Marinford, Marine Headquarters
In the Fleet Admiral's office, Sengoku, with a gloomy face, held a Den Den Mushi.
On the other end was undoubtedly the Gorosei.
"This war must not fail, Sengoku. Keep a close eye on Garp!"
"I guarantee, on my honor as Fleet Admiral, that Garp will never do anything to harm the reputation of the Marines! His justice is unquestionable!"
Sengoku clenched his right hand, gritting his teeth to vouch for his old friend.
"Your honor is worthless!" The Gorosei rebuked angrily.
"Garp is still free only because of his title as 'Marine Hero.' Otherwise, he would have been sent to Impel Down long ago! Look at the things he's done? His son is the leader of the rebels, his two grandsons are pirates, and he concealed Roger's son's identity and didn't report it! Trust him? Why should we trust him! Sengoku, I want you to keep a close eye on Garp. If he makes any sudden moves, take him down immediately!"
"The execution in a month must go through without fail. We will use Dragon's son to lure him out. In this war at Marinford, we will annihilate the Whitebeard Pirates and all the rebels in one swoop! Let the evillest bloodlines be severed forever!"
"Gorosei-sama, Garp will never betray the Marines. His justice is beyond question!"
"This is an order, Sengoku! If you cannot do it, we will have Kong do it!"
The Den Den Mushi was hung up mercilessly.
Sengoku, his face dark, clenched his hands and bowed his head, saying nothing.
His brother-in-arms for decades was insulted like this; how could Sengoku be in a good mood? But he couldn't refute it.
The Gorosei was right.
What Garp had done-was too much!
Three generations of his family, except for Garp himself, opposed the World Government.
His son rebelled against the Gorosei, his grandsons attacked Enies Lobby.
If Garp didn't have the title of "Marine Hero," he would have been sent to Impel Down to retire long ago.
Certainly, you could argue that the actions of his son and grandsons had nothing to do with Garp, but the world is never reasonable.
No matter how great a hero you are, if your descendants do such things, you can't blame those in power for being extremely wary of you.
"If you can't do it, Sengoku, let me."
Sitting opposite Sengoku, a majestic purple-haired Marine said in a deep voice.
"Zephyr... Do you also support this execution?" Sengoku looked up and said solemnly.
"This isn't like you, Sengoku. Haven't we always been the opposite? I questioned your extremism, and you refuted my naivety."
Zephyr, the former Marine Admiral and current Marine Head Instructor, shook his head and said gently.
"The World Government... I don't want to judge whether they are right or wrong. But since they are pirates, they should be prepared for this day."
The Marines are divided into Hawk and Dove factions.
In Zephyr's generation, Sengoku was an absolute Hawk.
Even now, Sengoku remains a staunch Hawk.
After learning Ace's true identity, although he felt bad for Garp, he still firmly pushed for the execution of Ace to lure Whitebeard into war.
But now, with Luffy also involved, Sengoku appeared hesitant.
After all, that was Garp's biological grandson, his only grandson left.
And Luffy's execution was because of his father, Dragon, the leader of the Revolutionary Army.
The Marines' enemy is not necessarily the Revolutionary Army; at least, in terms of direct conflict, the Marines and the Revolutionary Army are not sworn enemies.
And executing two grandsons of his close friend, merely for the mistakes of their fathers, made Sengoku feel uncomfortable.
Sengoku glanced at Zephyr's arm, remained silent for a moment, and said.
"No, I'll do it. Garp will not betray his justice. Just let him... see it through to the end."
"Will Former Fleet Admiral Kong also be coming to this war?" Zephyr frowned slightly.
"Is it necessary for such a large mobilization just for the Whitebeard Pirates?"
Zephyr's pirate guerrilla squad was hunting pirates in the New World when they received the summon from Headquarters.
Not only him, but even the incumbent Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, Kong, seemed to be coming to Marinford for war preparations.
The current highest fighting power of the Marines, plus the highest fighting power of yesteryear.
Such a lineup, unless they were attacking all the Four Emperors combined, one Whitebeard didn't warrant such a deployment.
"Dragon and his Revolutionary Army will also be attacking." Sengoku said calmly.
"CP has detected their movements. Revolutionary forces from all over the world are gathering-they even robbed Doflamingo's goods recently."
"And not only that, but Garp also said that the Red Hair Pirates might interfere."
"That makes sense..." Zephyr frowned slightly.
If it's two Four Emperors and a Revolutionary Army, it's normal for the Marines to gather such strength.
"In any case, we must be extra careful during this time. The security at Impel Down is also very strict-but there is a problem here."
Sengoku rubbed his head, looking troubled.
"Dawn Master Poltorto, one of the Warlord, requested to visit Impel Down. He even got permission from the Gorosei. I don't know what the Gorosei were thinking."
At this crucial moment, Impel Down, where Luffy and Ace are imprisoned, needs to be guarded the most.
Setting aside Whitebeard, the unscrupulous Revolutionary Army could indeed sneak attack Impel Down to rescue the two.
Yet, precisely at this critical moment, a Warlord wants to visit Impel Down, and most ridiculously, the Gorosei agreed.
"Do you need me to watch him?" Zephyr asked.
"No need. CP0 agents are monitoring his every move... It would be best if he had some sinister intentions, we could take him down right there!"
Sengoku shook his head.
He hadn't disliked Poltorto that much originally, but after less than a year of that pervasive weapons trade across the sea, it was hard for him not to hate this source of chaos.
"His weapons... are too wicked!"
Although he said that, Sengoku knew perfectly well that weapons are not inherently wicked; only the people using them are.
But the power of the weapons also leads to a decline in the status of soldiers.
With the weapons developed by Poltorto, Sengoku could already feel the Marines' status gradually declining with the World Government.
If soldiers who have trained for years can still easily die from a bullet that costs only 100 Beri, the Marines, who are controlled by the government, might completely lose their dominance.
The foundation of an army is, after all, built by countless soldiers.
A few strong generals at the pinnacle cannot change the general trend.
...
"What do you want? Where is this? I am a CP9 agent, you can't do this!"
"Wait a minute, what is this thing-empty your mind? I refuse!"
"Ahhhhhh!!!"
Shin carefully and cautiously transformed Blueno into his new Prayer, No. 8th.
This time, he didn't wipe Blueno's mind clean; he just temporarily locked his consciousness because it wasn't necessary.
He wouldn't use this Prayer very often, maybe just once or twice.
After that, Blueno could do whatever he wanted.
He had always thought of himself as not a good person, but when possible, he didn't want to be a bad person either.
Looking at Blueno, who was trapped in the huge 'flower bud' and tortured until he was half-dead, the sea idol Ann, with green twin tails and a sweet, cute face, was curled up in the corner of the wall, trembling with fright.
Shin lowered his head, processing the experimental data.
During this time away from the Mental Subordination Machine, he spent 90% of his time working, using a massive amount of work to numb the negative effects brought on by the machine.
It could be said he was working 996 (or more).
So, if possible, he didn't want to waste too much time breaking down someone's psyche to implant a mental seed and turn them into a Prayer.
About half an hour later, a dazed Blueno walked out of the Mental Subordination Machine.
Shin looked up and, with great interest, controlled him to open the "door" several times, finally confirming.
This guy's Door-Door Fruit was indeed not that convenient.
He couldn't open a door to a place he hadn't been to.
He also couldn't open doors in areas with Seastone or the ocean.
It was full of limitations.
But that was normal. There was nothing to be disappointed about.
If it were a Door-Anywhere Fruit, he estimated Doflamingo's people wouldn't have been able to catch him.
Speaking of which, Rob Lucci's CP9 crew was apparently being trained under the watchful eye of Stussy, a veteran CP0 agent, to see if they were qualified to join CP0.
Presumably, the old woman Stussy, who pretends to be young, is currently in a conflict with Doflamingo.
It didn't matter much anyway.
They only kidnapped Blueno.
To cover their tracks, a few other former CP9 agents were also captured.
But if they didn't capture Rob Lucci, who Stussy had already internally recommended for CP0, these agents probably wouldn't do anything excessive.
"Go outside, start extreme physical training until you collapse."
Shin pointed outside casually.
Blueno, retaining some instincts, immediately went out and began physical training.
Ann, trembling in the corner, watched all of this in horror, her large eyes filled with tears of fear.
"Do you want to go in there?" Shin pointed to the Mental Subordination Machine, smiling pleasurably.
"Please, spare Ann. Ann is willing to do anything for you..."
Ann shook her head like a rattle, putting on a pitiful expression, trying to evoke Shin's sympathy.
"You are a smart girl."
Shin walked over to Ann, pinched her smooth, lovely face, and tapped the Seastone handcuffs on her wrists.
He chuckled softly.
"My arrangements for you won't be like his. He is a CP9 agent, so I must completely control his consciousness. You are different; you are just a... pirate idol, and you are very sensible. So, I don't have to turn you into a Prayer."
Shin also didn't want to make too many Prayers.
Creating too many of them genuinely puts a serious strain and burden on his mind.
Furthermore, he didn't have the time to train the enhancement of their Devil Fruit proficiency.
To master Ann's Illusion Fruit as well as she did would require a lot of effort.
Again, he didn't have the time or the energy.
"But you must help me do one thing. During this time, you must intensify your training to maximize the projection of the contents of this picture book using your ability."
Shin threw a hand-drawn picture book on the table to Ann and tilted his head.
"You must make this 'fairy tale' come alive, looking exactly like the real thing. Can you do that?"
"No problem, Ann will give it her best!"
The girl nodded vigorously like a pounding garlic.
When she opened the picture book, her face quickly showed discomfort and disgust.
"What is this..."
"A fairy tale." Shin smiled pleasantly and maliciously.
"A dark fairy tale is still a fairy tale."
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