"Tsuru, what are you thinking of?", Sengoku looked at Tsuru, his eyes probing.
His view was similar to Garp and the others', this was Rosse not trusting them, intending to take those people as hostages.
That was also why he had hesitated.
Precisely because everyone was willing to leave with them, they had to guarantee the safety of their families even more.
They were an army of justice; they couldn't bring themselves to do the kind of wicked things Rosse would.
"Fish-Man Island... why the New World...", Tsuru frowned, concentrating, whispering softly.
On the surface, this conscription didn't seem problematic. They said it was to build a Marine base, but in reality it was to secure benefits for Marine families.
Those people were very unlikely to meet danger; the World Government wouldn't let them come to harm, otherwise Headquarters' morale would definitely waver.
Outwardly it looked like the conscription was to guard against them, to prevent them from doing things against the World Government, a way to threaten by using their families.
But inside, Tsuru still felt uneasy, a sense that it wasn't that simple.
"What's there to think about?", Garp curled his lip. He wasn't someone who liked scheming, nor did he think the World Government would scheme.
"With them the way they are, who'd think that far."
"No, if there's a plausible reason, it must be our geography."
Kuzan looked at the map hanging in the command room, thinking aloud, "We're in the East Blue now. Through the calm belts we can only reach the first half of the Grand Line; we can't go directly to the New World. If we stay dragging our feet in the East Blue it's doable, but once we appear in the first half of the Grand Line, with the Marine and World Government's control, we'll probably be discovered immediately."
He didn't continue with what being discovered would lead to, but anyone could see it. Once discovered, the families of these Marine defectors would be in danger.
"Most likely that's it," Sengoku nodded slightly, already agreeing with that analysis in his mind.
Given their current situation, escaping to the New World wasn't hard; not being discovered, however, was nearly impossible.
If the families were still at Headquarters, given their knowledge of the seas, they could probably have secreted them away.
From what he knew, Sakazuki himself wasn't at Headquarters; Borsalino had gone to Fish-Man Island to garrison; Headquarters was almost in a defensive vacuum.
But even in a vacuum, at this moment nobody dared to get ideas about attacking Marine Headquarters.
Because of the Holy Land incident and the beginning of the Great Deity era, the World Government was going mad, slaughtering people on the seas.
Although Headquarters lacked top-tier forces on guard, the top-tier troublemakers were nearly all being watched by the World Government.
As for the other great pirates, it was simply a matter of go and die.
"I still feel something's off...", Tsuru shook her head, still deep in thought.
She had dealt with Rosse before and knew he wasn't a simple man.
But Kuzan's point had merit: they already held their soft spot, their families. And with that kind of family-threat, they really didn't have a good option.
Now everyone was willing to follow because they were promised the safety of their families.
But Rosse had taken those people away; who could say that once they left the Marine, Rosse wouldn't do something bad.
If that happened, it'd inevitably make their subordinates restless.
Rosse killing them outright might not even be the worst outcome.
If he used their families as leverage to make those Marine men into his spies, their end would be even worse.
They had many top fighters, and with Dragon perhaps four strong figures. But even four wasn't enough to oppose the World Government. If there were enemies in their ranks, there'd be no way to survive.
"Purururu!"
Just then, the command-room den-den mushi suddenly rang.
Immediately, everyone instinctively looked at Sengoku.
Sengoku was the highest commander of this fleet and the only admiral present, so naturally the command den-den mushi belonged to him.
"I'll take it first, must be Headquarters," Sengoku frowned slightly, gave the others a look, and decisively picked up the den-den mushi.
Whether it was an intelligence call from Headquarters or a prompt from the World Government, he'd take it first.
When the line connected, Sengoku said in a deep voice, "This is Marine Admiral Sengoku."
Watching the den-den mushi change to Sakazuki's image, Sengoku's expression shifted a bit.
'A call from Sakazuki... that is rare.'
["This is Fleet Admiral Sakazuki."]
Sakazuki's hoarse voice came through, and he went straight to the point, ["Golden Lion Shiki has been executed; Kaido and Kozuki Oden were captured, personally carried out by Saint Rosse."]
"Hmm?"
Hearing that news, the four present all sat up.
'What is going on?'
'The pirates' top forces lost three at once?'
They had a rough understanding of what had recently happened in Wano; Dragon had been keeping in contact and informing them. In this matter, Sengoku and the others had chosen to do neither side any favors.
They hadn't warned Rosse that Golden Lion and Whitebeard were headed there, nor had they planned to assist Wano.
Even if they left the Marine, they wouldn't collude with pirates. At most mutual peril.
But they never expected such a powerful lineup to go after Rosse and be wiped out.
According to their intelligence, Sakazuki should have arrived at Wano at least a day later than Golden Lion and the others.
"Fleet Admiral Sakazuki, you reached Wano early?", Sengoku couldn't help asking in a low voice.
Some things were now out in the open.
The news of Golden Lion's death shouldn't have been relayed to them by Sakazuki. After all, they weren't at Headquarters and hadn't been involved; there was no reason for a superior to inform subordinates about a pirate's death.
Now that it had been said, it was either intimidation or Sakazuki's side was going all in.
["I just arrived at Wano. The only participants in this fight were Saint Rosse and Gion."]
Sakazuki's low laugh came through, plunging everyone into silence.
"Hey! Akainu brat, if you're going to brag, don't put it that way. Two people against four? You really saying Rosse alone beat four admirals?", Garp scoffed.
What a joke. Two youngsters fighting four long-established top fighters was pure fantasy. If that happened, he'd stand on his head and eat ten kg of dung.
["If you'd been promoted to admiral back then, Saint Rosse indeed could take on the four of you."]
Sakazuki's voice carried a sneer. He and Sengoku were already at odds; if not for Rosse's order, he wouldn't even bother delivering this intel.
He'd rather see these people dead.
They'd prevented him from wiping out pirates, couldn't even deal with one Dragon, and had lived like dogs all these years.
"Damned Akainu brat!"
Garp flew into a rage. If Sakazuki hadn't been on the line, he would've let him feel his 'justice iron fist.'
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