[V3] - Chapter 61. War
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The time until the event began was getting closer and closer.
However—
To Yuto's surprise, what he'd thought would be just a fun little event for entertainment unexpectedly ended up drawing so many people back.
Of course—
It didn't take long for Yuto to figure it out.
Right now, the Ninja World Trade Organization was active on the seas, and the Yuto Group had become one of the top forces in the seas. Therefore, this crowd of people had either come to establish connections with Yuto… or else… to gather intelligence.
So—
Yuto simply stopped paying them any mind.
After all, the Yuto Group was a legitimate business organization—it absolutely could not be lumped together with a bunch of pirates!
The best move was simply to ignore them!
"The Vinsmoke family is here too!" Robin, beside him, frowned slightly, glancing down at the statistics in her hand, then lifted her eyes to look at her boss. She hesitated for a moment, then said: "Should we expel them and make them leave?"
As soon as she finished speaking—
"???" Yuto looked at Robin, astonished. "Why expel them if they're not doing anything?" Then he said earnestly, "Comrade Bin-chan, do you have some sort of grudge against them?"
"…"
Why do you think they should be expelled, and you don't know why?!
Robin's eyelids twitched, but she seemed quite used to her boss's ways by now. She rolled her eyes and said, "Isn't the Yuto Group supposedly good friends with the Root Group?"
"Of course! They're my closest friends! My brothers! What about it?"
"…Never mind then."
Seeing her boss looking so wistful as he said this, Robin could roughly guess the real situation in her heart.
Though she felt it was all rather strange, it seemed that as far as the Vinsmoke family was concerned… there was no need to get involved.
However—
After a brief pause, she asked again, "Boss… are you really on good terms with the Root Group?"
"Very good! No doubt about it! Why do you ask?"
"Oh… nothing. Just asking." Robin nodded, then didn't pursue the topic further. She returned to looking at the documents in her hands. "About the Marine…" Her pupils narrowed slightly. "The Fleet Admiral, the Marine Hero, and the three Admirals are all coming. And they've sent over a dozen warships." As she read this, her brows furrowed deeply. "Boss… I don't think the Marine is coming just to watch the competition."
"You're overthinking it! Maybe they're just here for a team-building retreat?" Yuto sighed, then said in a solemn tone, "Please don't let your own malicious thoughts cloud your judgment of our customers! Yes, you're the Devil Child, you're impressive, you're arrogant, you—"
Before he could finish—
Robin's face went from pale to red in an instant. Then, she extended her two hands, and a pair of disembodied hands appeared on Yuto's neck, clamping over his mouth!
She then growled fiercely, "I'll kill you. I really will kill you."
Can we please move past this gag already?!
She'd never thought much of it before, but somehow… when her boss said it, everything sounded wrong!
It was incredibly embarrassing!
"All right, all right! Calm down!" Yuto helplessly batted away the hands on his neck, shrugged, and looked at Robin. "Just ignore them."
"I get it!" Robin shot Yuto a glare, but not long after, she frowned again. "Then… should I go into hiding for now?"
"What, are you, the Devil Child, actually afraid of—"
"Dos Fleur: Clutch! I'll strangle you!" This time, Robin didn't even bother glaring fiercely at her infuriating boss. Instead, she smiled sweetly at him—but her smile was just a touch gritted at the edges. "Boss~, what were you about to say just now?"
"Nothing at all. I was just going to say… didn't you step into the office this morning with your left foot first~?"
"…"
This boss is so petty!
Of course—
Robin ultimately didn't mind. She was only working as an intern anyway.
It's no big deal, right~?
But when she thought of the Marine's actions… she couldn't help feeling uneasy. "Are you sure we don't need to do anything?"
"There's no need! Let's just keep focusing on our own business!" Then, with righteous conviction, he declared: "The Marine is definitely just here for a team-building retreat!" As he said this, a sly smile crept across his face, and he murmured, "After all… the Marine couldn't possibly be here to seek death, right~?"
…
"We are not here for team-building!"
At this moment—
On board a Marine warship, Sengoku wore a grave expression as he looked at the gathered officers before him. "The World Government has already issued orders! And they've dispatched the intelligence agencies to cooperate with our operation! This time… we absolutely must wipe out this group of variables!"
However—
Even as he spoke firmly, inwardly he was full of helplessness.
If it hadn't been for the World Government's sudden orders, according to his original plan… as long as they didn't obstruct the Marine's arrest of Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama, the Marine had actually intended to stay on good terms with the Yuto Group.
After all, the Yuto Group's power was anything but simple!
But now that the World Government had issued direct commands, for the sake of peace on the seas, he had no choice but to comply.
Moreover, the Uchiha—the mysterious clan—and their recent actions truly had already threatened the World Government's prestige and rule. Look at what's been happening across the Four Seas… that sudden appearance of these mysterious individuals was practically a slap in the World Government's face.
On top of that, there was the complaint from Gild Tesoro, the Golden Emperor. Apparently, the Yuto Group had already damaged his business interests and swallowed up some of his market share. So now he intended to work with the World Government to wipe out this group once and for all.
After all, he considered himself the true richest man on the seas!
And the relationship between the Golden Emperor and the World Government…
Though Tesoro was a businessman, there was no question that compared to the Yuto Group, the World Government valued the Golden Emperor far more.
There was no helping it.
That guy simply gave them too much!
So in the end… they'd decided to seize this opportunity to annihilate the Yuto Group—and then, step by step, eliminate every force on the seas connected to it.
Otherwise—
Why would Marine Headquarters deploy so many warships?
This was an even larger force than those sent for a Buster Call!
Practically the entire naval power was being mobilized!
Therefore, this battle… absolutely had to succeed!
Sengoku sighed inwardly, his gaze dark and uncertain. He recalled the intelligence that had come from CP9: "Son of the Pirate King! Devil Child!"
He hadn't expected that Garp and Kuzan had been hiding this from him for so long!
And if they were truly about to attack Wano Country, then that so-called Devil Child and the Son of the Pirate King would also need to be eliminated along with the rest.
Thinking this, Sengoku cast a deep glance at Garp, who was still smiling and playing on his phone beside him.
However—
This time, Sengoku didn't rebuke the man. Instead, a flicker of guilt passed through his eyes, and he let out a soft sigh.
He knew all too well how deeply Garp loved his grandson!
But for the sake of peace on the seas, this was something he had to do now!
Sengoku's eyes turned sharp again. In a stern voice, he ordered: "Issue advance orders to the fleet. All warships must be fully prepared! Tomorrow, once the command is given—open fire on Wano Country immediately!" He paused slightly. "Do not underestimate the Yuto Group!"
"Yes!"
…
Meanwhile—
On another Marine warship.
A marine was looking down at another marine, who lay on the ground unconscious, eyes closed, stripped of his uniform. The first marine grinned and muttered, "So that should do it, right? I wonder how the others are doing with their part of the plan?"
As he spoke, he hid the unconscious man carefully, then turned and strode off.
"How dare they try to invade Wano Country? Don't they know Wano belongs to Boss Yumi now?"
And then—
The "marine" who had been hidden under the bed looked exactly identical to the one walking away toward the deck outside!
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T/N:
This novel is ending tomorrow! There are just 9 chapters left! I will upload them all together tomorrow!