“I don’t know, but if we had kept fighting back then… the one who would’ve died could have been me.”
Sengoku still looked as unserious as ever, but he gave an objective conclusion.
“And compared to Rocks back then?”
“I don’t know. Their strength was beyond what I could comprehend. That’s not something I can judge. Maybe Garp could give you an answer. Garp! Huh, where did that guy run off to again?”
Looking around, Sengoku didn’t spot Garp, but he didn’t dwell on it. Garp’s unpredictable whereabouts were practically common knowledge at Marine Headquarters.
“Sakazuki, why are you asking this?”
Watching Sakazuki handling documents, Tsuru couldn’t help but feel curious.
“Just making a simple comparison.”
As he spoke, Sakazuki laid out a series of bounty posters on the table. Some were already yellowed with age, and the red crosses on them signified that the wanted individuals were long dead.
“Rocks, the young Whitebeard, Golden Lion, the young Charlotte Linlin, Captain John, Ochoku, Silver Axe—these were the most dangerous members of the Rocks Pirates back then.”
Rocks’ bounty poster was nothing but a blank sheet. After the World Government issued the order to erase his existence, even his bounty disappeared. Not even Marine Headquarters had retained a copy.
Compared to those monsters, Kaido, who was still just a youth at the time, couldn’t even rank among them. Even as a rising rookie on the seas, he was nothing compared to those monsters.
“Kaido, Arceus, Yamato, the old Charlotte Linlin, Red-Hair Shanks, Benn Beckman, and… Kuzan. These are the pirates we’ll be facing after this pirate alliance is formed.”
A simple comparison made things clearer. As time passed, many people were buried by history, turning into dust, and individual strength had also changed greatly.
But aside from Charlotte Linlin, whose strength had declined, the rest had all continued to grow. Judging by the current situation, the threat posed by this alliance led by the Beasts Pirates had already surpassed that of the Rocks Pirates.
“Can you recount the Marine lineup back then for me?”
Akainu didn’t know much about this sealed history and could only try to get answers from Sengoku.
“At the time, there was Garp in his prime along with a large number of Marines, the Roger Pirates, and the Celestial Dragons’ God’s Knights. These were the forces that fought against the Rocks Pirates.
And Rocks himself was defeated by the joint efforts of Garp and Roger.”
Sengoku didn’t hide anything and revealed the secrets of the past to the new generation of high-ranking officers.
“Hmph, the Marines actually joined forces with pirates. What a disgrace.”
Akainu muttered resentfully but didn’t continue. He realized the situation was far more serious than he had imagined.
The Rocks Pirates had never been united. They relied entirely on Rocks’ overwhelming strength to keep them in line. When Rocks began to lose, no one stepped up to help him; each chose to protect themselves and flee.
Compared to that loose crew, the alliance that the Beasts Pirates were about to form was far more dangerous. At the very least, the bonds between its members were much stronger than those within the Rocks Pirates.
“The pirates are far stronger than back then, but can we surpass the allied forces of that time?”
“Who knows? Every one of these guys looks scary. Can’t we just avoid fighting them?”
The only reply Akainu got was Kizaru’s usual tone. Sengoku and Tsuru remained silent. Roger’s strength was beyond question. Most of those who had fought the Rocks Pirates back then were still alive, but they had already entered old age.
Surpassing the combined might of a young Garp and Roger was no easy task.
“The remnants of that era have gathered once again… is the Rocks Pirates coming back to life?”
“Coming back to life? I’d rather face a revived Rocks Pirates. This group might be even harder to deal with.”
This time, Akainu didn’t burn the table in front of him. He hated pirates, but not to the point of underestimating their strength.
“All Marines are to cancel their leave. All lightly wounded are to return to duty immediately. All soldiers in training camps are to be integrated into active forces as soon as possible. Gather the strong recruits from the mass conscription to Headquarters.
If this ‘breaking’ operation fails, what we’ll be facing… will likely be a great war.”
The combat strength just calculated didn’t even include the senior officers. The repeated emphasis on “all” three times already showed Akainu’s judgment of the severity of the situation. So many pirates gathering together, there was no way it was for playing house, right?
Once they successfully form an alliance, no one could predict what the state of the seas would become.
No one knew how many rookies would be incited by them to rush out to sea either.
And with the Revolutionary Army taking the opportunity to act on the sidelines, Akainu could be said to be the busiest Marine Fleet Admiral.
At the same time, in Mariejois, the exact same intelligence had already reached them, but their attitude was completely different from the Marines.
“CP0 should be able to complete the mission smoothly, right?”
“Perhaps yes, perhaps no. Facing something like this, their capabilities are ultimately a bit insufficient.”
“Maybe we should act in advance and eliminate this hidden danger for Lord Imu.”
“Don’t disrupt Lord Imu’s plans. Lord Imu will naturally have arrangements. But if it comes to the worst-case scenario, it’s not impossible.
Publicly spreading the name of a god, they’ve finally lost patience. Who would have thought there were still so many remnants of the Lunarian race? Where exactly have they been hiding all this time to survive?”
Ethanbaron V. Nasjuro and Shepherd Ju Peter discussed the matter back and forth, and for once even considered taking action themselves.
“More importantly, the others are causing trouble again. Our food shortage has been quite serious lately, hasn’t it been resolved yet?”
“Those Fish-Men have finally calmed down lately. A few grain ships have already arrived at Red Port, which should be enough to get by for a while. These Fish-Men in the sea really are quite a nuisance.”
“Doesn’t York have something that can control Sea Beasts? Have her send some Sea Beasts to deal with this, it should be enough.”
“I agree. These two Vegapunk clones should start showing some real value.”
Topman Warcury and Marcus Mars also made arrangements regarding the food supply attacks, while Saturn stared at the Revolutionary Army’s intelligence, seemingly deep in thought, as if he had some special idea.
On Onigashima, however, no one was as troubled as the Marines or the World Government. Their emotions were at an all-time high.
Apoo, acting as the DJ, had fully turned his body into instruments, working together with Queen to blast out intense rhythms. After another round of accompaniment ended, Apoo wiped the sweat from his forehead and returned to the rest area.
There, Hawkins was, as usual, fiddling with his tarot cards.
“You’re really calm, huh? Such shocking news and you don’t react at all. That’s a god we’re talking about!”
“Why do you think I haven’t reacted?”
The speed of Hawkins’ hands gradually increased, even creating afterimages. Because of his personality, Hawkins didn’t like shouting, but when he got excited, he would shuffle his cards rapidly.
At this moment, his hand speed alone was enough to show how stirred up he was inside.
Seeing Hawkins place all the tarot cards upright, Apoo seemed to understand something and casually plopped down onto the sofa beside him.
“That Kid is still being stubborn. He has no idea what he’s missed and is still dreaming of becoming the Pirate King. Doesn’t he ever think about it, what makes him qualified? What makes him think he can compete with these monsters?
Aren’t you into fortune-telling? Why don’t you divine Kid’s future?”
“There’s no meaning in that.”
“Just to pass the time is fine. It’s more meaningful than you mindlessly shuffling cards over there.”
“… ”
Apoo’s words seemed to give Hawkins an idea. He reorganized his tarot deck and carefully laid them out again.
“Prison break success rate: 50%. Injury rate: 89%. Death rate: 97%. Escape success rate… 0.28%. His future is filled with death, far from promising.”
“So it’s not 0%, huh? Guess I underestimated him a bit. But from the looks of it, he’s still not behaving. Can you be more precise? Maybe we could intercept him during his escape.”
“My ability is divination, not prophecy. I can’t predict things with that level of precision.”
Hawkins glanced at Apoo indifferently and continued calculating other things. But before he could reach a conclusion, Queen also arrived at the rest area.
“Hawkins.”
“Lord Queen, what do you need?”
“Do a reading for me. I’ve suddenly been feeling uneasy, like something bad is about to happen.”
“I’m sorry, Lord Queen. I can’t do it.”
Hawkins had only just moved one or two cards before putting them back. Hearing his answer, Queen’s expression immediately turned grim.
“What do you mean by that, brat? Got promoted and now you’re looking down on me? Don’t forget, I personally recruited you. Weren’t you pretty good at this before? Why can’t you do it now?”
“But… this time, your fate is connected to Lord Arceus. I neither have the courage nor the ability to predict matters related to a god.”
“Hah??”
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