Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
Inside Admiral Sengoku's office, Sakazuki and Borsalino were both present.
Sengoku looked at the Den Den Mushi on the desk, which had gone unanswered for a long time, and slammed the table in anger.
"Three days! What exactly is that bastard Garp trying to do?!"
Three days ago, he had received a report from Garp's right-hand man, Bogard, saying they had made contact with Chinjao and a fight had broken out. Soon after, intelligence arrived that Valthior had reached Savila Island.
After that, Sengoku learned that Garp and Valthior had begun a fierce head-on clash on Savila Island.
The moment he heard the news, Sengoku tried to contact Garp and tell him not to do something so pointless.
But the result?
Since then, Garp and his dog-headed warship had gone completely silent!
Even Kuzan, who was usually obedient, could not be reached!
Fortunately, through the Marine intelligence network, Sengoku learned that Morgans of the World Economy News Paper was still at the scene. Because of that, the Marines had not completely lost information about the battlefield.
Not long ago, the latest report Sengoku received said that Garp was still locked in battle with Valthior.
Those two had been fighting for three days and two nights on what used to be Savila Island.
"Do not be so anxious, Mr. Sengoku. Mary Geoise has not sent down any orders, has it?" Borsalino said, trying to comfort him.
When the Valthior Pirates were first formed, Mary Geoise had instructed the Marines to pay close attention to their movements and, when possible, cooperate with their actions.
Sengoku had understood what those above meant at once.
They wanted Valthior to open a new situation from within the pirate world.
But for a long time afterward, the Valthior Pirates had stayed on Frost Island and had not made any major moves. Naturally, the Marines had no chance to cooperate with them.
And now, when the Valthior Pirates had finally taken action, Garp had somehow run over and disrupted everything.
When Sengoku first learned that Valthior's target was Chinjao, he had even felt secretly pleased. After all, Chinjao had Kano Country, a powerful West Blue nation, behind him. He had committed pirate acts many times and been captured by the Marines many times, but Kano Country had always managed to get him released.
The Marines had never had an easy way to deal with him.
Now, with Valthior moving to handle that man, it was simply perfect.
No matter how powerful Kano Country was, could it be more powerful than Valthior? If Valthior killed Chinjao, then Kano Country would have no choice but to swallow the loss. If they were unhappy, they could go complain to Saint Saturn and see whether he cared.
This also let Sengoku see a new path.
In the future, if there were targets the Marines could not conveniently deal with, they could consider pushing the Valthior Pirates to act instead.
If something happened, it would be a matter between pirates. And if anyone wanted to use connections for revenge, then they could compare their connections with Saint Valthior.
However, after Garp made contact with Chinjao first, Sengoku was stunned.
Especially after learning that Garp and Valthior had begun a fierce battle, Sengoku became even more speechless.
Why did Garp have to provoke Valthior for no reason?
Other than making the relationship between both sides more tense, there was no benefit at all!
For these three days, Sengoku had also been worried about Mary Geoise holding him responsible. That bastard Garp could act without caring, but Sengoku, as an Admiral, could not pretend he had heard nothing.
What if Mary Geoise questioned him?
They had already ordered the Marines to keep a certain understanding with the Valthior Pirates. So why had something like this happened now?
Sengoku had no idea how to answer.
Fortunately, Mary Geoise did not seem to have any intention of questioning the Marines. That left Sengoku confused. With CP's intelligence network, there was no way Mary Geoise did not know what was happening, yet they had stayed silent.
Why?
"It is not just about Mary Geoise holding us responsible!" Sengoku looked at Borsalino and said, "In the New World, the Marines do not have enough deterrent power. Garp's battle with Valthior may trigger even greater chaos…"
Just as he finished speaking, the office door was pushed open.
As an Admiral, there were only a few people in the entire Marines who could open his door like that. Sure enough, the one who entered was the Intelligence Division's Chief Staff Officer Tsuru.
"Latest urgent report. Shiki left Merveille two days ago. There is a very high chance he is heading toward the battlefield at Savila Island, where Garp and Valthior are fighting," Tsuru said in a low voice.
Hearing this, Sengoku suddenly covered his head with one hand and said angrily, "Now do you understand what I am worried about, Borsalino?"
Just as Sengoku said, the Marines did not have enough authority in the New World. This time, Garp had suddenly started fighting Valthior, and had failed to take him down in a short time. In a way, that had exposed a weakness of the Marines in the New World.
Shiki might already be on his way to that battlefield.
If he arrived while Garp and Valthior had still not left, then there was a very real chance Shiki would take advantage of them.
A Shiki in full condition meeting Garp and Valthior after they had fought for three days.
What would happen then?
Sengoku could guess it even with his toes.
No matter who Shiki chose to attack next, or even if he tried to take both of them down at once, it would set off a new storm in the New World.
"Then we should move out too!" Sakazuki stepped forward and said.
"Kong already set out from G-1 the moment Garp lost contact," Sengoku said in a deep voice.
This possibility had not been thought of only today. On the first day Garp and Valthior began fighting, the Marines had already made their move.
Normally, as the new Fleet Admiral, Kong should not personally step onto the battlefield so easily. But the incident had happened too suddenly, and he was the closest to Savila Island.
Still, Sengoku hoped this meaningless fight could end as soon as possible. Even if Kong had moved out as Fleet Admiral, he might not be able to suppress the ambitious figures of the New World, especially someone as arrogant as Shiki.
Once the situation became uncontrollable, it would be a new escalation.
It could even force Marine Headquarters into a full conflict with the Flying Pirates before they were fully prepared.
That would further disrupt the Marines' plans in the New World.
"Tsuru, why do you think Mary Geoise has not acted until now? What are they waiting for?" Sengoku asked as he looked at Chief Staff Officer Tsuru.
"They are waiting to confirm just how much the Marines' influence and control in the New World has declined," Tsuru said softly.
"You mean it is related to that plan?" Sengoku reacted at once and said in surprise.
Around the middle of the year 1490, CP had submitted a proposal to Mary Geoise about how Marine Headquarters was gradually losing influence over the New World and how that problem should be solved.
In truth, the loss of Marine influence in the New World also meant the World Government's influence there was weakening.
Especially after the Great Pirate Era began, the whole sea had clearly become restless. Last year, World Government research showed that compared to the time before the Roger Pirates found Laugh Tale, only two years had passed, yet the number of pirates at sea had already increased sixfold.
Even in the East Blue, known as the peaceful sea, the number of pirates had multiplied. And so far, that trend had shown no sign of slowing down. It was expected that within five years, the number of pirates might reach more than ten times what it had been before the Great Pirate Era.
The larger the number of pirates, the more dangerous figures would appear among them.
After these powerful newcomers entered the New World, they would either challenge the old pirate powers or join them, further strengthening the pirates' power there. At the same time, the sharp rise in pirate numbers would also spread the Marines' forces thinner.
With these two effects working together, the Marines' influence and control over the New World had fallen sharply over the past two years.
Now, many people on the sea were already saying that the New World had truly become the pirates' world.
Under these circumstances, the World Government had already issued many laws to solve this problem, but the results had been very limited.
Not long ago, after a long investigation, CP submitted that proposal to the World Government. The solution inside made the top officers of Marine Headquarters extremely angry.
Because CP's method was to recruit those new pirate forces who entered the New World, refused to join the old pirate powers, and still had enough strength and potential to challenge those veteran great pirates.
This plan was called the Seven Warlords of the Sea Plan by CP.
After learning of it, the senior officers of Marine Headquarters strongly opposed it. Because of the strong resistance from the Marines, the World Government temporarily set the plan aside, but they did not reject it.
Clearly, they were still hesitating.
But if the Marines further exposed their weakened control over the New World, and proved they could not restore it in a short time, then Mary Geoise might very well make up its mind and push forward the Seven Warlords of the Sea Plan.
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