The Navy's Meeting

Thanks to prior preparations, the entire battle was filmed, and by the time the war ended, the footage had already reached the headquarters of the World Economic News.

Morgans and his team had been waiting since early morning. When they received the footage, they cheered excitedly and quickly got to work, working on all sorts of details, some of which required technical adjustments, to create a more perfect image to present to audiences worldwide.

At Marine Headquarters, the atmosphere was heavy. They didn't know where Brom was, but Brom's Vivre Card had already started burning and burned out in a short time, leaving Marine Headquarters no time to prepare.

"It seems that Brom has already sacrificed himself," Sengoku sighed.

"Isn't this what I expected? An arrogant, conceited, and ignorant old man." Borsalino curled his lip, but in the next moment, his sharp gaze fell on him.

"Oh, sorry, it was a slip of the tongue." Borsalino raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, but there was absolutely no trace of regret on his face.

"Even our communications, Brom Vice Admiral Brom can't get through. There's been no word from him. We have no idea what happened or how they are now." A Vice Admiral shook his head, but everyone present knew in their hearts that the odds were probably against them.

"In the West Blue, the only pirates who pose a significant threat are Chinjao, the leader of the Happo Navy, and Marshall D. Teach, the captain of the Night Pirates," another Marine Vice Admiral added. "Chinjao's Happo Navy has remained inactive, staying in the Flower Country, while Vice Admiral Brom's target is the Night Pirates. A few days ago, our intelligence personnel passed on information about the Night Pirates to Vice Admiral Brom."

"It seems he died at the hands of the Night Pirates, or rather, at the hands of Teach. However, with Brom's current strength, even if he couldn't defeat the captain of the Night Pirates, escaping shouldn't be a problem, right? Could he have improved that much?" Everyone present understood his meaning, and this was also their thought. Tsuru frowned, somewhat puzzled.

Within the Marine Headquarters, there is a general consensus that Brom cannot defeat Teach. Considering all factors, Brom's basic combat strength is far inferior to Teach 'Brom, which is an indisputable fact, even with the addition of the Crush- Teach Smash Fruit.

"The Dark-Dark Fruit's power is immense, but it also has significant flaws. Although Vice Admiral Brom may not know the Dark-Dark Fruit's restraining effect on Devil Fruit users, he must have noticed it during the battle. In that case, how come Vice Admiral Brom didn't even have a chance to escape?"

The Marine Headquarters has already obtained detailed information about the Dark-Dark Fruit from the World Government, but Brom left too early and is unaware of this information.

"The flaws in Devil Fruit abilities can be overcome through the development of those abilities, and other methods." At this moment, Borsalino spoke up. Having deeply cultivated the Glint-Glint Fruit, he was the most qualified to say such a thing.

All eyes were on him. "If the Dark-Dark Fruit is the Dark-Dark Fruit Devil Fruit that Teach has his eye on, and he knows it very well, including its strengths and weaknesses..."

Borsalino chuckled as he spoke, "If it were me, I would have already planned out the development direction and various techniques of the Glint-Glint Fruit in my mind beforehand, so that I could master it in a short time after eating the Devil Fruit."

Borsalino's words were clear, and Teach was undoubtedly such a person. He had planned this all along, knew the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit -Dark-Dark Fruit, and displayed a powerful, wide-range attack immediately after eating Devil Fruit. This was something no ordinary person who had just eaten Logia Devil Fruit could do.

Everyone frowned involuntarily. If that were the case, Teach's strength would have increased significantly. However, this would not affect the Navy's plans for the first half of the Grand Line across the four seas.

Once the Night Pirates reach the first half of the Grand Line, the Marine Headquarters will naturally devise a foolproof plan to intercept them. Night Pirates Brom too reckless; he couldn't even be dissuaded.

"Let's leave it for now. Morgans will definitely have the footage tomorrow," Sengoku said with a sigh.

"Admiral, can't we just get it from Morgans?" an officer asked, looking at Sengoku with some confusion.

"Hmph! We tried beforehand, and we couldn't get through to Morgans at all. There's no way we could hide this from him. Or rather, he and Teach are cooperating." Sengoku sneered and said through gritted teeth.

"That fat bird, we'll castrate him sooner or later!" a navy officer cursed angrily.

However, they dared not take action, only talking about it. As the President of the World Economic News, Morgans wielded terrifying power, controlling global public opinion and having the power to make things happen at will.

Similarly, he also has a cooperative relationship with the World Government. It is precisely because the World Government cannot control the World Economic News it can only cooperate with it.

Morgans is not someone they can afford to offend. Morgans can be said to control the world's largest intelligence network. Even the intelligence network of the Big Mom Pirates, which is considered the best in the industry, is only in the New World.

As for other places, they are nowhere near as good as Morgans.

"Then let's wait and see tomorrow's footage. I must say, it's a good thing; you can watch it when you're bored, but it's a bit pricey." Borsalino looked on with amusement, a hint of anticipation in his eyes, as he looked at Marshal Kong, who sat at the head of the table. "Marshal, how about a raise?"

Upon hearing Borsalino's words, Sora's expression turned somewhat awkward. He was now prepared to step down as Marshal, having delegated most of his authority to Sengoku. This way, there would be no impact during the formal handover of power, and Sengoku could smoothly take over the job.

Now, the war in the New World has not been over for long. In order to suppress the pirates in all directions, the Navy has to spend a lot of Beli on expanding its army and building warships. The Navy's military budget is already running low, so where would it find spare money to increase your salaries?

After all, the navy also needs to eat and get paid. They can't just rely on passion and a sense of justice. You have to understand that most navy personnel have families to support. If they didn't get paid, the entire navy might collapse, its numbers would drastically decrease, and it's uncertain whether anyone would even want to join the navy anymore.

If we raise your salary, then the salaries of other officers and even the most ordinary marines will also need to be raised. This would be a huge increase in revenue; how could we just raise salaries like that?

"If the information is correct, Borsalino, you shouldn't be short of money. Last time, your video earned you a lot of Beli. And recently, there's been a video called 'Blinding Your Dog Eyes,' which is incredibly popular. If I'm not mistaken, that should be the power of the Glint-Glint Fruit." Tsuru's calm voice came, looking at Borsalino, making him feel a chill run down his spine.

The other officers all turned their gazes to Borsalino, some with surprise. Many of them had seen this footage before; it wasn't a battle scene, but a comedic one, meant to make people laugh. They had always assumed it was a lighting effect, never expecting it to be Borsalino.

You've already started your own side business so early, and it's quite successful, earning so many Beli. Yet you still dare to complain about being poor and demand a raise. Where's your face as a candidate for Admiral?

Borsalino is now a candidate for Admiral, as are Sakazuki and Kuzan. However, this is just a title, used to distinguish them from Vice Admiral in terms of combat strength.

Their rank remains that of Vice Admiral; the next step would be Admiral, the highest level of naval power.

"Ahem." Borsalino coughed twice, his heart skipping a beat. His secret had been exposed in front of everyone, but he was thick-skinned and didn't show it on his face. He took a sip of tea to calm himself down, then waved his hand with a serious expression. "How could this be? Why would I do such a thing? This must have been done by that theater, or something with the ability to emit light. I've been busy catching pirates lately, I don't have time for this kind of thing."

However, the surrounding gazes, those suspicious eyes, all seemed to disbelieve Borsalino. Were you serious about catching pirates?

However, the reason had already been given, and Borsalino looked serious. As long as he wasn't embarrassed, it was everyone else who would be.

Marshal Kong looked at Borsalino with a livid expression.

Sengoku sighed, probably having sighed countless times today. Garp, disregarding his orders, ran back to his hometown, the East Blue, ostensibly to "clean up the pirates of the East Blue."

But isn't it a waste of your top-tier combat power to deal with these small-time pirates in the East Blue? And his orders are completely useless to Garp, they're just a load of rubbish.

However, these days, due to the combined influence of the Great Pirate Era and the Night Pirates, the entire East Blue has become extremely chaotic, with all sorts of strange and monstrous figures emerging. The overall strength of pirates has greatly increased, and now there are several pirates with bounties exceeding 50 million, with the highest bounty reaching over 80 million, which would be considered a strong figure even in other seas.

The main problem was the massacre by the Night Pirates, which damaged the foundation of the East Blue Navy. Replenishing the Navy's personnel was secondary; the real issue was that many Marine Branch, with only a few members left, were overrun by the pirates.

Despite the Night Pirates' high reputation among pirates and their immense popularity outside the seas, they are among the most hated people in the East Blue, second only to the Pirate King Roger.

That's why Sengoku didn't really stop Garp.

"Let's put this matter aside for now and wait for tomorrow's footage. Now, let's talk about other things." Sengoku was extremely troubled; even his hair had turned a few more gray these days.

"The Buster Call against Ohara has begun. Kuzan, Sakazuki, and several other Vice Admiral are on their way. This time, the discussion is about cooperating with the World Government to cover up this incident."

The ruthless act of cutting off railway tracks Sengoku is quite evident.

"But, Admiral, is it really necessary to destroy Ohara?" a general advised. He was from the West Blue, Ohara was a treasure trove of historical essence, a priceless gem. How could it be destroyed by the Buster Call?

Some of the others felt a pang of pity; such an island, the essence of history, and with so many scholars, was about to be destroyed.

However, this is an order from the World Government, and the World Government has made up its mind; it is not something they can stop.

Similarly, they felt that the scholars of Ohara were extremely foolish and powerless, daring to violate the taboos of the World Government, which was unforgivable. The pursuit of historical truth must be based on strength.

The destruction of Ohara was largely due to these ignorant scholars.

Meanwhile, in the Night Pirates, Teach held a pale blue Devil Fruit in his hand, with only Rediat standing beside him.

"Aren't you going to eat it?" Rediat asked, not understanding why Teach was just holding it like that without eating it.

"No." Teach shook his head, raised his hand, looked at the Smash Fruit in his hand, and smiled. "I have no intention of eating a second Devil Fruit right now. If I did, this matter cannot be exposed. If it is exposed, I will definitely become the enemy of the world."

"Besides, I haven't even fully developed the Dark-Dark Fruit yet, how could I have the energy to develop a second Devil Fruit? Once I truly reach the peak, using the Dark-Dark Fruit to achieve that, I'll eat the second Devil Fruit. At that time, I will be the World's Strongest, invincible."

Teach laughed Haki, resisting the urge to eat the Devil Fruit. As a substitute for the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, it was more than enough for him.

"Besides, I still think the Tremor-Tremor Fruit is more suitable for me. If I really can't get it, or if there's a special accident, I'll take the Smash Fruit as my second Devil Fruit."

"Let's leave the Smash Fruit for now." Teach smiled, put the Smash Fruit into a specially made box, locked it, and then streams of black energy surged out, swallowing the box and into his own Darkness Space.

"Haha, as expected of you, so Haki! But, there must be other things going on," Rediat asked Teach with a smile.

He had already sensed something was amiss.

Then, Teach told Rediat the information he knew, which he had just obtained from Shakky and which was something he had been paying attention to for a long time.

In other words, he intended to intervene in the Ohara Incident, but he didn't want Nico Robin. Her value lay mainly in her ability to read the Poneglyph, and Rediat could also decipher the Poneglyph once he saw Nico Robin's memories.

What he was primarily interested in was Ohara's vast collection of books.

Ohara, home to the world's largest library with the most scholars and the largest collection of books— the Tree of Knowledge.

"What? The Navy actually dared to do such a thing? No, the World Government?" Rediat found it hard to believe. Without orders from the World Government, the Navy would never have done such a thing.

You must understand, this is no ordinary island; it enjoys immense prestige worldwide, especially in the West Blue, where it shines like a dazzling star, and now it is about to be destroyed.

"So, what I need you to do is bring back the Ohara library to me, as much as you can. These are invaluable treasures. Make sure you don't get discovered and that you stay safe. As for the others, those scholars, don't worry about them." Teach put his hand on Rediat's shoulder. "I'll also have Nelson go with you."

"Okay." Rediat nodded. This was a heavy task. As a prince of a country, he knew his worth. As a West Blue person, it was an even greater responsibility. Even after becoming a pirate, he would not do nothing after receiving this news. Teach's idea was exactly what he wanted.

As for these scholars, he had no intention of saving them. Human life was worthless, especially these scholars, who deserved to die. Even the Tiresfa Kingdom dared not violate such a taboo. How could these powerless scholars presume to confront the behemoth that is the World Government?

Similarly, Teach and Rediat share the same idea: Does history matter? Not at all. It may have some impact on the present, but history is always written by the victors.

Rediat and Nelson quietly left. Both Nelson and Rediat stayed in Rediat's own Shadow Space. In the endless night, in the shadows of the void, the shadow that Rediat had become moved rapidly towards the direction of Ohara.

He knew the direction of Ohara. Rediat sped forward, after all, he had no idea where the Navy was now, and he had to arrive in Ohara the Navy did.