--The Abyss's bridge
Sephiroth sat in the captain's chair, watching the Marine fleet's movements on the main screen.
By his estimates, more than a dozen islands along this course could be the target.
After all, the Celestial Dragons' fleet included the Holy Knights, Cipher Pol Aigis Zero units, and several Marine Vice Admirals.
Conventional reconnaissance simply couldn't get close. One careless move could easily tip them off.
Without inside information, Sephiroth didn't know which island was the actual target, either.
That made an "advance warning" impossible. He could hardly notify every potentially targeted island...
Whether they believed him was one thing. Doing that would undoubtedly doom them all.
It wouldn't fit his "Bondrewd" persona, either.
And at this stage, it wasn't convenient for his other "identities" to become involved in this affair.
"It's the estimated island number five..."
Sephiroth noticed that the images coming through on the main screen showed the Marines splitting into groups, gradually encircling an island unaffiliated with the World Government in a pincer formation.
Of course, these estimates only narrowed down the general area. This sort of "hunting event" followed just a few basic principles, and quite a few islands met the criteria.
Its resources couldn't be too scarce. It had to be worth plundering for the World Government.
It couldn't be too small, or the Celestial Dragons wouldn't get their fill of fun.
It couldn't be too large, nor could it lie along heavily traveled routes.
After all, that would make suppressing the news difficult. In principle, this affair was a secret.
Take the God Valley Incident. Despite all the commotion, most people outside still knew nothing of the details, only that Garp the Hero had defeated Rocks.
Even the better-informed knew, at most, that Garp and Roger had joined forces.
Only a tiny handful