"Seriously, we're preparing for a major operation, and these bastards are making trouble for me!"
After hearing Kizaru's report, Sengoku felt somewhat relieved, but couldn't help complaining.
Although Kizaru had managed to contain the situation, the incident at Sabaody Archipelago nearly disrupted Naval Headquarters' deployment.
And that bastard Kizaru—Sengoku had felt at ease sending him, only for him to come back empty-handed. If Sentomaru hadn't at least caught a few pirates, Sengoku would've thought Kizaru went to Sabaody just to goof off.
Kizaru's voice came lazily through the Den Den Mushi:
"Speaking of which, it's thanks to Mage's subordinates this time. Otherwise, those supernovas would've been real trouble, Sengoku-san.
Oh, and they scolded the Celestial Dragons too—though fortunately, they didn't actually do anything.
Still, before I left, the world nobles insisted on arresting them."
"Forget those bastards! Get back here immediately!"
Sengoku shouted, cutting off the call right after.
He'd more or less gotten the full story. And, once again, Kizaru had done the most damage at Sabaody—injuring some supernovas, destroying buildings... and capturing no one in the end. Sengoku seriously suspected the man had gone there just for fun.
If it hadn't been for Sentomaru's squad and the Pacifistas, they wouldn't have caught even the weakest of those low-level pirates worth tens of millions.
As for the Celestial Dragons—what a pain!
Sengoku ignored the report concerning them. Right now, he couldn't afford to lose the combat power of a Shichibukai over those useless nobles. If tensions escalated between the Marines and the Warlords now, executing Ace would become a joke.
Sengoku didn't like the Celestial Dragons either, but unlike Garp, he knew how to hold his tongue.
Beep, beep!
Just as Sengoku ended the call with Kizaru, the Den Den Mushi rang again.
Frowning slightly, he answered, "Sengoku speaking."
"Sengoku, the Marines are being far too lenient with the Celestial Dragons. They are world nobles."
"That was him acting without orders," Sengoku replied calmly. "But under the current agreement, we can't punish him. The World Government has already picked him up.
As for Kizaru, he expended considerable effort dealing with those supernovas."
If not for the bigger picture, Sengoku would never have said such blatantly hypocritical words. But Kizaru rarely volunteered for missions, and Sengoku didn't want to discourage that rare motivation.
"Aside from Kizaru, someone insulted the world nobles back then."
"Sengoku, why didn't you arrest that person?"
"Insulting world nobles is a crime just the same."
Sengoku snapped, "Don't be ridiculous, Five Elder Stars! You want me to turn against a Shichibukai as powerful as an Admiral at such a critical moment!?
Don't forget Marine's goal—we've been preparing for this plan for a long time!"
"Even so, the nobles of the world must not be insulted. Sengoku, speak to Mage and have him hand over his subordinates. Then we'll consider this matter closed."
"Absolutely not," Sengoku shot back. "If we did that, Mage Kain would turn against the Marines immediately!"
"That's your problem. The world nobles' status is absolute. The Marines exist to protect them—not to fight pirates.
If the Marines can't do their job, then they should be disbanded and let CP handle it."
And with that, the Five Elders ended the call.
"Those bastards have no idea how serious this is!"
Sengoku was so furious he nearly threw the Den Den Mushi at the wall. He knew that last line was a threat—and a stupid one at that. CP couldn't possibly replace the Marines. The world needed balance.
If the Marines were abolished, Roger's era of pirates would fully explode, and the entire world would spiral out of control. Even if the Five Elders wanted to do that, they'd need a replacement plan first.
And there's no way the countries allied with the World Government would allow the Marines to be scrapped just like that.
But the Five Elders have the authority to determine Marine's strength. If the World Government were to cut Marine's funding by just 5%, it would drastically weaken them—and the Five Elders are fully capable of making such a move.
Sengoku could vaguely guess what the World Government, or more specifically the Five Elders, were planning. But he had his own principles and couldn't agree to something like that.
"Eustass Kid and Scratchmen Apoo… I didn't expect Wappa and the others to bring me such a big surprise."
Kain was clearly satisfied as he turned to Robin.
"Yes, yes. Robin, open the last floor of Sandia's supply storage. If Wappa and the others want anything, let them have it."
Wappa and his team had done incredibly well—capturing two supernovas and delivering to Kain two Paramecia Devil Fruit serums. One of them was even the Magnet-Magnet Fruit, a power with potential on par with the Thunder Fruit.
Along with those, they brought back a large number of pirates. With their physical strength, once injected with the Z-virus and enhanced with bones made of nano-energy-absorbing alloys, they could rival even a Marine lieutenant colonel in close combat.
"By the way, didn't Wappa curse out the Celestial Dragons during the mission?"
Kain replied casually, "It doesn't matter. Let him curse them—those idiots deserve it. Just tell Wappa not to worry. As long as I'm around, he doesn't need to be concerned about any Celestial Dragon nonsense."
Robin continued, "One more thing, boss. The Intelligence Division found a rare Logia-type user. But this one's extremely strong—he's already killed two of our field agents. We only tracked him this time through special monitoring equipment."
"A rare Logia? What kind of ability?"
"It seems to be the Sensen Fruit. He can manipulate different plants, and even transform himself into plant forms."
After hearing that, Kain immediately thought of a familiar figure—Ryokugyu, also known as Green Bull. In the original timeline, he would join the Marines after the Summit War and receive the title of Admiral Green Bull.
It was a good ability. Maybe not as overwhelming as Logia types like Lightning or Ice, but still extremely useful. If he could get his hands on the Sensen Fruit serum, Kain thought it might be the perfect gift for Tsunade.
He quickly thought of her—and their child. By now, the baby must've been born, but he'd been so busy that he hadn't returned to the ninja world yet. If he could give Tsunade the Sensen Fruit serum, maybe it would help lift her spirits.
"Robin, use nano-surveillance to mark his location. Then open negotiations. The Kain Chamber of Commerce wants to buy his 'ability'—offer generous compensation and full reports."
Robin rubbed her forehead and sighed.
"Boss… I'm afraid he's going to blow up the second we bring that up. Normally, no one agrees to something like that."
Logia fruits were considered the rarest and strongest type of Devil Fruit. Even now, Kain only had two Logia serums in his possession. He planned to give the Snow-Snow Fruit to Nonoyu, but hadn't yet decided who should receive the Sand-Sand Fruit.
"Be polite at first—we're businessmen, after all. But if he refuses, remind him about the lives of the two agents he killed. We can negotiate in other ways."
Kain finished giving his instructions, handled a few other matters, and ended the call.
At the Kain Chamber of Commerce HQ—
After Robin ended the call, she looked over at Wappa and the others in the room.
They had returned with serious injuries, but after treatment, they were much better—though still wrapped in bandages. Wappa in particular had suffered a broken leg and arm; it would take at least ten days to recover.
"You all heard what the boss said. If he said he'll protect you, he will. I trust him on that. After all, compared to insulting the Celestial Dragons, I'm technically guilty of something worse."
Robin smiled warmly, comforting the Sandians.
Mantis, Laki, and the others breathed a sigh of relief. They hadn't been to the Blue Sea many times, and were worried about the consequences of offending the wrong people. But Wappa didn't care—he was a pure warrior. At the time, when he cursed out that foolish Celestial Dragon, it was because the man had gone looking for trouble.
"I don't care at all," Wappa said flatly.
Before Wappa could finish speaking, Laki slapped his head heavily, then scolded him loudly: "Wappa, even if you don't care, you need to think about whether it will cause trouble for Mr. Kain. Did you forget what the chief said?!"
Wappa, looking troubled, replied, "Really, I know. I'll pay attention next time."
The mantis ignored Laki and Wappa, instead asking curiously, "President Robin, what did Mr. Kain say?"
"Supplies on the last floor? Speaking of which, Sky Island should be the first place to get in touch with this world's secrets. The things in there are all confidential, handled directly by the boss himself. I only know the names of a few things."
Robin pulled up a document from the computer, printed it out, and handed it to Mantis and the others.
The list included: T-virus enhancement, alchemical items, magical creature gene transplantation, bloodline limit transplants, potions, sea beast weapon enhancements, and nuclear bombs of various powers—along with other large-scale city-destroying weapons.
Robin had only used some potions and enhanced her body with the T-virus, but she hadn't come into contact with the other items, and she rarely visited the underground laboratory.
It was only after seeing the weapons listed that she understood why Kain wasn't interested in Pluton. The power of the weapons on the list was far greater than Pluton's, which had been uncertain for hundreds of years.
"You can choose anything from the list, just like before. Don't worry, you can discuss it with Mr. Chief and Mr. Ganfort."
Robin smiled, knowing that the people of Sky Island didn't have much desire for power.
But the Sandians were born warriors, and Wappa, in particular, was eager for battle. If someone ambitious saw this list, they would definitely want everything on it.
For the people of Sky Island, the most likely choices would probably be enhancements related to physical strength. Body enhancement, alchemical items, bloodline limits, and potions all fit that category.
In truth, Robin herself was struggling with her choices. She had been busy with the development of the Kain Chamber of Commerce, but now she felt her own strength was lacking.
Though she had enhanced her body once, if something unexpected were to happen, she feared she might become a liability.
…
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