The Branch Base Commanders had all returned to their respective bases to deal with the pirates' massive offensive. They had to support one another to avoid being defeated one by one by the pirate forces, so none of them could leave.
And at a time like this, the only person outside who could make Akainu this furious...
Tsuru thought of one possibility.
"That brat really escaped?!"
Just as she was thinking that, Akainu suddenly composed himself and sneered.
"Oh, no. I suppose you aren't planning to come back now either."
On the other end of the Den Den Mushi, Ron failed to notice the oddness in Akainu's voice. Thinking Akainu had guessed his intentions, he nodded.
"Yes, I really don't plan on going back right now."
Having gathered materials nearby to build a bonfire, Ron tore into a grilled fish as he spoke. "How are things outside now?"
"The scale of the attacks has exceeded expectations. The headquarters garrison has even dropped below thirty thousand. Including your Assassination Unit and Airship Force, we barely have forty thousand... but it's still manageable."
Akainu glanced at Tsuru as she returned, then continued, "Oric thinks we're still the Navy we used to be. He wants to make trouble everywhere and leave us unable to respond in time. I'd say he's made a terrible miscalculation!"
The old Navy had struggled to send reinforcements even when trouble broke out in waters near a branch base, never mind when headquarters was far away.
But that had been the old days!
Ever since Ron proposed and implemented the Global Village Plan, the transportation network centered around branch bases had brought about a qualitative leap in the Navy's mobility!
With fully equipped airships on top of that, Oric's forces were instead like fish caught in a net, split