The Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
Pangaea Castle, the Room of Authority.
The Five Elders had gathered here. Two people stood before them.
One was Admiral Sengoku of Marine Headquarters.
The other was the newly appointed Chief of CP, Night Owl.
Sengoku and Night Owl stood apart from each other, clearly unable to stand one another.
That was normal. Under the World Government's constant control, the relationship between CP and Marine Headquarters had never been very good.
And then Zephyr's incident had happened.
Although Saint Saturn had personally stepped in and sentenced the previous CP chief to death, bringing that matter to an end on the surface, the Marines still found it hard to let go.
They simply no longer mentioned it openly.
As for the Five Elders, Sengoku and Night Owl's bad relationship suited them perfectly, so none of them intended to ease the atmosphere.
Saint Nusjuro was the first to speak. "Sengoku, regarding the funding increase application submitted by Marine Headquarters, the Finance Department has already approved it. In three days, the next quarter's military funds will be issued. I hope you make good use of this increase."
"The Punk Hazard research base has already begun operating. This money will be given to the Science Unit according to the plan," Sengoku immediately said.
"What did Dr. Vegapunk say about the files given to him earlier?" Saint Saturn asked softly while holding a cup of black tea.
"He is very interested in those files and said he will give it his full effort. However, he also mentioned that many of the ancient technologies involved in those files have already been lost. If more related materials can be found, efficiency may greatly improve," Sengoku replied.
The files Mary Geoise had given to Vegapunk involved energy technology.
More specifically, they contained information related to the Mother Flame.
Clearly, the Five Elders hoped to use Vegapunk's genius mind to revive this technology and support the Ancient Weapon Uranus.
However, it was also clear that much of the technology was missing, and even Vegapunk could not solve it in a short time.
"Related materials?" Saint Mars stroked his beard and looked at Saint Saturn. "Has your net caught anything?"
"That is exactly why I called Night Owl here," Saint Saturn said, taking another sip of black tea.
Then he turned his gaze toward Night Owl. He did not need to speak. Night Owl quickly began reporting the situation.
"Ohara in the West Blue has already become a holy land of archaeology, gathering scholars from all over the world. Over the past two years, they have worked day and night to translate the ancient texts Professor Clover and his research team found from around the world in their early years. Many scholars who gathered in Ohara have also contributed large numbers of ancient documents they held. According to our informants, the Tree of Knowledge is almost filled by them," Night Owl said softly.
Clearly, Valthior's appearance had allowed Professor Clover's team to form a connection with the Roger Pirates, greatly speeding up Professor Clover's progress.
In the original story, at this time, he would not even have been in Ohara. He would still have been leading people around the world. But now, they had already gathered even more complete ancient texts than in the original story.
They had pushed Ohara's progress forward by several years, forcing it to "ripen" ahead of time.
"This progress is faster than I expected," Saint Saturn said, raising his brow.
"Placing Valthior with the Roger Pirates was truly a brilliant move. It sped up this plan quite a lot," Saint Warcury said with a smile.
Only Saint Saturn himself knew that Valthior could read the Poneglyphs.
The other Five Elders all thought Spencer was the one with that ability. They believed Valthior had simply acted as the bridge, using the Roger Pirates to greatly speed up Professor Clover's research.
Because of that, they all admired Saturn's methods somewhat.
"As a member of the Jaygarcia family, this is what he should do," Saint Saturn said calmly.
Of course, when Valthior had run away on his own back then, Saturn had never imagined things would develop like this. It had only happened by chance.
"In that case, let us move to the second stage of the plan. Completely remove the scholars who can read ancient texts, and quietly hand Ohara's results to Vegapunk," Saint Peter said as he looked at the other four Elders.
Then everyone's gaze turned to Saint Saturn.
After all, he was the one leading this plan.
Saint Saturn thought for a moment and felt that it was about time to move to the next step.
On the surface, this plan was meant to eliminate the scholars who could read ancient texts and help create the Mother Flame.
That was also what the other Five Elders understood.
But on a deeper level, Saint Saturn had his own plan. He needed to use Vegapunk's hands to complete a few private ideas of his own.
Judging from the current situation, both goals supported each other, and there were no real gaps. So Saint Saturn soon nodded and said, "Then begin the next stage. Sengoku, the Marines must go all out and completely eliminate the scholars of Ohara who have gravely violated the laws of the World Government. This time, I hope you can set aside past grudges and cooperate properly with CP."
Hearing that they were about to act against unarmed scholars, Sengoku's heart felt complicated.
But Saint Saturn's words were also hard to refute.
Indeed, those scholars had acted without restraint. By now, they were even openly researching ancient texts and related documents. That was a serious crime, and the hidden danger was enormous.
After all, the scholars themselves claimed that they would not touch the Ancient Weapons and had no plan to revive such terrible power.
But the ambitious figures on the sea would not think that way.
For now, news that these scholars had such knowledge was being sealed away, and only a very small number of people knew what they were doing. Otherwise, ambitious figures like Shiki and Charlotte Linlin might have already made their move.
After harsh torture, could those fragile scholars really keep silent about information on the Ancient Weapons?
Who could guarantee that?
Besides, Devil Fruit abilities were strange and varied. Who could guarantee that Shiki and the others did not have some ability that could read memories, hypnotize people, or do something similar?
Once information about the Ancient Weapons was exposed to those ambitious people, this sea would sooner or later be drowned in blood.
Who knew how many people would die then?
After clearing this thought in his mind, Sengoku could only nod and answer, "Yes. The mission will be completed."
He was only responsible for killing the scholars. What came after, such as how to let Vegapunk obtain the materials without leaving any trace, was CP's job. Sengoku did not ask too much.
After leaving the Room of Authority, Night Owl smiled darkly and said to Sengoku, "Admiral Sengoku, who do you need me to send to support the Marines?"
Sengoku looked at him with displeasure, but in the end, he still said, "CP9."
In the original story, CP5 had worked with the Marines to wipe out Ohara. But now, Sengoku specifically named CP9.
The reason was simple. In the original story, Spandine was the commander of CP5 at this time. But now, he was the commander of CP9.
In truth, Sengoku was asking for Spandine by name.
The reason was also simple. In the entire CP system, Spandine was the only one who got along fairly well with the Marines. He was slick, careful with people, and had no real conflict with the Marines.
Night Owl was not surprised. Whenever the Marines and CP needed to work closely together, Spandine often became the key person.
After all, Spandine was a clever man. He clearly knew that CP and the Marines were rivals, and that their relationship was very poor. So why did he still keep a good relationship with the Marines?
Was he stupid? Was he digging his own grave inside CP?
No.
It was exactly because he was smart. He had thought of this point, and because of it, he became a special figure within CP. At key moments, he was the one they needed for important tasks.
So in truth, Spandine's closeness with the Marines had always been silently allowed by CP's higher-ups.
Otherwise, in situations like this, neither side would have a suitable person to act as the bridge and smooth out cooperation.
"Fine. I will arrange for Spandine to follow your orders," Night Owl said with that creepy smile again. Then he turned and left first.
Meanwhile, on Enies Lobby.
Spandine, who was drinking tea and slacking off in his office, suddenly felt a chill down his back, as if trouble was coming.
He quickly opened the documents on his desk and carefully read them again. After a long while, he touched his chin and said, "There are no mistakes. Then where did that bad feeling come from?"
Just then, the Den Den Mushi on his desk rang.
Spandine glanced at it, immediately straightened his posture, and picked up the call. His tone carried a hint of flattery.
"Chief? What are your orders?"
"Mary Geoise has issued a mission to eliminate the scholars of Ohara. Admiral Sengoku of the Marines will be in charge of carrying it out. He specifically asked for you to cooperate with their operation. Prepare yourself and go to Marineford to receive orders," Night Owl's voice came through the Den Den Mushi.
Spandine was completely stunned.
What?
An operation to eliminate the scholars of Ohara?
Damn it! Saint Valthior's daughter is on Ohara!
As far as he knew, Saint Valthior had personally given her the Jaygarcia family name. She was now called Jaygarcia Nico Robin.
What did that mean?
Did it even need to be said?
And now, the Chief was ordering him to work with the Marines to wipe them out?
Was that not asking him to die?
"No, I…" Spandine instinctively wanted to say something.
But on the other end of the Den Den Mushi, Night Owl had already grown impatient. "This is an order from the Five Elders. You have no room to argue. Carry out the order!"
After saying that, he directly hung up.
Spandine looked at the Den Den Mushi in his hand, and his scalp went numb.
"This is a disaster!"
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