Chapter 381: Chapter 381: The Second Summit War Approaches
Chapter 381: The Second Summit War Approaches
The entrance to the New World, the Marine Headquarters, New Marineford, was as peaceful as ever. The steel fortress, standing on the calm sea, was like a hegemon majestically surveying its territory.
...
"It’s rare. I can’t believe you’ve finally decided to go to war with the Straw Hat crew."
A gentle breeze gently lifted the milky-white gauze curtains. Sunlight shone through the half-open glass windows onto the brown wooden desk. Stacks of white paper documents were neatly piled on the corner of the desk. In the middle of the empty desk was only a Den Den Mushi.
A burly man in a red suit leaned back in his chair, a cigar in his mouth. Sakazuki’s voice was low, and his eyes, with a hint of contempt, looked at the casually placed Den Den Mushi.
"I thought you had been sitting in your high and mighty position for so long that you had already forgotten the turbulence of this sea."
"Don’t say such things, Sakazuki. This operation is of great importance. As the Fleet Admiral of the Marines, you should also know that many things are more complicated than they seem."
"Vegapunk has a pivotal position in the World Government, and even in the whole world. His dangerous thoughts must be completely erased. No force can affect this plan."
The other end of the phone did not show any anger at his words. His tone was flat, as if he were just informing, not discussing:
"We haven’t received any definite intel from Hachinosu yet. Just in case, the Marines need to start mobilizing their forces in advance. This time, I will give you permission to freely dispatch troops. The Marine’s operation is in your hands."
"Permission to freely dispatch troops? Heh. If you hadn’t said so, I would have almost forgotten I was the Fleet Admiral."
Sakazuki’s tone was laced with a hint of gunpowder as he sneered. The smoke from the cigar at the corner of his mouth swirled and rose. A sharp glint flashed in the depths of his eyes, which were hidden under the shadow of his cap.
"It seems Vegapunk has gotten his hands on something incredible, to make you go to such lengths to eliminate him."
"That has nothing to do with the Marines. Don’t ask so many questions, Sakazuki. Contact us again after you’ve drawn up a battle plan."
...
After a two-second pause, the Den Den Mushi was hung up with a clack.
"Akainu’s personality is still too fierce. Even after two years of tempering, his way of doing things is not at all as smooth as Sengoku’s."
The Holy Land of Mary Geoise. In an empty living room with only a table and a few sofas. On one of the sofas, Saint Warcury, with a few scars on his bald head, held his forehead and sighed, looking at the Den Den Mushi on the table:
"Thinking about it now, if we had let Aokiji be the Fleet Admiral back then, things might be better now."
"That’s not certain. Although Sengoku was smooth, he was extremely calculating. Aokiji, who was strongly recommended by him, might not have been easier to control than Akainu. Moreover, Akainu’s support was too high. We also had to consider the influence of the Fleet Admiral’s position on the Marines below."
Saint Nusjuro stood in a corner, his longsword resting on his shoulder. A white light flashed under his round-rimmed glasses.
"Since it has come to this, there’s no point in saying these things. For now, let’s focus our energy on Egghead first. It would be best if Blackbeard could force the Straw Hat crew to withdraw from this storm."
"Indeed. No matter what the outcome on Hachinosu, it will be a good thing for us. Of course, we must also prepare for the worst."
Saint Peter, with his neatly combed, side-parted white hair, stood in front of a floor-to-ceiling window, his grave gaze fixed on the distant sky.
"If this is not handled properly, I’m afraid it will evolve into a super-large-scale war of the summit level again."
...
Marineford. After hanging up the call, Sakazuki also began to arrange for the various matters of this operation to be launched.
"Are they all gathered? Have the materials been sorted out?"
"Yes, sir! We are ready to hold a meeting at any time."
Brannew saluted, his voice powerful in response.
Sakazuki pressed the document he was reading onto the desk, stood up, and strode past Brannew towards the door.
"Let’s go."
"Yes, sir!"
Leaving the office, Brannew followed behind the majestic figure in the "Justice" cape. The dark shadows of the long columns were interspersed with the faint golden sunlight that shone on the corridor.
The two walked through in silence until they reached the meeting room at the end. Before they had even opened the door, they could already hear the noisy discussion inside.
Thump.
As the door was pushed open, the meeting room suddenly fell silent, as if the sound had been frightened and had fled out the window.
Sakazuki strode to the stage. His movements were neither light nor heavy, but they were enough to make everyone who had just been whispering become serious in just a few seconds.
A general’s style of doing things would invisibly affect his subordinates. If it had been Garp who had walked in, this meeting would probably have been held in a light-hearted atmosphere. But the aura that Sakazuki invisibly exuded meant that no one dared to be frivolous in such a serious meeting.
This was also the reason why he had been able to win against the deeply loved Aokiji in the election back then. In the military, no one would question Sakazuki’s authority.
"First, explain the situation to them."
After sitting down in the chair behind the desk, Sakazuki spoke in a low voice. At the same time, he opened a drawer and took out a cigar. He bit it, and with a puff, the end of the cigar lit up with a glow.
"Yes, sir."
Brannew nodded in response, picked up the documents in his hand, and turned to face the officers below.
"Yesterday morning, the surveillance ship targeting the Straw Hat crew lost them in the Egghead sea area..."
Starting from the Straw Hat crew’s contact with Vegapunk, Brannew recounted all the intelligence the Marines knew, from beginning to end, in great detail.
It might seem a bit long-winded, but the experienced officers below all knew that the more it was like this, the more important the upcoming operation would be, and every detail needed to be considered with rigor.
As Brannew’s unhurried voice continued to echo, the atmosphere in the entire meeting room also became more and more grave.
Smoker, Momonga, Gion...
One by one, the high-ranking officers were lost in thought, as if they had already guessed something, and their brows gradually furrowed.
The last time such an atmosphere had appeared was in the preparatory meeting for the Summit War two years ago, to deal with the overlord of the sea—the Whitebeard Pirates.
In other words...
Are we going to war with a Sea Emperor...
A few individual officers who had realized this secretly exchanged a look, and the same thought unconsciously appeared in their minds.
"The Devil Child, Nico Robin, and Vegapunk, who also inherited the will of the scholars of Ohara and is secretly researching history in an attempt to subvert the stability of the world, have come into contact. This is a very dangerous signal."
"CP0 has already been dispatched to carry out the execution of Vegapunk. According to the intel from the World Government’s secret line, there is a high probability that the Straw Hat crew will go to rescue Vegapunk."
As if to confirm their guess, Brannew’s introduction finally came to an end.
"Thus, to ensure the smooth execution of Vegapunk’s execution, the Marines will make all preparations to go to war with the Sea Emperor at any time—"
"The Straw Hat crew!!"
The moment his voice fell.
The officers below finally couldn’t help but stir.
"Are we finally going to make a move on them?"
"To develop into a great pirate of this level in just two short years... it’s even more exaggerated than Red-Hair back then."
"A storm is coming."
Hiyama smiled憨厚. Who would have thought, back then, that the Straw Hat crew would grow to this extent?
The first time a special meeting had been held for the Straw Hat crew was for the Alabasta incident two years ago. The image of Reiner appearing on a wanted poster with a 5 million Berri bounty was still vivid in his mind.
In the eyes of them, who had been fighting on the seas for many years, two years was just the blink of an eye. But in the end, the other had transformed and become the world’s strongest.
Sakazuki did not interrupt the voices from below. Going to war with a Sea Emperor was no small matter.
This time, from receiving the news to taking action, there was only half a day to prepare. They had to be given some time to digest it. Rushing into battle would only lead to mistakes.
After a while, the voices below gradually grew sparse, and the officers had more or less recovered from their shock.
"If we really go to war, what about the troop deployment?"
Smoker was the first to speak:
"Although they only have a dozen or so crew members, their experiences in Totto Land and Wano Country have already proven that the Straw Hat crew is a bona fide hegemon-level force."
"In addition, Egghead itself possesses powerful combat strength. To deal with such a lineup, headquarters would have to almost empty its forces."
"That’s right. For this operation, headquarters will dispatch more than half of its elite, including all the forces of the various branches near and along the route to the Egghead sea area."
Sakazuki nodded, and then, before the astonished eyes of everyone, he said in a low voice:
"In addition, all the high-level combat power of headquarters, including the Admirals, will all be sent. Including me."
"What?"
"This!"
"Then what about headquarters?"
Hearing these words, the officers below could barely sit still, but they were at a loss for words.
This lineup was not inferior to the Summit War back then.
But Whitebeard, besides his main ship, also had a super fleet composed of nearly fifty pirate crews under his command, many of whom were famous pirates in the New World.
Compared to this, the Straw Hat crew still had a considerable gap.
But on second thought, Egghead also had the extremely powerful Seraphim and the third-generation Pacifista army.
In the plan to subjugate the Warlords, the Marines had already witnessed the terror of these human weapons.
On the other hand, on their side, compared to the Summit War, this time they were lacking the assistance of the Warlords...
Emmm, well, actually, it didn’t make much of a difference whether they had the Warlords or not.
But what made them surprised was that to throw all the high-level combat power into the upcoming battle meant that the biggest protective barrier of the Holy Land of Mary Geoise—
—Marine Headquarters would be in a state of military vacuum.
Would the Five Elders agree?
In terms of combat power allocation, Sakazuki believed his judgment would not be wrong. As for what those officers were thinking, he could also roughly guess.
It was ironic. If it were simply to go to war with the Straw Hat crew, the Five Elders would probably not allow headquarters to dispatch troops on such a large scale.
But to erase Vegapunk, they could. Even going to war with the Straw Hat crew had become a side matter to ensure the success of the operation.
Last time, when the Straw Hat crew had gone to war with the Beasts Pirates in Wano Country, it was also an excellent opportunity to take the opportunity to wipe out both pirate crews.
But because of the convening of the Reverie, the Five Elders would rather have all their forces guard Mary Geoise and do nothing than allow him to send a large number of troops to Wano Country.
Although the revolutionaries had indeed appeared and attacked the Holy Land in the end, he had nothing to say.
But this time was a rare opportunity. Taking advantage of the permission to freely dispatch troops, no matter what the outcome on Hachinosu, he would bring out all his combat power this time.
If the Straw Hat crew won, he would go to Egghead according to the original plan. If Blackbeard won, he would immediately turn around and attack Hachinosu.
A sharp glint flashed in Sakazuki’s eyes.
He would never let go of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to eliminate two Sea Emperors in one fell swoop.
The meeting seemed to be proceeding unhurriedly, but Akainu had long had a plan in mind for this operation, and there were not many points that could be discussed.
In addition, time was not abundant. This meeting, which was brewing a huge war, ended simply and quickly.
Half an hour later, at the Marineford port...
"Quick! Hurry up!"
"The second fleet is ready! Requesting to leave port!"
"Permission to leave port!"
"Supply team! Quick, replenish our ship’s ammunition!"
The warships formed a torrent, neatly arranged in the bay, ready to strike, like a herd of ferocious steel beasts.
The shore was densely packed with personnel. The Marines of various branches were all at their posts. The urgency of preparing for war quickly spread to the entire steel fortress.
One after another, the warships left the port under orders. The massive fleet, powerful enough to sweep away everything, set off for Egghead in a mighty procession!!
At the same time, somewhere in the sky above the New World.
A giant island floated out of thin air in the clouds, thousands of meters high. A few ultra-small islands circled around it, slowly advancing with the flowing clouds.
On an open space at the edge of a deep forest, a few simply dressed people, holding weapons, were gathered together. In the center were a few mechanical instruments, connected by various sizes of tubes and wires to a burly man.
"How is Kuma’s situation now?"
A man with a green cloak, long, wild black hair, and a resolute face with red tattoos walked over, with Sabo following behind.
"Chief."
"Boss."
"Chief of Staff."
Seeing Dragon and Sabo come over, the crowd took the initiative to part ways for them.
Beside Kuma, a green-haired Mink with cat fur, [Southern Army Commander—Lindbergh], turned to face Dragon.
"I am currently clearing the data on the authority chip that controls Kuma. He should be able to break free from the World Government’s control soon. But,"
His tone changed, and Lindbergh scratched his head and replied:
"What’s troublesome is that Kuma has now completely lost his self-awareness. I am also helpless about this."
"Lost his self-awareness?"
"Mm. Although I don’t know how it was done, rather than saying it was scientific means, I’m more inclined to guess that Kuma used his own ability to eject and seal his memories."
Lindbergh nodded in response to Dragon’s question.
"Sealed..."
Hearing these words, Dragon fell silent. As one of the three who had founded the Revolutionary Army, he was all too familiar with Ivankov’s and Kuma’s abilities.
"If it is as you guess, then there is a chance to help Kuma recover..."
After thinking for a moment, Dragon slowly opened his mouth:
"The premise is that we have to find the memory that Kuma sealed. I probably know who has it."
"Is it Vegapunk?"
Sabo’s expression became a little more grave as he asked.
The massive organization of the Marines naturally had revolutionary spies hidden within. They already had a certain grasp of the current situation and what was about to happen on Egghead.
The thought of Luffy made his heart grow heavy. He had a premonition that something bad was about to happen.
"Should I..."
"No."
Sabo spoke tentatively but was directly interrupted by Dragon raising his hand.
"Don’t be reckless, Sabo."
Dragon turned his head with a complicated expression. He knew Sabo’s plan, but they had a more important mission at hand. Sabo’s Float-Float Fruit ability was crucial to the plan.
"We’ll talk about Kuma’s matter after this operation. Inform Ivankov to assemble the Grand Line army."
Dragon said with a sigh.
Luffy had his adventure. He and Sabo also bore the expectations of everyone in the Revolutionary Army.
The opportunity to launch a general attack on the World Government was ironically obtained at the expense of Luffy’s impending desperate situation...
Sabo clenched his fists and finally, unwillingly, lowered his head.
"Sorry. I understand..."
(End of Chapter)
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