War has never been as simple as throwing punches. This island was undoubtedly a powder keg right now, one wrong move and it will explode outright.
Although these pirates were gathering together, both Kaido and Charlotte Linlin are capable of flying. While they don’t possess direct flying abilities like the Golden Lion’s Float-Float Fruit, taking their trusted subordinates and escaping through the air wouldn’t be difficult.
Red Hair isn’t a Devil Fruit User, but the Red Hair Pirates are extremely well-balanced, and the quality of their officers is already very high. With these three forces gathered together, breaking through any encirclement would be almost effortless.
At the very least, before those unperturbed monsters in Mariejois make a move, CP0 can’t think of any way to keep all of them here.
Even if some officers could be held back, it would be meaningless if these Emperors of the Sea successfully break out.
Timing, terrain, unity—this squad holds advantage in none of them.
To encircle and annihilate Kaido’s group, there must at least be a method to prevent their escape, or a reason for them to fight to the death. If Ace hadn’t been handed over by Blackbeard, the Marines wouldn’t have launched that operation in the first place.
Moreover, the fundamental goal of the Summit War was to eliminate Ace, Roger’s bloodline, and to intimidate the pirate world, not to completely annihilate Whitebeard.
It was simply Whitebeard’s personality that ensured that as long as the Marines tried to publicly execute Ace, a great war was inevitable.
If not for that incident, the Marines would have been far more likely to let Whitebeard die of old age. After all, he wasn’t the type to constantly stir up chaos. If time could eliminate him, there was no need to waste military strength.
“An operation of that scale isn’t something even your Fleet Admiral Sakazuki can decide on alone. To launch that kind of encirclement, you’d need to mobilize all forces across the Grand Line and assemble hundreds of warships. What we need to do now is sabotage.
Among Kaido, Red Hair, and Big Mom, the most unstable is Big Mom.
Her eating disorder and her obsession with Carmel are her greatest weaknesses.”
Inside Blueno’s Door World, the Marines and CP0 agents were discussing future tactics.
“Based on intelligence gathered by our members during past tea parties, when the photo of Mother Carmel is damaged, Charlotte Linlin goes out of control for a brief moment of time.
In that state, even her iron balloon-like body loses the defensive power she prides herself on.”
“So we strike her during that window?”
“…Putting that aside, why did you Marines send him to carry out this mission?”
The CP0 agent found the Marine’s line of thinking hard to accept—sending such a reckless brute on an infiltration mission looked more like inviting trouble than anything else.
“Ingres, it wasn’t the Marines who chose me, you were the ones who specifically requested me.”
“Huh?”
“Commander Ingres, here is his information.”
As Ingres questioned that statement, Blueno handed over the Marine’s detailed profile.
“Marine Headquarters’ Vice Admiral Basque—user of the Rage-Rage Fruit. He can manipulate anger to increase strength, boost troop morale, and also affect enemies, causing them to lose judgment.
I see. Then Vice Admiral Basque, during non-operational periods, please refrain from using your ability and maintain your rationality.”
“I… haven’t activated my ability…”
Devil Fruits can randomly influence their users’ personalities. Clearly, this fruit made its user more impulsive. Since they were still inside Blueno’s Door-Door Fruit space, Ingres didn’t pay it much mind.
“Now I’ll explain our plan. First, this is another member of mine: Amedeo, the user of the Mimic-Mimic Fruit.
He can transform into anyone he has seen, or into figures from images, and can also mimic the composition of materials his body has come into contact with.”
This fruit was essentially an upgraded version of Bon Kurei’s Clone-Clone Fruit. It didn’t require physical contact with the target to transform, and can even alter the composition of the user’s body.
“The mission isn’t complicated. First, we disguise ourselves as pirates and blend in while they’re not paying attention. With three pirate crews gathered, there are bound to be people who don’t know each other. This part won’t be difficult.
After that, we need to draw Big Mom’s attention and publicly destroy that photo of Carmel.
Then Amedeo will transform into Carmel and try to calm Big Mom, and after that, I will assassinate ‘Carmel,’ pushing Big Mom into a frenzied state.”
“And what’s the point of that? It’s not like she’ll lose all sense of friend and foe. Are you trying to make that crazy old woman target us?”
“Do you even have a brain? Why do you think I specifically sought out a Devil Fruit user like you?
Under the constant cycle of tension and relaxation, her mental state is already unstable and her defenses will be greatly reduced.
At that point, you’ll amplify the anger in her heart. In her out-of-control state, she won’t be able to stabilize her emotions. We need her rage to reach the point where she can’t distinguish friend from foe and starts attacking wildly across the island!
Provoking such an uncontrollable force is our objective. We want Kaido and Red Hair to be unable to hold back from attacking her, ideally triggering a full-scale clash between pirate crews.
As long as the destruction she causes is great enough, this alliance will naturally collapse.
In a battle of this scale, it’s impossible for no pirates to die. By then, no one will be able to determine who instigated it, and we will have already retreated through Blueno’s ability from the Door World. Any other questions?”
This was the idealized plan prepared by CP0. For this, they had even specially transferred suitable Devil Fruit users. It was the accumulated foundation of the World Government over eight hundred years. Even now, they remained the force with the widest reach across the seas.
“Very good, it seems you have no issues. Of course, this is the ideal scenario. If anything changes during the mission, you’ll have to adapt on the fly.”
“Wait, I have a question. How are you going to assassinate ‘Carmel’? Even if Big Mom is prone to going berserk, she wouldn’t fail to notice a fake assassination, right?”
“Next time, bring this up earlier. So I’ll make it a real assassination. Amedeo’s ability is quite special, even if a dagger pierces him, he can assimilate into the same material and absorb the blade, so he won’t actually be injured.”
This time, Ingres waited for a while and, after confirming no one else had questions, signaled Blueno to bring out a large pile of clothing.
“Clothes sourced from Impel Down, 100% pirate style. From now on, forget your identities. We’re just ‘pirates’ too.”
The CP0 agents took off their signature white suits. These outfits were far too recognizable. Wearing them in the New World would practically confirm their identities as CP0. The same went for Marine uniforms.
If they showed up at the target location dressed like that, they would be immediately targeted by all the pirates, and the plan would collapse on the spot.
After changing outfits and finalizing the plan, the group conducted a rehearsal.
Afterward, Blueno led everyone out of the Door World. Entering the Air Door also consumed his stamina—though only slightly, it wasn’t something he could sustain until the mission was complete.
This operation was also meant to familiarize them with Blueno’s Door-Door Fruit ability. After that, they returned to the ship. As the mission execution date approached, they would return to the Door World again and then infiltrate the mission location.
One day later, inside the Marine Headquarters intelligence room, Akainu, Tsuru, and Sengoku stood around a table, waiting for information from a cluster of Den Den Mushi. Kizaru had already gone to carry out a mission. Under the current circumstances, even as a Marine Admiral, he couldn’t just stay here waiting for updates.
The office should have been quiet, but the sound of Sengoku’s pet goat eating and Sengoku himself crunching on chips was unusually loud.
“Sengoku, can’t you be a bit quieter?”
“You don’t understand, Sakazuki. This is a great way to relieve stress. Smoking cigars all the time isn’t good, you should learn from me.”
Akainu was about to say something more, but the ringing of a Den Den Mushi interrupted them.
“Reporting to headquarters, this is Surveillance Ship No. 299. The Red Hair Pirates’ main ship, the Red Force, has arrived in the target sea area. No subordinate crews have been detected.
The one leading is Benn Beckman. The exact crew members are unknown.”
Aboard Marine Surveillance Ship No. 299, the Marine captain in charge reported the situation as calmly as possible. The soldiers on his ship were under immense mental pressure, so as their commanding officer, he couldn’t afford to make any mistakes.
At this moment, the main mast of their warship had already been broken, and what had fallen beside him was nothing more than an ordinary bullet. This was a warning from Beckman.
Though it hadn’t directly killed any soldier, that simple bullet carried a level of intimidation even cannons couldn’t achieve.
“Captain… can we make it back alive?”
The position of the Marine surveillance ship was quite awkward. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t run into trouble, since their mission didn’t involve combat, only observing the target from a distance.
Even if one ship was destroyed, another would be sent. Over time, great pirates simply couldn’t be bothered with them anymore.
On most days, they suffered almost zero casualties. But once an Emperor of the Sea made a move, they were the Marine soldiers with the highest death rate.
As those responsible for monitoring the Emperors of the Sea, their safety was never guaranteed. Whenever those monsters made a major move, they were always the first to suffer.
In a sense, their mission wasn’t really to monitor pirates; it was to send warnings to Marine Headquarters with their lives. That’s why only small warships were deployed, split into multiple squads scattered across a sea area, to reduce potential casualties.
Even with that level of resolve, Beckman’s actions still filled them with fear.
“We will. Don’t worry. In this direction, there’s only the Red Hair Pirates’ ship, they’ve already passed. They won’t bother with us again.”
Message after message was being relayed back to Marine Headquarters from these surveillance ships. The Marines needed to understand the exact situation here. If they ignored it, these people might act on impulse and even attack Marine Headquarters.
“The first to arrive… was Red Hair?”
“The timing is about the same. He himself should still be with Kaido right now. Thinking about it, it makes sense for Beckman to be leading.”
“Reporting to headquarters, this is Surveillance Ship No. 308. The Big Mom Pirates’ main ship, the Queen Mama Chanter, has appeared, accompanied by four escort ships. Big Mom herself is leading.
Accompanying personnel include the eldest son Charlotte Perospero, one of the Three Sweet Commanders Charlotte Smoothie, and executive chef Streusen.”
Ship No. 308 seemed to have better luck than No. 299. Perhaps because Charlotte Linlin was in a good mood, she didn’t order her children to attack the surveillance ship. Instead, she sailed past from a distance as if no one else was there.
“The Big Mom Pirates have arrived. Now we’re just waiting for the Beasts Pirates.”
Tsuru calmly took a sip of tea. Panicking at this point was useless; the only thing they could do was wait. Just as Ingres had said before, even Akainu, who hated pirates the most, knew that it was impossible to take this opportunity to wipe them out.
They didn’t even have enough time to mobilize sufficient forces.
The three of them focused their attention on the Den Den Mushi. If nothing unexpected happened, Kaido and his group should be coming from this direction, but since Kaido could fly, it was impossible to say exactly which route he would take.
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