He should have made this call a year ago, but due to unexpected disaster, faulty intelligence, and his own poor decision, he ended up working as a miner for a year.
The Den Den Mushi was quickly connected, but no sound came from the other side.
Drake was calling a private number of Sengoku's; although Den Den Mushi doesn't have caller ID, no outsiders know this number; anyone who can reach this Den Den Mushi is someone on a special mission.
Hearing the call connect, Drake let out a sigh of relief. Then, he found a suitable posture and pretended to be physically exhausted, leaning against the corner of the wall as he placed the Den Den Mushi beside him to make it look like it had accidentally fallen, and then gently tapped on the deck.
He had made sure there was no one around just to make this call; he didn't want to be discovered during the call and waste a whole year of mining.
Dong, dong, dong.
Rhythmic knocks rang out in Sengoku's office. Though the noise coming from the receiver was heavily distorted, Sengoku still caught the code message sent by Drake.
[Fleet Admiral Sengoku, this is Drake. The plan has begun. I have gained the opportunity to join them. Steel Mammoth Jack has been promoted to the Fourth Calamity. A Marine base may be attacked soon. Coordination needed.]
Hearing the message from the Den Den Mushi, Sengoku also let out a deep breath. Drake had disappeared ever since he reported beginning his mission last time, vanishing completely for an entire year.
At first, they thought Drake was just preparing. But as time dragged on, even Sengoku suspected something had happened to him. If not for the fact that only he and a few higher-ups knew about this mission, he would have believed Drake's cover had been blown and the undercover mission had failed.
[Received. Why has it taken so long to hear from you? If you delayed a few more months, the Marines' Fleet Admiral would have changed already.]
What Sengoku said was true. After prolonged debate, the Marines and the World Government each hoped to make Kuzan or Sakazuki the new Fleet Admiral. Despite multiple meetings, there had been no resolution.
Neither Kuzan nor Sakazuki was willing to back down. Normally extremely laid-back, Kuzan was strongly opposed to Sakazuki becoming Fleet Admiral. In the end, it was decided the position would be settled through combat.
But if the two fought without restraint, the consequences would be too great. The World Government and Marines were currently searching for a suitable battleground.
[It's a long story. The situation isn't suitable for small talk. I'll contact you again later.]
After Drake tapped out the final coded message, Sengoku didn't say anything more and hung up directly. Drake didn't return the Den Den Mushi to its place either, he transformed into an Allosaurus and charged out to the deck, throwing the entire warship into chaos.
"Brother Jack, that group's only got this one left. Looks like he survived the battle."
Aboard the Steel Mammoth, Sheepshead observed the battlefield ahead through binoculars. Everyone who had left the prison with Drake had already died in the fight.
"He's even an Ancient Zoan. Looks like this guy was a Super Rookie a year ago."
"So he's been mining all this time… for a whole year?"
Hearing Sheepshead's report, Jack felt puzzled. Drake's recent behavior seemed to show interest in joining them.
But over the past year, he had acted unyielding. Jack couldn't understand, if Drake intended to join them, why didn't he surrender sooner?
"Yeah… so, Captain Jack, what do you plan to do?"
"If he can survive ten battles, he naturally qualifies to join. But there's something off about this guy. Keep a close eye on him. That's what you think too, right?"
The first half was said to Sheepshead, but in the second half Jack shifted his attention to Alcremie. Sheepshead said nothing. It seemed he was long used to this, and silently committed Jack's order to memory.
Marine Headquarters.
Sengoku also issued some orders to the warships stationed in the New World, and then began reviewing the latest intelligence.
Currently, the Marine Fleet Admiral was still him; many decisions still required his final word.
"It's been so long, and there is still so much trouble on the seas… Where the hell has that Garp run off to again?"
"Mr. Garp recently returned to East Blue. I heard he's captured quite a few pirates, Fleet Admiral Sengoku."
On the nearby sofa, Kizaru was trimming his nails with nail clippers. While Aokiji and Akainu were preparing for battle over the Fleet Admiral position, he had also been assigned to Marine Headquarters to be ready to support nearby World Government nobles at any time.
"Tch, went back again? His grandson is nothing but trouble."
Garp returning to East Blue was within Sengoku's expectations. After the Summit War, pirates began appearing in large numbers across various regions. Garp went to East Blue to help make his hometown more peaceful. Since he was ultimately capturing pirates, Sengoku couldn't criticize him directly and could only curse under his breath.
"Speaking of Mr. Garp's grandson, there's something recently that's closely related to them, Fleet Admiral Sengoku. You've seen the intel on Whitebeard Jr., haven't you? I heard he's a monster with the same terrifying power as Whitebeard in his youth."
"You experienced Whitebeard's power firsthand in his younger days, didn't you?"
"This guy is a hassle, but for now, he's mostly targeting Whitebeard's remnants. The World Government's attitude on this matter is also quite ambiguous."
"Recently, World seems to have come out of hiding too. Being a Fleet Admiral is getting harder and harder. Borsalino, why don't you just take over instead?"
"Spare me, Fleet Admiral Sengoku. Leave this troublesome job to those two."
"Sigh."
Grabbing a thick stack of documents in frustration, Sengoku headed to Tsuru's office to analyze countermeasures. At the same time, pirates outside continued to act as they pleased.
On a certain island in the New World, the pirate Sengoku and Kizaru were discussing was on the move.
"It's you, isn't it?! During the war, you didn't trust father and even tried to attack him!"
A large, fat man with a muscular upper body but unusually thin lower body held a large naginata identical in style to the Murakumogiri.
Thick blond hair, like a cape, covered his entire back. The hair on both cheeks was braided.
With thick lips, a constantly runny nose, and vicious scars across his body, he also had a thinner crescent-shaped white mustache.
Whitebeard Jr. – Edward Weevil
Bounty: 480 million Berries.
"Unforgivable! I'm going to kill you for father!"
Boom!
Weevil raised the naginata in his hand and slashed forward. The pirate in front of him drew a large katana to defend himself, but against Weevil's power, he was utterly outmatched and was sent flying within a few strikes.
"Doubting Pops was an unforgivable mistake I made. But only the members of the Whitebeard Pirates are Pops' sons! A guy like you… how could you possibly be Pops' son?!"
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