Just as Beckman was advising the Straw Hat Pirates and preparing to capitalize on the chaos in the New World to lay the foundation for their rise...
On the ocean, not too far from their location, perhaps only ten days to two weeks' sailing distance away, several merchant ships cut through the waves.
These merchant ships flew the flag of the Amway Group, and Finn's team was aboard.
The Amway Group had contacts with all kinds of powerful figures in the New World. Even Whitebeard often purchased alcohol from them. When doing business, the Amway Group never asked who you were. As long as you dared to pay, they'd sell to you.
With the backing of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, support from White Hunter Smoker, and connections through Pleasure Street in the Dark World, even the Donquixote Family had become a partner of the Amway Group.
In short, this organization was growing larger and larger in the New World, and few were willing to make trouble for them.
Finn and his crew had stayed aboard these ships for quite some time now, sailing through the New World without encountering any problems.
At this moment in the cabin, Finn sat with one hand touching his chin, the other holding a teacup, his eyes fixed on a nautical chart spread across the table. Upon closer inspection, it was clear the chart depicted the New World.
Multiple routes were marked on it, along with various abbreviated intelligence notes.
Standing beside Finn were Admiral Sakazuki and Admiral Candidate Gion.
Behind Gion stood Momonga and Yamakaji, while behind Sakazuki was Onigumo.
"Look here." Finn tapped the chart. "Mihawk resupplied at this location yesterday. As usual, he only took on five days' worth of supplies. In other words, he must reach the next island within five days. We know his speed. Within that timeframe, he can reach these islands..." Finn's finger traced several locations on the nautical chart.
Sakazuki and the others nodded silently.
Finn continued, "We've dispatched two teams of Amway Group merchant ships. They didn't spot Mihawk on the routes to these islands." His finger moved to several other locations.
Sakazuki and Gion remained quiet, listening carefully to Finn's analysis.
"Although I can't be one hundred percent certain, I can roughly judge that Mihawk has no intention of heading to these islands. There's no need for us to gamble on that slim possibility. Let's assume he won't go there. Therefore, we can rule out these locations now. That leaves us with these three islands..." Finn pointed to three specific islands on the chart.
Sakazuki and Gion leaned closer to look. This time, Sakazuki spoke. "If it's these three islands, then we can basically conclude that the Straw Hat Pirates are on one of them."
"Right, unless they've already left the New World," Gion added with a slight smile.
The three islands on the nautical chart sat at the edge of the northern Calm Belt, located in the northernmost region of the New World. Looking south, east, and west from those positions, there were no other islands within sailing range.
Therefore, as Sakazuki and Gion noted, if Mihawk was truly seeking out Shanks, then Shanks' Straw Hat Pirates were most likely on one of these three islands.
Otherwise, it would mean they'd entered the Northern Calm Belt and left the New World entirely.
But that seemed impossible. They'd only just entered the New World not long ago. Why would they immediately leave from here?
That didn't make sense.
"These two islands," Finn pointed to two of the three, "are inhabited. I've heard the smuggling business is quite prosperous there. After all, islands close to the Calm Belts basically rely on that trade. It's also convenient for gathering information."
Smiling, Finn pulled out his Den Den Mushi, adjusted it briefly, and made a call.
"Hello? Ms. Stussy?" Finn asked pleasantly.
The Den Den Mushi connected, and the Queen's voice came through with a smile. "Admiral Finn, what can I do for you?"
"I wouldn't dare presume to give you orders. It's simply that our Marines hope to conduct a joint operation with the CP agency, so I came to you to inquire about some intelligence," Finn said smoothly.
As an Admiral of the Marines, he could authorize joint operations on his own without needing to report anything formal. With this casual remark, Stussy had legitimate reason to participate.
"Since you've put it that way, Admiral, how can I refuse? Please, go ahead," Queen Stussy replied warmly.
Sakazuki at Finn's side showed no particular reaction. He'd heard that Finn had a good working relationship with Stussy of the CP agency. Nothing surprising about that.
Gion, on the other hand, wore an unmistakably displeased expression and glared fiercely at Finn, though she didn't make a scene.
Finn rolled his eyes at Gion, then continued. "Help me check Golinge Island and Binis Island for any intelligence on the whereabouts of the Red Hair... the Straw Hat Pirates. Quickly, if possible."
"No problem," Queen Stussy responded, then hung up the Den Den Mushi without further conversation.
Finn tucked away the Den Den Mushi and said, "Now we wait for news. Once Stussy eliminates these two inhabited islands from consideration, we'll head straight for the uninhabited one. If we find Shanks on either of those two islands, we can also proceed there directly."
Sakazuki had no objections. He knew Finn was far superior to him in strategic planning. After all, this man had come from the intelligence division and was a professional in these matters.
Naturally, Gion couldn't voice any objections either, so they didn't dwell on the issue.
Sakazuki asked in a low voice, "Speaking of which, are we not going to deal with Big Mom and Kaido's alliance?"
"What's there to deal with?" Finn asked with a smile, taking a sip of tea.
"Doesn't the Fleet Admiral want us to stop them from forming an alliance if we have the opportunity?" Sakazuki's brow furrowed.
"There is no opportunity, is there?" Finn said lightly.
Sakazuki opened his mouth to argue, but before he could speak, Finn continued. "Don't worry. The Fleet Admiral simply wants to see what these two are really planning. As soon as we entered the New World, Charlotte Linlin started announcing to everyone that she wanted to form an alliance with Kaido. That was actually a statement that their alliance is aimed at Whitebeard."
"So we're just going to ignore it?" Sakazuki asked after a moment's hesitation.
"There's nothing we can do about it now. The two of them forming an alliance to deal with Whitebeard is actually beneficial for us. If we interfere, it would be counterproductive." Finn set down his teacup. "Let them fight each other, Sakazuki. Before we're truly ready and have broken free from all the Marines' constraints, we must maintain the pirate threat. Otherwise, all our efforts will be wasted. Without prey, what use does the World Government have for hunting dogs? When the birds are gone, the good bow is put away. Let's proceed as Admiral Sengoku and the Fleet Admiral have arranged. At this stage, we simply need to keep the gateway waters firmly in Marine control and prepare our forces. After we resolve our internal issues, then we can deal with these pirates."
Sakazuki sighed slightly. "I suppose that's all we can do."
Though he was somewhat dissatisfied, he could still listen to reason and understood the logic.
If the Marines were to eliminate Whitebeard, Kaido, and Charlotte Linlin right now, wiping out all the pirates in the New World, would the World Government still provide such substantial military funding every year? Would they still treat the Marines so favorably?
Impossible. Without external threats, the Marines would become a threat to the World Government itself, and arrangements would be made to suppress Marine power once again.
This wasn't in the Marines' interests, and it wasn't appropriate for the Marines to create any rift with the World Government at this stage.
Just maintain a low profile for a while longer. Until the economic foundations were secured, the Seven Warlords plan was properly arranged, Kong became Commander-in-Chief, and all these internal issues were resolved. Once the Marines could operate stably without World Government support and funding, that would be the time to truly take action and cleanse the world.
In fact, ever since the World Government had ignored the Marines' objections and insisted on implementing the Seven Warlords of the Sea plan, the senior leadership within the Marines had already reached consensus on this matter.
Therefore, the Marines hadn't taken any truly significant action until now. On the surface, it appeared the Marines were exhausted trying to maintain the status quo at sea, with no extra energy to meddle in other affairs.
In reality, the will of the Marines' top leadership had been focused on sorting out internal matters.
In recent years, those among the middle and lower-ranking Marines who were pro-World Government had found advancement difficult, nearly impossible. This was just one manifestation of that policy.
As for the top brass?
Sorry, but the Marines' senior leadership currently had no one aligned with the World Government.
This was what Finn had been working toward for more than a decade.
"We should target the weak, eliminate emerging threats. For now, we don't need to concern ourselves with mature top-tier pirate organizations like Kaido, Whitebeard, and Big Mom. We can use them as our 'brand,' our justification, while first eliminating pirate crews like Shanks that have the potential to reach the top. This will prevent them from jumping out to cause trouble when we finally take action against the New World pirates in the future," Finn said with a meaningful smile.
This was also a policy the Fleet Admiral had been implementing in recent years. The Marines had been specifically capturing and eliminating rising pirate organizations like the Straw Hat Pirates.
After a brief pause, Finn's voice turned serious. "I don't care about anything else. Since the Fleet Admiral has given me this order, I absolutely will not let Shanks escape this time. Either we kill him directly, or we send him to Impel Down. All of you, stay alert. Don't get fancy. If Shanks escapes..." His gaze swept across them coldly. "I'll hold you accountable."
Gion, Momonga, Onigumo, and Yamakaji immediately snapped to attention and saluted. "Yes, Admiral!"
Sakazuki didn't respond verbally. After all, he and Finn held the same rank, both Admirals of the Marines.
However, it was clear he'd been affected by Finn's commanding presence. Finn had been an Admiral for nearly eight years, while Sakazuki had only recently assumed the position. In terms of authority and influence as an Admiral, Finn was undeniably stronger.
Finn could include Sakazuki in his orders, but Sakazuki would never dare include Finn in his.
Just as Finn finished speaking, the Queen, who'd hung up not long ago, called back on the Den Den Mushi.
"It seems the Queen is quite efficient," Finn said with a smile. He picked up the receiver. "How did it go? Did you find any news about that man?"
Queen Stussy didn't keep him in suspense. "No, nothing. My Pleasure Street has bases on both those islands. I've just checked the intelligence. The Straw Hat Pirates did not appear on either island."
"Really? I understand. Thank you, Ms. Stussy," Finn said politely.
Without delay, Finn quickly ended the call, put away the Den Den Mushi, and announced, "Alright, now we can confirm the target: the uninhabited island. Full speed ahead!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Writing takes time, coffee, and a lot of love.If you'd like to support my work, join me at [email protected]/GoldenGaruda
You'll get early access to over 50 chapters, selection on new series, and the satisfaction of knowing your support directly fuels more stories.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~