While Dragon began contacting and organizing the Revolutionary Army for their operation, Finn sat in his Marineford office, idly playing with a Den Den Mushi while lost in thought.
It was obvious that Finn, despite being a Marine Admiral, had never actually met the Five Elders. This spoke volumes about his relationship with the World Government's top leadership. The Five Elders didn't like him.
Which was remarkable, really. A long time ago, they'd considered him a promising talent. The CP organizations had even tried to poach him.
Everything had changed now. It was honestly absurd. Couldn't they just stick to their original opinions?
However, at this point, Finn no longer planned to maintain a good relationship with the Five Elders, nor did he need to spend excessive time and effort trying to change the status quo.
Besides, he was already a Marine Admiral. As long as Fleet Admiral Kong and Admiral Sengoku were alive, he'd theoretically reached the peak of available power. The rank of Fleet Admiral wasn't something he should consider at this stage.
Even if he handled the Mary Geoise situation perfectly and did everything beautifully, it would be useless. The Five Elders would still dislike him.
Finn would still be a Marine Admiral. He couldn't become Fleet Admiral.
So why should he care if Mary Geoise burned?
That's why he'd chosen to contact Dragon first and join forces with him to clean out Mary Geoise. That was where the real benefit lay.
According to current divisions of responsibility, Mary Geoise's security didn't fall under the Marines' jurisdiction.
In fact, a few years ago, the Marines had maintained a large garrison in Mary Geoise. However, as relations between the two organizations deteriorated and mutual dislike grew, the Holy Land had naturally reduced the Marine presence there.
This made sense, and Finn had nothing to complain about.
Therefore, at this stage, Mary Geoise's security was primarily handled by the so-called "Army"—composed of noble children padding their resumes and building connections—along with CP agencies.
So even if something went catastrophically wrong in Mary Geoise, the Marines wouldn't be held responsible.
In this way, Finn's involvement in attacking Mary Geoise wouldn't harm Marine interests at all.
Secondly, if Mary Geoise were attacked by Tiger and Dragon, it would be a massive loss of face for the World Government. Utterly humiliating.
This was actually beneficial to the Marines, because it would diminish the World Government's majesty and prestige.
At the same time, after the incident concluded, the World Government would certainly retaliate. In their fury, they'd go all out. The Marines, CP agencies, and other World Government subsidiaries would inevitably be assigned this task.
Then wouldn't it be the Marines' turn to earn merit?
Moreover, Mary Geoise would certainly enter a weak period of reconstruction for a long time afterward. During those three to five years, the World Government definitely wouldn't dare clash with the Marines again. On the contrary, they'd do everything possible to win Marine favor.
If, in this situation, the Marines performed admirably—Finn wouldn't say they could capture Dragon, but if they could eliminate Tiger—then Fleet Admiral Kong could be promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the entire military and work in Mary Geoise.
The World Government would need a Commander-in-Chief from the Marines to oversee Mary Geoise's security. This would allow them to feel safe during their period of vulnerability.
It was a natural trade-off.
Once Fleet Admiral Kong was promoted to Commander-in-Chief, the Marines' shackles would be further broken. Admiral Sengoku would inevitably become Fleet Admiral. Then, with support from the Commander-in-Chief and incentives from the World Government, the Marines would enter a period of rapid development.
That was another layer of benefit.
So after careful consideration, Finn realized that as long as Dragon wasn't caught by the World Government, the Marines would profit regardless of how events unfolded. They might not make a killing, but they definitely wouldn't lose.
In that case, there was nothing to worry about.
After thinking for a moment, Finn took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, then picked up another Den Den Mushi.
He dialed Queen Stussy.
Queen Stussy had been in an excellent mood recently.
Since cooperating with the Warlord "White Hunter" Smoker, her foothold in the New World had become much more stable. At the same time, her power in the underworld had grown even stronger. Since she'd also shared some of the Amway Group's profits, the upper echelons of the CP agencies and World Government were extremely satisfied and optimistic about her contributions.
Under these favorable trends, Queen Stussy was naturally in high spirits.
She'd taken a rare break today and was applying a facial mask in a house almost identical to Finn's Marineford residence...
But soon, harassment from Finn arrived.
Stussy's mood actually improved further when she saw the signal on her Den Den Mushi. That heartless man was actually contacting her on his own initiative?
Thinking back on recent maritime developments, there didn't seem to be any particularly drastic changes. Maybe Finn was just calling to chat rather than discuss business. Queen Stussy happily picked up the receiver.
"Stussy?" Finn's voice came through.
"It's me, Admiral Finn..." Stussy replied with a smile.
Just as she was about to exchange pleasantries, Finn cut straight to the point. "Are you free to talk?"
Stussy paused, her expression growing more serious. She knew something might have happened, so she restrained her casual demeanor and replied softly, "Yes. What's wrong? Did something happen?"
"Don't worry, it's a good thing," Finn said with a smile.
Stussy relaxed slightly. "What kind of good news?"
"Something's going to happen to Mary Geoise soon," Finn said bluntly.
What? How is that good news?
Before Stussy could respond, Finn continued. "Mary Geoise's security has always been the responsibility of your CP agencies. You should have some of your people there, right?"
"Well, not long ago, Spandine went to Mary Geoise..." Stussy confirmed.
Of course, it wasn't just Spandine. Finn only knew about Spandine specifically, so Stussy only mentioned him. In reality, Mary Geoise was the World Government's headquarters and the CP agencies' power center. How could Stussy neglect it? She'd naturally arranged many of her confidants there as well.
"Evacuate everyone quickly," Finn said with a smile. "Especially those in positions related to Mary Geoise's security. It's best to reassign those posts to people you dislike. Once something happens, whoever holds those positions will be in serious trouble."
Stussy's eyes lit up. "Is there going to be an incident in Mary Geoise?"
"That's right. A major incident. The Revolutionary Army is going to attack Mary Geoise. Dragon informed me about it. I'm just reminding you to quickly distance yourself from the Holy Land to avoid being held accountable later," Finn said smoothly.
The Revolutionary Army is going to attack Mary Geoise?
Stussy was stunned. Was the Revolutionary Army really that bold?
But since Finn had said it, Stussy didn't doubt him for a second. She knew Finn wouldn't deceive her and had no reason to deceive her.
Her level of trust in Finn was infinitely higher than in Dragon. Stussy quickly responded, "I understand. Is there anything else I can do?"
"Don't concern yourself with the Revolutionary Army at all, and you absolutely must not interfere. If they leave any traces connecting to you, you could die a hundred times and it wouldn't be enough to make up for it. But regarding Mary Geoise itself, try to secretly gather information about the slaves there. It would be best to learn about their hometowns and backgrounds. But you need to be fast. Safety comes first. If it's truly not feasible, don't do it," Finn instructed.
It was clear that many slaves would join Fisher Tiger after this incident. If Stussy's people could gather information about them, the Marines would undoubtedly have an advantage over other organizations when hunting Tiger later. Secondly, besides Tiger, Dragon's Revolutionary Army would undoubtedly recruit talented individuals from among these freed slaves. Finn also hoped to plant a hidden asset here, to see if he could provide Dragon with some insurance.
Of course, this was just a contingency move. If Stussy couldn't manage it, that was fine. Finn wouldn't sacrifice Stussy for this. She was far too valuable.
Stussy didn't ask any further questions. She simply nodded. "I understand. Don't worry, I won't let you down."
"Hahaha! After this, a lot of people in CP-0 will definitely be in trouble. Stussy, this might be your chance for a promotion, so seize it," Finn said encouragingly.
"I understand," Stussy said with a smile.
She was currently a Senior Operations Commander in CP-0, though her special status and management of Pleasure Street gave her higher standing than the average Senior Operations Commander.
Above her was the position of Grand Commander in the CP agencies, and above the Grand Commander was the "Director General" who oversaw all CP organizations.
The Director General position was far beyond her reach for now.
But she'd been eyeing the Grand Commander position for quite some time. However, several Grand Commanders had held their positions firmly for years, leaving Stussy with no room for advancement.
If she could take advantage of this opportunity to see a Grand Commander fall from grace, none of the other Senior Operations Commanders could compete with her. Then wouldn't she be promoted again?
The higher Stussy climbed in the CP agencies, the better it would be for Finn. He certainly hoped she could ascend as quickly as possible.
That's why he'd notified Stussy to prepare.
After that, Finn briefly explained the relevant details, and Stussy became increasingly alarmed as she listened.
However, after the initial surprise, her eyes grew brighter and brighter. If Finn's calculations were correct, and if such an incident really occurred in Mary Geoise, more than one Grand Commander would fall.
This was an opportunity!
After discussing these critical matters, Finn chatted with Stussy about more casual topics and made plans to visit her in the New World when he had time. Only then did he hang up the Den Den Mushi.
After reviewing the entire plan once more and finding no obvious flaws, Finn breathed a sigh of relief.
Of course, plans couldn't account for everything. Perhaps something unexpected would happen once they took action, but in that case, he'd just handle it as it came. There was no point worrying about it now.
Well then. Next, he just needed to make arrangements on the Marine side.
Finn had no intention of informing Fleet Admiral Kong, Admiral Sengoku, Sakazuki, or anyone else about this matter. He could share the news with Dragon and Stussy, but he absolutely couldn't share it with the Marines.
That wouldn't be appropriate.
He was even prepared to "launder" the benefits from this operation before distributing them to the Marines.
"Hina! Hina!?" Finn called out a few times, but received no response.
He waited a while longer before Hina walked in from the hallway, looking slightly flustered. "Admiral, next time, could you please use a Den Den Mushi to call me? Your loud voice makes Hina feel awkward when Hina with the Fleet Admiral."
"Then why didn't you come back sooner after delivering the documents?" Finn glared at her, then issued his orders. "Go. Convene a meeting in my name as Admiral. I'm launching a new round of anti-corruption operations, focusing on combating corruption within the Four Seas Marine branches!"
That's right. Finn was planning to legitimately deploy some of Marineford's forces to the Four Seas, giving Dragon and his people operational space while also having a built-in excuse for this incident.
There's no one at Marine Headquarters. Everyone's been deployed to the Four Seas for anti-corruption operations. Who knew something would happen at your Holy Land, Mary Geoise?
If support isn't provided in time, we have legitimate reasons. You can't just blame the Marines. Mary Geoise isn't even under our jurisdiction anyway!
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