Chapter 565: Bait
New Fish-Man Island — Vegapunk's underwater research base had been converted into a temporary war council chamber for the day.
Brett's allies from across the world had gathered here.
The World Government had been consolidating its strength, and they had been doing the same.
The NEO Navy, the Revolutionary Army, the New Navy, and Fish-Man Island — the leaders of all four factions were now in the same room. Add Shanks and Rayleigh representing the pirate side, and the assembled council was an impressive sight by any measure.
"Hey, Zephyr! It's been a while, hasn't it?"
The moment they saw each other, Vice Admiral Garp — no, Fleet Admiral Garp — couldn't help greeting his old friend immediately.
It had been quite a long time since Zephyr left the Navy and founded the NEO Navy.
Zephyr pulled him into a firm embrace. "Good to fight alongside you again, old friend."
"Alright, alright, Garp and Zephyr-sensei, save the reunion for afterward."
Kizaru had come to New Fish-Man Island alongside Fleet Admiral Garp. The man wore the same languid smile as always, waving a hand. "You can catch up properly later."
"Really, you're as cold as ever, Borsalino. We were supposed to have a proper talk about everything that's happened."
Aokiji sighed. He had come with Zephyr and hadn't seen Kizaru in a long time either.
The last time they had parted ways, both of them had still been Admirals. Now neither of them were.
"Oh! Kuzan!"
Kizaru smiled warmly enough, though as always it was impossible to tell what he was actually feeling. Probably happy, at a guess.
"Alright — as Borsalino says, let's get to the final war council first."
Brett stepped forward as host and brought the room to order. He clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.
"This way to the conference room."
Tesoro had come to the council alongside Brett. In theory, the second-ranking figure on Fish-Man Island should have been Jinbei or Neptune, but Tesoro was Brett's closest ally and his own forces were nothing to dismiss. Uta alone was enough to make that clear.
Shortly after, in the conference room built specifically for this occasion, Brett and his allies sat together.
"No need for lengthy preambles," Brett said, opening the meeting. "The main purpose of today is to discuss our strategy for the final battle."
"The core objective is to draw Imu out, then strike hard before he can react."
Both sides possessed weapons of absolute destruction. Whoever moved first held an enormous advantage. The current situation was a standoff — each side hiding, waiting for the other to expose a weakness.
The problem was how to force Imu into the open.
"Before we get into that, there's something I need to share about the World Government's current situation."
Brett shifted his tone. "The World Government has been recruiting from Impel Down. Through threats or promises, they've convinced a number of extraordinarily dangerous criminals to fight for them."
"Among them is —"
Brett glanced at Rayleigh. "A man named Douglas Bullet."
"Bullet?"
Rayleigh's eyes went wide. "That kid actually ended up working for the government?"
It was hard to imagine. Bullet had always struck everyone as the most arrogant, unruly type imaginable.
"I can't picture it either," Shanks said, equally stunned.
"Whatever the reason, it's a fact." Brett said. "In any case, that makes them a considerably unusual force. We need to account for it."
"That said — how do you even know this, Brett?"
Garp looked at him with some surprise. By any reasonable assessment, this should have been classified World Government intelligence.
"Well, the World Government has been gathering strength — pirates, anyone useful, pulling them all in." Brett smiled. "As it happens, some of those people are friends of mine."
"Oh! Impressive — you had informants in place already. Though speaking of which, Mihawk must have been recruited too, right?" Shanks suddenly laughed. "Haha, he said he'd fight on our side, didn't he?"
"So at minimum, we have an advantage there." Brett said.
Quite a few of the forces the government had assembled were actually on their side. When the moment came, they would give the government a very unpleasant surprise.
"Can we use them to pinpoint Imu's location?" Dragon said immediately.
Brett shook his head. "CP0 was the contact point. Imu and the ultimate weapon have never once appeared directly."
"Patient man." Aokiji scratched his head. "No wonder he came out on top eight hundred years ago."
"To get him to show himself, we'll probably need to offer bait," Tesoro said quietly. "And it needs to be big enough."
Only then would Imu take the hook. Otherwise, who knew how long that man could keep drifting through the sky unseen.
"Agreed." Zephyr gave a solemn nod. "It has to be bait so tempting that even if he suspects a trap, he still can't stop himself from biting."
"Then the answer is simple." Brett smiled. "There's no better candidate than me, is there?"
A brief silence fell over the conference room.
Everyone understood. Of everyone present, no one made Imu more uneasy than Brett. If Brett appeared, the likelihood of Imu staying still was very low.
"But Brett." Dragon's voice was quiet and heavy. "You understand what kind of risk that carries?"
"Come on, don't underestimate me. I've escaped from Imu's hands multiple times already — who else can say that?" Brett grinned. "So naturally, no one is better suited as bait than me."
"We're not going to put Hades or Poseidon out in the open for Imu to bombard, are we?"
Another silence.
"Then it's settled." Brett said with a smile. "I'll go out personally and find a way to draw Imu into our encirclement."
"Then we hit them all at once and finish it."
"Understood!" Zephyr nodded firmly. "If this is what you've decided yourself, Brett!"
Brett smiled.
Now the question was how to make Imu willing to chase him into that encirclement.
How to go about that, exactly?