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New World, Garfield.
On the coast, soldiers descended from the stairs one after another. Many fortunate survivors set foot on land, their legs trembling as they knelt down, unable to hold back their tears.
No one would underestimate them for this.
After receiving an urgent notification, just the photos sent by Den Den Mushi made the soldiers and officers stationed in Garfield shiver with fear, let alone those who had been directly involved and luckily survived.
“Medical team, we have critically wounded here!”
“Hurry, repair the leaks in the ship’s hull!”
“We don’t have tools, go to the palace and find them. If you can’t find any, ask the ministers!”
The soldiers busied themselves with the aftermath, and the port was bustling with activity.
“Finally back…”
Looking at the familiar land, Rowen’s tense nerves relaxed, and he let out a long sigh of relief.
Even battling Rayleigh didn’t tire him out as much as rescuing the battleships that had returned!
In the face of nature, humanity is truly insignificant.
To escort these battleships back, he and Kizaru almost exhausted themselves.
“Admiral Kizaru, I’ll go back to rest first.”
Rowen spoke to Kizaru and quickly slipped away under the latter’s watchful gaze. Previously, he couldn’t afford to bother Kizaru because he couldn’t let the battleship force sink. But now that he had some free time, Rowen didn’t think he could match up to Kizaru in a fight.
“You little brat…”
Kizaru squinted as he watched Rowen leave, his fingers tightening and loosening as he considered whether to intervene.
Certainly, launching a sneak attack when he had the chance was the best course of action. Kizaru believed that Rowen wouldn’t dare to let Rayleigh take him along, but…
It’s frustrating!
When did a dignified Admiral stoop so low as to be used as cannon fodder to test the enemy’s hand?
Not even the Gorōsei (Five Elder Stars) would have the nerve!
However, Rowen didn’t rest for long. A messenger came half-awake, knocking on his door and saluting immediately upon entering. “Vice Admiral Soryu (Azure Dragon)! The Commander orders you to immediately proceed to the conference room!”
“So soon?!”
Rowen was surprised. He and Kizaru could travel quickly thanks to their Devil Fruit powers, but somehow, Zero, who was a pure physical powerhouse, was only an hour slower than them.
But when Rowen thought about Zero’s speed in reaching the battlefield while the main force was still miles away, he was only momentarily surprised before grabbing the cloak from the hanger and leaving the room immediately.
The conference room was a hall that had been converted from Garfield King’s banquet hall, with doors at the front and back. The soldiers at the door saw Rowen approaching and quickly straightened up, their heads held high without looking away.
“Vice Admiral Soryu (Azure Dragon)!”
“Yes, thanks for the trouble.”
A simple greeting made the two young Marine soldiers excited, their faces flushed as they held their guns and shouted in unison.
“For Justice!”
“…”
Rowen twitched his mouth, avoiding the gun barrels that almost hit his nostrils and pushing open the door to the conference room.
“…We suffered heavy losses, which is my fault!”
There was hardly any disarray on Bald Zero’s body, and he looked still as bright and clean as ever, reflecting the light with his bald head, blinding everyone. It seemed that neither Rayleigh nor the tsunami had caused him any trouble.
As Rowen entered, he saw Bald Zero holding a Den Den Mushi, admitting mistakes to someone. He gestured for Rowen to join him and some other officers.
As the Admiral candidate second only to the Three Admirals, Rowen faced Kizaru’s gaze and sat to Kizaru’s left.
“The losses this time are not due to the sins of war but the failure of the Information department to properly file records, resulting in the entire army being engulfed by the tsunami.”
“I have already locked up the individuals responsible and await further punishment.”
A deep and majestic voice came from the Den Den Mushi, first consoling Zero, then casually deciding the life or death of some unknown figure, and then saying, “The rest of the matter is still up to you to handle. You must find the culprit and ensure that the information does not leak out!”
“Yes, I promise to complete the mission!”
Click…
Bald Zero hung up the call, turned to look at the generals, considered his tone for a moment, and then slowly began to speak.
“We’ve been deceived!”
A stone thrown caused a thousand ripples!
With these words from Zero, the conference room instantly erupted into chaos. Kizaru’s brow furrowed slightly as if he had realized something.
“Indeed!”
Rowen muttered to himself, recalling the events of the previous battle.
This muttered remark was not heard by even Kizaru, but Zero noticed it nonetheless. With a stern gaze, he asked, “Vice Admiral Soryu (Azure Dragon), did you notice something?”
Seeing Zero speak up, everyone else fell silent. Then, whether it was the high-ranking government agents or the Marine officers, they all looked at Rowen with admiration and gratitude.
They knew that before Zero arrived, it was Rowen and Kizaru who had teamed up to hold off the legendary pirate, the right-hand man of the “Silvers” Rayleigh.
And in the subsequent evacuation, it was also Rowen and Kizaru who displayed miraculous power, carving out a path for the force amidst the roaring waves.
If it weren’t for them, it would be considered lucky if a third of the Battleship force returned alive this time.
“Yes!”
Rowen didn’t notice this trivial matter. Upon hearing this, his expression condensed, and he stood up and saluted.
“During the battle, I was thinking, why did Rayleigh repeatedly provoke Admiral Kizaru? It didn’t benefit him in the slightest, did it?”
“Later, it turned out that he was deliberately setting a trap, trying to lure Admiral Kizaru close and seize the opportunity to strike!”
“But everything has a cause. If he was determined to leave, he wouldn’t have needed to fight so desperately. Thinking back now, he probably prepared for a fierce battle from the beginning.”
“Combining the fact that we were able to easily set up the layout and wait for his appearance, during the week-long gap, I suspect Rayleigh was just a decoy to attract our attention. He… or rather, they, have a bigger scheme behind them!”
Hiss…!
The other officers gasped in shock.
They were not aware of the specific details of the battle, but since Rowen, the person involved, said so, and Kizaru nodded secretly, the truth could be imagined.
Initially, they thought it was because they and others did a good job in the Information department that Rayleigh had no chance to fish in troubled waters, forcing him to fight to the death.
But now…
This whole incident was a trap from the beginning!
Roger’s Vice Captain, “Silvers” Rayleigh, acted as bait to gather them here.
If even Rayleigh willingly acted as bait, then what was the plot behind it?
“Yes, that’s why I called you all here for this meeting!”
Bald Zero nodded in satisfaction and said solemnly.
Although Rowen only discovered the problem from Rayleigh’s behavior midway through the battle, the other party didn’t know about his initial plan to cast a wide net to catch big fish. It was not easy to detect the problem without any advantage in Information. At least at Rowen’s age, Sengoku didn’t have such far-sightedness.
Waving his hand to signal Rowen to sit down, Zero saw everyone holding their breath and waiting for him to speak and continued to explain.
“A group of thieves broke into the Mary Geoise government Headquarters building half an hour ago and stole a very important document!”
“Because our attention was focused on Rayleigh, a large number of special agents were mobilized, resulting in sparse defenses in the Holy Land. By the time we realized that something had been stolen, it was too late.”
“Find them, capture them, and retrieve the document!”
“This is our new Mission!”
Zero didn’t explain what the document was, but it was definitely one of the few things that could make the Gorōsei (Five Elder Stars) treat it so seriously, let alone just a bait like Rayleigh, such a strong person.
Rowen frowned silently, speculating in his mind.
Ancient Weapon!
This matter was really significant!
Those who could become officers were all astute individuals. What Rowen could think of, they could think of too.
The air seemed to freeze, and there was no noise at all.
Seeing that everyone was silent, showing a humble attitude as if afraid of being resented, Zero’s eyes flashed with a hint of disdain. His gaze passed over Kizaru, who looked as if he were listening to a story and looked at Rowen.
With this representative, the others followed suit and turned to look at him.
“Vice Admiral Soryu (Azure Dragon), have you thought of something again?”
“I don’t know, maybe it’s something big?”
“We’re just here to contribute our labor. The real decision-makers are still them.”
Everyone discussed one after another, and Zero decisively spoke up, “Rowen, do you have any thoughts?”
“It’s difficult, it’s difficult, it’s difficult!”
Rowen didn’t notice the change in Zero’s address. This was something he had been guarding against all along, but he didn’t expect someone to beat him to it.
He first confirmed the difficulty with three words, then said, “If there are no Devil Fruit Ability users proficient in tracking within the government, we can be sure that we won’t catch up with them.”
“From the fact that they were able to make Rayleigh cooperate and set up a diversion, we can see how meticulous their plan was. They must have all subsequent measures in place, so how can it be so easy to catch them?”
“Yes, the first group of pursuit forces dispatched by the government was ambushed by the enemy and suffered heavy losses. Moreover, the enemy took an underwater route, making subsequent pursuit almost impossible.”
Zero revealed a disappointing piece of news, eliciting exclamations.
There were only one or two Fish-Men who willingly served the government and were being reused. Relying solely on them to catch people was nothing short of wishful thinking.
Then he looked at Rowen again. “But the Gorōsei’s orders are absolute!”
“No matter how difficult it is, we must go forward! Say your thoughts, Rowen.”
“For now, there’s no good solution. We were careless this time, so we can only aim to minimize the damage.”
Rowen didn’t mind showing his value at this time. Being appointed as an Admiral candidate meant that he was already a member of the decision-making level. Competing with Momousagi and Chaton, only those without value would be abandoned.
This was what everyone in the Sea longed for.
Wealth, fame… power!
Being in the center of power, with tangible achievements shining brightly, if Rowen couldn’t confidently and boldly demonstrate his value now, then no one in the world would be qualified.
He thought for a moment and continued, “The only thing lost is the document, right? Then let’s start with the information related to the document!”
“If it’s related to iron ore, focus on the circulation of black and white ore; if it’s related to Devil Fruit, focus on the circulation of fruits; if it’s related to a certain island, then block off that island!”
“As long as the document doesn’t have any real impact on reality, it can only exist on paper, minimizing the loss to the greatest extent.”
This statement almost spelled out “Ancient Weapon”.
However, no one found it strange, because it was something everyone knew.
“Very well, let’s follow this plan! Everyone, take immediate action and strengthen your defenses!”
Zero hammered down the action plan and nodded decisively.
“Yes!”
(End of this chapter)
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