East Blue.
In a plain, ordinary house within the Cartel Kingdom.
"Army Commander, the rebel forces we've cultivated in the Cartel Kingdom have now exceeded 3,000."
"Not enough. We must be patient. If one year isn't enough, we take two; if two aren't enough, we take three. Three thousand is still far too few. We need at least fifty thousand."
"Understood. I've spoken with the rebel leader and told them to keep lying low for a while to avoid exposure."
"Mhm. Has anything unusual happened in the East Blue lately?" Belo Betty asked with a nod.
"Nothing. Since the 16th Branch's Operation Thunder, the East Blue has remained stable. Pirate-related incidents have actually dropped by 72%."
"Except for one thing..."
"According to our intelligence, someone seems to be investigating us. Or more accurately, they are investigating you, Army Commander, and Deputy Commander Ashiru."
Belo Betty frowned slightly.
They were the Revolutionary Army; it was only natural that the World Government and the Marines were hunting them across the globe. Being investigated wasn't surprising. Normally, her subordinates wouldn't bother reporting such things unless a serious problem had arisen.
Since they were bringing it up now, something had definitely gone wrong.
"Give me the details. What exactly is happening?"
"Please look, Army Commander..."
As Betty looked at the papers handed to her, her pupils suddenly contracted.
One of the papers didn't surprise her—it was her own bounty poster, and it certainly wasn't new. The other, however, wasn't a bounty poster at all, but a portrait.
Crucially, the drawing was incredibly lifelike.
'Ashiru...'
Unlike Betty, Ashiru had never been exposed. Not only did she have no bounty, but she could walk right past a World Government agent and they wouldn't even know she belonged to the Revolutionary Army.
"Where did this come from?"
"We captured an intelligence agent by chance and found it on him."
"Which faction?"
"Unknown. Although we managed to break him under interrogation, he only knew that his mission was to find traces of you and the Deputy Commander. Beyond that, he knew nothing—he didn't even know which organization he belonged to."
"A cutout agent?" Betty mused after a moment of silence.
This method of operation wasn't unusual; the Revolutionary Army used the same tactics for many of their underground peripheral cells. Even if an agent was captured, the enemy wouldn't gain any valuable intelligence.
But who was the enemy? How could they possibly have a portrait of Ashiru?
"Oh no!"
Betty's expression shifted abruptly as a thought struck her. "Has Ashiru arrived at the Zumeida Kingdom yet?"
"The Deputy Commander arrived a day ago. She is currently leading a team to execute the infiltration plan against the 16th Branch, managing the intelligence pipeline for that operation."
"Order her to return immediately! Now that her identity is compromised, she cannot appear in public."
"Yes, Army Commander! I'll notify her at once."
'''
16th Branch.
Interrogation Room.
Sean had personally participated in the design of this facility. It was almost identical to the interrogation rooms of his previous life. It was a small room with a single table in the center, where the suspect's hands were fixed to the surface with shackles.
A surveillance Den Den Mushi on the ceiling beamed the scene to the outside.
"Lucci, how did you catch her?" Sean asked with interest as he watched the feed of Kalifa questioning Ashiru.
It had only been a few days, and they had already snagged one of their targets. The efficiency was impressive. However, members of the Revolutionary Army shouldn't be that easy to catch.
"It was actually a coincidence," Lucci explained. "We monitored all the new recruits from the second wave of conscription and found three who seemed suspicious. After putting them under detailed surveillance, we discovered they were having abnormal contact with a merchant caravan delivering daily supplies to the branch."
"We then investigated the identities of everyone in that caravan and discovered that Ashiru was among them, posing as a reserve navigator."
"We've already questioned the caravan leader; there don't seem to be any major issues. Ashiru had only joined them a day prior."
"In other words, rather than us finding her, she practically walked right into our trap!"
"Furthermore, her cover was perfect. If it weren't for that portrait, she might have fooled us."
'Good grief, she really did deliver herself right to us,' Sean thought.
Then again, as Lucci said, if Sean hadn't provided the portrait of Ashiru, no one would have recognized her even if she had walked through the front door. Still, he needed to confirm her identity. If they had the wrong person, it would be an embarrassing mistake.
"Have Kalifa come out. I want to have a chat with her."
"Yes, Rear Admiral!"
Lucci knocked three times on the interrogation room door, and shortly after, Kalifa opened it and stepped out.
"Rear Admiral, give me a little more time. I can definitely make her talk."
"It's fine. Let me talk to her for a bit. Lucci, turn off the surveillance Den Den Mushi."
Sean patted Kalifa on the shoulder and pushed open the door to enter.
However, just as he stepped inside, he heard someone whisper behind him.
"Rear Admiral Sean, this is sexual harassment!"
'What the...?'
The sudden comment nearly made Sean stumble. Fortunately, he steadied himself just in time. He shot a glare back at Kalifa before entering the room and shutting the door.
"Lucci, why do you think the Rear Admiral turned off the surveillance?"
"I don't know, and I don't need to know," Lucci replied.
Kalifa felt a sudden wave of boredom. Meanwhile, inside the interrogation room...
"Revolutionary Army, East Army Deputy Commander, Ashiru."
"I've already told you, I'm not Ashiru! You have the wrong person!"
"Wrong person, huh... perhaps. In that case, you're free to go."
Ashiru froze.
She had prepared herself for all sorts of torture, or even to die in this place. And now he was just letting her go? She didn't even know how to react.
"Why wouldn't I? If I have the wrong person, why would I keep you?"
Sean paused. "Then again, maybe it's better to just mobilize an army and march straight to Baltigo. That way, we definitely won't grab the wrong person, wouldn't you agree?"
"..."
"You... since you know about those places, then why...?"
The White Soil Continent? Baltigo?
Ashiru's eyes widened as she stared at Sean, a flicker of genuine terror appearing in her gaze.
Her voice trembled as she spoke.
"Why didn't you tell Marine Headquarters, or the World Government, so they could wipe out the Revolutionary Army's stronghold in one blow?"
"It's actually quite simple. While I know a great deal, I didn't originally intend to do anything to the Revolutionary Army—at least not for another two or three years."
"But your leader did something I find completely unacceptable!"
"He severely injured eight of my elite Marines without provocation. If I hadn't possessed some specialized means, I might not have been able to save them."
"And all of this, simply so he could rescue his son, who happens to be a pirate!!"
Ashiru froze.
The leader had attacked Sean's subordinates? And the leader had a son who was a pirate?
The sheer amount of information left Ashiru momentarily stunned.
"Monkey D. Dragon, a former Vice Admiral of Marine Headquarters. His father is the Marine Hero, Monkey D. Garp, and his son is the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy."
"Hehe, hedging his bets across three different sides. Quite the strategy!"
"In the end, no matter which faction emerges victorious, the Monkey family will endure, and they'll remain a central figure in whatever power takes over."
"Doesn't it feel like some kind of World Boss?"
These words, a blend of truth and fabrication, flowed effortlessly from Sean's lips.
The overwhelming flood of information left Ashiru utterly bewildered. Pure lies wouldn't work, nor would the plain truth. But words that were seventy percent truth and thirty percent lie... those were the easiest to shake a person's resolve.
"What... exactly do you plan to do?"
"Dragon dealt a heavy hand to my people for the sake of his precious son. What do you think I intend to do?"
"You want to use me to lure out more of the Revolutionary Army, and then..."
"Smart. As expected of one of the Revolutionary Army's high-ranking officers. While using you to draw out Dragon might not be enough, you're certainly a sufficient chip to plot against Belo Betty, aren't you?"
Having said this, Sean prepared to stand and leave.
As for extracting Belo Betty's location from Ashiru, that was unlikely. Therefore, that hadn't been Sean's goal from the start; he simply wanted to confirm her identity.
After all, there had been no concrete evidence that this woman was Ashiru. On one hand, she refused to admit it; on the other, while Lucci's investigation had turned up suspicious results, it hadn't been enough to solidify her identity.
Sean had only relied on memories from his previous life, summoning Usopp and having him draw a portrait based on his descriptions. Even then, he couldn't be one hundred percent certain she was Ashiru, the Vice Captain of the East Army.
If he couldn't confirm her identity, it would be difficult to execute the subsequent phases of his plan. If he had targeted the wrong person, it would have turned into a farce.
But now...
Her identity was confirmed. There was nothing left to discuss.
"Wait..."
"Something else?"
"About the leader... is there any room for negotiation?"
However, the answer Ashiru received was not a verbal one, but the loud 'slam' of a closing door.
"Lucci, the identity is confirmed. Begin deployment according to plan!"
"Yes, Rear Admiral!"
'''
"Army Captain, we have a problem!"
Inside the same residential house, a Revolutionary Army soldier burst through the door.
"What happened?"
"Ashiru... Vice Captain Ashiru... has been captured by that man, Sean!"
"What?"