Chapter 498: The World Conference, Again
Brett floated on the ocean surface below the cliff, doing nothing that looked like much from the outside. In practice he was simultaneously reading Chaton's thoughts and spreading Observation Haki in a wide perimeter around both of them, keeping watch for anyone approaching from any direction.
The moment anything moved, he would signal Momousagi and they would leave.
It didn't take long. Momousagi dropped down from above, hitting the water with a clean splash, then surfaced with her shoulders above the waves.
"I assume I don't need to explain the situation." She looked at him flatly.
Brett responded with an apologetic smile.
His Observation Haki was, she had concluded, unreasonably invasive. Mind-reading was one thing. But reading minds at a distance, quietly monitoring an entire conversation while the participants had no idea he was there, left very little of a private exchange actually private.
He had certainly followed her conversation with Chaton more clearly than either of them had.
"I only wanted to confirm he wasn't holding anything back," Brett said.
Momousagi made a quiet sound that didn't quite amount to a response.
Poor Kake. All that effort for nothing.
What a shame. With that level of dedication to this particular mission, he really wasn't doing his romantic prospects any favors.
Brett felt a genuine flicker of concern for the man's future. Given the depth of feeling Chaton had for Momousagi, and the current trajectory of his results, he was looking at a long and lonely road ahead.
"Let's talk about what Kake actually proposed," Momousagi said, bringing the conversation back around. "What do you think?"
"It's the best opportunity we're going to get." Brett nodded without hesitation.
Chaton had come up empty on everything. But after hearing from Momousagi that the new Science Division base was likely on the Red Line itself, he had identified something.
Under ordinary circumstances, getting into Mariejois to investigate was nearly impossible.
But there was an event approaching.
The current year was Sea Circle Calendar 1518, two years before the Straw Hats set sail. And while that particular milestone had nothing to do with anything at hand, it did mark another significant occasion: four years had passed since the last World Conference Brett had attended, and this year, the cycle came around again.
In roughly one month, the World Government would invite approximately fifty member kings to Mariejois to participate in the conference, discuss major global issues, and show their faces.
The opportunity was obvious.
Kings from across the world coming to Mariejois meant the Navy needed to send escorts to protect them in transit, and then a significant deployment of senior officers to Mariejois itself to manage security during the conference. Whether he was assigned to escort duty or on-site security, Chaton was confident he could arrange to be present in Mariejois through entirely legitimate means.
And once there, he could look around.
"We wait, then." Brett said.
There wasn't much else to do before the conference window opened.
"The World Conference, though." He said it half to himself.
He wondered if he could find a way to attend.
Not far from Marineford, in Mariejois above the clouds, the Five Elders were also holding a meeting about the upcoming conference.
"The time we have is running short." Saint Ju Peter's voice was measured but carried weight beneath it. "At this point there's no reason to keep hiding anything."
"The enemy is stronger than anything we've faced. We need every resource we can move to be moving."
"Agreed. It's time to let the kings understand the true state of the world." Saint Nusjuro gave a quiet nod. "They should know what kind of enemy we're facing."
"Then let this World Conference serve that purpose." Saint Mars spoke with the finality of someone who has already decided the matter. "We declare war on Brett in front of every member king. Openly."
"If we're doing this properly, inviting fifty kings is far too modest." Saint Saturn leaned forward. "This is a war we must fight at full strength. Call every one of them. Every member nation."
"Every king, in the same room. And every one of their nations participates in this war."
"Whether they wish to fight or not is irrelevant. No nation stands outside of this."
The other four Elders nodded in agreement.
They were right. At this stage, every fraction of strength was precious. Even if it meant using every king in that room as leverage to ensure their countries fell in line behind the Government's campaign.
Though the Five Elders understood, privately, that this mobilization would not change the fundamental calculus. The final outcome of the coming war would be decided by two things: the clash between Im-sama and Brett, and the contest between ancient weapons. Everything else was dressing, the same as it had been eight hundred years ago.
But you had to do something.
The orders flowed down from the Five Elders' chambers immediately.
"Invite every member king to this year's World Conference?"
At Navy Headquarters, Fleet Admiral Sengoku received the instruction and looked up from his desk with genuine surprise. "If we're inviting all one hundred-plus member kings along with their attendants and delegations, our escort arrangements are going to be stretched thin."
"The Government is under significant pressure." Tsuru was sitting on the sofa across from him, teacup in hand, her voice as level as ever. "Brett and Zephyr have put the Five Elders in a position they've never been in before."
"They want to pool every nation's strength for the final war. This conference is how they formalize it."
"Then." Sengoku's expression had gone to a place beyond ordinary seriousness. "This is the formal declaration of war."
"Very likely."
Tsuru set down her cup.
"The decisive confrontation is nearly upon us."
She kept her voice steady, because that was what she did. But behind the steadiness, a question she hadn't asked herself in a very long time was forming.
When this war began, what role would the Navy play?
For the first time in her career, Tsuru found herself genuinely uncertain about which side of a line she was standing on, and what that meant.
Gion. What are you doing right now?
Whatever the upper levels of the world were doing, the news of the expanded World Conference spread quickly.
Across the seas, people began the usual discussions. Which nations would send their kings. What topics the conference might address. What decisions might come out of the meeting between so many heads of state.
They didn't yet know the conference would be unlike any before it in scale.
They didn't know that this one was not intended as a meeting but as a mobilization.
They didn't know that when it concluded, a war would already have begun.
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