Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
The towering, majestic fortress inspired awe. Backlit by the sun, the Marine flags fluttered in the wind, snapping loudly with stirring grandeur.
In the office at the top of the fortress, Sengoku closed the document in his hands, his imposing gaze sweeping across the gathered officers.
"...From this clash between Red-Hair and Kaido, it is clear that the Four Emperors' balance has already stabilized. Intelligence work in the New World must be intensified from now on. Understood?!"
"Yes!"
"That's all... Aokiji, Tsuru, you two stay. Everyone else, dismissed."
Rustle, rustle!
No one asked why.
Having received their orders, these Marine bigwigs—each of whom could make the seas tremble on their own—quickly turned and left regardless of rank, displaying the formidable discipline expected of soldiers.
Once the doors had closed, Chief of Staff Tsuru rubbed her temples, her wrinkled face filled with exhaustion.
"Though I knew long ago that he was strong, I never expected him to actually drive back the Beast."
In an utterly disadvantageous situation where the enemy had outflanked and surrounded him with superior forces, he had driven Kaido back with an unprecedented battle that ended in a draw, completely cementing the reality that the Four Emperors stood on equal footing. The Four Emperors' balance had stabilized.
But for the Marines, did the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, or was it the other way around?
"Well, isn't this exactly the situation those above wanted to see?"
Aokiji crossed his arms and yawned. "Kaido and BIG were both members of that person's crew, after all. If they were left alone and somehow joined forces, Whitebeard might not be able to withstand them."
Though the odds of the two joining forces were practically nonexistent.
Still, better safe than sorry.
The Marines did not dare gamble their hopes on conflicts between pirates.
"Enough. This topic ends here, understood?"
Sengoku looked up, his gaze stern beneath his frog-shaped glasses.
Hearing that, the two composed themselves and nodded.
"I kept you here for another matter..."
Taking out a stack of new documents from a drawer and pushing them toward them, Sengoku said, "This was Momonga's proposal. I've already approved it."
"Momonga?"
Tsuru silently frowned, seeming to realize something.
Opening the documents, she quickly scanned their contents, her eyes darkening slightly.
"Bastards!!"
She was not cursing Momonga, nor was she cursing Lowett, much less the villagers of Cocoyasi Village.
Aokiji glanced up at her and shrank back a little.
It was best not to provoke Tsuru in this state.
Then he continued reading.
A few minutes later...
After closing and neatly stacking the documents, Aokiji turned his head, his eyes full of confusion. "Magic? Does something like that really exist?"
"I've already sent people to contact Moria and confirmed that he is still alive."
Sengoku replied calmly, "But whether it is or not, this ability is terrifying."
Not ordinarily terrifying!
Tsuru and Aokiji exchanged a glance, both seeing the gravity in the other's eyes.
The fact that it could injure Smoker, a Logia user, was not enough to make them this nervous. What they truly cared about was the ability to revive the dead!
Momonga had reported a series of detailed pieces of intelligence that had not been made public, emphasizing the fact that the enemy could revive the dead.
To them, the dead were nothing to fear.
But how many people like them existed across the seas?
Even all the Marines combined made up less than one ten-millionth of the civilian population!
And while "Gecko" Moria needed the shadows of living people to create a zombie army, this person only needed corpses.
After clearing the battlefield, Momonga alone had catalogued more than three hundred corpses, including but not limited to Marines from Branch 153 and pirates who had vanished during the Ghost Ship Incident.
Moreover, these zombies were not restrained by seawater or Seastone. They had to be completely destroyed before they could be subdued, fitting every definition people imagined for zombies.
"Furthermore, according to scout reports, the empty graves in the Shells Town cemetery only showed scratch marks inside the coffins on the eighth day at the earliest after the bodies were buried. Do you know what that means?"
Sengoku asked gravely.
"It means... he can not only directly summon and revive the dead, but can also secretly create zombies through other means, such as plagues or viruses."
Tsuru sucked in a breath, a chill rising in her heart.
Marineford had only three underground water sources. Everyone at headquarters, including the families in the nearby town, drew water from those three sources.
And across the seas, there were plenty of towns and cities with only one well. If the enemy released a corpse-transforming plague into the water, not only could he kill every resident, he could also instantly raise an army of undead.
"And he specifically targeted the Arlong Pirates, then took away the corpses of Arlong and the other fish-men afterward... That proves he can also use the strength the dead possessed in life. He has his eyes on the fish-men's naturally powerful physiques."
No wonder the Fleet Admiral had personally intervened!
This ability might only be a minor problem in the East Blue, causing panic at most and giving them a headache. But once he reached the Grand Line and acquired the corpses of those powerful people...
There was no trace of drowsiness in Aokiji's eyes as he delivered his solemn assessment.
"A natural disaster!"
Though the man himself was weak, this ability was like storms, earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions—a natural disaster ordinary people could not resist!
A brand-new undead natural disaster!
Aokiji rubbed his brow. "Honestly, the bounty was set too low."
In his eyes, this ability alone deserved a bounty exceeding a hundred million.
He would rather see ten or eight more Super Rookies appear in Sabaody this year than see someone like this emerge.
"But the crimes he committed are only worth this bounty... If the bounty is inflated too much, people will become curious about what he can do and investigate further."
"Then the news will spread and trigger unrest throughout the East Blue."
Tsuru shook her head and sighed helplessly.
She could imagine it. If the East Blue civilians, already paranoid after the Ghost Ship Incident, learned that such a terrifying person lived among them, it would only cause even greater chaos.
Would everyone flee the East Blue?
That was not impossible.
"That is why Momonga has temporarily put aside all his current duties and is focusing entirely on hunting Lowett down, hoping to destroy him before he can grow."
Sengoku asked, "So, you have no objections?"
The two shook their heads. The matter was too important; of course they had no objections.
Bounties were merely for outsiders to see. A person's true threat level had nothing to do with the size of their bounty. Nico Robin had a bounty of seventy-nine million, yet even the Gorosei paid close attention to her and had never relaxed their search for twenty years.
"Then that settles it. Go back and await further notice."
Sengoku abruptly looked up, his eyes brimming with killing intent. "This year has already been chaotic enough. We do not need any more disturbances!"
After Lowett chose to become the Black Count, the Marines no longer needed to hold back so cautiously.
There were no longer any victims—only Marines and pirates.
East Blue, unnamed waters.
"Achoo!"
Lying on a beach chair, Lowett rubbed the tip of his nose.
"What is this ominous feeling?"
As a mage, Lowett trusted his sixth sense deeply. He decisively closed his eyes and spread out his Mental Power.
"The connection is extremely faint. Momonga's warship is still far away from me... Then who could it be?"
Lowett frowned.
Other than Momonga, was there anyone in the East Blue who could threaten him?
"Well, perhaps it's someone from the Grand Line!"
"After all..."
Rustle, rustle!
Unfolding the newspaper in his hand, Lowett lifted his wineglass for a sip, the corner of his mouth curling upward.
"I'm something of a celebrity now. It's perfectly normal for people to have their eyes on me."
The front page of the newspaper featured Lowett's portrait across the entire spread. It showed him confronting Smoker in Cocoyasi Village, both hands resting on his cane, his expression cool and detached.
Even if someone beat him to death, he never would have expected that someone in the Marine ranks was specifically responsible for taking photographs.
Weren't they supposed to be elite?
Please provide the Chinese text and any associated glossaries or context lines that you would like me to translate and revise.
The East Blue's Strongest Pirate! The Black Count!
The bold black lettering stretched from the upper left corner to the lower right, while at the far right stood a scarlet number: "55,000,000"!
A Great Pirate with a bounty exceeding fifty million had appeared in the East Blue?
To Morgans, the owner of the World Economic Journal and the man known as "Big News," this was a hot topic not to be missed. He immediately threw money at it and stirred things up.
That was why there was a line of small print at the bottom of the page.
[Could this be a sign that the weakest sea is about to rise?]
"Having money really is nice. You can spout nonsense without worrying about the Marines inviting you over for tea..."
Shaking his head quietly, Lowett set down his wineglass.
The Marines concealing the Arlong Pirates' atrocities and pinning them on him did not surprise him. What Colonel Rat of Branch 16 had done was so outrageous that if it got out, it would not merely damage their image—it would instantly spark an uprising!
Yet for the sake of that same image, they had in turn helped Lowett conceal his former title of Triangle Spellbreaker and the things he had done, defining the deaths of Monka and the others as "pirate brutality."
"Justice!"
"What a lot of work..."
Necromancy: Blue Flame!
A faint blue-green flame appeared at his fingertip and gradually devoured the newspaper.
Lowett reclined in his chair again, tapping the side of his glass with one finger.
"Devouring the fish-men's souls has healed my wounds considerably, but as long as I have not reached the threshold of an Official Mage, I cannot let my guard down."
"Is there anyone else in the East Blue worth killing?"
"Roar!"
The Black Knight stood by with an ice bucket in his arms. Hearing that, it pulled a wanted poster from its pocket.
"Zango?"
Lowett froze for a moment.
"Right, I nearly forgot about him."
The corner of Lowett's mouth rose.
"I've come up with an... interesting idea."
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