With their overwhelming advantage in intelligence, and with their two main fighters far stronger than they had been in the original story, Gild Tesoro's defeat was inevitable.
So by the time Loa received Sengoku's call, three days had passed since the incident.
"Huh? You want me to give the gold back?"
Loa looked thoroughly unimpressed. "Are you kidding me, Fleet Admiral Sengoku? For one thing, I don't work for you anymore, so I don't have to follow your orders. Besides, the person who robbed the Gran Tesoro was Enel, one of the Shichibukai. He has the legal right to plunder. Aren't you slapping the World Government in the face?"
The World Government had granted the Shichibukai that right. As long as they didn't do anything stupid like rob an organization tied to the World Government, who couldn't they rob?
And that was where the problem lay.
The Gran Tesoro was ostensibly controlled by Gild Tesoro alone, but behind the scenes, pleasure-seeking Dragon People and high-ranking World Government officials all had a stake in it. In truth, it was a money-making operation secretly backed by the World Government.
Of course, none of that could be discussed openly. It was simply a fact.
Now a Shichibukai appointed by the World Government had used his legal right to plunder the World Government's own money. Unable to say so outright, they could only have Sengoku negotiate with Loa.
Naturally, Loa claimed to know nothing about it and tossed the accusation straight back at the World Government, leaving Sengoku with nowhere to go.
Sengoku had expected that answer. In fact, he had seen it coming the moment Saint Mephisto Mittel, representing his family among the Dragon People, explained everything to him.
Sengoku had watched the Dragon Ship Fleet of Turtle Island from its initial construction