New World Marine Headquarters.
Bernard.
Inside the conference room.
This was the first meeting since the entire project had been completed and all personnel had officially moved in.
"Fleet Admiral, all units have been deployed," Akainu reported. "Per your requirements, each of the six sub-islands has been assigned 100 elite Marines and 1,000 regular Marines, commanded by a Vice Admiral. Given the distance from Bernard, if a sub-island is attacked, the fleet can arrive here within twenty minutes."
However, his definition of "elite" and "regular" Marines was completely different from the concepts previously used by the Marine Headquarters.
According to the standards set by Sean, only those with a Doriki value exceeding 300 could be called elite Marines; everyone else was classified as a regular Marine.
This point had left many of the field-grade and company-grade officers from the former G1 Branch feeling quite awkward. In terms of raw strength, many of them did not even reach 300 Doriki.
It was... a bit embarrassing.
Fortunately, Sean had given them six months and provided a full supply of Type 2 Jerky. As long as they weren't too lazy, they should see significant results by the end of that period. After all, these officers already possessed better natural aptitude than the regular Marines. Being given higher-grade jerky than the rank-and-file, it would be inexcusable if their strength failed to improve.
Speaking of which, Sean's influence was finally beginning to solidify. He no longer needed to hide everything as he had done in the past. Aside from the secrets of the Zanpakutō, he could afford to be more open with other things.
"Teacher Zephyr, what are the arrangements for the training camp?"
"Everything is set. However, aside from the Marines from the original 16th Branch, the remaining nearly thirty thousand recruits fail to meet your requirements and need to be completely overhauled. To avoid disrupting the normal operations of the New World Marines, I will divide them into two batches for rotating training."
"Mm, that works. Let me know if you encounter any difficulties."
"There is actually one difficulty!" Zephyr replied.
"Tell me."
"The jerky you brought over—excluding Type 3, the reserves for Type One and Type 2 Jerky are insufficient. Especially Type One Jerky; I've calculated that with thirty thousand people consuming it simultaneously, we will only have enough for one month."
'Good grief, only one month?'
Sean thought about it and realized it made sense. Back when he was only managing the 16th Branch, there were only about a thousand people consuming the supplies. Although he had stockpiled enough to last the branch over two years, the population had suddenly surged to thirty thousand.
Of course the supplies were tight.
But simply supplementing Type One Jerky was inefficient. Only small Sea Kings—typically those under three hundred meters—were converted into Type One Jerky. Furthermore, the "Revenue Multiplication" ability could only be used once a day.
In other words, if he focused solely on producing Type One Jerky, hunting a single Sea King might only provide enough food for a few days. He couldn't afford to play that game.
Unless he abandoned everything else and spent every single daily multiplication on this. Clearly, that was impossible.
The solution was to hunt larger Sea Kings—those over five hundred meters or even a thousand meters in length. That way, the higher multipliers would produce Type 2 Jerky, while the lower ones would produce Type One Jerky. A single kill could cover half a month or even a full month of demand.
"I understand. I'll handle the Sea King jerky problem!"
"Fine, then I have no other issues."
"Right. Now, let's discuss the issue of the three Emperor crews and the former territory of Whitebeard. Lucci, you start," Sean told the group.
This was the primary challenge they faced in the New World.
"The intelligence department has taken over the complete New World intelligence network from Shakky. The current information is as follows," Lucci said, walking toward the wall where a map of the New World was hanging.
"Please look here. Whitebeard's former territory is located in the center of the other three Emperors' domains, covering an area of approximately 500 nautical miles. It contains 12 large islands, 47 medium-sized islands, and at least 300 small or uninhabited islands."
"After two months of fighting, the Big Mom Pirates have seized five large islands and 18 medium islands, while the Beast Pirates have taken seven large islands and 29 medium islands."
"Currently, the focus of their conflict has shifted to the smaller and uninhabited islands."
"Additionally, according to intelligence estimates, there were originally about seven million people in Whitebeard's territory. In these two months, the death toll has likely exceeded twenty percent."
Seven million people, and at least twenty percent dead.
That meant over a million people had perished.
Sean didn't care about pirates killing each other, and neither did anyone else in the room. But the death of over a million civilians was something they could not ignore.
"What about the Red-Haired Pirates?"
"The Red-Haired Pirates have made no move. According to reports, they have remained holed up within their own territory. Meanwhile, half of the Division Commanders from the Whitebeard Pirates have joined them, while the other half are unaccounted for. There is one more piece of intel..."
"What intel?"
"Shanks seems to have sent out many agents to scour the entire world for powerhouses!"
Sean's lip twitched slightly.
He finally realized what that man was planning. Normally, if one of the Four Emperors made such a bold move by recruiting strength globally, the other three would definitely react.
But this time was different. The other two Emperors were locked in a fierce battle; they were more than happy to let Shanks stay out of their way and didn't have the mental bandwidth to care about what he was doing.
This gave Shanks a perfect opportunity. First, he absorbed half of the remaining Division Commanders from Whitebeard's crew, and then he deployed agents worldwide to recruit elites.
As a result, while the other two Emperor crews had spent months fighting—gaining territory but suffering significant losses—the Red-Haired Pirates had lost nothing. In fact, their overall combat power had likely doubled.
So what if Big Mom and the Beast Pirates took the land first?
Shanks was the one waiting in the shadows to snatch the prize.
"Now, I have three things to announce," Sean declared.
"First, I previously submitted a recruitment request to the World Government, and the Five Elders have approved it. The scope is worldwide—a World Military Draft!"
"In this draft, we will speak purely in terms of strength. If you possess the strength of an Admiral, I will give you the rank of Admiral directly!"
"At the same time, to consider the feelings of current personnel, anyone within the New World Marines who believes their strength is sufficient is also permitted to undergo the assessment of this World Military Draft."
"However, there is one condition. While we are prioritizing strength, one prerequisite cannot be overlooked: a sense of justice!"
"Officers below field-grade will only undergo a standard screening. However, starting from Lieutenant Commander, we must conduct a thorough investigation into their entire life history. We cannot allow anyone with ulterior motives or a lack of justice to infiltrate our ranks."
Having addressed the first matter, Sean turned his gaze toward Lucci. "Lucci, any concerns?"
After a moment of contemplation, Lucci spoke. "If full screenings are only required for those at the field-grade level and above, the numbers will be manageable. The Intelligence Department can handle it."
"However, if we apply this to company-grade officers or ordinary marines, the sheer volume of applicants could overwhelm the Intelligence Department, even with only standard screenings," Lucci added honestly.
Sean had previously mentioned the scale of the World Military Draft, and the target was fifty thousand recruits. Even a preliminary check for every single person would be a monumental undertaking for the intelligence staff—the kind of project that would take months, if not half a year, to complete.
"That won't be an issue. I will contact Vice Admiral Tsuru and temporarily borrow the intelligence assets from Headquarters to assist us."
"I see. In that case, it should no longer be a problem."
"Good. Now, for the second matter," Sean nodded with satisfaction and continued.
"Quite some time ago, I confirmed that the commander of the G5 Branch, Vice Admiral Vergo, is a spy. His true identity is a top executive of the Donquixote Family, holding the rank of Heart suit."
"Previously, Fleet Admiral Sengoku believed that keeping him in place to feed the enemy false intelligence was more valuable, which is why no action was taken against him. But now that the G5 Branch is part of the New World Marine's order, I have no intention of harboring such a spy."
"More importantly, due to Fleet Admiral Sengoku's leniency, almost everyone in the G5 Branch—from the officers to the rank-and-file marines—has essentially become Vergo's private army!"
Sean's expression hardened. "Senior Sakazuki, take the First Fleet and apprehend him. If he resists, kill him on the spot!"
Aside from the few who were already in the loop, the faces of everyone else shifted drastically. Back at Headquarters, only Sengoku, Tsuru, Garp, and the Admirals had been privy to this secret.
Vergo was a spy? A top executive of the Donquixote Family? And Fleet Admiral Sengoku had known all along?
"Yes, we have known for a long time. I previously suggested arresting Vergo immediately, but Fleet Admiral Sengoku disagreed," Akainu spoke up to confirm, noticing the shock on the faces around him.
With Akainu's corroboration, all doubts vanished. After all, the Vice Admirals and above in the New World Marine were either from the 16th Branch or were part of the original Hawks faction; these "silver medals" trusted Akainu implicitly.
"Fleet Admiral, what if Doflamingo interferes?" Akainu asked a critical question. As an Admiral, he was well aware of the situation. Doflamingo's status was unique, and for several reasons, even the Five Elders dared not move against him recklessly. He was a troublesome individual.
"It doesn't matter. If he dares to interfere, we'll take the opportunity to wipe out the Donquixote Family. I will handle any fallout that follows!"
"Understood!" Akainu nodded. With Sean's backing, he could now act without reservation.
"Senior Sakazuki, there is one person you must watch out for during this operation. Otherwise, even you could be eliminated."
Akainu's eyes widened. "Fleet Admiral, are you saying Doflamingo has someone capable of defeating me?"
"No, that person has almost no combat capability. However, her ability is sufficient to erase your very existence."
Akainu was stunned. No combat power, yet able to erase him?
Sean didn't hide anything further and explained the truth about Dressrosa to everyone, specifically detailing Sugar's ability.
"The Hobby-Hobby Fruit..."
"That is a truly terrifying power. Not only can she turn people into toys, but she can even erase everyone's memories of the victim."
As Akainu listened, he imagined himself in the heat of battle, only for a cute little girl to suddenly run up to him seeking help. In a moment of carelessness, he would be touched...
He felt a sudden shiver run down his spine.
"Senior Sakazuki, Doflamingo will certainly interfere, but this is actually a perfect plan. We kill him, liberate Dressrosa, and restore the sovereignty to King Riku."
"At the same time, bring back Princess Violet of the Dressrosa Kingdom!"
As these words fell, most of the officers looked at Sean with strange, questioning glances. Sean felt a wave of speechlessness.
"What are you all thinking?!"
"Princess Violet has eaten a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, the Glare-Glare Fruit! With this power, she can extend her vision up to 4,000 kilometers. You can't possibly be oblivious to what that means, can you?"
A collective gasp echoed through the room.
4,000 kilometers!
Now they finally understood why their Fleet Admiral was so insistent on securing the Princess of Dressrosa. She possessed such a terrifying Devil Fruit.
Wait—did this mean that if Violet stayed at the New World Marine Headquarters, she could monitor the every move of the Three Emperors in real-time?
She had to be brought back. Such an ability could not be allowed to remain in the wild, let alone in the hands of a pirate!
Now fully understanding the strategic value, Akainu nodded. He designated Violet as the top priority of the mission—even more important than Vergo or Doflamingo.
"Alright, finally, we come to the third and last matter."
"And that is..."
"Intervening in the clash between the Big Mom Pirates and the Beast Pirates!"