"That is right, just like that. Let your Haki penetrate the enemy's defenses, and use Observation to capture more information. If you can do both, the gap between you and me will not be that big."
South Blue, Osgu Island.
While fending off Garp and Sengoku's attacks, Kong still had the leisure to coach them. Only during missions like this, when he had some breathing room, did he have time to teach these two disciples.
"Damn it!"
After being sent flying by a punch from Kong, Garp and Sengoku lay sprawled on the ground, panting hard.
Even working together, the two of them could only barely keep up with Kong.
And it was obvious Kong still was not using his full strength against them.
"For your age, what you have achieved is already incredible."
Kong sat on a rock nearby and comforted them.
"When I was your age, I was just an ordinary Marine soldier."
In the past, the World Government had a very strict promotion system for common Marines. Without background, talent, and a bit of luck on top of that, a normal Marine could spend a lifetime in service and never rise beyond a field officer.
In the Marines, field officer was only the starting line.
Now, thanks to the pressure from the White Wolf Pirates, the World Government had lowered the promotion requirements for ordinary soldiers. Where once you needed a hard quota of merits to advance, now as long as you had talent, even without enough achievements you could join a promotion training program.
Once you joined the program and your strength improved, earning merits naturally became easier.
Sengoku and Garp were both enjoying the benefit of the times.
But in this era, with war between the World Government and the White Wolf Pirates threatening to erupt at any moment, was gaining power really a blessing?
"By the way, Uncle Kong."
Lying on the ground, Garp suddenly turned his head toward him.
"Do you still remember Tsuru?"
Sengoku also pushed himself up when he heard that and looked at Kong, clearly hoping for an explanation.
They were not children anymore.
They had been in the Marines for five years now. From privates to rear admirals, they had done it in only five years.
And thanks to driving off the Rocks Pirates half a month ago, they would soon be nominated for promotion to vice admirals.
Anyone with eyes could see it.
Barely past twenty and already at the strength of elite vice admirals, both Garp and Sengoku had limitless potential.
Becoming Admirals was only a matter of time.
"…"
Kong fell silent for a while at Garp's question. He raised his head, looked at Sengoku first, then at Garp.
Garp was the type who could not hide anything and always acted on impulse, but over the last two years he had been focused on that rookie pirate named Roger and had not followed news about the White Wolf Pirates closely.
If he was asking about Tsuru, it was probably because of Sengoku.
The three of them had once been classmates at the Marine Academy and had sworn to capture Magnus. Now Garp and Sengoku had become rear admirals, but Tsuru had gone down a very different path.
Sengoku had seen the wanted posters three years ago.
Their former classmate at the Academy had turned into a pirate.
An intern of the White Wolf Pirates.
He had bottled it up for three years, and today he could not hold it back anymore.
He felt that with their strength now, they had the right to know the truth.
Kong stayed silent for a long time.
Just when Garp was starting to get impatient, Kong finally spoke slowly. "I know her. This is information only a tiny number of people are allowed to know. If you want the truth, you must promise that you will not leak a single word of what I am about to say."
At that, Sengoku's expression turned serious at once.
Garp thought it sounded troublesome.
But since the subject was a comrade he had once acknowledged, he forced himself to sit still even if it was a hassle.
"Tsuru is a spy we placed in the White Wolf Pirates."
Kong opened with a bombshell.
"Six years ago, the former Chief of Staff, Portman Nissen, realized that the rise of the White Wolf Pirates would be very hard to stop, so he secretly gathered and trained a batch of Marine rookies to infiltrate the White Wolf Pirates."
"And Tsuru was the most successful."
Zephyr had joined the White Wolf Pirates as well, but according to the intel they had, he was not valued in the crew. You could call him a marginal member at best.
Still, even a marginal member could play an unexpected role if they had the chance.
Revealing Tsuru's status today was already an exception. Sengoku and Garp had known her, and with their current strength they truly did have the right to know more.
But as a proper Admiral, Kong could not tell his subordinates everything.
So revealing Tsuru's role was enough.
"The White Wolf Pirates are now the Government's biggest threat. After so many battles, you have seen it yourselves. Even Admirals, even I, am not that man's match."
Admitting his own weakness took courage, but for Kong it was more a feeling of helplessness at that weakness. For the last ten years, he had watched with his own eyes as Magnus climbed to the peak step by step.
While he himself had become nothing more than a stepping stone under the man's feet.
He no longer even had the courage to face Magnus head on. All he could do was cling to the legacy left behind by those who had come before.
"So Tsuru went undercover, huh? I thought she had really turned pirate."
Garp did not care about the details. As long as Tsuru had not betrayed the "promise" they once made and was still one of the Marines, that was enough.
"Just undercover?"
Sengoku let out a small sigh of relief at Kong's answer.
He felt Kong had not told them everything, but he understood why. Tsuru being a member of the White Wolf Pirates was a secret that could overturn the entire crew if exposed at a critical moment.
If not for their current level of strength, Kong would never have shared it.
Only Kong knew.
The reason he did not say more was because he did not want to see disappointment in his disciples' eyes. He did not want them to know that, in order for Tsuru to win Magnus's trust, he had pushed her to sell her own body.
Tsuru had succeeded.
The fact that they were able to intercept the attacking Rocks Pirates in time this round was thanks to her intel.
Kong could only comfort himself.
Tsuru's sacrifice was worth it.
If the White Wolf Pirates were ever destroyed, Tsuru would be one of the greatest contributors.
He only felt that he had wronged his two disciples.
Garp was a hotheaded idiot.
But Sengoku had probably had some feelings for Tsuru.
What Kong did not know was that the intel Sengoku wanted had actually been leaked on purpose by Magnus through Tsuru. If Im really valued Osgu Island so much, then even without Tsuru's warning, Im would have ordered the Marines to send reinforcements there at once.
As for whether Rocks would fall on Osgu Island…
Magnus's position was simple. He had already tied down the World Government's main force. If Rocks capsized against the few "cats and dogs" that the Marines could send, what good was that level of strength?
Even so, retreating had still been a fact.
So Magnus had no choice but to go in person to Mary Geoise and clean up after him.
"Magnus!"
With a low shout from Im, a gigantic demonic shadow rose at her back. Black and red Conqueror's Haki clashed inside Pangaea Castle, and a moment later an enormous demonic head smashed through half the castle and lunged at Magnus, jaws open.
"Haha, someone is getting desperate."
Sensing the strong presences rushing toward them from all around, Magnus had no intention of sticking around. His long blade burned with Conqueror's Haki.
One slash.
"Boom!"
The slash formed from Conqueror's Haki crashed into the massive demon Im had summoned. Using the recoil from the collision, Magnus rocketed away from Mary Geoise.
He disappeared into the thick smoke just as four of the Five Elders and the father and son of the Figarland family arrived, bowing in apology.
"Lord Im!" "Are you all right, Lord Im?" "That damned White Wolf!" "…"
None of them had expected Magnus to actually charge into Pangaea Castle alone and face Im directly.
He had already been on Sabaody for quite some time. Even after coming up to Mary Geoise, he had only lingered around the edges.
Everyone had assumed he was just searching for an opening on the outskirts.
If they did not go to help Jaygarcia Saturn, then there was no way Magnus would risk charging into Pangaea Castle itself.
His actions now had slapped them all across the face.
Unless they ate and slept together every waking moment, as soon as they split up, Magnus might not be able to kill any of them in the short term, but he could show up, stroll past them, and walk away again without any fear at all.
That, however, was the absolute limit of what he could do.
"Rocks, if you still cannot take Osgu Island on your second try, then stop talking about challenging me ever again."
Magnus relayed his message to Newgate.
Now that he had confirmed the scientists on Osgu Island were there to refuel the Heavenly King, Magnus's concern with the island had risen yet another level.
His little stunt at Mary Geoise had tied down the World Government's main force, but it had also told Im that he already knew what they were doing.
If Im had any sense at all…
With no way to use the Knights of God or the Five Elders, she would turn to the Marines and CP.
Those fighters were not based in Mary Geoise to begin with, so Magnus could not pin them down there.
Rocks wanted to grow stronger, and he needed battles to do it.
Magnus's job was to minimize the random factors in those battles.
The White Wolf Pirates and the World Government were already at war.
But this time, they were fighting a proxy war. Neither Magnus nor Im had personally stepped onto the field, and that was exactly what gave Im a headache.
The World Government had many trump cards.
Every time they revealed one, it forced Magnus to meet them head on.
The Heavenly King's energy source was one such card.
If Magnus went in person, the World Government could leverage that and push the world into all-out war. With the limited intel he had, he could not set things up ahead of time like he had at Acropolis Port.
If he started the war under those conditions, not just the Five Elders, even Im herself might take the field.
But Magnus had only sent Rocks to probe the defenses.
Once he confirmed that Im really was preparing to refuel the Heavenly King…
Magnus began to move his own pieces.
He confronted Im directly at Mary Geoise with Linlin and Ripley by his side. As soon as the number of top fighters in Mary Geoise dropped below a certain level, he would launch a frontal assault and face "Joy Boy" head on.
Rocks, thrown out front as the test piece, might get swallowed by the reinforcements Im sent, but Im also had to face the possibility of being soloed by Magnus.
Rocks wanted to get stronger.
Magnus gave him the battles he needed.
Magnus had taken on part of the risk for him, but he could not predict Im's every move.
This was a gamble on whether Im dared.
If she sent too few reinforcements, she might not be able to hold Rocks and his men.
If she sent too many, Magnus would attack.
Once, Magnus had to put himself on the board to oppose the World Government. But with Rocks and the others coming into their own, he had finally stepped off the board and become the one moving the pieces.
He was the one who sent Rocks to Osgu Island, but it was Rocks who made the decisions there.
Magnus had gambled against the Marines and the World Government his whole life. Now he no longer needed to gamble.
It was Rocks's turn to bet.
If he won, he would grow and rise into one of the very strongest on these seas.
If he lost, he would be buried in the earth.
"The top fighters the World Government can still mobilize are Ortega, Hines, Grindwin, and Stephens, plus Kong."
"Add the Elder who was already on Osgu Island, and that makes six top tiers."
"Rocks alone will not be enough."
After leaving Mary Geoise, neither Im nor the other Five Elders dared chase him.
She possessed the strongest power in the world.
But having lived her entire life in Mary Geoise, she did not even dare reveal her own existence.
"Heh, women."
Magnus let out a cold laugh and went back to analyzing the situation with Tsuru.
"I have already sent Newgate and Shiki to support him."
"The problem is whether they can make it in time."
They had Den Den Mushi, but Magnus did not have that convenient teleportation ability Im used. His crew still needed time to sail.
When he had crossed paths with Im at Mary Geoise, she had not just sat back after realizing that he knew about the Heavenly King.
First, she summoned the current Fleet Admiral, Ortega, and Admiral Hines to Mary Geoise.
Then she teleported the Knights of God to Osgu Island.
Mary Geoise's defenses had not changed.
But Osgu Island's defenses had more than doubled at a stroke.
Im had seized the initiative.
On Magnus's side, only Shiki had the power to fly straight over the Red Line and reach Osgu Island quickly.
Newgate and Harald still needed time to travel.
Harald was not even an option. It would take half a year to sail from Elbaf to Osgu Island. Even if they turned that giant who had eaten the Bird-Bird Fruit back into a pack mule, there was no way he could arrive in time.
Magnus did not know how much time Rocks had left.
But it probably was not much.
(End of Chapter)
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