Smoker had a very good impression of Hancock, his future "colleague."
Of course it wasn't because Hancock was beautiful, but because as long as Hancock joined the plan to infiltrate the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Smoker would no longer be alone.
Admiral Finn would be embarrassed to only screw him over in the future, right?
Finally, there was someone who could share this hellish pain with him.
Hancock was confused. What was going on?
Welcome me to what? To Hell?
The corner of her mouth twitched slightly. She said somewhat unhappily, "Nice to meet you, Rear Admiral Smoker."
Doberman then asked, "Why did you leave the New World and come here?"
Smoker sighed. "I've been working with the Calm Belt operations for so long, but I haven't come to inspect them, so I came to observe."
"Observe?" Doberman smiled. "What mission has the Admiral assigned you?"
Smoker said with some annoyance, "Of course, he wants me to go to Water 7, recruit some shipbuilders, and set up a shipyard in the New World. On the surface, I'll produce and sell some ships to ordinary people, but in reality, I'll secretly build warships..."
Of course, this was only part of the plan. The other part of the reason came from that guy Spandine.
He'd secretly informed Finn that CP-9 had already uncovered considerable information about Master Tom, and that this man very likely possessed the design blueprints of Pluton.
However, since he was the main person in charge of researching and developing sea train technology, the World Government also attached great importance to this technology, so they hadn't taken action against him and had given him a suspended sentence.
Finn's mission for Smoker was to see if he could invest in sea train technology in Water 7. After Master Tom finished this project, Smoker would be able to acquire this mature technology as soon as possible.
Then it would be secretly handed over to the Marines, who planned to use this technology in the Calm Belt to further develop the region.
Honestly, once this technology was developed, the World Government would definitely be able to control it, but it would be difficult for the Marines to apply for its use. After all, there was no good justification. So it was up to Smoker.
As for Pluton, Finn had no interest in it at all.
This thing, just like nuclear weapons, was best not mastered by anyone. Otherwise, once this Pandora's box was opened, no matter who possessed it now, it would cause extremely great harm to the world in the future.
In addition, Admiral Sengoku, Fleet Admiral Kong, and others also felt the Marines shouldn't interfere in these matters.
As for the World Government, Finn knew very well that if nothing unexpected happened, they wouldn't be able to obtain the blueprints. They'd just have to let Spandine keep an eye on it.
Listening to Smoker's answer, Doberman nodded. "This is very important. In fact, one of the constraints on our Marines in the New World is the number of warships. As you know, the Marines' warships are mostly manufactured in Water 7, and the rest are completed here at Headquarters. However, no relevant shipyards have been established in the New World. Our Marines usually enter the New World to carry out missions through Mary Geoise. People can pass through, but ships cannot. If we transport ships from Fish-Man Island by coating, the risk is very high. Therefore, the New World has always been in a state of warship shortage. If you can secretly fill this gap in the New World, it'll definitely be a great achievement!"
Smoker nodded. "The Admiral also instructed me on this. Although the current global situation is somewhat unstable, it's much better than it was a few years ago. Our Marines have regained the initiative. The future strategic focus has shifted to the New World again. The Admiral and others are preparing to eliminate the pirates in the New World eventually, so we must make preparations in advance..."
"Anyway, thank you for your hard work, Smoker," Doberman said with a smile.
"Hahahaha, actually it's not such a difficult task. The situation in Water 7 isn't good right now. A large number of shipbuilding companies have closed down, and many experienced shipbuilders are unemployed. It shouldn't be a problem for me to recruit these people," Smoker laughed and nodded.
With the arrival of the Great Pirate Era, Water 7 had also been greatly impacted. First of all, the island's originally popular tourism industry had gradually declined.
Because this island was too attractive to pirates, and pirates also needed ships. When they arrived at Water 7, wouldn't they quickly have a good ship built and continue to explore the world?
As time went by, a large number of pirates had mixed in with Water 7. The arrival of pirates naturally brought chaos, so the tourism industry of Water 7 had declined rapidly.
Next, the shipbuilding industry had been greatly affected. In the eyes of those pirates, asking you to help build a ship was doing you a big favor. You still dared to ask them for money?
Did you think they were easy to talk to? Were the swords in their hands not sharp anymore?
In short, most pirates took things for free. Who could stand that?
Therefore, in recent years, a large number of shipbuilding companies had gone bankrupt, triggering an economic collapse of the entire Water 7. It had now entered a period of great depression.
It wasn't until Master Tom developed sea train technology and with the hard work of his disciple Iceburg that Water 7 would finally recover.
But the sea train of Water 7 hadn't been developed yet, so it shouldn't be a big problem for Smoker to go there and recruit people.
After that, Smoker told Hancock about the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and as a senior, he began imparting his experience to Hancock.
Meanwhile, at Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
Finn was processing some documents in his office.
Just then, the door of his office was pushed open by Hina.
In all of Marineford, only Hina and Garp would barge in without knocking. Hina had Finn's authorization, while Garp was completely shameless. There was nothing you could do about him.
Hina's footsteps were very light, but as for Garp, he'd start yelling as soon as he entered.
So Finn knew it was Hina without even looking up. He asked, "What's wrong?"
"Admiral, look at this yourself," Hina said angrily.
Then she handed a document to Finn.
Finn first signed the document in his hand, then picked up the document Hina handed him and opened it to take a look.
"Oh my..." Finn murmured, then looked at Hina with a smile. "Why are you so angry? Wasn't this something I expected?"
"But even if we expected it, we should still be angry! What are the people above thinking? Admiral, you captured Kaido with such difficulty, and now they just let him go like that..." Hina said furiously.
That's right. This document was about Kaido, who'd been handed over to CP-0. According to the information in the document, Kaido had broken free from his restraints while being escorted to Impel Down on the prison ship, sank the prison ship, and escaped.
But in reality, this was just a cover story. Kaido had been imprisoned for more than two years. He hadn't escaped earlier or later, so why would he escape at this particular time?
The World Government must have reached some agreement with Kaido, or some other situation must have led to Kaido being released.
As far as Finn knew, the World Government did have some cooperation with Kaido. On one hand, it was about arms, but this was unlikely. On the other hand, he wasn't very clear about the details.
Seeing Hina furious and cursing at the World Government, Finn couldn't help but laugh. "Okay, okay, stop talking nonsense here. What if word gets out?"
"What are you afraid of? Admiral, you often speak ill of them together with Vice Admiral Garp, and no one comes to punish you!" Hina said angrily.
"Why aren't there any punishment?" Finn rolled his eyes at Hina, then said, "Have you ever seen an Admiral who's been in office for so long without formally paying a visit to the Five Elders? Only me. Why? Because they don't want to see me at all. Hahahaha..."
That's right. Even though Finn was now firmly in the position of Admiral, in fact, he'd never received any recognition from the higher-ups from the beginning to the end. The Five Elders had no intention of acknowledging him at all.
And from a certain perspective, this was also a kind of invisible suppression. Because as an Admiral, you could make decisions independently within the Marines, but what if you were a Fleet Admiral?
The World Government would then have legitimate right to intervene...
Once an Admiral was no longer trusted and was disliked by the World Government, he'd basically lose the possibility of becoming Fleet Admiral.
For example, in the future, even with the strong recommendation of Fleet Admiral Kong and Fleet Admiral Sengoku, the World Government had still opposed Kuzan in the end and forced Sakazuki to take the position. Sakazuki had also been very determined and had beaten Kuzan directly to claim the Fleet Admiral position.
So even though Finn was now at the peak of his career and was the most powerful person in the Marines, in fact, from the outside, there were many people who didn't know the inside story and thought Finn had reached the ceiling of his position. He'd only be a Marine Admiral for life. If he wanted to become Fleet Admiral, the World Government would most likely not agree.
But among the insiders in the Marines and the influential figures like Stussy who were involved in many matters, Finn was still very popular.
Because in their view, by the time Finn was promoted to Fleet Admiral or something similar, the Marines would have already resolved all external constraints.
The World Government would no longer have the ability to interfere in Marine affairs.
They even thought that perhaps Finn would become the most powerful and autonomous Fleet Admiral in the history of the Marines, thus ushering in the era of the Great Marines.
Seeing that Finn didn't care at all about Kaido's "escape," Hina glared at Finn in frustration.
"Alright, alright," Finn first comforted Hina, then said, "Compared to Kaido, I care more about this Crocodile..."
"What happened with Crocodile?" Hina asked.
"According to the information given by Stussy, the World Government is in secret contact with Crocodile. Perhaps this guy will become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. This doesn't quite fit with our plan..." Finn said.
"Then let's capture Crocodile and eliminate him now, just like we did with that... Blood Torrent, Craster!" Hina said after a moment of hesitation.
"The problem is, our Marines can't find Crocodile right now, and Stussy hasn't been able to locate any information about him either," Finn shook his head.
Crocodile was a very cunning guy. Perhaps he wouldn't reveal his whereabouts at all before the matter of the Seven Warlords of the Sea was finalized.
According to Finn's plan, there was no place for Crocodile among the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
Currently, Bartholomew Kuma, Mihawk, and Smoker had taken up three spots.
Among the remaining four, Hancock must be one of them. In the past two years, the Marines had maintained considerable interaction with Queen Otohime of Fish-Man Island. Finn had deliberately reserved a place for Jinbe.
Therefore, in the end there were only two left, and Doflamingo would take one of these two. This was also what Finn was planning, because Doflamingo was someone who could be won over.
Then there was only the last one left. Finn intended to look for a suitable candidate for this position and wasn't going to leave it to an outsider.
As a result, Crocodile, who'd been silent for a few years, had popped up again, which was very annoying.
But this was the case with many things. You planned for a long time, but there would always be unexpected elements that disrupted your plans.
At this moment, Hina said, "If it really doesn't work out, let him take the position first. We don't have a suitable candidate right now anyway. When we find one, we can find a way to eliminate him, right?"
Finn: ???
You're so ruthless!
However, this was indeed the Marines' strategy from the beginning. If there was no suitable candidate, just let it go temporarily. When a suitable one was found, they'd eliminate the Warlords of the Sea who weren't their own people and replace them with their own!
Therefore, the feasibility was still quite high.