Pirate Luo Chen wreaks havoc in Marineford, offends Celestial Dragons, and kidnaps Saint Orange's fiancée, Catherine. He successfully escapes from Admiral Akainu and is wanted with a bounty of 200 million Beli. He is considered the most heinous criminal and his life is in danger.
The Catherine the Rebel Colonel has a bounty of fifty million Beli on her head; she must be captured alive.
"This is our bounty poster, how did it get reported in the news so quickly...?"
No wonder Catherine was so shocked, because only a few novels' worth of time had passed since they escaped from headquarters, yet the newspaper had reported it so quickly.
Meanwhile, back at Marine Headquarters, a little over an hour ago, Akainu returned to Marineford and reported the situation to Sengoku.
"Damn it, how could you let him escape from you? This isn't like you at all! Explain to me right now what exactly happened!"
Sakazuki, quickly explain the whole story to me, make it clear, otherwise, I won't be able to explain it properly to Mary Geoise..."
In the Fleet Admiral's office, Sengoku angrily slammed a newspaper on the table and shouted at Akainu.
"... I didn't expect them to find out about this so quickly. I've only just returned to headquarters..."
Akainu didn't defend himself first. Instead, he reached for the newspaper on the table, glanced at it carefully, put it down, and said...
"You're still talking so leisurely. Don't you know this matter has already spread throughout the Navy? In a little while, Morgans's side will report it. This is just the model government using its connections to get it for us to see and confirm first."
When Sengoku saw his appearance, he felt a great headache coming on and said to him.
"Yes, I'll explain what happened... no rush..."
After Akainu sat down, he recounted the entire incident to Sengoku, giving him a general understanding of why Luo Chen had escaped from his grasp.
"You mean he was seriously injured by you, but used his abilities to deceive your eyes, which allowed him to escape from your power? Is that right?!"
After listening to Akainu's explanation, Sengoku picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip of water, and then, after organizing his thoughts, said...
"Indeed, his ability is extremely troublesome. Like yours, Fleet Admiral, it's Mythical Zoan, allowing him to transform into a Asura Form, greatly increasing his combat power. Moreover, he can use that strange red ability to attack."
Akainu nodded and continued speaking.
" Shura? Could it be the Devil Fruit that was called the strongest Zoan a hundred years ago? He's really lucky to have obtained that ability."
However, even if he obtained that ability, it wouldn't be possible for him to escape so easily.
When Sengoku heard that Luo Chen had actually obtained the Shura Fruit, which was known as the strongest Zoan Devil Fruit, he sighed. Garp had indeed mentioned his ability before, but Sengoku hadn't thought about what kind of Devil Fruit it was. Now he understood, and then he said to Akainu.
"Hmm... He wouldn't have escaped originally, but I didn't expect him to split into a clone, which fooled my eyes and allowed him to escape from my grasp."
However, he had already taken a direct hit from my Magma Fist, and his injuries were quite severe. Any Vice Admiral could easily capture him.
Akainu responded to his words.
"Is that so? Then it seems things are indeed difficult. This matter can no longer be concealed. However, we can take advantage of the important information you mentioned about his extremely serious injuries."
Let the newspapers spread the word about him, and while they're at it, double his bounty again, so that pirates and bounty hunters will come and help us with this."
Sengoku tapped the table with his finger, thought for a moment, and then spoke.
"Mr. Sengoku, I can understand sending bounty hunters to capture him, but how do you get pirates to help?"
As pirates, they can't just capture pirates and come to the Navy to claim a reward like bounty hunters...
Akainu was puzzled by Sengoku's words and directly expressed his doubts to him.
Click...
Just then, the door to the Sengoku opened, and an elderly female officer walked in. After glancing at them, she spoke.
"Just spread the word that whoever gets Luo Chen's head can go to the Navy to claim a reward and be awarded the title of Shichibukai."
The female officer was none other than Tsuru, a female soldier from the same era as Garp Sengoku. She overheard their conversation outside, pushed open the door, and walked in, resolving Akainu's question.
Is this okay?
As Admiral -level officer, Akainu quickly understood after just a slight prompting, but he simply didn't want to think about it. As the commander-in-chief who hated pirates the most, he was very unwilling to do this.
"That's exactly what I was thinking. Crocodile was defeated by the Straw Hat Pirates, but to cover it up, the government stripped him of his title and imprisoned him in Impel Down."
"We're currently short one spot, and we can use today's news to get rid of Luo Chen."
Sengoku nodded to him, and made the same decision as Tsuru.
"But Fleet Admiral, this..."
Akainu wanted to say something more, but Sengoku. Akainu waved his hand and said...
" Sakazuki, I understand your thinking, but headquarters is forced to do this because they have no other choice. Headquarters simply doesn't have the manpower to send anyone else."
Sengoku spoke to Akainu with a serious expression.
"How could this be? Aren't there still many vice Vice Admiral stationed here at headquarters?" Akainu stood up anxiously and asked Sengoku.
"No, they have heavy responsibilities and cannot be deployed." Sengoku shook his head and rejected his suggestion, indicating that they had even more arduous tasks awaiting them.
"What mission could be more important than this...?"
Akainu continued, trying to persuade Sengoku and the others to abandon the decision.
"Stop talking, Sakazuki. Sengoku had his reasons for doing this... and so do you. You too have a greater mission awaiting you. Let's leave it at that!"
Just then, Tsuru spoke up to stop Akainu and explained to him.
"Ms. He, what exactly happened... why do you all seem so tense and serious?"
Akainu turned to look at her and asked her a question.
"Just a few hours ago, a very important event came from the World Government: Blackbeard Marshall D. Teach defeated Fire Fist Ace, the second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, and handed him over to the government in exchange for the title of Shichibukai."
At this moment, Tsuru finally spoke to Akainu, explaining the real reason for their tension.
Could it be that...?
"That's right, war is about to begin. A full-scale war between our Navy and the Whitebeard Pirates is about to unfold. The entire headquarters is now on high alert, and no serving Vice Admiral can leave here easily to prevent Whitebeard attack."
Now you understand why I let Luo Chen and the others go unchecked. It's because compared to Whitebeard, the world's strongest man, the pirate Luo Chen is nothing at all.
After Tsuru finished speaking, Sengoku explained his actions to Akainu.
As the Fleet Admiral, any order he gave at this moment would determine the outcome of the battle, which is why he reluctantly made this decision.
However, what he didn't know was that after making this decision, he would never have known that two years later, a figure even more powerful and terrifying than Whitebeard would emerge, capable of overturning the entire world, and that he would later regret his decision.