"Whether Perospero and King are still alive or not, we still have to form this united front. Of course, I could let Klee Meow and Arc use their ultimate moves to blast the World Government, but if we do that, it hard to say how many people would actually be left in this world in the end. The battle eight hundred years ago flooded most of the land on this planet."
Sherwin tapped the conference table and analyzed the situation for everyone.
"A united front? I like that name." Dragon looked over with emotion. "Mr. Sherwin consideration is as profound and comprehensive as always."
On the other hand, Haibara Meow, who had entered the meeting room with Sherwin, looked at Sherwin head from left to right with a suspicious face.
"Are you really that idiot Sherwin? You're not someone else in disguise, meow?"
(ω)
Klee Meow also nodded her little head aside: "Brother Sherwin is so unfamiliar today, he doesn't look like you at all, meow!"
(=`ー=)
It goes without saying that it was still his own felynes who knew Sherwin best.
"Ahem... stop messing around, we are talking about serious business!"
Clearing his throat to cover up his embarrassment, Sherwin reached out and picked up the two small cats who were undermining him onto his lap. After using his special cat-petting hands to "bribe" them, he successfully got them to quiet down.
"And since we want to build a united front, then just the Beasts Pirates and BIG MOM are definitely not enough."
After calming down the mischievous little cats, Sherwin reorganized his words and continued to offer advice:
"The World Economic Journal, the Gran Tesoro, Fish-Man Island, and Kuja are all allies we can win over. There also Hawkeye. Although he hasn't formed a faction, his strength alone is enough for us to recruit him."
"Leave Mihawk side to me."
Shanks took the initiative to take on the task, while looking at Sherwin in surprise and asking: "The World Economic Journal, Fish-Man Island, and Kuja are one thing, but you can even pull Tesoro over?! Didn't he ambush you with the World Government before?"
"Back in Marineford, Hawkeye even took the initiative to pick a fight with me!"
Sherwin rolled his eyes, but then followed up with an explanation: "Tesoro lover died at the hands of the Celestial Dragons. He wants to overthrow the World Government and the rule of those Celestial Dragons even more than I do."
As for the fact that Tesoro was once a slave to the Celestial Dragons, Sherwin didn't choose to gossip about it. Even though there were many people with similar experiences in the Revolutionary Army, since Tesoro didn't want others to know, Sherwin at least possessed that much tact.
"No wonder..." Dragon realized, "I was wondering why Tesoro was so easy to talk to when trading with us. It turns out it was still because of your influence, Mr. Sherwin."
"Uh, actually, it mainly because you guys are rebelling against the World Government."
Sherwin scratched his cheek, feeling a bit embarrassed as he modestly responded.
Why did he get the feeling that his image was becoming more and more grand in Dragon eyes?
"Is it necessary to involve Fish-Man Island as well?" Whitebeard frowned and objected, "The Fish-Men have been suppressed and persecuted for hundreds of years. It not quite suitable for them to participate in this war, is it?"
Perhaps from being a father for so long, or maybe it was just his inherent nature, Whitebeard always liked to protect everyone close to him under his wings.
Of course, what he said was not without reason... but the premise of all this was that Shirahoshi hadn't joined the Felyne Expedition, and that Fish-Man Island didn't hold the inheritance of the Ancient Weapon Poseidon.
"...That how things are. As someone who has existed since eight hundred years ago, it impossible for Imu not to know that the Mermaid Princess is Poseidon. At most, they just can't be sure whether Shirahoshi has inherited that ability."
Sherwin explained the situation regarding the Ancient Weapons and Shirahoshi to Whitebeard, helplessly spreading his hands.
"If we also factor in how we fell out with the Celestial Dragons at Mariejois because of Shirahoshi, the World Government is highly likely not going to let them off the hook even if we leave Fish-Man Island out of this. Since that the case, we might as well include them from the very start."
In fact, if it weren't for the fact that Fish-Man Island was located directly beneath Mariejois, Sherwin suspected that Imu would have already ordered Uranus to bomb it.
Next, Sherwin reminded Shanks: "Though the probability is low, Elegia might also face the World Government wrath because of us. So, you'd better have Haibara transplant a few Paw-Paw Fruit abilities for your subordinates to keep around Uta just in case... well, having Dragon help arrange it works too."
Aside from this, Sherwin felt it was also necessary to remind Issho and Hiyori in Wano Country.
Although in the manga, the World Government seemed completely clueless about the whereabouts of Pluton, it was still the same old argument—as someone who personally experienced the battle eight hundred years ago, it was unlikely that Imu was unaware of the connection between Wano Country and Pluto...
Of course, there was another possibility, which was that the people who originally built Pluton actually had little to do with Wano Country, and they were simply entrusted by Joy Boy to safeguard it.
It also made logical sense precisely because there was no obvious connection on the surface, Wano Country was the best place to hide Pluto.
But no matter what, giving Issho and the other a heads-up in advance could never go wrong.
As for pulling Pluton straight out of Wano Country, that was temporarily not under Sherwin consideration.
Just like what Sherwin had told Dragon not long ago, they did not lack the power to match Uranus. Whether it was Klee Meow "Little Girl" or the Cat Princess cat cans, none of them were inferior to those Ancient Weapons.
Even the "Poseidon" power inherited by Shirahoshi itself belongs to the ranks of Ancient Weapons.
Besides, Sherwin and the others had actually taken the Dodo Advance down to the bottom of Wano Country waters for a tour earlier, and they didn't find the specific location of "Pluton."
If they really wanted "Pluton," instead of making a huge fuss to turn Wano Country upside down, it would be better to just have Purah Meow build a new one—or even several—based on the blueprints obtained from Franky years ago.
In addition to pulling as many of these winnable factions and people onto their chariot as possible to form a united front, there was another matter that Sherwin considered relatively important, and that was the propaganda war.
In a world like that of pirates, where individual might could reign supreme over an army, a strategy like "encircling the cities from the rural areas" was obviously unfeasible. However, this didn't mean that propaganda warfare was entirely meaningless.
The focus of warfare in the pirate world and Earth did indeed have many differences, but as long as the people of the pirate world still needed to eat and a vast amount of weapons and equipment were still required during wartime, logistics would remain an absolutely unavoidable topic.
"...Therefore, even if those affiliated nations just waver slightly and slow down the payment of 'tribute like the Heavenly Gold just a bit, it a win for us. This matter can be pushed forward by the affiliated nations that have already secretly leaned towards us, but doing so carries the risk of the World Government making an example out of them."
Furthermore...
"The Marines have been preaching 'Justice' for so many years, and there are plenty among them who despise the Celestial Dragons. They simply had no choice before. Now, it only takes the Revolutionary Army to step up and give them a better place to practice their justice, and defecting a portion of the Marines is not an impossible task."
Not to mention, not long ago, the World Government and the Marines had already developed friction over the matter of Garp execution.