At the headquarters of the World Economy News Paper, Morgans was still flying in the sky, with no intention of landing at all.
Vivi and Wapol were currently hiding with Morgans, and he didn't dare land casually while carrying them. Not long ago, he had even discovered that a World Government agent had snuck aboard his airship.
That agent came to Morgans with a check in hand, trying through threats and bribes to get him to conceal some of what had happened during the Levely.
Faced with such a request, Morgans refused without a second thought. Though he often fabricated fake news, he had an obsession with reporting the truth when it came to major events.
When the agent even tried to use force to threaten him, Morgans knocked him unconscious with a flurry of punches. From that moment on, Morgans switched to guerrilla mode, changing the location of his base almost every day.
Recently, news has been coming in nonstop. The successful revolutions in several countries and the spread of the Sabo incident had already triggered a chain reaction.
While not as shocking as before, it was still eye-catching enough. When it came to selling anxiety, Morgans' experience was exceptionally rich. He always managed to make people imagine what their own future might look like.
He had also been keeping an eye on the Marines' attempts to arrest the Shichibukai, but there were no results so far. He hadn't expected a piece of news to deliver itself right to his doorstep.
"You say… who are you?"
"Fisher Tiger, former captain of the Sun Pirates, Fisher Tiger. The Fish-Men have something to announce to the world. Don't you like exclusive interviews? We can set a time to talk face to face."
Morgans hadn't forgotten that name, and he knew very well what it represented.
Fifteen years ago, this man had climbed to Mariejois with his bare hands and infiltrated the holy land where the Celestial Dragons lived. After setting fires, he freed slaves of all races, creating the unprecedented Assault on the Mariejois incident.
As the first person to attack Mariejois and challenge the World Government, Fisher Tiger became both a criminal and a hero of Fishman Island, the leader of the slave liberation movement.
Even now, his name was still passed around within the Revolutionary Army, and there were people all over the world who remembered Tiger's kindness.
"You're a big name, but if I remember correctly, you died twelve years ago, didn't you? Back then, a lot of people acknowledged your death."
"The truth can be buried too, can't it?"
"Kwahahaha, even though that's true, if anyone and everyone tells me that, it would be hard to sell the newspaper."
Fabricating fake news was a daily activity for Morgans, but most of what he made up was half true and half false, combined with established facts to draw attention.
Otherwise, it would be events with no traceable evidence at all, making them impossible to debunk. If his credibility dropped, the future of his newspaper would be finished.
Tiger was certainly eye-catching news, but if it later turned out to be a fake, Morgans wouldn't know how to deal with the aftermath.
"Morgans, he's real. You can rest assured and go ahead with it."
At that moment, the expression of the Den Den Mushi changed. Mandrell, who had just arrived at Tiger's side, took the Den Den Mushi, and that voice made Morgans believe Tiger's words.
"I see. In that case, it's not strange that he survived and disappeared for so many years."
With the Beasts Pirates getting involved, everything that had seemed unreasonable suddenly made sense. Earlier, Morgans had even worried that this was bait set by the World Government to fish him out, and had planned to carefully choose the meeting location.
But now, there was no need.
"If that's the case, shall we choose the usual place for the meeting? I'll completely expose this news, it's quite an explosive piece of news."
In just a few sentences, Morgans had already finalized the details. After hanging up, he couldn't help but burst into wild laughter.
"Everyone! Target: Secret Base No. 7. A huge piece of news is waiting for us!"
In Morgans' eyes, Tiger's appearance was simply too perfect. Now was exactly the time for the Revolutionary Army to launch its actions, and Tiger revealing that he was still alive at this moment was like pouring fuel on the fire—gasoline, at that.
For those who had been enslaved, Tiger was like a shooting star that once flashed across the darkness of night. When that brief moment of brilliance turned into an enduring starlight, the flames of revolution could only grow more and more intense.
"Hey, hey, hey, have you lost your mind? That's Tiger we're talking about! What do you gain by doing something like this?!"
Wapol had basically eavesdropped on Morgans' entire phone call and simply couldn't understand why Morgans would do such a thing.
"That guy attacked Mariejois! Aren't you afraid he'll kill you?!"
"Wapol, you're less calm than a little girl. What are you so worried about?"
Morgans combed his feathers, completely dismissive of Wapol's panic.
"That's someone who attacked the World Government! He's a dangerous criminal!"
"But right now, the World Government probably wants to kill you even more. How about this, tell me what you actually saw over there at Mariejois, and I guarantee I'll send you somewhere safe."
"Don't even think about it! I won't say what that thing was. If I say it, I'll definitely be silenced. Definitely…"
Just thinking about what he had seen that day in Mariejois made Wapol's body start trembling uncontrollably.
"Wapol, you'd better say it. I think that even if you don't, the World Government still won't let you go."
Vivi saw things more clearly than Wapol, though her brows were still shrouded in gloom. Cobra's death had already been announced, but the World Government claimed that no body had been left behind.
Vivi couldn't make sense of what had happened, and with Wapol refusing to say what he knew, just a couple of her sentences were enough to pile even more anxiety onto him.
"As long as I don't say anything, the World Government won't trace it back to me. Once things calm down, I can go back to being a king."
"Stop dreaming. I don't know why those CP0 agents wanted to arrest me, but you're the one who 'saved' me from there."
"Who was trying to save you?! You were the one who followed along in the chaos!"
"Heh, you can try seeing whether the CP0 agents will believe you, Wapol. Even though I really hate you, you need to understand that from now on, you and I are in it together for better or worse."
Wapol's complexion gradually turned ashen, his whole body showing signs of petrification, and the sharp verbal assault also struck Morgans as rather amusing.
"Princess Vivi, if you ever get the chance, how about considering becoming a reporter? We could really use someone as sharp-tongued as you."
"No need to wait for the future. I can start right now."
As she spoke, Vivi borrowed some makeup from one of the female staff members and began tidying her appearance in front of a mirror. Her loose, shoulder-length hair was tied back into a ponytail again, and a layer of heavy makeup was applied to her face.
"I look forward to working with you, President."
"You're quite experienced, Princess. So what should I call you now?"
"Wednesday."
"All right, Miss Wednesday. Welcome to the World Economy News Paper. I look forward to your reporting."
Miss Wednesday—the identity Vivi had once used while infiltrating Baroque Works. She didn't want to keep hiding forever, and instead planned to change her identity to get closer to the truth.
In Mandrell's territory, after a brief period of rest, Regigigas had already dragged the island away, while Arlong, stirred by Tiger's earlier words, inexplicably grew excited.
"Boss, is it finally time to take revenge on those b*stards?"
It's hard to change one's nature. Although Arlong's extremism was tempered under Tiger's influence, and years of life had changed his attitude, deep down, he still harbored hatred deep within his heart.
It was just that this hatred had shifted from humanity as a whole to only certain humans.
"Arlong, the purpose of this is to let those people know that we can get angry too, that we have ways to fight back, that we are not sheep to be slaughtered at will.
Our goal is for Fish-Men to stand on land as equals, not to spread terror among humans."
"I know, Boss. I'll follow your orders. Trust me, I won't act recklessly. So what exactly are we going to do?"
Arlong looked toward the beach, where Mandrell was at the moment. As the amusement park developed, part of it had extended in that direction.
Fish-Man and human children weren't paying attention to changes in the world, simply playing together carefree, including hybrids like Maylo.
More than twenty years ago, Arlong would have sneered at such a sight.
Over ten years ago, he would have walked away in disdain.
Now, he had come to accept it.
"I'll tell you once the new weapons arrive. In short, the sea is our battlefield. Since those Celestial Dragons are always craving Fish-Men and Merfolk slaves, we'll let them know that once they anger us, even going out to sea will become a luxury."
"Weapons? Boss, we don't need that kind of thing, do we? Underwater, our bodies are the best weapons. I alone can punch a hole through a warship!"
"And then what? Don't underestimate human strength. Back in Paradise, the ones we ran into were just ordinary Marines. This is the New World, and where we'll be acting is even close to Mariejois. The strength of the guards is on a completely different level.
If you can touch the ship, they can touch you. Marine officers who've fought in the New World aren't something you can deal with.
If it were just me and Jinbe, it'd be hard to have much effect. The others will need to rely on these weapons."
The advantage of Fish-Men is their ability to breathe underwater. With the resistance of seawater as cover, gunfire from ships has a hard time seriously harming them.
Aside from that, the so-called tenfold strength of Fish-Men is almost nonexistent. That strength assumes no one trains at all. Against Marines who have mastered parts of Rokushiki or even Haki, that tenfold strength is nothing but a joke.
This attack wasn't aimed at a single ship, but at all those who still regarded Fish-Men and Merfolk as slaves. The voting outcome Neptune obtained at the Levely had indirectly become their target.
"So, boss, what exactly is this weapon?"
"You'll find out when the time comes. It should be arriving soon."
No sooner had Tiger finished speaking than another pirate ship approached from the distance. Jack's Steel Mammoth had arrived in Mandrell's territory as well.
"Unload everything!"
The gangplank was lowered, and Jack directed his men to start carrying boxes. Most of the boxes were around six meters long, and judging by their careful movements, they seemed to contain something explosive.
"Brother Mandrell! I've delivered the goods!"
"Oh, Jack? Do as you like. I'll come find you in a bit!"
Mandrell waved at Jack but didn't go over right away. There was nothing urgent anyway; he planned to finish playing with the children first.
Hearing this, Jack went straight to Tiger and completed the handover with him.
"The new weapons Brother Queen made, ten prototype units in total. I've delivered them all to you."
Jack then opened one of the boxes. After clearing out the straw packing, a black object fixed onto a frame appeared before Tiger, complete with a seat and a steering wheel.
"Boss, is this the weapon you were talking about? It looks so strange."
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