Loguetown

East Blue, Loguetown, Marine Building

As the day of the public execution of the Pirate King, Roger, drew closer, more and more pirates came to Loguetown. Among them were quite a few great pirates renowned on the Grand Line, and both the Marines and the World Government grew tense.

At that moment, the Marines were holding their final meeting. Inside the conference room, the atmosphere was strange.

Because of the special circumstances, those attending today's meeting were not only Marines, but also members of the World Government.

The two sides were clearly divided, sitting on the left and right.

As the highest-ranking officer currently in Loguetown, Sengoku was in charge of the meeting. After briefly explaining the preparations the Marines had made, he gave his concluding remarks.

"Loguetown, as well as the area around Reverse Mountain, have already been heavily surrounded by our Marines. This time, we'll make sure these pirates come here and never return."

But some people did not seem to care about that.

"That has nothing to do with us, Admiral Sengoku. This time, the Five Elders sent us here not to help you Marines, but because of the murder of Saint Donquixote Mjosgard."

The speaker was a black-haired man in a suit, with a burly build, a nasty expression, and a crooked mouth.

His name was Spandine. He was currently the highest-ranking officer of CP9, and also one of the members of CP0.

Sengoku did not answer. The one who spoke was Vice Admiral Tsuru, seated on the Marine side below Garp. Originally, she had not needed to come to Loguetown, but after the incident involving the death of a Celestial Dragon, Fleet Admiral Kong had specially transferred her here.

"Regarding Saint Donquixote Mjosgard's death, haven't we Marines already handed the relevant report over to you?"

"You gave us the report, but not the people. We need to interrogate the relevant personnel before we can obtain more information."

As Spandine spoke, his gaze drifted, intentionally or otherwise, toward the man seated below Tsuru: Marine Vice Admiral Kizaru.

But Kizaru seemed not to notice at all. With a relaxed look on his face, he drank hot tea, occasionally smacking his lips.

The only one who could compare to Kizaru was Vice Admiral Garp, seated above Tsuru, who was picking his nose with his pinky, then rubbing it and flicking it back and forth with his finger.

As for Aokiji, he also looked completely lazy.

Seeing this, Tsuru sighed deeply in her heart. This was exactly why Kong had sent her here.

These fellows were all far too unreliable.

So she stepped forward to defend her own people.

"There is no need. The report states it very clearly. That pirate named Ye Mu possesses Conqueror's Haki. The ordinary Marines present at the time were directly knocked unconscious and knew nothing. As for Gasparde, he is still lying in the hospital. He has already said everything he could say, and I questioned him myself. There were no issues. As for Kizaru, the fact that he couldn't catch those two pirates can't be blamed on him. Those two pirates possess Devil Fruits—the Flame-Flame Fruit and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. I don't think I need to explain how troublesome they are; you understand that yourselves. Moreover, according to Kizaru's description, they also possess Observation Haki no weaker than his. As for Armament Haki, although they did not display it, someone capable of releasing Conqueror's Haki likely would not have failed to master even Armament Haki... Troublesome opponents like that would be difficult to keep even if an admiral were dispatched..."

Tsuru's words were extremely forceful, leaving Spandine on the opposite side speechless.

But he would not submit just like that. After all, the one behind him was the World Government.

"Even so, failing to protect a Celestial Dragon is already enough for Gasparde to deserve death... We must take him back..."

"Hmph..."

At that, Tsuru gave a cold snort and said.

"According to your logic, four of your CP9 people were there and also failed to protect the Celestial Dragon. As the chief of CP9, shouldn't you also apologize with your death...?"

Spandine instantly slammed the table in fury, stood up, and roared.

"Vice Admiral Tsuru, you're twisting logic!"

At this moment, Sengoku finally stepped in and played the mediator.

"Enough... Stop arguing... The most important thing right now is still Roger's execution. That is the World Government's consensus. Before that, all other matters are to be set aside for the time being... This is also the order of the Five Elders..."

Sengoku's words brought the matter to a close. Under the table, Garp secretly gave Tsuru a thumbs-up, receiving an eye roll from her in return.

But Spandine was still somewhat unwilling to let it go.

"Are we really going to let those two heinous bastards off just like that...?"

Tsuru also understood the principle of balancing firmness and flexibility. Although she had refuted Spandine for the sake of the Marines, that did not mean she was willing to let those two pirates go.

"According to our intelligence, the Sky Pirates currently have only three people in total, including Fisher Tiger. But I think everyone here knows full well how strong the Sky Pirates are. Those two pirates can probably only be captured if combat forces at admiral level are deployed. Now they've also been joined by the Fish-Man Tiger, whose strength is also at the rear admiral level. So although the Sky Pirates have only just made their debut, they absolutely cannot be treated like rookies... However, no matter what, we Marines cannot spare anyone to deal with them right now. If you are willing, we can hand the matter over to you..."

"..."

Tsuru's words instantly put Spandine in an awkward position. It was not as though the World Government had no high-level combat forces; CP0 had some elite fighters as well. But those people were extremely precious and were stationed specifically in Mary Geoise to protect the Celestial Dragons. It was utterly impossible to dispatch them for the sake of two pirates.

And his CP9 had already lost four people. Even if the remaining members were sent out, they would most likely be marching to their deaths. Not to mention that they each had their own missions, and it was impossible to transfer too many people at once.

Seeing that Spandine did not speak, Tsuru smoothed things over and said.

"In that case, I suggest issuing wanted posters first... As the saying goes, where there's a heavy reward, brave men will come forward. Besides that, it will also help us discover their tracks..."

But Spandine did not agree.

"No. News that a Celestial Dragon was killed must absolutely not spread..."

Hearing this, Garp could not help laughing as he said.

"Don't the pirates in Loguetown already know about it...?"

Though that was true, Sengoku knew the World Government's ability to control the news. They could still suppress this report.

After all, the geography of this world was too complicated. Aside from the World Government and the World Economy News Paper, there was simply no way to spread information across the entire world.

"The matter of the Celestial Dragon's death naturally has to be concealed. Let's issue the wanted posters on the grounds that they attacked a Marine warship."

Spandine thought about it, and in the end, that was the only option.

"Then how much should the bounty be set at?"

Vice Admiral Tsuru asked the key question.

Sengoku thought it over, considering the intelligence on the Sky Pirates he had gotten from Kizaru and Gasparde. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Since these two pirates want to make their names known across the world, then we Marines will help them fulfill that dream..."

"Captain of the Sky Pirates, Ye Mu. An extremely evil man. Flame-Flame Fruit user. Bounty: 540 million berries. Dead or alive..."

"Vice-captain of the Sky Pirates, Enel. An extremely evil man. Rumble-Rumble Fruit user. Bounty: 500 million berries. Dead or alive..."

"Member of the Sky Pirates, Fisher Tiger. An extremely evil man. Fish-Man. Bounty: 380 million berries. Dead or alive..."