Chapter 763: Celestial Dragons Intervene
"Vice Admiral Momonga is here!"
"Vice Admiral Momonga, is it true that the Seven Warlord Edward Weevil has captured Queen the Plague of the Beast Pirates?"
"Vice Admiral Momonga, what are your thoughts on this?"
"Will the Marines imprison Queen the Plague, or do they plan to execute her?"
The flashbulbs clicked and clattered in a cacophony, nearly blinding Momonga. At the same time, he was both shocked and furious. How could these reporters have gotten the news so quickly, and even come to Marine Headquarters to block him in advance?
This was bad. Once these reporters published the story, the Marines would have no chance to conceal the information and gain more room to maneuver!
"Move aside! All of you, move aside!" Vice Admiral Momonga said with a grim face, pushing through the crowd of reporters to leave. To their questions, he answered with a flat "No comment."
But... he forgot that he had a useless teammate!
Seeing that Momonga was unresponsive, the reporters quickly found a new interview target: the towering Edward Weevil.
As news reporters who often hung around Sabaody Archipelago, how could they not recognize Edward Weevil, that fool of a Seven Warlord? Getting him to talk was far easier than squeezing words out of Momonga!
And as it happened, Edward Weevil found being surrounded by so many news reporters quite amusing. He answered every question they threw at him.
"Edward Weevil, is it true that the person you captured is Queen the Plague?"
"Yeah, yeah!"
"Where did you catch her? Was it on Sabaody Archipelago?"
"Yeah, yeah!"
"Do you know the consequences of capturing Queen the Plague? Is the Marines planning to start a war with the Beast Pirates over this?"
"Yeah, yeah..."
Momonga up ahead finally couldn't take it anymore. He turned around and roared at Edward Weevil: "Shut up!!"
Edward Weevil immediately took offense: "You dare yell at me!? Do you want to fight?"
At that, some tabloid reporters nearby lit up with excitement, quickly scribbling something in their little notebooks.
*"For This Person, the Marines and the Seven Warlords Turn Against Each Other and Come to Blows!"*
*"Shocking! The Grudges Between the Marines and the Seven Warlords!"*
Needless to say, these reporters had all been tipped off by members of the Ian Family. It was the kind of situation where any kind of newspaper story could come out. The Ian Family members simply remembered one instruction from their boss: Make this matter known to everyone!
Momonga's face darkened. He had no idea what to do with that blockhead Edward Weevil, so he could only signal the Marine soldiers under his command to quickly push Edward Weevil into the headquarters base, thereby shaking off the reporters.
Once back inside the headquarters base, Momonga hurried straight to Fleet Admiral Sakazuki's office.
"Fleet Admiral!" Momonga said as he entered. He found that Sakazuki's office was already filled with many people. Besides the Marine Admirals Kizaru, Momousagi, and Chat Don, all the Vice Admirals stationed at the headquarters base were also present, creating a solemn atmosphere. This made Momonga feel a bit better. He continued, "We know this might be someone stirring up trouble, so why did you still order me to bring Queen the Plague back?"
Sakazuki, puffing on a cigar and wearing his coat, said to Momonga: "Sit down first!"
Once Momonga was seated, Sakazuki looked around the room and said: "In fact, bringing Queen the Plague back was not only my decision but also the will of the Five Elders."
The people present looked at Sakazuki in some surprise.
"I don't want to assign blame for the Marines' failure at Castrum this time," Sakazuki said, glaring unhappily at Kizaru. However, Kizaru just chuckled, putting on a harmless "You're the boss, you're right" expression, which only annoyed Sakazuki more. Still, he continued: "But what I want to say is that the entire world is watching us, the Marines. If we can't retaliate against the Beast Pirates over this matter, the Marines will completely lose all their authority."
The Marine Admirals and Vice Admirals present either folded their arms or crossed their legs. Though they didn't speak, their faces showed deep agreement. The Marines had been having a rough time in recent years, constantly being suppressed in their clashes with pirates. As Sakazuki said, once or twice might be tolerable, but this kept happening again and again, and now they were on the verge of a breaking point.
"Queen the Plague suddenly appearing on Sabaody Archipelago and being 'captured' by Edward Weevil—of course I know there's something wrong with this!" Sakazuki continued. "But regardless, this is the first important officer of the Beast Pirates to fall into Marine hands. Perhaps we can use her to lure the Beast Pirates into a trap."
"We failed in the war against the Whitebeard Pirates last time. Now it's the Beast Pirates' turn. How confident are we?" a Vice Admiral asked. "As everyone knows, any of the Four Emperors' crews has the strength to fight the Marines head-on. But Kaido is nothing like that old and frail Whitebeard..."
Sakazuki coldly glanced at the Vice Admiral who had spoken and said: "Don't worry. This time, the World Government will cooperate with us as well."
"Oh?" Everyone looked at Sakazuki in confusion.
"That's why I said bringing Queen the Plague back was also the will of the Five Elders," Sakazuki explained. "In fact, the Celestial Dragons intend to intervene in this matter."
"Those guys... no, I mean those World Nobles?" Everyone was startled. Momousagi couldn't help but ask: "Aren't they supposed to be detached from worldly affairs, only caring about enjoyment? Why the sudden move?"
"Simple. Because they're uneasy," Kizaru said with a smirk, looking at Sakazuki. "Isn't that right, Fleet Admiral?"
Though he really didn't want to acknowledge Kizaru, Sakazuki nodded and said: "This time, the Castrum incident involved Blackbeard Teach, Doflamingo, and Golden Lion Shiki, all appearing unexpectedly. Moreover, they stole the Soul Fruit. This has made the Celestial Dragons very uneasy. They believe that this villain alliance is trying to get their hands on their 'National Treasure'..."
Once this topic came up, everyone fell silent. The fact that the Celestial Dragons had a 'National Treasure' was something the Marine high command knew a little about, though they weren't entirely sure what it was. But this topic had always been taboo, not to be casually discussed.
What the people present didn't know was that the Celestial Dragons and the Five Elders were indeed getting anxious.
Ever since the call with the Shogun of Wano Country, the Five Elders had confirmed that the Beast Pirates were definitely after the Poneglyph hidden in Wano. Although the Shogun of Wano, Tokugawa Kiki, had said that Queen the Plague hadn't found anything, the Five Elders didn't believe it at all. They felt that the Beast Pirates must have obtained something.
Among this, Doflamingo was a very important figure. As a former Celestial Dragon, he knew about the Celestial Dragons' National Treasure. So the Five Elders speculated that after defecting to Kaido, he must have revealed everything about the National Treasure to Kaido. That was why the Beast Pirates had fought for the Soul Fruit, and why Queen the Plague had infiltrated the capital of Wano, among other incidents.
All signs pointed to the fact that their various attempts were almost certainly aimed at the Celestial Dragons' National Treasure...
Although due to inbreeding, the current generation of Celestial Dragons was one idiot after another, there were still some smarter ones among them. Their National Treasure was the foundation of their existence, the reason they could stand high above and enjoy the world's offerings. It absolutely could not be lost.
Manipulating the National Treasure required immense life force. Over a decade ago, when the Surgery Fruit reappeared, they had even spared no expense, instructing the Marines to trade with pirates to obtain it. But unfortunately, they missed their chance that time. After a series of events, that Surgery Fruit disappeared.
Then, after Ian killed BIG MOM and the Soul Fruit reappeared, they realized that the Soul Fruit might serve as a substitute for the Surgery Fruit.
After all, the Soul Fruit could steal others' lifespans. Although it couldn't be used on oneself, it could be injected into inanimate objects to create a soul life form called a Homie. These Homies obeyed the commands of the fruit's user. If these Homies could be used to manipulate the National Treasure, it would theoretically work. They would just need to continuously consume the life force of these Homies...
So, they had the World Government dispatch the Marines to seize that fruit.
Of course, these deep secrets about the National Treasure were unknown to anyone except the Celestial Dragons and the Five Elders. Kizaru and the others were just following orders; they didn't know the reason for wanting to seize the Soul Fruit.
But now, even this theoretical substitute, the Soul Fruit, had been taken. And the one who took it was a 'former insider' who knew the deep secrets of the National Treasure: Doflamingo! So it was no wonder the Celestial Dragons were panicking.
It could be said that the World Government had now set aside the other three Emperors, including Ian. All their attention was focused on the Beast Pirates.
This was why Sakazuki said the Celestial Dragons intended to intervene. They planned to use this opportunity of Queen the Plague's capture to completely eliminate the huge threat posed by Doflamingo and the Beast Pirates.
But how would the Celestial Dragons intervene to help the World Government and the Marines eliminate this threat?
They had no army, and they themselves didn't have particularly high combat strength. To put it bluntly, these guys had been turned into useless wastes by centuries of luxury.
Yet, under these circumstances, they still had such confidence. This could only mean one possibility: they might be willing to pay any price to use their National Treasure once...