Sengoku's Open Scheme

"Karp, you bastard, don't go stirring up trouble!"

Just as Garp and Tsuru finished their conversation, Sengoku happened to arrive beside them.

Sengoku had actually come to ask Tsuru whether she had any intelligence regarding the relationship between Gebinz and the Pirate Empress.

He did not believe that the two had merely just met. The Pirate Empress, who had always shown men no favor, had actually taken the initiative to throw herself into his arms. With that bashful look on her face, there had to be some emotional entanglement between them!

Thinking even more boldly, perhaps the Pirate Empress had always kept men at arm's length because she had a powerful sweetheart like the Monkey-Tailed Man, Gebinz.

After all, with a pearl before her, how could she possibly care for those mediocre men?

Tsuru glanced at Sengoku. Their many years of working together let her immediately understand why he had come down.

She shook her head.

"There is no way they could be related. Boa Hancock's reaction just now was clearly forced. In her anger, she triggered Conqueror's Haki as a form of self-defense. But I don't know what the Monkey-Tailed Man, Gebinz, said to her. He seemed to have frightened her."

Unlike Sengoku, who had been speaking on the platform all along, Tsuru had been among the spectators below. She had noticed what was happening between Zhu Mang and the Pirate Empress earlier than Sengoku had, so she had been able to observe more.

"So that's how it is..." Sengoku said thoughtfully, while inwardly breathing a sigh of relief.

Their relationship was not as close as he had imagined, which made the situation much better.

"From the looks of things, he really is a man easily tempted by beauty, so..." Sengoku looked at Tsuru.

Tsuru hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

"I'll speak to Gion personally."

Her sworn younger sister, Momousagi Gion, had carefully studied the arts of Pleasure District courtesans. She excelled at gathering intelligence and completing missions through seduction and similar methods.

Moreover, she possessed the strength of a great swordsman. Even if something went wrong during the operation, she could withdraw unharmed.

Thus, although her reputation was not especially great among ordinary Marines, she was already more than impressive in the eyes of the Marine higher-ups. They regarded her as the next role model and leading figure among the female soldiers within the Marines.

Tsuru had originally intended to send Gion to approach Zhu Mang, seduce him, and find a way to make him work for the Marines—or at the very least, ensure that he did not become their enemy. She had even put the plan into action.

However, as she gradually came to understand Gebinz's true nature, she could not help but grow worried.

Were they really not playing with fire?

But then again.

This was the only weakness of Gebinz's that they had discovered!

Other than that, there was no other way!

"We have received intelligence that both the Beasts Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates have been making moves. They have assembled their forces at the borders between their own territories and the Whitebeard Pirates' territory. They are likely waiting for an opportunity to profit from the chaos. They have no intention of attacking the Marine branches in the New World."

"To be safe, leaving Zephyr and Kaji to watch over the New World should be enough."

Sengoku said as much.

Tsuru closed her eyes and nodded faintly before turning toward the building behind her.

She had to tell Gion about this matter herself.

And only she could say it!

Watching Tsuru's departing figure, Garp looked at Sengoku and mocked, "Have the Marines fallen so low that they can only rely on women sacrificing their looks?"

Sengoku's face darkened as he glared at him. "Do you know what we bear on our shoulders?!"

With that, he flicked his cape and turned to leave.

Garp was left standing there alone in a daze.

From time to time, he glanced in Zhu Mang's direction, then looked behind the Execution Platform. No one knew what exactly he was thinking.

At this moment, less than three hours remained until the scheduled execution.

Since morning, Marine Headquarters had already deployed its full formation.

From the inside out, they were...

Fleet Admiral Sengoku!

Hero of the Marines Garp!

Akainu, Aokiji, Kizaru, the Three Admirals!

More than a dozen fully armed giant vice admirals standing twenty to thirty meters tall!

Dozens of imposing vice admirals with solemn faces!

Rear admirals, commodores, field officers, junior officers... too many to count!

And one hundred thousand elite Marines, gathered from all over the world, with resolute faces and an aura of iron-blooded determination seemingly radiating from their bodies!

Such a lineup was enough to make any pirate crew tremble in fear. One more glance, and it felt as though their hearts would explode.

Under these circumstances.

The Whitebeard Pirates were not stranded on some isolated island in the information-starved Calm Belt, nor could they possibly be unable to afford a Visual Den Den Mushi.

Therefore, the sight of Marine Headquarters standing ready in full force would naturally have reached their eyes as well.

People all over the world were guessing whether Whitebeard would dare continue his assault on Marine Headquarters in the face of such a formation.

If they came, they might be completely wiped out here.

And if they did not dare come, Whitebeard would lose the image he had maintained all these years. In that case, the Whitebeard Pirates, bound together by the ties of "family," might well risk falling apart.

This was Sengoku's open scheme!

It all depended on what Whitebeard chose!

The civilians who saw the Marines display such a luxurious lineup were all elated.

Only if the Marines were strong could they continue enjoying peace!

Ordinary people did not ask for much. All they wanted was a quiet, peaceful life for themselves and their families.

Of course, some people worried that the Marines would lose this war, triggering even greater turmoil, and they were anxious because of it.

Among the common people, the Whitebeard Pirates' fearsome reputation was known even by children only a few years old who had just learned to walk.

There was even a folk rhyme: Whitebeard, great pirate, vicious face, fiercer than a demon.

He was a terrifying existence capable of stopping children from crying at night!

And so.

Those who yearned for a good life awaited the Marines' victory.

Those who liked to commit evil hoped Whitebeard would win a great victory.

Everyone in the world was watching this place!

Yet at this moment, the Whitebeard Pirates, one of the war's other "protagonists," were nowhere to be found.

The reconnaissance ships dispatched by the Marines one after another had all been discovered in advance and sunk by the Whitebeard Pirates.

A massive fleet of more than a hundred ships and nearly one hundred thousand pirates had somehow vanished from the sea!

But after learning of this, Sengoku already understood Whitebeard's intentions.

He would definitely come!

And Sengoku would bury Whitebeard—the most vicious pirate in the world today, a remnant of the previous era—together with Fire Fist Ace, the bloodline of that era's greatest evil, right here at Marine Headquarters. He would bring this Great Pirate Era to a complete end!

Let justice reign over the world!

Sengoku set down the intelligence division's Den Den Mushi and the black reconnaissance Den Den Mushi on the table, rose to his feet, draped the cloak of justice over his shoulders, and once again headed toward the plaza.

Newgate, are you ready to accept your own death?