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"No, you've misunderstood, Nami, Nojiko," Gion said quickly, once she'd heard them out. "This isn't the World Government moving against Ikki. If that were happening, I'd tell you to run the moment I knew." Her expression was dead serious.
Ikki was her savior and the man she loved. Even if the Marines ordered her to move against him, she wouldn't do it.
"That's good to hear. Knowing how you feel about him, you'd have warned us the second something was wrong," Nojiko said. "But if that's not it, why bring us all the way out here, looking like that?"
"You have no idea how scared I just was," Nami said, a hand pressed to her chest.
"Sorry, that wasn't my intention," Gion said, apologetic.
"Alright, let's get to it," Ikki said. "And let's not talk about the World Government's plans for me out here in the open. Walls have ears. If someone with Observation Haki picked up on this conversation, that would be a real problem."
Nojiko nodded immediately at that. If word of this ever got out, even if the Marines and the World Government weren't planning anything yet, they'd almost certainly move up their timetable and act.
His crew, after all, was arguably more dangerous than Whitebeard's, given how strong he already was and how quickly he could make his companions stronger too. There was no way the World Government wasn't watching his growth with concern.
"I understand, Ikki. Let me explain," Gion said, taking a breath before continuing, her tone solemn. "It's about the other Emperors. Marine and World Government informants have picked up movement from the Red-Haired Pirates and the Beasts Pirates, so Fleet Admiral Sengoku ordered a group sent out to keep watch on them."
Ikki raised an eyebrow. "I see. In case the Red-Haired Pirates or the Beasts Pirates show up in the middle of the war between Marine Headquarters and the Whitebeard Pirates, that would throw everything off. So the Marines are sending people to monitor them, and you're one of the ones strong enough for the job."
He felt a strange mix of emotions at that. In the story he remembered, there'd been reports of tension between the Red-Haired Pirates and the Beasts Pirates that Marine intelligence had picked up on, something he'd never thought much about at the time.
But having actually lived in this world for a while now, he no longer believed the Marines would be so careless. With two of the strongest crews in the world making obvious moves, of course they'd take precautions and send capable people to keep watch.
It finally made sense why Gion and Chaton, both being talked about as future Admiral material, hadn't shown up for the war against the Whitebeard Pirates. They'd likely been sent to keep an eye on the Red-Haired Pirates and the Beasts Pirates instead.
"That's right, Fleet Admiral Sengoku gave me that order directly," Gion said with a sigh. "I'll be leaving Marine Headquarters soon. Watching the Red-Haired Pirates and the Beasts Pirates is one of my assignments."
"That's a shame," Ikki said, a note of regret in his voice. "I was hoping you'd get to make a name for yourself in the war against Whitebeard. That's the kind of thing that builds a path to becoming Fleet Admiral someday."
Gion couldn't help feeling a bit helpless at that. She really did want to reach that rank. It would let her protect the person she loved in far more ways than she could now. But heading off to track the Red-Haired Pirates and the Beasts Pirates wasn't going to earn her much credit, not unless she somehow managed to actually capture Shanks or Kaido herself.
Meanwhile, the three sitting Admirals were the ones racking up merit fighting Whitebeard's crew right at Marine Headquarters, and all three of them were close enough to her in age that if any one of Akainu, Kizaru, or Aokiji were named the next Fleet Admiral, the best she could ever hope for herself was to remain an Admiral for the rest of her career.
The only way that door would ever open again was if the sitting Fleet Admiral died unexpectedly. Otherwise, she could set aside any hope of becoming Fleet Admiral, and with it, any hope of sheltering Ikki and his crew from a position of real power.
What she didn't know was that Ikki felt the same regret, that she couldn't easily earn merit while stationed at headquarters. But underneath that, he also felt something like relief.
He was already planning to cause plenty of trouble during the Marineford War, and if Gion had been standing there when it happened, his actions might have put her in an impossible spot.
If she watched him turn on the Marines and found herself caught in the middle of it, he'd feel terrible. And if she abandoned her post entirely to stand with him instead, he'd feel even worse.
"You said watching the Red-Haired Pirates and the Beasts Pirates was one of your tasks," Astolfo said suddenly. "Does that mean you have another one in mind?"
Ikki turned and stared at him, clearly caught off guard.
"Ikki, why are you looking at me like that?" Astolfo asked, tilting his head, confused.
"Nothing. Just thinking that you can actually think," Ikki said, sounding almost moved.
Astolfo wasn't exactly known for using his head. His thoughts tended to run simple and straightforward, and stopping to reason things through wasn't usually his style at all, which was exactly why an observation that sharp, delivered out of nowhere, caught Ikki so off guard. Astolfo, for his part, didn't seem to notice or care.
"Astolfo's right, there is something else," Gion said, her expression turning serious again, a flash of distaste crossing her eyes.
"What happened? You look furious," Ikki said.
"It's about Blackbeard. Teach."
"What about him?"
"He's gone missing."
"Missing?"
"That's right. We can't find him anywhere."
Ikki's brow furrowed deeply. Damn it, he thought. I was too late.
"Gion, when did he disappear?" he asked quickly.
"No one's sure exactly, but it looks like it happened sometime today," Gion said. "When the men went to fetch him for the execution, he was already gone."
"How did the Marines let that happen?" Ikki asked. "Sengoku's not going to just let him vanish like that, is he? Wait, does that mean your other assignment is to hunt him down out on the open sea?"