Marine Headquarters! The Seven Warlords Plan

The battle continued.

Lin Ye's Two Types of Haki surpassed Kaido's, but with Kaido's physique, combat experience, and Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit powers, their battle clearly would not end anytime soon.

Everyone in Wano Country felt the ground trembling repeatedly. They did not know what was happening, and they were terrified.

The people of the Flower Capital had already been frightened by the battle in the plaza. Now, the distant explosions in the air and the violent shaking of the ground plunged them into terror once more.

Outside the Flower Capital, before a small earthen mound, the pink-haired burly man pulled out his sword, glanced toward Ringo, then drove the blade into his own stomach.

By the shore, Thriller Bark was sturdy enough that it had not been destroyed by the aftershocks of Lin Ye and Kaido's battle.

Shadows clung to the hull. With his entire face twisted in terror, Moria looked back once, then directly used his shadows to control the entire ship, turning it around and fleeing.

Monster. This was a true Monster of the New World.

Though he had clashed with Kaido for a while earlier, Moria now understood completely.

Kaido had not been serious at all then. Or rather, Kaido had never considered him a true opponent.

And there was that little Monster, Lin Ye.

Moria looked back and could still see the thunderclouds over Ringo, as well as the dark purple lightning flashing beneath them amid thunderous booms.

Terrifying Conqueror's Haki erupted without pause.

Leave this place. Leave this place.

Fear flashed in Moria's eyes. He turned away, not daring to look again.

Marine Headquarters, Marineford, which had only recently finished repairs.

A year ago, King of the Pirates Roger had been captured. Shiki had attacked Marine Headquarters alone, destroying half of it before being captured by Sengoku and Garp together.

Shiki's powers had still caused immense destruction to Marine Headquarters.

During that battle, Shiki's abilities had inflicted enormous casualties on the Marines.

However, Shiki's powers were too dangerous. Rather than execute him and allow his Devil Fruit to respawn elsewhere, it was better to throw him into Impel Down.

This was how the World Government and the Marines dealt with dangerous Devil Fruit Users.

That was also why Impel Down held so many powerful pirates.

Kong, the former Fleet Admiral, had stepped down after earning merit for capturing Roger and taken a post with the World Government. Sengoku, meanwhile, had been promoted to Fleet Admiral for capturing Shiki and Roger.

However, becoming Fleet Admiral now was not a good time.

Inside the Fleet Admiral's office, Sengoku looked at the incredibly thick stack of reports before him, exhaustion flashing across his face. Then he heard the crunching sounds beside him, and the veins on his forehead throbbed.

"You bastard, can't you eat in your own office?"

Sengoku glared angrily at Garp.

"I ran out, so I came here!"

Garp stuffed a handful of rice crackers into his mouth and chuckled.

Sengoku was even more speechless.

"If you have nothing to do, go patrol more. There are too many pirates now."

Sengoku looked helpless.

Both the Marines and the World Government had underestimated the impact of Roger's final shout.

Over the past year, the number of pirates putting to sea had increased dozens of times over compared to the previous year, and that was only counting the pirates who had been discovered.

The sea was so vast that there were certainly plenty who had slipped through the net.

Thinking about it that way, the true number of pirates taking to sea might have been a hundred times greater than the year before.

The entire Four Blues and Grand Line were nearly a complete mess.

The situation that had once barely been manageable was now on the verge of collapse. Even emergency recruitment had little effect; the Marines could not possibly recruit a hundred times more soldiers.

The World Government would not allow it.

"What's the use? Catching a few small fry won't make much difference."

Garp spread his hands, looking somewhat pleased by Sengoku's misfortune.

"You bastard, why don't you get promoted to Admiral?"

Sengoku's eyes shifted as he revealed his true intention.

Although Garp had refused promotion to Admiral several times, the prestige he had gained from capturing Roger and Shiki, along with Marine propaganda, meant his reputation was no weaker than an Admiral's. It even faintly rivaled that of the Fleet Admiral.

"The Celestial Dragons won't agree, and neither will I."

Garp shook his head at that.

"You can't just collect a paycheck without doing any work, can you?"

Sengoku looked at Garp.

"Fine, fine. I'll go take a look around."

"Wait!"

Seeing Garp rise to leave, Sengoku immediately called out to him.

"What do you think of the Seven Warlords Plan?"

To deal with the growing number of pirates, relying solely on the Marines was unrealistic. Their numbers could not possibly increase significantly, and the World Government would not bear the expense.

The Seven Warlords Plan had been proposed by the World Government to deal with the growing number of pirates.

Suitable great pirates would be selected and recruited as Shichibukai, using pirates to restrain pirates.

"Since when did the Marines need to cooperate with pirates?"

Garp stopped in his tracks, turned around, and stared at Sengoku.

Sengoku's expression stiffened as he watched Garp leave.

How could he possibly want this either? But this method truly could solve some problems.

Yet legal plundering would be a blow to the Marines' prestige.

That was why he could not make up his mind either.

"Bulu Bulu!"

Sengoku's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a Transponder Snail. He picked it up.

"This is Sengoku!"

"Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"

The Transponder Snail's face changed into a square, stern-looking human face.

"Gecko Moria, who has gained tremendous fame in the New World over the past year, has entered Wano Country with his ship."

"Hm? Isn't Kaido in Wano Country now?"

Sengoku froze, then asked in surprise.

"Yes, Fleet Admiral Sengoku. Our warship has been monitoring the outskirts of Wano Country, and a great battle has now broken out there."

Upon hearing this, Sengoku's expression became exceedingly serious.

Wano Country was not a World Government member nation. It was extremely isolated and had little contact with the outside world. However, it produced Seastone, so Sengoku knew a fair amount about it.

Kaido had occupied Wano Country for several years already.

Now Gecko Moria had actually gone to Wano Country and started a war with Kaido?

"Can you investigate the details?"

Sengoku's heart stirred.

Gecko Moria was also one of the candidates in the Seven Warlords Plan.

The main reason was that over the past year, Gecko Moria's pirate crew had gained enormous fame. They had clashed with pirate crews large and small dozens of times, slaughtering every opponent each time.

Such ruthless methods would be no problem for intimidating certain pirates if he became a Shichibukai.

Moreover, Akainu seemed to greatly admire Moria's conduct and had stated that if he encountered Moria, he would give him a swift death.

"Um, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, we do not have a base in Wano Country. And our previous orders were to avoid conflict with Kaido, so we have not stationed anyone there."

Sengoku nodded lightly.

However, he felt that the World Government should have agents undercover in Wano Country.

After all, this was where Seastone was produced.

The World Government could not possibly have failed to keep watch on it.

But could that guy Moria really pose a threat to Kaido?