The Game of Hide-and-Seek

It had only been a week since Gion received Sengoku's order, and she had already crossed the Calm Belt to get here.

Ever since Vegapunk invented the technology for lining ships' hulls with Seastone, Marine Vice Admiral-class warships had begun adopting it, allowing the Navy to reach the Four Blues faster.

"Long time no see, Sis Tsuru!" Gion, all legs from the waist down, wore her long black hair loose and carried her beloved sword, Kompira, at her waist as she joined Tsuru.

"Long time no see!"

"I feel much more at ease with you here!"

"Don't worry, Sis Tsuru. Leave it to me. You can back me up and let me see what kind of strength these little pirates have to escape your grasp!"

"Don't underestimate them. If you were alone, you'd definitely suffer a heavy loss."

"Hahaha! But you're here, Sis Tsuru!"

Tsuru shook her head helplessly. She couldn't demand too much of her adopted younger sister; she could only look after her as best she could while she was still around.

Because she had been protected so well, Gion, who had grown up in the Navy, had never seen its dark side.

"Doffy, this is bad!" Trebol came barging into the temporary base, dragging a large blanket and clutching a Den Den Mushi, his nose running.

"Calm down! What happened?" Doflamingo asked, his chest wrapped in bandages.

"Sniff!"

The long string of snot slurped back up a little, making the veins on Doflamingo's forehead bulge. "You're standing too close, Trebol!"

"Doffy, the family members on the outlying islands sent word. The Navy is after us again!"

Doflamingo stood and put on his fur coat. "Next time, get straight to the point."

"Set sail! Follow the plan!" In less than two weeks, even Doflamingo's physique couldn't heal his injuries completely. He was only about eighty percent recovered.

If they ran into the Marines led by Tsuru now, they would be doomed.

"Raise the sails!" Everyone hurried aboard, and the ship set off at the sailors' call.

After escaping last time, Doflamingo had known Tsuru wouldn't give up the chase anytime soon.

Once the family's forces had moved deeper underground, Doflamingo put the family members with nothing to do to work as their eyes on the various islands.

As long as they spotted Tsuru's warship, they would have a chance to evade her across the vast waters of the North Blue.

Just like this time: Tsuru had set out for another pursuit, but before she could reach them, family members on the previous island spotted her. That gave Gray and the others, still three to five days away, plenty of time to withdraw at their leisure.

The Navy's intelligence was certainly capable. Whenever Doflamingo and the others landed on an inhabited island, Tsuru would come after them within two days. But the Donquixote Family, which had spent years building its power in the North Blue, wasn't to be underestimated either.

The two sides had been playing a game of hide-and-seek across the North Blue for nearly three months, yet Tsuru hadn't caught sight of a single one of the Donquixote Family's top officers.

Even with Corazon as an informant, Tsuru couldn't catch up with them, because only Doflamingo and Trebol controlled the family's intelligence network.

Corazon had no idea what was actually going on. The only information he could pass along was probably that the group would spend two days resupplying after landing on an island.

Once they were out at sea, the entire ship was full of family officers, and Corazon had no chance to contact the Navy.

Gray kept his Observation Haki spread around them. After learning that Corazon was a traitor, he paid especially close attention to him.

Gray didn't want to face Tsuru and the others just yet. And after learning that Tsuru might have received reinforcements, he was even less eager to end up buried at sea.

He was still too green and needed the Donquixote Family's protection and resources to grow.

Neither he nor the Donquixote Family could afford to fall here in the North Blue.

"Sis Tsuru, what do we do now?" Standing on deck, Gion asked Tsuru, "We can't stay tied up here forever, playing hide-and-seek with them!"

Tsuru could only sigh.

Over the past three months, she had more or less figured out how the Donquixote Family had managed to evade them for so long.

It wasn't just that the Donquixote Family's peripheral members were passing along information. Some nobles and island gangs had been bought off, too.

As soon as they approached an island, Doflamingo and the others already knew.

To put it bluntly, even what they ate aboard their ship might have been reported to Doflamingo.

There was no helping it. To deal with Tsuru's pursuit, Doflamingo had started throwing money around, buying information about her and her subordinates in the North Blue.

He had paid a hefty price for everything: where and when they landed, where they bought supplies on the islands, and even what those supplies included.

The Navy's intelligence network was no weakling, but in the North Blue alone, it couldn't compete with the underground network the Donquixote Family had spent years building.

More importantly, intelligence was a commodity traded in the Underworld. Some information could be sold several times over.

Gangs sold it to the Navy, and the Navy could sell it to the gangs. Add Doflamingo's generous spending, and few could resist the temptation.

After all, this was a chance that wouldn't come again!

Everyone knew the Donquixote Family was being chased by Tsuru. They were throwing money around just to stay alive. Selling a little information to help make ends meet was no big deal.

If the Donquixote Family got caught, there'd be another family to take its place. If they didn't, the informants would still have made money. Nobody lost!

So who was losing out?

Tsuru couldn't possibly be unaware of all these twists and turns. But because she understood them, there wasn't much she could do.

The information was all out in the open. If the Navy couldn't catch them, wasn't that just a sign of its incompetence?

What did that have to do with us?

Besides, if I sell information, how could I let you know?

"We can't afford to keep dragging things out here. Something's happened in the New World. That fellow Kaido went looking for a Marine Base, hoping to die!"

"Sakazuki is no match for Kaido, and Aokiji had to go reinforce him. The Headquarters' forces are stretched even thinner, so I need to get back as soon as possible."

"One thing sets off another. Now that Aokiji has gone, I'm worried the Beasts Pirates will follow."

"If that happens, war will truly break out!"

"Besides, with Sengoku's head, just looking at paperwork gives him a headache. He's already urging me to come back." In response to Gion's question, Tsuru could only announce that the mission was suspended for now.

"Then why not let me handle them?" Seeing that Tsuru was going back, Gion volunteered to stay behind.

Tsuru shook her head and rejected the suggestion. "With your strength, you can't afford to get tied down here. If we really end up at war with the Beasts Pirates, we'll need you and Tokikake to join us."

"After all, that's the New World. If war breaks out, Charlotte Linlin won't sit by and let the Navy defeat Kaido."

"The Navy isn't strong enough to take on two Emperor of the Sea crews at once."

With Shanks not yet having risen to the top, the seas were still in the era of the Three Emperors.

Edward Newgate.

BIG, Charlotte Linlin.

Kaido of the Beasts.