What happened in Mary Geoise soon spread throughout the world through newspapers.
The incident shocked everyone.
The Revolutionary Army's reputation was established overnight.
After all, the Revolutionary Army had actually breached Mary Geoise and set it ablaze, killing over ten thousand people. The World Government's Commander-in-Chief, Pask, had died on the spot.
After that, the Revolutionary Army had attacked the Domain of the Gods and killed more than a dozen Celestial Dragons in one sweep.
You couldn't help but respect that kind of achievement.
If you didn't agree? Then go do it yourself and see how far you got.
However, after reading the newspaper, Dragon was slightly surprised. When did I kill the Commander-in-Chief of the Army?
But he just laughed casually at the World Government's shamelessness. Even if they blamed it on him, it only boosted the Revolutionary Army's prestige.
Following the momentous events at the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, something strange happened.
All the pirates in the New World stopped their conquests. This was clearly the weakest the World Government had been in years since the Great Pirate Era began, yet no one dared provoke them at this moment.
Whitebeard, Charlotte Linlin, and other major players were undoubtedly well aware that the World Government was on the verge of explosive rage and might even lose its collective mind.
It would certainly be unwise to provoke an enraged World Government now.
What if you ignited this powder keg that was about to explode and drew the World Government's fury again? Wouldn't you be taking the blame meant for the Revolutionary Army?
Maybe the World Government would spare no effort and do whatever it took to eliminate these bastards who dared provoke them at such a time.
In fact, the Five Elders had exactly this plan. At this stage, anyone who dared provoke the World Government would be annihilated!
The weaker you appeared, the more furious and powerful you had to act, no matter the cost.
Otherwise, the cunning wolves would realize the World Government had become fat prey.
That would cause endless problems.
However, the Five Elders weren't the only clever ones. In fact, no major players dared provoke the World Government.
Whitebeard and Charlotte Linlin had quieted down. The World Government was preparing for Mary Geoise's reconstruction and hadn't immediately taken action to hunt the Revolutionary Army. For a time, the three major forces—pirates, the World Government, and the Revolutionary Army—had all fallen silent, and the entire world had descended into this strange calm.
However, soon the bounty on Dragon's wanted poster was raised again. This man was indeed the most vicious criminal. His bounty shot directly to 5 billion Berries, even higher than Whitebeard's at this stage. Only Roger's former bounty remained higher.
But Roger already gone, so comparing his bounty with active pirates was meaningless.
Even in Finn's opinion, it was perfectly normal for Dragon's bounty to exceed Roger's one day.
In addition to the Revolutionary Army's bounties, another person gradually came into everyone's sight.
Fisher Tiger, the other mastermind of the Mary Geoise arson.
This man was directly offered a bounty of 500 million Berries.
Much higher than the 230 million from the original timeline.
It showed just how deeply the World Government hated him.
Near Marine Headquarters, at the port of Marineford, on the deck of a warship.
Finn stood at the edge of the railing, holding a Den Den Mushi. The sea breeze blew past him, and the cloak of justice draped over his shoulders billowed in the wind, making him look quite imposing.
"So what you're saying is you want me to transport out all the treasures you buried under the Red Line?" Finn said into the receiver.
There was no doubt the person on the other end was Dragon, the man with a 5 billion Berry bounty.
He seemed to be in an excellent mood, speaking with a smile. "There's no other way. I couldn't transport such a massive amount of wealth in one night. Now the World Government doesn't seem to be making any major moves, but CP members around the world are like rabid dogs, hunting us down relentlessly. After pulling off this major operation, I plan to lie low for a while. I definitely don't plan to provoke the World Government in the short term. Of course, I can't go back to the Red Line. As a Marine Admiral, it'll be much easier for you to handle this. I'll send Morley from our Revolutionary Army to assist you..."
"It's already come to this, and you're still thinking of dragging me down with you?" Finn complained irritably.
Dragon smiled but said nothing.
That was right. You couldn't fight desperately on the front lines while letting this guy reap all the benefits without contributing, right?
They weren't asking him to do anything else, just transport the treasures out. Was that too much to ask?
With Morley there to oversee things, Dragon wasn't afraid Finn would embezzle anything.
"Fine. I understand," Finn replied.
Now that things had reached this point, it was obviously impossible to call Dragon back to do the work himself, so there was no point arguing. Just agree.
For Finn, this truly wasn't a difficult task.
As for abandoning Dragon and pocketing the treasure alone, setting aside whether it was worthwhile to destroy his relationship with the Revolutionary Army over this, Finn didn't even know where Dragon had buried the treasure!
After a brief pause, Finn stopped worrying about the treasure and asked, "Is Fisher Tiger with you?"
"No," Dragon denied immediately, then continued, "We can say we left Mary Geoise together. That man came with us at first, but after arriving at Fish-Man Island and entering the New World, we parted ways."
"In other words, he didn't stay on Fish-Man Island but entered the New World?" Finn murmured.
"Are you going to capture him?" Dragon asked.
"I haven't figured out how to handle him yet, but he is indeed very important to the Marines," Finn admitted frankly.
On his way back from the North Blue, he'd received news that Fleet Admiral Kong had gone to Mary Geoise, met with the Five Elders, and received a promise from the Holy Land.
Once the Marines killed either Dragon or this Fisher Tiger character, Fleet Admiral Kong would immediately be promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the entire military.
There was no need to think too hard about Dragon. That man was as slippery as an eel and had some secret deals with the Marines.
But Fisher Tiger was worth serious consideration.
However, Finn hadn't yet decided whether to kill him or not. He was waiting for someone to express their position.
That someone was one of his direct subordinates: Captain Jinbe of the Marine Fish-Man Special Forces.
If Jinbe defected from the Marines without a word and went to follow Tiger, Finn would show no mercy. He'd definitely find Tiger as soon as possible, eliminate him, and help Fleet Admiral Kong become Commander-in-Chief of the entire military.
But if Jinbe hadn't abandoned the Marines, if he waited for Finn's return before resigning or pleading for Fisher Tiger's life, then Finn would have to make other arrangements.
After all, they still had to give this guy Jinbe some face. Hadn't Finn been trying to recruit him as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea eventually?
If you wanted people to work for you, shouldn't you give them some benefits?
Moreover, this man was exceptionally loyal and righteous. No matter how much care you showed him, he'd definitely repay you double.
If they helped Jinbe with the Tiger situation, even if Jinbe had some private friendship with Whitebeard, when it came to choosing sides in the future, he'd probably stand with the Marines.
That's right. Jinbe was acquainted with Whitebeard and had a decent relationship with him.
However, Finn didn't particularly care about this. Many people in the Marines had personal connections with pirates. Like Garp and Roger—Garp had even helped Roger raise his son.
So as long as you didn't do anything questionable or betray your own people when it came to critical issues, it didn't matter.
As he thought about this, the warship docked steadily in the harbor. Finn glanced at the Fortress of Justice and said, "I've arrived at Marineford. Let's leave it at that. Once the storm dies down, contact me again and have Morley come see me. We'll go collect this haul."
"Haha, no problem," Dragon said with a smile. After a slight pause, he continued, "Next time there's such a good opportunity, don't forget to call me again. Don't worry, the old terms stand: I'll take forty, you take sixty."
"Weren't you quite repulsed and distrustful before? Thought it was outrageous?" Finn rolled his eyes.
"Hahahaha! Doesn't this smell amazing now?" Dragon laughed without shame.
Indeed, before this incident happened, he'd constantly felt it was absurd and wondered if Finn was playing a trick on him.
But now that the job was done, Dragon felt it was absolutely fantastic.
After this incident, he'd not only gained enormous wealth to replenish the Revolutionary Army's funds, but also liberated slaves and recruited many new members. And it wasn't just about the Revolutionary Army being powerful enough to breach Mary Geoise and slap the World Government in the face.
In addition, Dragon had discovered that the cohesion and unity of the Revolutionary Army had strengthened tremendously!
A major event that would go down in history had sent the Revolutionary Army's morale soaring to the heavens!
All these combined, weren't they enough for Dragon to say "it smells amazing"?
"Fine. I'll call you when the chance comes up," Finn replied casually.
Dragon didn't mind Finn's perfunctory attitude. After all, this kind of opportunity probably only came once in a hundred years. There might never be another chance.
After that, nothing more needed to be said. The two hung up their Den Den Mushi. After the gangway was lowered, Finn walked steadily from the warship into the port.
A Marine Captain had been waiting for some time. He saluted. "Admiral Finn, the Fleet Admiral requests your presence."
"Haha, Brannew, you became a Headquarters Captain so quickly?" Finn asked with a smile.
Indeed, the Marine Captain who'd come to inform Finn was Bell-mère's former superior from the East Blue. Brannew had originally commanded a branch base but had been brought to Headquarters by Finn and was now a Captain.
"Thank you very much for your guidance, Admiral," Brannew said with a smile.
"Good." Finn nodded, then asked as he walked, "Have Vice Admiral Garp and Gion returned?"
"Vice Admiral Gion hasn't returned yet, but Vice Admiral Garp arrived this morning. Most of the other officers have returned as well. According to previous communications, Vice Admiral Gion should arrive this afternoon," Brannew responded quickly.
"I see." Finn nodded and said nothing more.
Soon, Finn arrived at Fleet Admiral Kong's office door and knocked. After hearing the response from inside, he pushed the door open and walked in.
At a glance, Sakazuki, Sengoku, Tsuru, Garp, and others were all present.
Fleet Admiral Kong seemed to be discussing something.
After seeing Finn, Kong waved. "You're back."
"Well, everyone's here. Is there something important?" Finn asked.
"Of course it's important. It concerns my future now. Whether I can become Commander-in-Chief depends on whether you people are capable enough," Fleet Admiral Kong said with a smile.
It was clear he was in quite a good mood.
Finn rolled his eyes. "I heard from Instructor Zephyr that the previous Commander-in-Chief of the entire military had his head chopped off by the Five Elders personally. How terrifying..."
"Hahahahaha!" Everyone in the room burst into laughter.