Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
Inside the large conference room for senior officers.
Admiral Sengoku was currently seated at the head of the round table, speaking with great force.
"The public opinion around the Pirate Emperors has already begun creating waves!"
"Do not think this is only a pirate matter and has nothing to do with us Marines…"
"According to the Intelligence Division's investigation, many pirates are now preparing to move against Golden Lion, Whitebeard, and Winter's Wrath. What does that mean? It means opportunity!"
"If we can seize the chance in this chaos and take down Shiki or Whitebeard, then the situation for the Marines in the New World will immediately open up, won't it?"
At that moment, a Marine Rear Admiral suddenly raised his hand and said, "Admiral Sengoku, why not choose the weakest target, the Valthior Pirates?"
The moment he said that, the entire conference room instantly fell silent.
Sengoku's old face turned pitch-black.
Seeing this, Borsalino quickly said from the side, "Mr. Stella was only promoted to officer rank recently. He just arrived at Headquarters two months ago, so there are many things he does not know…"
That made Sengoku's expression relax slightly.
He had thought this guy was deliberately trying to embarrass him.
"Transfer him to the Logistics Division and have him clean the residential area toilets for three months. When he has finished reading the Valthior Pirates' file, let him return to his post!" Sengoku said after glaring at the Rear Admiral.
It sounded a little like bullying, but none of the other officers in the conference room said anything to stop it.
Chief Staff Officer Tsuru tapped the table and said, "Since the Valthior Pirates have been mentioned, I will take this chance to explain the intelligence our division received last night…"
As she spoke, a female Marine standing behind her naturally began distributing prepared documents to the others at the table.
This female Marine wore the shoulder insignia of a Commodore. She looked very young and beautiful.
It was Gion, who had only recently joined the Marine Intelligence Division.
Since the so-called "Great Pirate Era" began, Marine Headquarters had been vigorously recruiting soldiers and strengthening its forces.
They had indeed taken in a great deal of fresh blood. This group had all entered through "special recruitment," meaning strength came first, while seniority could be accumulated later. If their strength met the standard, they could even start as Commodores.
They did not need to follow the old Marine rules and begin as ordinary sailors.
To a certain extent, this made Marine regulations seem looser and caused the atmosphere of the force to become less strict. But it truly did strengthen the Marines.
Fresh blood such as Gion, Tokikake, and others had joined this way.
Sengoku and the others had also noticed the negative impact this could have on Marine discipline, so from the start, they arranged for these specially recruited Marines to study under experienced veterans.
Gion had been transferred to the Intelligence Division and now worked under Chief Staff Officer Tsuru.
After everyone received a copy of the intelligence, Tsuru said, "Just as Admiral Sengoku said earlier, a storm is now brewing in the New World. The emergence of the Three Emperors has intensified this situation even further… Whitebeard, Golden Lion, and Winter's Wrath have now become targets. Many pirates are eyeing their positions. Not long ago, Squard the Maelstrom Spider, with a bounty of 460 million Berries, attacked the Whitebeard Pirates near the waters of Nick Island in the New World…"
Squard was a man who'd once set out for the New World brimming with ambition, dead set on challenging Whitebeard.
However, he was unlucky enough to become a speed bump for the Roger Pirates, who came screaming down from the Sky Islands in a high-altitude drop, flattening him like rubble.
Afterward, Squard was left badly injured, and his crew was wiped out. It took him two years to rebuild his forces before venturing into the New World once again.
Once there, he frantically searched for any trace of the Roger Pirates, determined to settle the score and avenge what had happened.
But before he could find them, the Roger Pirates had already disbanded.
With the Roger Pirates gone, Squard originally wanted to settle accounts with Valthior. But later, he came into conflict with another pirate crew in the New World, and the two sides fought back and forth for a long time.
That pirate crew was called the Decalvan Brothers Pirates, and their captain was Doma.
Not long ago, Doma joined the Whitebeard Pirates. Squard also seemed to remember his old ambition to challenge Whitebeard. With all the noise around the Three Emperors, his head grew hot, and he went to Nick Island, blocking the Whitebeard Pirates while they were buying those spicy novels.
Naturally, the result was that Whitebeard gave him a brutal beating.
"Currently, the Squard Pirates have already announced that they are joining Whitebeard's forces. From this point, many challengers may very well become nourishment for the Three Emperor forces and help them grow stronger," Chief Staff Officer Tsuru said with emotion.
"It is said that Captain John is also planning to attack Merveille…" Tsuru's gaze darkened as she said this. "Not long ago, Shiki officially admitted that his full name is Davy D. Shiki. He also claimed to be Rocks's blood brother and declared that Rocks's son is under his command. He says he will fully train that bloodline of Rocks…"
After a slight pause, Tsuru continued, "We monitored private contact between him and the Whitebeard Pirates before this, but the exact details are unknown. Considering Whitebeard's personality and way of doing things, it is very possible he may change his attitude because of this so-called son of Rocks, whose existence cannot yet be confirmed… Captain John's plan to attack Merveille is extremely confidential intelligence. I suspect it may also be related to Rocks's son. In short, Shiki seems to be further seizing the influence left behind by the Rocks Pirates…"
Veteran Marine Vice Admiral Gionel clenched a cigar between his teeth and said, "Chief Staff Officer, you mean John is very likely aiming for Rocks's son?"
"Maybe that guy thinks Rocks's child has information about Rocks's treasure?" another Marine Vice Admiral clicked his tongue and said.
"We also cannot rule out the possibility that Shiki will use this chance to gather former members of the Rocks Pirates again. John is one of them…"
"Let's observe how the situation develops…"
After the Marines discussed it for a while, they finally returned to the main topic.
"Oh? Totto Land is going to move against the Valthior Pirates?" Vice Admiral Bluegrass raised her brow.
That was right. The documents Gion had distributed mainly concerned this matter.
"Starting around half a month ago, Totto Land's intelligence network began operating intensely, searching for information about the Valthior Pirates' movements. After spending quite some time investigating, we finally confirmed that Big Mom, Charlotte Linlin, and Kaido of the Beasts have locked onto the Valthior Pirates. They intend to move against Valthior!" Chief Staff Officer Tsuru said in a deep voice.
"That matches expectations."
"If I remember correctly, Marine Headquarters already had a related prediction earlier, right?"
"Yes. Back then, the strategy team estimated the chance of conflict between Totto Land and Frost Island at ninety-seven percent…"
"So they really are going to fight."
"I heard that if the propaganda had promoted Four Emperors instead, that probability would have dropped to thirteen percent…"
No one showed any shock or disbelief.
On the contrary, the senior Marine officers all had expressions of as expected and just as predicted.
"Chief Staff Officer, are we going to assist the Valthior Pirates?" a Marine Vice Admiral asked curiously.
The Marine higher-ups all knew how special Saint Valthior was.
Although the Valthior Pirates had bounties and were counted as a hostile force, Marine Headquarters' attitude toward them was extremely strange.
If the two sides met at sea, both would probably pretend not to see each other.
But if either side encountered danger, they might even lend a hand.
"We have already leaked the relevant intelligence to the Valthior Pirates," Chief Staff Officer Tsuru said calmly.
From this alone, one could see how complicated the relationship between Marine Headquarters and the Valthior Pirates was.
To a certain extent, their intelligence was shared.
Admiral Sengoku tapped the table.
"What I mean is…"
But before he could finish speaking, the Den Den Mushi he carried suddenly rang.
Sengoku frowned.
Who is so tactless? As a Marine Admiral, I publicly announced that I would be hosting an important meeting today, didn't I? Who has so little sense that they would contact me at a time like this?
However, after taking out the Den Den Mushi and glancing at it, Sengoku's expression changed sharply. He immediately stood up and said to Chief Staff Officer Tsuru beside him, "It is Saint Saturn. Pause the meeting for now."
With that, he turned and left the conference room, walking into the quiet corridor. He quickly answered the Den Den Mushi and said respectfully, "Saint Saturn, what are your orders?"
"Sengoku, Olvia and Professor Clover have communicated. They have already confirmed the approximate location of the island and ancient ruins where Sleepy Town is located. Immediately lead the elites of Headquarters to Mary Geoise to pick them up, then go with them to the New World and carry out the mission." Saint Saturn said in a calm tone.
Sengoku's cheek twitched twice.
Just now, he had been preparing to discuss with the Marine higher-ups whether they should take the chance to strike Cake Island and Totto Land while the Valthior Pirates clashed with Charlotte Linlin and Kaido.
But before he could even speak, the Five Elders had directly assigned a mission.
Although Sengoku was deeply unwilling inside, he immediately acted as if he was happy to serve.
"Yes. I guarantee the mission will be completed. I will now gather the elites of Headquarters, form a large fleet, and head to Mary Geoise to pick up Lady Olvia and Professor Clover."
A few minutes later, Sengoku returned to the quiet conference room.
Under Chief Staff Officer Tsuru's curious gaze, Sengoku sighed softly.
"Everyone at Vice Admiral rank or above who does not currently have a field mission, raise your hand."
Thirty minutes later, a large fleet made up of fifteen standard Marine warships departed under Admiral Sengoku's command. Ten Marine Vice Admirals and sixteen Marine Rear Admirals followed him toward the Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
Their mission was to head to the New World and seize a legendary Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit for Princess Jaygarcia Nico Robin.
Compared to that, all other seemingly important missions had to step aside.
This was the power of the Celestial Dragons.
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