"We have already contacted Kaido and BIG MOM. They agreed to form an alliance, but the specific details still need further negotiation with them."
After several days of running around and coordinating, Dragon brought back a piece of news that was neither good nor bad.
"Therefore, BIG MOM took this opportunity to move up this year Tea Party and invited us to attend together."
Sherwin was not surprised, and he nodded.
"That normal. Given their personalities, even if their subordinate forces suffered heavy losses, they wouldn't easily surrender the initiative. In fact, if they hadn't suffered a major setback at Egghead, it would be a pipe dream to even get them to consider an alliance."
"Having this willingness is already quite good."
Dragon spoke just as calmly,
"According to you, Mr. Sherwin, our current goals are aligned. When it comes to targeting the World Government, we don't have to worry about them dragging us down.
Besides, most pirates are just bullies who fear the strong and oppress the weak. So, as long as we keep Kaido and BIG MOM under control, the initiative will still be in our hands."
With the Beasts Pirates and the BIG MOM Pirates—two of the Five Emperors whose strength had been severely depleted—facing off against Sherwin, Shanks, and Whitebeard, three of the Five Emperors who were in perfect condition, along with the Revolutionary Army that had grown increasingly strong during this period, Dragon didn't even know how he could lose!
Thinking of this, a smile couldn't help but appear on Dragon usually expressionless face.
"The media war you mentioned, Mr. Sherwin, has already shown results in just a few days. Not only are more and more people opposing the World Government, but people within the Marines have already begun to resign.
Another part of the Marines hopes to obtain autonomy, or at least stop cleaning up after the Celestial Dragons and becoming their accomplices all day long... However, I am not optimistic about them."
Dragon shook his head. If the World Government truly cared about what the Marines thought, they wouldn't have kept all the high-ranking Marine officials in the dark while using "Garp" to set a trap.
Furthermore, it wasn't as if he hadn't made similar efforts before defecting from the Marines. As for the result...
One only had to look at his current identity as the leader of the Revolutionary Army to know.
Regarding media wars, Sherwin actually knew very little. But at least he had witnessed various examples from Earth.
While he didn't understand advanced tactics, he still understood how to use internet trolls to deploy white-noise bomb tactics.
Thus, with the full support of the World Economic Journal and the help of Vegapunk special transmitting device that could forcefully hack into other Den Den Mushi, the reputation of the World Government and the Celestial Dragons, which was already not great to begin with, had been deteriorating rapidly over the past few days.
After all, if there was one thing the Revolutionary Army did not lack, it was people persecuted by the Celestial Dragons—they could be found in droves, from all over the world and from every race.
Dragon didn't even need to do anything complicated simply having them take turns sharing their experiences via live broadcast Visual Transponder Snail was enough to make public opinion explode.
And the Marines were not faring any better, because Sherwin suddenly remembered that he had kept a video recording of Kuzan saving Cavendish from him.
In the video, Kuzan, who was still an Admiral at the time, clearly knew that Cavendish was "the Hakuba of Rommel" who had committed several bloody crimes.
Yet, because of the other party identity, he stopped Sherwin and did not even intend to hold Cavendish accountable for his crimes, instead making him one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea...
As this video spread, the reputation of "Justice" that the Marines had built up over so many years might not have been completely on the brink of collapse, but it was certainly shaken heavily.
After all, even if someone in the Marines had done something bad in the past, it was rarely known under the official cover-up.
Therefore, the Marines had always enjoyed a fairly decent reputation among the public.
But with the World Economic Journal "switching sides" and cooperating with the Revolutionary Army to wage a public relations war, the World Government and the Marines, who originally controlled the narrative, were caught somewhat off guard.
Not only had they been unable to mount any kind of response, but even within the Marines, morale was wavering. Kuzan, the Fleet Admiral who had not been in office for long, was facing an unprecedented crisis of trust.
Precisely because of this, Morgans and the World Economic Journal had now become a thorn in the side of the World Government, just like Sherwin and the Revolutionary Army.
However, Morgans, that birdman, was not stupid either. Without needing a reminder from Sherwin and the others, he had long since flown away with the World Economic Journal headquarters, and even when resupplying, he absolutely never stayed in one place for more than two days.
"I once proposed to Mr. Morgans to send some Revolutionary Army soldiers over to protect him, but I was rejected."
Although Dragon had known long ago about the need to spread "ideology," the impact of Sherwin public relations warfare still astonished him beyond measure.
He had also realized the importance of Morgans—or more precisely, the control of the narrative. Unfortunately, the other party did not trust him and was cooperating with the Revolutionary Army entirely because of Sherwin.
However, to say Dragon was deeply disappointed wouldn't be accurate either.
After all, Sherwin had almost become a "sage-like" figure in his eyes. Whether Morgans valued him or Sherwin, Dragon didn't really mind, as long as it helped them deal with the World Government.
"He probably worried that there are government spies planted within the Revolutionary Army," Sherwin casually explained on Morgan behalf.
"For Morgans to become a News King who isn't controlled by the World Government, if nothing else, his hiding and escaping skills are definitely top-notch. He has the ability to handle it."
Then, Sherwin changed the subject. "Speaking of which, how many people do you plan to bring to the Tea Party this time?"
"Ivankov and the others still have other matters to handle, so I only plan to bring Sabo, Kuma, and Kuma daughter, Bonney." Dragon paused for a moment before continuing, "However, Luffy and his crew also seem to want to tag along..."
"Then just let them come along," Sherwin shrugged indifferently. "It not like we're going there for an all-out war this time. Even if the talks fall through and a fight breaks out, their strength is more than enough for self-preservation."
Well, maybe letting Luffy fight Katakuri would allow his Observation Haki to evolve rapidly, just like in the original story.
As for Sherwin side, he still asked everyone for their opinions.
Since this trip would inevitably involve running into Kaido, Sherwin needed to consider Yamato thoughts.
As it turned out, Yamato didn't really care, but Shirahoshi, on the other hand...
"Boss Sherwin, I want to go back to Fish-Man Island to take a look."
After finding out that Fish-Man Island had also joined the war against the World Government, Shirahoshi had been constantly worried about the safety of her hometown.
Although Sherwin had already analyzed it for her, explaining that it was impossible for the World Government to use Uranus to blast Fish-Man Island, and that some members of the Whitebeard Pirates were still left there to "guard the territory," the location of Fish-Man Island was truly too awkward. It was only natural for the young mermaid to feel anxious.
And...
Shirahoshi has now mastered the power of "Poseidon", and only by returning to the deep sea can she fully unleash her strength.
And as Shirahoshi big sister, Jinx also decided to go to Fish-Man Island with her.
As one of the developers of "Little Girl", and also a Bomb-Bomb Fruit user, the little blue cat is capable of detonating "Little Girl" on her own.
Although the power isn't as massive as when several Felynes team up to detonate it, when combined with Shirahoshi "Poseidon" ability, protecting Fish-Man Island is more than enough.