Finn slowly lit a cigar, exhaled a plume of smoke, and watched as the battle in the distance came to an end.
All in all, it had ended far too quickly. Looking back now, it was probably because the battle hadn't taken place on land.
If they'd found an island and let Gion and Mihawk fight there, even though Mihawk was slightly weaker than Gion, he wouldn't have lost so quickly.
There would have been no need for him to endure so many devastating attacks.
When it came to battles, timing, terrain, and advantage all had enormous impact.
Just like what Garp had said before: if he and Whitebeard were to fight, who would win would basically depend on who had better luck.
Finn was also thinking about Mihawk's arrangements.
Capturing him outright would obviously be detrimental to the Seven Warlords of the Sea plan, which was critically important to the Marines.
It wasn't so easy to find someone like him who didn't care much about anything, didn't cause trouble, and was strong enough to fill the position.
Just as Finn was considering how to handle Mihawk, the Den Den Mushi he was carrying suddenly rang.
Finn snapped back to his senses, raised his hand, and pulled the Den Den Mushi from his pocket. After glancing at it, he was slightly surprised.
Although his relationship with Sakazuki was quite good now, and the two had reached a certain understanding, on regular days they rarely interacted.
It wasn't that they were trying to hide their relationship or anything like that. There was no need for that. It was mainly because Sakazuki was such a dedicated man.
Finn, by comparison, seemed like a very laid-back Admiral. His job was basically clerical work, just signing documents.
Sakazuki, as an Admiral candidate, was far more active. He was either beating up pirates or on his way to beat up pirates.
Sometimes Finn thought: if all the Marines were as dedicated as Sakazuki... that would be truly terrifying.
There were many thoughts swirling in his mind, but in reality, only a moment had passed.
Although Finn was slightly surprised as to why Sakazuki had suddenly contacted him, he still picked up the Den Den Mushi and answered the call.
"Sakazuki? That's rare," Finn said to the Den Den Mushi with a smile.
Sakazuki was silent for a moment before he spoke. "I'm sorry to interrupt your vacation, Finn."
Finn didn't care that he hadn't been addressed as 'Admiral' or anything formal like that. After all, they were practically family, so there was no need to be so distant.
"Hahahaha, it's nothing," Finn said with a laugh.
After a brief pause, Finn asked, "What's the matter? You don't seem like the type to think of getting in touch with me just because you're bored."
Sakazuki gave the Den Den Mushi a stiff smile before saying, "There's something I need your help with."
"What is it?" Finn asked directly.
"You're not at Headquarters, so you may not have received the news yet. Instructor Zephyr submitted his retirement application the day before yesterday," Sakazuki said.
Finn was momentarily stunned. This wasn't the first time Instructor Zephyr had done this.
If it were anyone else who kept applying for retirement but was never able to actually retire, people would probably assume they were just trying to gain attention.
But everyone in the Marines knew that Instructor Zephyr wasn't doing these things for show. He genuinely wanted to step down from the position of Admiral and move to a different role.
The reason he couldn't step down was simply that his superiors really wouldn't let him go. There weren't any other complications beyond that.
"Instructor really is..." Finn said, his tone tinged with emotion.
Then Finn asked again, "How was it this time? Was it rejected again?"
"No. The reason Instructor Zephyr wasn't approved to retire before was probably because once he stepped down, only Admiral Sengoku would remain, which would be truly inappropriate. But now, if he retires, you'll be there to take over, and the Admiral's reputation won't be tarnished. So the Fleet Admiral is already tempted. After all, it's not appropriate to keep rejecting Instructor Zephyr, and there's no suitable reason to do so now," Sakazuki said softly.
A gleam flashed in Finn's eyes. Then he said, "That makes sense. In other words, this time, Instructor is very likely to successfully retire, right?"
"That's correct," Sakazuki said with certainty.
"Which means the Admiral position that's currently unfilled will become vacant. Sakazuki, you have your eyes on that position and want my help, right?" Finn asked with a smile.
Like Finn, Sakazuki never concealed his ideals and ambitions of becoming an Admiral or Fleet Admiral.
After all, these weren't mean or shameful thoughts. What was there to hide?
So after Finn asked, Sakazuki said without hesitation, "Of course. I'm already one step behind you, so naturally I want to catch up as soon as possible. Are you worried that I'll pose a threat to you and don't want to help me?"
The second half of that sentence was obviously meant as a joke.
Finn certainly didn't take it seriously. He smiled and said, "Then you're underestimating me."
"Hehehe..." Sakazuki laughed.
"So what exactly do you want me to do? Help you with a nomination?" Finn asked.
"No. I'm already an Admiral candidate. I don't need a nomination," Sakazuki said, shaking his head.
Without waiting for Finn to speak, Sakazuki continued. "The situation is roughly like this: Borsalino and I both have Admiral candidate status. As long as Instructor Zephyr retires and the Admiral position becomes vacant, theoretically speaking, both he and I have the potential to become Admirals. So we're now in a competitive relationship."
"Not necessarily, is it? Borsalino is a pretty laid-back guy. If you explained it to him clearly, I think he'd give up," Finn said with a teasing smile.
Sakazuki was silent for a long moment before he spoke. "You're right. Borsalino and I have a good relationship. If I asked him, given his personality, he might not compete with me for the position. But, Finn..."
Finn finally understood and said softly, "I'm sorry."
"No... It's nothing. I know you mean well," Sakazuki said, slightly surprised by Finn's sudden apology. He quickly added, "It seems you understand. How could I, Sakazuki, say such a thing to Borsalino?"
Yes. If a shameless guy like Finn encountered this kind of situation, he wouldn't mind talking to Borsalino about it.
But how could Sakazuki have such a personality?
He was strong-willed and had an extremely intense character. What would it mean for him to say that to Borsalino now?
Would it mean that Sakazuki lacked confidence?
That he wasn't confident he could beat Borsalino?
Rather than that, Sakazuki would prefer Borsalino compete with him and then win the contest fairly.
Of course, given Borsalino's current easygoing attitude, he might give up on his own without Sakazuki even asking.
But that scenario was also uncomfortable for Sakazuki.
It was more likely that bad rumors would spread, saying he'd used a backdoor or something.
Therefore, no matter what Borsalino chose or did, Sakazuki had decided to make a major move to further prove he was qualified to be an Admiral, and then take that position with dignity.
As for asking Finn for help, there wasn't much to discuss. The Marines were a collective organization. There was no internal conflict.
If Borsalino had asked, Finn would have helped him as well.
"So what are you planning to do?" Finn asked.
"Are you interested in dealing with Kaido?" Sakazuki suddenly said.
"Kaido?" Finn was slightly surprised, then said, "Didn't the Fleet Admiral say that at this stage, we shouldn't overly provoke sudden changes in the New World..."
"Don't worry. As far as I know, Kaido isn't in the New World right now, so we won't need to send the fleet there," Sakazuki said with a smile.
Is this what the Fleet Admiral meant? Did you misunderstand something?
"Moreover, Kaido has been relatively inactive in the New World in recent years, and his influence there isn't very high. Even if we capture him, it shouldn't trigger drastic changes in the New World," Sakazuki added.
That was a bit more on point.
However, Finn was still slightly puzzled and asked, "Even if we catch that guy, we won't be able to kill him, right?"
As far as he could remember, Kaido had been captured by the Marines many times and sentenced to death many times, but he'd never actually been killed. There had to be something wrong there.
It was nonsense to say that Kaido was immortal. No matter how capable he was, if he were tied up with Seastone shackles and beaten by Garp day and night, could he really survive?
If all else failed, couldn't they just pry open his mouth, stuff a random Devil Fruit down his throat, and blow him up from the inside?
Yet Kaido had been wandering around until now and hadn't died. There was definitely something wrong here.
This wasn't a problem with Kaido's physique. It was a problem with the Marines.
As an Admiral, Finn could obtain information on these issues, but he hadn't paid attention to Kaido before, so he'd forgotten about it. Now he was in the East Blue, so he asked Sakazuki directly.
Sakazuki actually knew something and said, "There is a problem. That guy is a little special. Normally, after we capture Kaido, we hand him over to the World Government for handling. It seems that man knows some major secret, and the World Government really wants to get the answer from him..."
"Ridiculous," Finn muttered.
Sakazuki said calmly, "It's not the first time they've been ridiculous, is it?"
"There's something off about your attitude. Logically speaking, you should be the one who can't stand this kind of thing, right?" Finn asked again with some surprise.
Sakazuki was silent for a moment, then said, "But maybe Kaido really is hiding some secret concerning the safety of the world? So it's not convenient for me to act rashly..."
Finn hadn't expected this. Sakazuki was actually so concerned about the greater good.
But on second thought, Sakazuki did seem to have such a personality. In the original timeline, he'd been able to ruthlessly wipe out O'Hara, fundamentally believing it was for the safety of the world.
"Then why are you still messing with him?" Finn complained again.
"Even if it's not convenient to kill him, there's a chance to give him a beating. And it also allows us to demonstrate the might of the Marines without affecting the situation in the New World. Why not?" Sakazuki said confidently.
Before Finn could speak, he added, "Also, I can use this opportunity to ascend to the rank of Admiral. Killing two birds with one stone."
You're making such a damn good point. It's just like how I arranged things with Doflamingo. Even though it's not convenient to kill him, can't I still give him a beating?
"So where is Kaido now?" Finn asked. Seeing that Sakazuki had made up his mind, he stopped trying to dissuade him.
Although he felt that Sakazuki's reasoning was somewhat outrageous, what did it have to do with Finn?
There might even be other plans Sakazuki had, concerning personal interests or something else, but overall, as long as it didn't conflict with the Marines' interests, there was no problem. Finn had no intention of digging into it. Everyone had their own ideas, and there was no need to get to the bottom of everything.
If something really went wrong, Sakazuki would handle it.
"On a Sky Island. That's why I asked you for help. Without you, it would be difficult for me to get up there," Sakazuki said.
"I thought you wanted me to help you beat him up," Finn said with a smile.
"That's one aspect. After all, Kaido isn't easy to deal with," Sakazuki said solemnly.
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