The next day.
Noah was trying out the Six Powers at the training grounds when he suddenly heard footsteps.
Lilith came over carrying a bamboo basket. "Brother Noah, here's today's newspaper."
"Sorry for the trouble. Just leave it over there!"
"Uncle Joseph said he won't be back for lunch. He's organizing the shelves at the hardware store."
"Mm!"
Uncle Joseph's hardware store was another reason Noah had gone to Loguetown this time.
He wasn't comfortable with his uncle going out to sea to fish alone, and his uncle didn't have much to do at the estate either. So Noah had bought a large batch of hardware and small machine tools in Loguetown, along with a large supply of iron and copper, and opened a hardware store for his uncle near the town's docks.
Whether the hardware store made money wasn't the point. Its main purpose was to give his uncle something to do.
Of course, opening the hardware store also helped conceal the workshop inside the estate, making outside purchases of raw materials like iron and copper seem more reasonable.
The World Government might have appeared to let pirates run rampant, but in reality, its control over the global economy ran very deep, and Cipher Pol was bound to have departments dedicated to monitoring sensitive supplies.
What counted as sensitive supplies?
Steel and copper were surely among them.
Over the past year, Noah had sold sea beasts and used the proceeds to purchase more than fifty tons of steel from outside, mostly to manufacture submarines and ship parts, as well as secretly forge weapons.
If he continued buying it, he would draw Cipher Pol's attention sooner or later.
So he needed a "reasonable" pretext for importing steel materials, and a hardware store that also repaired ships was one.
At the same time, Noah once again reminded everyone at the estate to stay alert and get their stories straight. If anyone questioned or probed them, they were to say the steel had been used to make farm tools, hardware, kitchenware, and ship parts.
To avoid problems, he also sealed some of the more sensitive equipment and finished products in the workshop into cards, unsealing them when they were needed.
For now, he and his companions were still building up their strength. This was not a suitable time to avoid attracting the attention of other forces.
After training for over an hour, Noah stopped to rest.
He casually picked up the newspaper on the table.
The front-page headline of the World Economy News Paper read: [Shocking! The Pirate Admiral's army of ferocious beasts...]
Clearly, Morgans had confirmed Golden Lion's location over the past few days and secretly infiltrated Merveille Island to investigate.
He really lives up to the name Big News. He even dares to offend Golden Lion for a story. Noah had to admire the man's persistence and fearlessness.
But none of this had much to do with Noah.
Even if Golden Lion knew someone in Loguetown had sold the information, he had no way of knowing who it was. After all, the place was in the East Blue, a bustling trade city full of all sorts of people, not some isolated little island.
That was also why Noah had chosen not to speak with Morgans on Starfish Island. The island was relatively isolated, and Noah's presence there would have been easy to notice.
Meanwhile.
Grand Line - Paradise.
Marine Headquarters - Marineford.
In the chief staff officer's office, Vice Admiral Tsuru had just returned to headquarters from the North Blue. Before she could catch her breath, Lieutenant Colonel Komei, the head of the intelligence division, knocked and entered.
"Staff Officer Tsuru, there's an urgent intelligence report."
Tsuru took the folder and opened it. Her pupils immediately contracted. "Golden Lion... I never expected that man to be hiding in the Calm Belt. Komei, do we have any Eternal Poses for Merveille Island in reserve?"
Komei replied at once, "Yes. I just checked with logistics. There are three Eternal Poses for Merveille Island in the storage room, ready to be requisitioned at any time."
"Requisition them immediately. I'll brief Fleet Admiral Kong."
"Yes."
A few minutes later, Tsuru hurried to the Fleet Admiral's Office. After knocking, she pushed the door open and entered.
Kong looked up at Tsuru. "Tsuru, is something urgent?"
"It's about Golden Lion. Morgans has reported some information on him. We need to take action, and I expect a call from them will be coming soon..."
No sooner had she finished speaking,
than the black Den Den Mushi on Kong's desk rang. It was a direct line to the Five Elders, and Kong answered immediately.
"Brrr, brrr... Five Elders, this is Kong."
"You already know about Golden Lion, don't you?"
"Yes, I just received the report."
"Send Borsalino out to destroy Merveille Island outright and probe Golden Lion's physical condition while he's at it."
"Understood."
The Five Elders immediately hung up.
Kong looked at Tsuru. He knew she had already anticipated the Five Elders' response, so he instructed her, "I'll leave this matter to you."
"No problem." Tsuru nodded.
Before long, a streak of golden light shot out from Marineford's harbor toward the East Blue.
Carrying an Eternal Pose, Borsalino appeared over the Calm Belt on the East Blue side in less than half an hour.
Borsalino hovered in the air using Geppo, his expression somewhat grave.
Only one island remained floating in the air nearby, and it looked as though dogs had gnawed at it, with pits and craters everywhere.
"Did he move everything ahead of time? What a nuisance..."
Suddenly, Borsalino's expression changed. His body turned into a beam of light and shifted to the left.
The next second, an immense volume of seawater poured down from the sky.
Borsalino stopped again after his rapid movement and spread his hands. "Yasakani no Magatama!"
A dense barrage of light projectiles shot toward the space ahead and to his side.
In an instant, more than a dozen slashing waves collided with the light projectiles.
Boom, boom, boom...
"Little monkey! You're pretty capable, huh?" Golden Lion descended from the sky with a cigar clenched between his teeth, his cold gaze fixed on Borsalino.
"How scary... What a headache."
As soon as he finished speaking, Borsalino moved as light again, while Golden Lion controlled the seawater, turning it into more than a dozen water lions.
The two sides began a fierce battle.
Slashes tore through the sky.
Light projectiles bombarded the air with thunderous blasts.
After more than half an hour, Golden Lion saw that Borsalino was stalling for time. He casually hurled the abandoned Merveille Island at Borsalino, then rapidly retreated in the opposite direction.
Faced with the island crashing toward him, Borsalino could only dodge repeatedly.
By the time he got clear of it, Golden Lion had vanished without a trace.
Although he hadn't actually destroyed Golden Lion's biological research base, the clash had still allowed him to learn some things about Golden Lion's condition.
Golden Lion's Haki had deteriorated far too noticeably.
If Golden Lion had been at his peak, Borsalino wouldn't have dared fight him alone for half an hour, no matter how much courage he had.
Before long, the island crashed straight into the Calm Belt, and dozens of enormous Sea Kings emerged from the water.
Borsalino helplessly patted his collar, took out the Den Den Mushi hanging from his wrist, and reported the battle to Tsuru.
Tsuru seemed to have already anticipated the outcome of the mission and told Borsalino to return to headquarters.
At its core, this operation had been a probe and a warning.
She knew Golden Lion was difficult to deal with. If he wanted to escape, it would be hard to subdue him unless the Marines deployed three Admiral-level fighters to surround and attack him.