Chapter 199: The Greatest Crisis
In this silence, Fleet Admiral Sakazuki took a puff of his thick cigar, chomping on it heavily before finally speaking: "This Dragon Hunter Pirates must be annihilated. The Marines' dignity cannot be challenged!"
Sengoku glanced at him and asked, "Even if it means alerting the Four Emperors, you're willing to go that far?"
Sakazuki nodded. "Fleet Admiral Sengoku, forgive my bluntness, but being timid and hesitant only makes things harder. Have you considered that while we worry about provoking a conflict with the Four Emperors, they are equally worried about provoking a conflict with us? We are the Marines. We represent justice. We maintain order and safety on the seas. Isn't it our duty to strike down pirates?"
Hearing this, the various officers present at the meeting couldn't help but nod inwardly.
Sakazuki's views had considerable support within Marine Headquarters. Many agreed with his philosophy. In contrast, Sengoku, as Fleet Admiral, preferred to plan carefully before acting, which made him seem less assertive and gave off an impression of weakness.
However, at that moment, Sakazuki continued, "Not just this Dragon Hunter Pirates, but those escaped slaves must also be captured and brought back!"
"Huh?! What do you mean?!" Hearing this, Garp immediately frowned and asked, "Sakazuki, are you planning to become a lapdog for the Celestial Dragons too?"
"Not at all!" Sakazuki shook his head. "Deploying Marine Admirals to protect the Celestial Dragons is an agreement with the World Government. We take orders from the World Government, not the Celestial Dragons. But those released slaves can now be considered accomplices of the Dragon Hunter Pirates. We must strike down and severely punish this phenomenon. Otherwise, there will be endless slave escape incidents in the future, and the Marines will be stretched thin."
"But..." Kuzan, who had been resting with his eyes closed, had recovered significantly from his injuries and attended the meeting. He finally spoke up, frowning. "Those slaves are nothing but innocent people. Have you forgotten what happened with the Sun Pirates back then? How many of our Marines did we lose trying to recover those slaves? We can turn a blind eye to the Celestial Dragons keeping slaves, but there's no reason to hunt them down after they've escaped!"
"But have you forgotten how many of those slaves were originally pirates?" Sakazuki shot back without backing down. "They were pirates from the start—scourges. Letting them escape will ultimately harm the Marines' justice!"
"There are pirates among them, but the majority are innocent civilians! Can you really justify lumping them all together?!" Kuzan glared and raised his voice.
Though it wasn't quite a quarrel, it was a heated argument. The other Marine officers could only watch, not daring to interrupt or mediate. The ideological differences between Kuzan and Sakazuki were no secret within the Marines. Such disputes had played out countless times before.
Sengoku, feeling a headache coming on, was about to mediate when suddenly, a Den Den Mushi in front of him started ringing with a "pururu pururu" sound.
Hearing the ringtone, Kuzan and Sakazuki both fell silent. They knew that during a Marine meeting, only the World Government could call in.
"Hello, this is Sengoku!" Sengoku picked up the Den Den Mushi. Its appearance transformed into that of an old man with a long white beard. Seeing this, Sengoku knew immediately that it was one of the Five Elders on the other end.
Sure enough, an aged voice came through. "Fleet Admiral Sengoku, have you not captured the black-clad mastermind yet?"
"No, we've only confirmed his identity so far," Sengoku replied. "We're currently in a meeting discussing the capture operation."
"Make it quick," the Five Elder member said. "It's been a long time, but the identity chip has yet to be recovered. The Celestial Dragons are growing anxious."
Sengoku snorted coldly. "What can we do? They only care about their own affairs, but the Marines have already lost a Vice Admiral and another Vice Admiral lost his wrist and is still in the hospital!"
The voice on the other end remained unperturbed by Sengoku's words. "We'll give you another month. Capture the criminal as soon as possible, and remember—take him alive. The Celestial Dragons have proposed to us that they want to make a deal with the mastermind."
"A deal?! What kind of deal?" Sengoku asked, puzzled.
"They want the World Government to agree to issue a Warlord invitation to the mastermind in exchange for the identity chip," the Five Elder said calmly, delivering the news.
"What?!" This time, not just Sengoku, but all the Marine officers present couldn't sit still!
Momonga was the first to speak, standing up and shouting, "Forgive my bluntness, but Vice Admiral Fighting Dog is still in the hospital, and Vice Admiral Vergo has died in action. And you're proposing to let him join the Seven Warlords of the Sea?!"
"Exactly! This has never been heard of!"
"The Marines will never agree to this!"
With Kuzan injured, Fighting Dog wounded, and Vergo killed in action—three consecutive losses of Marine combat power—the officers at Marine Headquarters were united in their opposition.
However, the Five Elder on the other end remained unmoved. "This is not a notification; it's an order. We understand the Marines' feelings, which is why we've given you some time. If you fail to capture the mastermind within this period, then we will have no choice but to follow the Celestial Dragons' wishes and issue a Warlord invitation to him."
With that, the other end clicked and hung up.
Sengoku crushed the receiver in his hand. Even he, upon hearing this news, was furious beyond words.
"Is the Celestial Dragons' identity chip more important than the sacrifices of our Marine officers?!" Sengoku roared.
Every Marine present felt the same way—a burning anger born of being misunderstood.
Yet, after venting, they had to sadly accept the reality. The Marines operated under the World Government's leadership, and they had to obey its orders.
In other words, if the Marines failed to capture the Dragon Hunter Pirates within a month, they would have to watch helplessly as the Celestial Dragons, under the World Government's name, issued a Warlord invitation and made a deal with the Dragon Hunter Pirates.
Although most of the Seven Warlords of the Sea had once been enemies of the Marines before accepting the invitation, logically, the Marines shouldn't have reacted so strongly. But the problem was that the Dragon Hunter Pirates had made the Marines lose too much face. Under these circumstances, the World Government issuing an invitation would be a tacit admission of the Marines' incompetence.
"You all heard that!" Sengoku said. "We have one month. If we don't want this to become reality, we must work hard!"
"Yes, sir!" The officers present, except for Kuzan, Kizaru, and Sakazuki, all stood up sharply, saluted, and shouted.
Sengoku looked at the three of them and suddenly spoke. "Borsalino, you'll go. Additionally, I'll have Admiral Zephyr accompany you."
Kizaru was taken aback but said nothing, merely nodding.
Originally, Sengoku had considered sending both Kizaru and Sakazuki, but he feared that Sakazuki's personality might lead to an actual fight if they encountered a Four Emperors' crew. Kuzan would have been a better choice, but his injuries hadn't fully healed, and Ian, the captain of the Dragon Hunter Pirates, had abilities that countered him. After some thought, Sengoku decided to call on the retired Admiral Zephyr.
Most importantly, Zephyr had recently formed a Pirate Hunter Squad, focusing on hunting pirate crews in the New World. Now that Ian had gone from a pirate hunter to a pirate, Admiral Zephyr would likely be eager to act.
Not stopping there, Sengoku gritted his teeth and deployed not only Kizaru and Zephyr but also ten warships to accompany them into the New World.
This was almost on par with a Buster Call. Since they were bound to alert the Four Emperors anyway, they might as well intimidate them directly.
At the same time, Marine Headquarters updated Ian's wanted poster, replacing the old masked photo with his picture. The bounty remained unchanged at 500 million Berries, with a "capture alive only" stipulation.
If previous high bounties were largely due to the Celestial Dragons' willingness to pay, this time Ian's bounty was well-deserved. With one Admiral injured, one Vice Admiral severely wounded, and another killed in action, 500 million Berries was more than justified.
Besides Ian, Fujitora was also put on the wanted list. Thanks to Vice Admiral Tsuru's intelligence, the Marines took Fujitora seriously, immediately setting a bounty of 300 million Berries on him.
They still didn't fully understand the relationship between Fujitora and Ian. Since the two had appeared together to attack the G-5 branch base, the Marines assumed Fujitora was Ian's accomplice, possibly the vice captain or a senior officer of the Dragon Hunter Pirates. Thus, on the wanted poster, Fujitora was also marked as a member of the Dragon Hunter Pirates.
WANTED: Captain of the Dragon Hunter Pirates, "Burning Blade" Ian, mastermind of the Mary Geoise arson incident.
WANTED: Member of the Dragon Hunter Pirates, Fujitora Issho, participant in the destruction of the G-5 branch.