# Chapter 235: Sengoku's Premonition
Sengoku was well aware that the failure of this operation was due to multiple factors, not simply a matter of whose responsibility it was.
Even he himself hadn't considered everything thoroughly. When he originally dispatched two Admirals, Kizaru and Zephyr, Sengoku had carefully deliberated. Although Momonga and Fighting Dog had provoked Whitebeard on Stripe Island, in Sengoku's view, given Whitebeard's personality, when faced with the Marines' displayed resolve, he would also think carefully.
However, no one had expected that not only would Whitebeard appear, but he would do so with what seemed like nearly his entire force. Almost all of his division commanders had shown up.
Because he didn't understand the relationship between Ace and Ian, Sengoku hadn't realized the role Ace had played in this. This led Sengoku to be startled when he heard the news of Whitebeard's appearance, thinking that Whitebeard intended to start a war with the Marines.
He was even somewhat grateful now that he hadn't sent Akainu out. Regardless, Kizaru and Zephyr would still assess the situation. If it had been Akainu who went instead... the consequences were truly too dreadful to imagine.
Whitebeard would definitely have fought with Akainu... That old man Whitebeard really hated Akainu...
Setting that aside, what surprised Sengoku most was that both Ian and Fujitora's strength was this formidable!
In his mind, he had already given the Dragon Hunter Pirates a very high evaluation. Otherwise, he wouldn't have dispatched two Marine Admirals simultaneously. Yet the facts proved that his assessment was still somewhat low.
This was also why, after hearing Kizaru's report, Sengoku had glared and shouted at the intelligence officer. Now was not the time for mutual recrimination or assigning blame.
On Sengoku's desk lay three documents. One was the CP intelligence organization's investigation report on Ian and Fujitora. Another was Zephyr's report about his two students being detained. The final one was a report from the World Government regarding an invitation for the Dragon Hunter Pirates' captain, Ian, to become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
On Salamis Island, there had actually been an intern reporter named Pritz who had documented the entire battle. This surprised Sengoku greatly. Because of this reporter's presence, not only the Marines but also the World Government had witnessed the entire battle. When they saw Kizaru wounded by Ian's Seastone bullets and Fujitora fighting Zephyr to a standstill, the World Government realized that expecting the Marines to recover the Identity Chip within a month was probably impossible.
During this period, the Celestial Dragons had been constantly pressuring the World Government, which greatly annoyed the Five Elders. If previously they had only been compelled by the Celestial Dragons' pressure to have the Marines invite Ian to become a Warlord, then after witnessing the entire battle, they began to seriously consider this matter.
Undoubtedly, the strength Ian had displayed in his confrontation with Kizaru was indeed sufficient to qualify him as a Warlord. The five hundred million Berry bounty the Celestial Dragons had placed on him earlier now seemed not at all inflated.
If they could win Ian over, the World Government and Marines would gain another powerful combatant.
Hence, this report now lay before Sengoku.
However, Sengoku looked at this report but couldn't make a decision. He had read the CP investigation report on Ian. This suddenly rising young man seemed to have come from the East Blue, had worked as a Pirate Hunter, and had captured several famous pirates from the East Blue.
Sengoku had once suspected that this young man named Ian had some connection with Bartholomew Kuma the Tyrant, since both wore identical hats.
However, from the CP report, Ian indeed had no connection with Kuma. On the contrary, back on Sabaody Archipelago, Kuma had indeed fought fiercely with Ian, with traces of their battle as proof.
From this perspective, this young man was indeed someone worth winning over. If possible, Sengoku had even considered recruiting him into the Marines, because from the analysis report, Sengoku could see that this young man truly possessed a sense of justice.
But... success came from that sense of justice, and failure came from it as well. It was precisely because of this sense of justice that this young man Ian, after encountering the Celestial Dragons, had completely turned to the opposite side of the Marines.
Sengoku had seen many such cases in his many years as a Marine. Sometimes he himself felt that the Celestial Dragons were a bunch of useless teammates, driving countless people to the opposite side of the Marines... Yet the Marines, under pressure from the World Government, had no choice but to help the Celestial Dragons cover up their slave-keeping affairs.
Although he had been indignant that Ian had killed G-5 branch base commander Vergo and had dispatched an Admiral to pursue him, now that the one-month deadline was approaching and the pursuit had failed, Sengoku had to face the matter of inviting Ian to become a Warlord.
Now, with the battle footage from Salamis Island, Sengoku had an intuitive understanding of Ian's strength. The matter of a Marine Vice Admiral being killed was no longer so hard for him to accept.
With these investigation reports, theoretically, Sengoku could reluctantly accept inviting Ian to become a Warlord. But... there was still one thing Sengoku wasn't sure about.
That was Whitebeard!
Kizaru's report mentioned that the newly joined member of the Whitebeard Pirates, Fire Fist Ace, had appeared during the battle and fought alongside Ian, followed by Whitebeard's appearance.
What Sengoku couldn't determine now was this very point. He didn't know what connection Ian had with the Whitebeard Pirates.
Everyone understood that the Seven Warlords of the Sea were a powerful card the Marines played to use their strength to influence and deter ordinary pirates, while also counterbalancing the Four Emperors. Generally speaking, as long as one had sufficient strength and reputation, becoming a Warlord wasn't a problem. Given the power Ian had now displayed, even if Sengoku made him a Warlord, it wouldn't be a big deal.
But the problem was that the Warlords were meant to check the Four Emperors. If Ian and Whitebeard were essentially on the same side, wouldn't making him a Warlord be like the Marines shooting themselves in the foot?
Letting one of the Four Emperors' people become a spy among the Warlords!?
"No, I need to hold off for now!" Sengoku thought, putting the World Government's report document into his drawer.
He wanted to continue investigating, to confirm things first. If they sent Ian an invitation to become a Warlord, only for him to turn around and join the Whitebeard Pirates, the Marines would become a laughingstock to the entire world.
After putting away that document, Sengoku picked up another wanted poster. On it was a photo of Fire Fist Ace.
If previously Fire Fist Ace hadn't been worth Sengoku's attention, now that he knew Ace had joined the Whitebeard Pirates, Sengoku had to take him seriously.
"Portgas D. Ace?" Through CP's investigation, Sengoku had now learned Ace's real name. When he saw the initial "D" in Ace's name, Sengoku immediately felt something was wrong.
"Just like that old man Garp... What exactly is Garp's relationship with him?" Sengoku looked at Ace's photo with confusion: "One of the D. Clan?"
A thousand tangled threads gave Sengoku another headache. The position of Fleet Admiral wasn't easy to sit in. After deciding to increase Fire Fist Ace's bounty and intensify the investigation into him, Sengoku picked up Zephyr's report.
As an old friend from the same era, Sengoku had always respected Zephyr. When he had asked the retired former Admiral Zephyr to come out of retirement, Zephyr had agreed without hesitation. Sengoku owed him a favor. Now that Zephyr's two students were being detained by Whitebeard, both morally and logically, Sengoku should help rescue them.
However, Sengoku also knew that this report would have to be submitted to the Five Elders of the World Government. To get Zephyr's two students back, they would have to compensate the Salamis Duchy. This fell within the World Government's area of responsibility; the Marines couldn't overstep their authority.
And based on Sengoku's estimation, this report, once submitted to the World Government, would likely receive no response at all!
Sengoku knew that Zephyr's two detained students were the two survivors from before. These two students were very important to Zephyr, but in the eyes of the World Government, they might not be. They were just two Marine soldiers with the rank of Lieutenant, practically rookies. Salamis was a non-member nation. If the World Government was unwilling to admit defeat and wanted to save face, they would never make any compensation to a non-member nation.
So, in Sengoku's view, they would have to use Whitebeard's name. Compensating a non-member nation was impossible, but compensating Whitebeard was possible.
Don't doubt it. This kind of compromise by the World Government had happened countless times before.
Of course, such compromises would never be made openly; they were all done in secret. The Marines couldn't get involved in these matters. The World Government would secretly send CP agents to contact Whitebeard.
"I hope they can get Zephyr's students back..." Sengoku sighed softly, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes to rest.
He knew his work wasn't finished. The next thing that would give him the biggest headache was still the pressure from the Celestial Dragons. As long as the Identity Chip wasn't recovered, Sengoku would have to endure the Celestial Dragons' questioning every day.
"What exactly is his relationship with Whitebeard?" Sengoku pondered. "If he were Whitebeard's adopted son, that doesn't seem quite right..."
As he thought, a notion suddenly popped into Sengoku's mind from somewhere: "If only this young man named Ian would become enemies with Whitebeard..."
When he thought this, even Sengoku was startled by his own idea. He smiled wryly and said, "How could that be possible!"
But what Sengoku didn't know was that this fantasy of his would, one month later, become reality...