfold; he had casually called Shanks a Shamrock, which indirectly led to Sakazuki defecting from the Marines to form the NEO Marines.
He wanted to see if he could stir up some more fun by doing something on a whim again.
If there is no excitement, create some.
However, not getting involved in the whole affair at all wouldn't be appropriate either; news in the papers would eventually be distorted.
After thinking it over, Blake took out his Den Den Mushi and called his all-purpose Agent, Aramaki.
Brrr-blu... Brrr-blu...
The Den Den Mushi rang twice before being answered, and Aramaki's steady voice came from the other side:
"Your Highness!"
"Is there any special news recently?"
Blake asked casually, wanting to see if there was any fun he had missed.
The result was obvious: aside from Morgans, that top-tier Agent of chaos, Blake was the one most capable of stirring things up across the entire sea.
He had been staying in Mary Geoise for some time and hadn't been stirring up trouble, so naturally, nothing particularly amusing had happened on the sea.
Blake didn't take this to heart and instead asked:
"How many people do we have in the East Blue? Is there anyone near Thersfield?"
"Please wait a moment, Your Highness."
The sound of pages flipping rapidly came from the other side; clearly, Aramaki was organizing the Agents' information.
Soon, the sound stopped, and Aramaki hurriedly replied:
"Your Highness, we don't have many personnel in the East Blue, only about four hundred."
"However, there are indeed two people operating near Thersfield Island."
"That many?"
Blake was a bit surprised.
After all, he hadn't really allocated funds to the intelligence agency for many years, and besides, even the World Government wouldn't deploy so many CP Agents in a single sea area, would they?
"It is like this, Your Highness."
As he spoke, Aramaki explained the expansion process of the intelligence agency.
Simply put, what Aramaki had built was not a traditional intelligence agency, but an organization similar to Baroque Works.
In addition to the people Blake had specifically asked him to bring back to be trained as core members, he had also developed quite a few peripheral members in various sea areas.
The loyalty of these members was naturally not guaranteed, but Aramaki didn't expect them to be responsible to the organization, and of course, the organization wouldn't be responsible for them either.
They were only involved in tasks like issuing intelligence missions, voluntarily providing intelligence, or even fencing stolen goods and acting as intermediaries.
These peripheral members didn't need to know the nature of the organization or who was in it, nor did they need to be loyal to the organization; as long as they could provide help to the organization, the organization could provide feedback to them when they needed help.
Blake admired Aramaki's way of thinking; it turned out this guy had just created a smaller-scale Blake market.
But it had to be said that Aramaki's method was indeed effective, allowing him to collect the intelligence he wanted without investing too much manpower or material resources.
After listening to Aramaki's explanation, Blake didn't take this small matter to heart—as long as it couldn't eventually be traced back to him, it was fine—so he instructed:
"Then have them pay more attention to the movements near Thersfield over the next few days, and if circumstances permit, it would be best for them to lurk on that island for a while."
"There might be some commotion in Thersfield in the next few days, and I want to know who is causing it."
"Very well, Your Highness, I will go and give the order now."
Aramaki agreed, and Blake hung up the Den Den Mushi and put it away.
This subordinate, who had been working for him since the year 1498 of the sea calendar, had now completely integrated; there was no need to worry about his loyalty, and he was diligent in his work. It really was a wise decision to take him in back then.
Blake felt self-satisfied for a moment and waved to Rami, who was not far away:
"Rami, bring your sea chart here for me to see."
Hearing this, Rami, who was reading with Robin and Monet, immediately responded, ran into the room with a pitter-patter, and before long, ran out carrying her sea chart that was taller than she was.
Spreading the sea chart out in front of Blake, Rami asked curiously:
"Your Highness, are we going to set sail again?"
Blake shook his head:
"I haven't decided whether we are going to set sail yet; I want to see where Thersfield Island is first."
Casting his gaze on the area representing the East Blue, Blake searched for a long time before finally finding the location of Thersfield Island in a relatively remote spot.
He was very curious; the island looked even more remote than Minion Island, and it wasn't near any major shipping lanes.
Logically speaking, if a Devil Fruit appeared in a place like this, it would most likely be eaten by the first person who found it, just like how Ace found the Mera Mera no Mi or Alvida found the Sube Sube no Mi.
Especially in the East Blue, a sea area where information didn't travel well, many people didn't even know what a Devil Fruit was, so there was even less reason for the news to be spread.
As a result, not only was the sing-sing fruit noticed by CP Agents and reported to the World Government, but others even knew about this news, which felt a bit strange.
"Could it be that someone else is pulling strings besides me?"
Blake stroked his chin; he felt the current situation was somewhat similar to his scheme to entrap the God's Knights.
But it was hard to say; perhaps it really was just a coincidence.
After all, looking at the original work, the sing-sing fruit was eventually eaten by Uta, which meant that Shanks had achieved the final victory.
If there really was a mastermind behind the scenes like with the Ope-Ope no Mi, it would be difficult to explain the other party's purpose.
Thinking of the Ope-Ope no Mi, Blake looked at Rami in front of him.
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