The Navy's Decision

"Baboon, baboon, I never expected that the World's Strongest would gather together." Looking at the news he received, Doflamingo, wearing sunglasses, let out his signature wicked smile.

"Young Master, will there be any problems with the Night Pirates?" Trebol asked with some concern.

The Night Pirates are an important partner for them, especially now that their power in the New World is relatively weak, they lack a significant foundation, and they haven't truly developed. The pressure of developing in the New World is beyond their imagination, dozens of times greater than in the North Blue.

Therefore, they need the support of the Night Pirates.

If something happens to the Night Pirates because of this Swordsmanship Tournament, it will definitely have a significant impact on their development.

"Don't worry, don't worry. Trust our partner. He'll handle this. Besides, if something really happens, we can't interfere anyway." Doflamingo saw things clearly. "There might be minor skirmishes, but the chances of a major war are very small."

"Three months is not a short time. Our plan can begin ahead of schedule. Let Dressrosa return to the rule of the Donquixote Family, baboon baboon!" Doflamingo laughed, spreading his arms wide.

The country that Doflamingo has his eye on is Dressrosa, the kingdom that once belonged to Donquixote. Eight hundred years ago, this country was very powerful, but with the passage of time, it has become a poor and backward country.

Even so, it still has a large population and rich resources. Given the right opportunity and proper management, it can quickly become strong.

This is also why Doflamingo set his sights on this country. The main reason is that most of the kingdoms in the New World are quite powerful, and some Great Pirate dare not provoke them easily. With his strength, obtaining Dressrosa would be very easy, and there is no force in Dressrosa that can stop him.

Now, he has a complete plan: to orchestrate a grand spectacle to erode King Riku's prestige in Dressrosa and ascend the throne as a hero.

Meanwhile, the Marine Headquarters held a major meeting regarding this news. In attendance were not only Marshal Sengoku, the Admiral, vice admirals, and high-ranking Marine Vice Admiral, but also Chief of Staff Tsuru, Vice Admiral Garp, Gion, and Kake.

In fact, the meeting was started after they returned.

"Tsuru, tell me about the information you obtained from the Expo." Sengoku's gaze swept across the entire conference room before turning to Tsuru.

They can obtain some intelligence through live streaming, but it's only superficial and not very useful. For deeper intelligence, they still need to rely on He and his team to find it.

He shook his head slightly after hearing this, "The Night Pirates have been monitoring us all along, and our activities are basically confined to the exhibition area. The palace complex at the core is where those forces reside, and we cannot enter it."

"The main problem is that our identities are too conspicuous. We're constantly being watched, and our whereabouts are always being monitored. It's simply impossible to secretly obtain intelligence."

These words were somewhat disappointing, but there was nothing that could be done about it.

"However..." Crane's next words lifted their spirits.

"We still managed to gather some useful information during the auction."

As she spoke, He took out a photograph. The figure in the photograph was a young, silver-haired boy with a gentle smile on his face and slightly narrowed eyes, making him look like a fox.

"This is Krell, a member of the Beasts Pirates. He's sitting next to Laimer, one of the Beasts Pirates' executives. Among the Beasts Pirates members who have come this time, the most well-known are Laimer and 'Beast Disaster' Gates. Gates is the strongest, but Laimer is ostensibly the leader."

"On the surface?" Someone sensed the hidden meaning in the crane's words.

"Yes, actually, he's the leader of the Beasts Pirates who came this time." Tsuru nodded. "Even Laimer and Gates have to obey his orders."

"What? How is that possible? Could he be Kaido of the Beasts's illegitimate son? He looks only seventeen or eighteen years old!" a Marine exclaimed.

His words made people nod in agreement, but it was truly hard to imagine how Kaido his appearance, could have fathered such a son, who bore no resemblance whatsoever.

However, this was just speculation, and He quickly dismissed the idea.

"Kake used his abilities to invade the dreams of the Beasts Pirates members at night and learned some information about Krell."

They understood Kake's abilities, though there was a limitation: aside from when he was sleeping, dreams were just dreams and couldn't access a person's true memories, only memories from the last two or three days.

"Weren't we supposed to be keeping an eye on you? How come we still have a chance to make a move?" Some people were puzzled. When Jiaji Kake his ability, he must make contact with others, otherwise it will not be effective.

"Uh, Vice Admiral Garp knocked out a member of the Beasts Pirates, and then I secretly used my ability to Kake the information in that pirate's mind," Kaji said somewhat awkwardly. Garp's actions were unexpected, but the final result was clearly good.

Only Garp would do something like that; even if others knew, they wouldn't dare to do anything to Garp.

"Krell is not strong enough yet because he hasn't fully grown. He's a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit User, but even this pirate doesn't know what his ability is. Only the true high-ranking Beasts Pirates know."

Upon hearing "Mythical Zoan," the others' pupils constricted. "Mythical Zoan again? When did so many Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit on the high seas?" one of the Marines couldn't help but angrily curse.

The Mythical Zoan, which is said to be even rarer than Logia Devil Fruit, has at least eight known individuals appearing on the seas, with countless more hidden in the shadows.

"What we really need to pay attention to is Krell's position in the Beasts Pirates. He is undoubtedly the second-in-command, even higher than King the Conflagration. His role in the Beasts Pirates is that of a strategist and advisor, much like Uranus Rhine of the Flying Pirates and Mostima, the Archangel of the Night Pirates. All the intelligence gathering about the Beasts Pirates over the past few years can be attributed to Krell's planning."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions turned serious, indicating that Krell needed to take this very seriously.

"This also takes into account his future potential; in a few years, he will mature."

"Furthermore, there are the various forces that appeared at the Expo: pirate forces, underground dark forces, especially the underground dark forces. Due to the gap in our intelligence on the New World over the past two years, we've fallen behind. And the power shifts within the New World have also brought about significant changes, including..."

Staff Officer He described the intelligence he had observed, which consisted mostly of minor details, but was still very important.

"We must take the intelligence about the New World seriously."

"Yes, the focus of intelligence has shifted to the New World, but it's unlikely to be effective in the short term. During the period when we lost the New World, our intelligence lines were severely damaged." Sengoku also expressed some helplessness about this.

The development of intelligence is not something that can be accomplished overnight; it requires accumulation. The intelligence lines that were originally in the New World need to be re-established, and intelligence personnel also need to be retrained.

That's why Teach spent money to directly buy out the intelligence agency controlled by Shakky.

"Finally, there's the Night Pirates and 'Dark Emperor' Teach," Tsuru said in a deep voice.

Mentioning this name caused many in the audience to fall silent. The power Teach displayed during the Teach broadcast was astonishing, even terrifying. A powerful pirate was so easily devoured and disappeared.

Without a doubt, most of them would be instantly killed by Teach. Although I haven't experienced it firsthand, just watching it is terrifying.

Catarina, the infamous female pirate, hails from the South Blue. Judging by her face alone, it's hard to imagine that this woman is actually only an eighteen-year-old young girl.

Despite her young age, her potential, coupled with the terrifying power of Mythical Zoan, allowed her to quickly enter the New World after the Great Pirate Era began. Her strength was already comparable to that of some Marine Vice Admiral.

"We underestimated his strength and potential. He's not far from becoming an emperor. I originally predicted it would take him ten years to reach that level, which is already astonishing. Ten years from now, Teach will only be thirty years old and won't even have reached his true peak."

"And now, that timeframe is halved. In other words, in about five years, or even less, the New World will have another Sea Emperor. And by then, the threat and strength of the Night Pirates will surpass that of the Beasts Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates, and will be on par with the Whitebeard Pirates and the Flying Pirates."

Unexpectedly, the crane had such a high opinion of Teach, but it was precisely because of this that they sensed danger.

"Also, don't forget Dark Emperor Teach's abilities."

The power of the Dark-Dark Fruit is what they truly find very troublesome.

Most of the Marine Vice Admiral skilled in swordsmanship and physical combat are no match for Teach. The remaining top combatants are mostly Teach Fruit users. The only ones who can truly threaten Dark Emperor Teach are Marine Vice Admiral Garp and the Navy's Chief Instructor Black Arm Zephyr.

Of course, this is a one-on-one duel; war is never this formal.

"Yes, we need to raise our vigilance against the Night Pirates to a new level," Sengoku nodded, and the Marine next to him, acting as the recorder, immediately wrote down Sengoku words.

"Next up is the Swordsmanship Tournament hosted by the Night Pirates."

In fact, this was the main purpose of the meeting.

"Four Sea Emperor, Dark Emperor Teach, the Lone Red, Kozuki Oden, and that third mysterious swordsman. Not to mention the other Great Pirate, countless swordsmen have gathered on this island. Who knows how many powerful figures are among them?" Sengoku frowned at this point. "What should our Navy do in this situation?"

The air was somewhat still. The most elite forces of the New World had gathered together. What could they do? Could they possibly wipe them all out? That was impossible.

It seemed to be taking a while, and Garp couldn't hold back any longer. He slammed his hand on the table, the loud noise startling everyone around him.

"Idiot Sengoku, why are you thinking about such useless things? Let's just go too." With that, Garp shamelessly picked his nose in front of everyone.

"This kendo tournament isn't restricted by status, and we naval swordsmen have plenty of opportunities to spar with so many. It would be such a waste to miss out on such a chance. If there were any tournament for the strongest swordsmen, I would definitely participate and practice my punches to prevent my fists from getting rusty."

"Besides, that's the Night Pirates' territory. All four Sea Emperor went there, and the Night Pirates didn't say anything. One more Marine won't make a difference." After saying that, Garp flicked a large, blackish-yellow, mysterious object off his fingertip at Sengoku.

This scene was ignored by the others, but Garp's words made many of them's eyes light up. There were quite a few kendo masters present. Gion touched her golden Luo Kun. When Teach announced the kendo tournament at the Expo auction, she had the idea of participating.

Garp can truly be described as a wise and insightful person. Although he may seem unreliable at times, what he says makes a lot of sense.

Sengoku glared at Garp with a dark expression; he had naturally dodged the unidentified flying object.

However, considering the bigger picture and carefully considering what Garp said, there's absolutely nothing wrong with it.

However, Garp's real thought was that the Combat Pyramid was quite interesting. Not only could he watch the spectacle, but there was also so much delicious food, and plenty of places to enjoy and have fun. He didn't want to miss out on such a place.

"Mr. Garp is right, we can participate too. How could such a competition be complete without our navy? It would be such a pity to miss it." A Marine Vice Admiral nodded in agreement.

"Yes, as a swordsman, I can also demonstrate the strength of us naval swordsmen. Such an opportunity has only come around once in many years, and it is a great opportunity for many naval personnel to hone their skills." Mole, who is now Rear Admiral Mole, nodded and said. He is a swordsman himself and naturally does not want to miss this opportunity.

In addition, there are Onigumo, Yamakaji, Strawberry, and Kongming, among others.

The navy now has a strong high command, but the number of Vice Admiral is actually not large, and there are still some vacant positions. Some of the older generation of Vice Admiral have passed away, some have retired, and some are still contributing their expertise.

The new generation of naval personnel, these young naval officers trained by Zephyr and selected from the elite training camp, apart from Sakazuki and two others who have already become Marine Admiral, have not yet fully matured. Although they have now become the backbone of the navy, they are still some distance away from becoming Marine Vice Admiral, but they are close enough and still need a few more years of growth.

This kendo tournament has been very helpful for their development.

"This is truly terrifying, so many powerful swordsmen gathered together." Admiral Kizaru crossed one leg; he too was a Great Swordmaster.

Sengoku glanced at Tsuru, who nodded. "No problem. The kendo tournament is the main event. Nobody wants to disrupt it. It would offend not only the Night Pirates but also the participants and swordsmen worldwide. Besides, the three Great Swordmaster invited by Teach as witnesses—though the identity of the third one is unknown—are not to be trifled with, whether it's Redfield or Kozuki Oden."

"They will naturally maintain order in the kendo tournament. If anything really happens, they will definitely step in. No one dares to offend so many people."

The underlying meaning was clear to everyone else: don't cause trouble. They were just spectators, and they should at least forget the hostile relationship between pirates and the navy. If something really happened, the navy would be in a very awkward position, especially with so many people watching. If they slunk away, it would definitely be a huge blow to their reputation.

"Then let's prepare for the competition. As for who will lead the team, we'll discuss that later." Sengoku nodded and made his decision.