Time, just like that, quietly passed for quite a few days.
Of the 10 days that Rosse fought for with the Five Elders, only 2 days remained.
Within Fish-Man Island, the candidates to join the Mermaid Kingdom had long been selected.
In fact, the first and second batches of migrants had already arrived at Punk Hazard and started building Mermaid Island there.
And today as well, Rosse once again received a call.
This time, the caller wasn't Shamrock, but a direct transmission from the Five Elders.
"Saint Arlin is dead?", Rosse hissed lightly, casting a glance at Moa who was kneeling on the ground.
'Although I know you have a grudge against Arlin, is there really a need to be this excited?'
'Next time, even if you're so happy you want to gasp, at least don't do it while sucking on a lollipop.' [T/N: Lollipop is 'You-know-what']
"What exactly happened?", Rosse stroked Moa's silky hair, his eyes narrowing slightly, not intending to guess, and directly asked Saturn on the other end of the line.
The call was made from the Five Elders' office, but just by listening to the background noise, it was clear that it was chaotic over there.
Some of the Five Elders were contacting people, while others were smashing things, a real commotion.
["It was Whitebeard who did it. He wiped out the entire fleet. The Tremor-Tremor Fruit at sea is absolutely a troublesome power,"] Saturn said in a deep voice.
He had guessed the follow-up consequences of Rosse's actions this time, but he didn't expect Whitebeard to go to such extremes.
Saint Arlin wasn't someone like Rosward to compare with. Even though Rosward was the head of a Celestial Dragon family, Arlin was not only one of the Five Elders but also a member of the God's Knights.
The severity of this incident had already jeopardized the entire safety of the Celestial Dragons.
["Saint Rosse!"]
Saint Mars's voice filled with rage came out from the Den Den Mushi.
["Whitebeard publicly executed Arlin, branded Whitebeard's flag on Arlin's face, and finally beheaded and gutted him."]
"Hoho… how cruel and outrageous," Rosse raised his eyebrows, 'This method is really familiar. Why is there no originality at all?'
However, Rosse could understand Saint Mars's anger.
After all, the one who died was Saint Mars's son.
Blame it on Whitebeard for not recognizing people.
He killed a Celestial Dragon from the Marcus family, what did that have to do with the Jaygarcia family?
If he were Whitebeard, he would have definitely wiped out the Jaygar District. Why would he go after Celestial Dragons from other families?
But then again, the Jaygar District was in the South Blue, Whitebeard couldn't get there at all.
From the New World, through the Calm Belt, one could only reach the North Blue and West Blue. To get to East Blue and South Blue, one must cross the Red Line or go through Fish-Man Island.
Now that Fish-Man Island was entirely under his control, there was no way Whitebeard could pass through, so he could only stir up trouble in the North and West Blues.
If Whitebeard really came to the first half of the Grand Line, Rosse wouldn't be this calm now.
The reason he was stationed at Marine Headquarters was also because it was close enough to Fish-Man Island.
As long as Whitebeard was discovered, he could quickly go there.
"Saint Mars, what can I do for you? If there's any trace of Whitebeard, I'm willing to go right now and kill him," Rosse said the nice-sounding words, but in reality, they meant nothing.
Right now, they couldn't even find Whitebeard. Even organizing a siege was difficult.
["Whitebeard is still in the North Blue. Based on the last place he appeared, it's likely he hasn't left the North Blue,"] Saint Saturn said in a deep voice.
"Likely? Don't we have any undercover agents in Whitebeard's crew?", Rosse raised an eyebrow.
["They're traveling light. Aside from captain-level pirates and close confidants, Whitebeard didn't bring any affiliated pirate crews,"] This was also the part that gave Saint Saturn and the others the biggest headache about this pirate.
This world was too big. If a pirate of Whitebeard's level abandoned their base and just set out on one ship, there was simply no way to find them.
They almost didn't need to resupply, had terrifying mobility, and could even coat their ship and hide underwater.
In this kind of situation, looking for a single ship on the vast ocean was no different from fishing a needle out of the sea.
Even if someone was near the target, if they didn't spot them in time, they'd likely be detected by Whitebeard's Observation Haki.
At that point, the news wouldn't even have time to be reported before that person was killed.
This was also the reason the World Government allowed pirates to run amok, not because they didn't have the strength to deal with them, but because sometimes there really was no way.
It was better to give those pirates some barren territory and let them fight among themselves.
If the World Government truly entered slaughter mode, they could clean up a wave in a short time, but then pirates in the future wouldn't have any strongholds.
They'd all start guerilla warfare against the World Government, and then the real headache would be theirs.
"Then contacting me, is it to mobilize the Marine's forces to search? Or is it to use me as bait?", Rosse's eyes showed a hint of realization.
Since they didn't want him to act directly, there weren't many things they could ask of him.
Either have him, who's already in the Marine, mobilize the Marine's forces to search.
Or, because he had the deepest grudge with Whitebeard, use him as bait to lure Whitebeard out, but that was highly unlikely.
Whitebeard wasn't an idiot. If he dared to show himself now, he definitely wouldn't fall for it.
But getting the Marine to abandon resisting other pirates and instead focus on hunting Whitebeard was much more likely.
Compared to the safety of the Celestial Dragons, the so-called Great Pirate Era was nothing.
If they let Whitebeard keep killing like this, the Celestial Dragons might not even dare leave the Holy Land.
Fortunately, it was Whitebeard and not Golden Lion.
With the Golden Lion's Devil Fruit ability, the damage would've been even more terrifying.
["From now on, mobilize all Marine forces to hunt down Whitebeard's crew. Set up a heavenly net in the North Blue and the New World. As long as we know Whitebeard's location, kill him!",] Saint Mars said with killing intent.
With the World Government's power, it wasn't like they had no means.
After all, Whitebeard wasn't Golden Lion, he couldn't just fly away.
As long as they could lock onto Whitebeard's general location, they could continue sending people to block his path, and then based on where people died, narrow down the encirclement.
Although this would require deploying a massive amount of manpower, making the defense of other oceans and even the Holy Land weaker.
As long as Whitebeard was killed, everything could return to order, it would be worth it.
"Theoretically there's no problem. I fully support this plan, but I must remind everyone of one thing: currently most of the Marine's manpower is engaged in another task."
Rosse's lips curled slightly, but his tone was very heavy, "Impel Down should've reported earlier, Golden Lion escaped half a month ago at the cost of both his legs. His whereabouts are currently unknown."
He actually knew about this matter long ago, but when Impel Down had its incident, he was busy worrying about Fish-Man Island and had no time to act.
Besides, compared to the experience he'd gain from killing Golden Lion, letting Golden Lion escape actually benefited him more.
He had already given a reminder on this matter.
If Golden Lion eventually went wild in the Holy Land, don't blame him for not warning them.
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