"Ban! You've gotten really bold! You even dare to hide something like this from me?..."
Vic sternly reprimanded Ban for concealing the truth, saying that if it happened again, he could forget about living in this world!
Vic built the intelligence agency precisely to have timely and accurate intelligence during special periods. Now you're withholding information, which will cause serious problems at critical moments. Vic understands very well the principle that one wrong move can lead to total defeat. There have been cases where a single loose screw has caused a plane crash!
Therefore, Vic took this very seriously. Intelligence matters could not be taken lightly. He wanted Ban to know his attitude and not to think that he was easy to talk to and lacked ruthlessness. After planning so much, he couldn't possibly make a mistake on such a small matter! Even if Ban's original intention was to protect his position, a stern reprimand was still necessary!
As for Rebecca and the others, Vic didn't reprimand them, only felt helpless. They were partners, while Ben was a subordinate; their ways of getting along were different, and their mindsets were also different!
One is disobeying orders, which is a sign of disloyalty. Although Rebecca and the others meant well and it was out of goodwill among partners, it was the type of good intention that led to bad results. There is still a difference!
However, in reality, Rebecca and the others didn't do anything wrong. The title of one of the Four Emperors was dispensable to Vic; having it or not made little difference to him. He just found it troublesome.
Therefore, the two are different in nature. Vic must give Ban a warning to make him realize the seriousness of the matter and not to ruin Vic's important plans by acting on his own in the future!
After making the call to Ban, Vic put down his newspaper and continued reading, without contacting Rebecca or the others, as if he were sulking. Chopper, who was watching from the side, looked completely bewildered. In the end, after hesitating for a long time while holding Vic's latest bounty poster, he still didn't show it to Vic, but quietly left, leaving Vic to read it intently.
Inside the Room of Authority of Holy Land Mary Geoise, the Five Elders, some sitting and some standing, all focused on the newspapers and bounty posters on the coffee table—today's paper and Vic's latest bounty.
" Vic is moving way too fast. He crushed the alliance that was attacking him, and then he took over Whitebeard's territory. Doesn't he find that challenging at all? It's really unfair to give him the title of one of the Four Emperors!"
After the bald, bearded Five Elders finished speaking, a fierce glint flashed in his eyes. The alliance to defeat the Thunder God Pirates was secretly organized by agents dispatched by their World Government. Vic didn't investigate, otherwise he would have easily discovered the clues.
Although Vic didn't investigate, he guessed that the World Government must have been involved, only he didn't know how much. This wasn't important to Vic; he just needed to hold the World Government responsible. However, the Five Elders were still somewhat resentful. Such a large-scale siege, and they were defeated in no time. Were those people just a rabble? A bunch of good-for-nothings!
"Perhaps Vic had already made arrangements with Whitebeard at Marineford. Didn't they have a brief conversation? Maybe the condition was rescuing Fire Fist. Now he's probably just getting his reward back. It's all a carefully orchestrated scheme, a wolf's ambition indeed. When Sengoku invited him to participate in the Paramount War, he probably already planned his path to becoming one of the Four Emperors!"
The long-haired Five Elders analyzed that although it was far from the truth, it was logically consistent and very convincing. Upon closer examination, it made sense and could connect the events that had occurred one after another. Thinking about it this way, Vic was the real mastermind behind the scenes, which was very much in line with the Five Elders ' psychological inclination.
"I tried to use the title of Four Emperors to incite those pirates who wanted to rise to power to challenge Vic, but no one could do it. That should have shown you what the Thunder God Pirates are all about!"
After so many years of recuperation, they have truly grown stronger. We haven't found an opportunity to kill Vic. The title of Four Emperors will be his sooner or later; it's just a matter of time. There's no point in talking about this now. Let's think about how to deal with him in the future!
The blonde Five Elders are more focused on the future and don't want to dwell too much on the past. What's done is done, and no amount of regret can undo it. It's better to work on the future, pooling their wisdom and efforts to figure out how to eliminate Vic, this villain who offended the Celestial Dragons!
"I heard Vic and Red-Hair Shanks are on good terms. Should we get 'him' to make a move? If it's 'him,' it should be able to achieve a surprise effect!"
After pondering for a moment, Saturn said, "The relationship between Vic and Red-Hair is no secret. All the major powers know that they are on good terms. Thinking of someone's crescent moon pressing against my anus, Saturn couldn't help but think of Shanks and that person. So he came up with this plan. If the plan succeeds, it can get rid of Vic, this thorn in my side. If it fails, it can still cripple that guy and stop him from constantly threatening my backside."
"Isn't now the right time for 'him' to step in? The timing isn't right, let's discuss it again!"
The Five Elders with glasses and knives shook their heads, clearly seeing through Saturn's little scheme, but said nothing more.
"If all else fails, we'll take matters into our own hands. We can't count on the Holy Knights anyway. Let's send one person to lower Vic's guard first, then teleport the rest over. Five of us together, the advantage is in our favor!"
The Five Elders suggested that for pirate crews at the level of the Four Emperors, only the full deployment of the Five Elders would be safe enough. The entire Navy could also be deployed, but not all of them. The Navy is their core force, and it is currently facing a shortage of capable personnel, so they are not needed. Therefore, if a real action is to be taken, only the five of them can step up!
"We need Imu's permission to act together, so let's put that aside for now. Are there any other plans?"
The Five Elders were not in favor of a joint attack. The Revolutionary Army had been making frequent moves in recent years, with obvious targeting intent. He worried that if the five of them left the Holy Land, the Revolutionary Army would get wind of it and wipe out Mary Geoise, which would be disastrous. Vic's situation could be dealt with later, and it wasn't necessary to eliminate him, but the Holy Land couldn't be allowed to be destroyed. This was his consideration.
"I think we should put this matter on hold for now. If we don't have a good solution, we should wait for the right opportunity. The ocean is never static!"
The Five Elders with glasses and knives made the final decision, and there really wasn't a good solution at the moment. But the sea is not calm, and the various forces are intricately intertwined, with back-and-forth exchanges. There will always be a time when they can mediate, and if we take advantage of the situation, we will have an opportunity to strike back!
The Red Hair Pirates are currently stationed in Elbaf, the Elbaf in the New World. News of Vic's official announcement as one of the Four Emperors has also reached this place, and at this moment, Red-Hair is holding today's newspaper and reading it carefully.
"Boss! Vic's bounty has surpassed yours. Should we pull off something big?"
Yasopp, holding Vic's bounty poster, walked up to Shanks and asked, somewhat indignant that Vic, a newcomer to the pirate world, already had a bounty of 4,053,600 Beli, more than 200 million higher than his captain's. Why should a pirate who joined the crew halfway through have a higher bounty than Shanks, a veteran pirate who had been at sea since childhood?
The key issue is that Vic hasn't done anything particularly groundbreaking, so why did the World Government set such a high bounty on Vic? Isn't this bullying an honest person?
Furthermore, Vic didn't even bother to fight for the territory himself; Marco practically handed it over to him. That really puts people on the defensive. They fought tooth and nail to get some territory, and Marco just takes it all in one go. Who wouldn't be on the defensive? What about all our efforts?
So Yasopp wanted Shanks to lead them in doing something big to gain followers—no, I meant to increase their bounty, at least to surpass Vic, the newcomer, since he had been keeping him in the lead for a while.
"If the new Four Emperors is Vic, then it's fine! With him around, the New World will quickly calm down. But if it's someone else, it'll be different. It will definitely be a long and brutal war, which is not what I want to see! As for the bounty? It's completely unimportant to me!"
Shanks also had many things he hadn't told his crew. He had his own general direction in mind, and as long as that direction remained unchanged, other things weren't that important.
In his view, the Paramount War the Whitebeard Pirates and the Navy had a significant impact on his overall strategy, which is why he took action with his crew. However, the outcome didn't change much. Now that Vic has joined the fray, the overall strategy is fine.
Shanks wants the situation in the New World to be more balanced and stable before Luffy grows up, because he is the protector of Luffy!
As for bounties, Shanks and Vic don't care about them. They can't put food on the table, and they don't affect strength. On the contrary, they are just labels that reflect the depth of their sins, and they are a bit of an eyesore to them. They are people who have their own goals, and the identity of pirates is only temporary!
"Is it unimportant?"
"It doesn't matter! Let's go for a drink!"
"Oh!"