While Aokiji was thinking wildly, suddenly, Akira turned his head, and asked him.
Akira's words made all the commanders and pirate captains of the Whitebeard Pirates look at Aokiji. They had always ignored Aokiji's existence. Besides Akira, basically no one else would contact him, because they all felt that Aokiji would betray them sooner or later. He wasn't their partner at all.
Aokiji was naturally very clear about his awkward situation in the Whitebeard Pirates. However, he didn't care. Anyway, he himself hadn't really integrated into the Whitebeard Pirates. His relationship with the Whitebeard Pirates now was equivalent to an employment relationship. Moreover, only Akira could command him.
Facing Akira's question, Aokiji said lightly, "I know what to do."
"What if Navy Headquarters suddenly intervenes?" Akira suddenly asked a more pointed question.
Aokiji raised his head, and looked at Akira's eyes. After a long time, he replied, "I'm a pirate now, a pirate of the Whitebeard Pirates, not a Navy. So, I know what I should do."
Akira laughed, and said, "Don't worry. Even if there are really Navy participating, I won't let you face them. After all, they're your former old employer. I understand your complicated feelings. However, I think Akainu shouldn't be so stupid as to make this kind of unwise decision at this time."
After saying these words, Akira didn't say anything more. Instead, he said to everyone, "Just follow what we said before. Everyone lead their own division well. You must pay attention to close cooperation with each other. That Blackbeard guy has recruited a lot of pirates. In terms of numbers, they only have more than us. However, his people are all trash that have been temporarily pieced together. They're not in the same league as our elites at all. So, as long as we're methodical, defeating them won't be too big of a problem."
In order to be able to deal with the Whitebeard Pirates, Blackbeard had indeed been frantically recruiting all kinds of pirates. Those infamous pirate crews that hadn't been looked upon by the four emperors pirate crews in the past had all joined Blackbeard's camp, causing their numbers to increase more and more.
But similarly, the complexity was also the most chaotic in the New World. Even though Blackbeard knew this, he didn't care, because he still had to rely on these people to deal with Akira now. As long as he defeated the Whitebeard Pirates, he could adjust them however he wanted at that time.
However, Akira scoffed at Blackbeard's approach. He had always felt that the most important thing for an army was to be elite, not to have a lot of people. Especially in a pirate world like this, where combat power was paramount, an elite force was much stronger than a disorganized force.
Unless they reached dozens of times, hundreds of times the number, it was impossible to win by relying on numbers. So, no matter how many people the Blackbeard Pirates had, he had never expanded the number of people under his command. Instead, he had just had them constantly strengthen their training and cooperation. He felt that this was the most important thing.
After receiving Akira's instructions, everyone left, leaving only Marco and Ace.
After everyone had left, Marco asked Akira, "Akira, can that Aokiji guy really be trusted? You have to know that this is a very important battle for us. If something goes wrong, I can't even imagine what the consequences will be."
Akira said with a smile, "Don't worry. If our opponent was the Navy, I wouldn't dare to say that. But our opponent is Blackbeard. I can ensure that he won't betray us, because betraying us won't have any benefits for him. He's also stayed here for a long time, and can also see that it's better for these territories to be controlled by us than to be controlled by Blackbeard. So, he will only help us with all his strength, and not betray us, because he's a very just and kind man at heart."
"Alright, whatever you say is right."
Although Marco was very disdainful of Akira praising Aokiji so much, he also believed in Akira's judgment. Akira would definitely not mess around with such an important battle.
"Ace."
Akira looked at Ace, and asked, "Looking at you, it seems that you're a bit unwilling about my arrangement for you, right?"
Ace was a straightforward person. After hearing Akira's words, he nodded, and said, "Yeah. Why aren't you letting me take action? Instead, you're letting me stay in the rear with my people? That Blackbeard guy killed Pops. I want to kill him with my own hands."
It turned out that in the battle deployment, Akira hadn't placed Ace's Second Division on the front line. Instead, he had had him stay in the rear. Moreover, without his orders, Ace wasn't allowed to take action. This was unacceptable for Ace, who was a warmonger and had a personality that desperately wanted to take revenge.
Marco said, "Akira, you're not worried that something unexpected will happen, right?"
It had to be said that Marco's vision was very sharp. As an old man who had been in the New World for decades, he saw through Akira's concerns at a glance. Akira nodded, and said, "That's right. I'm just a bit worried. That Blackbeard guy always likes to play tricks. In such an important battle, I think he definitely won't have the same thoughts as us, a head-on battle. He definitely has some invisible means. That's why I had Ace stay in the rear with his people. With Ace's current strength, unless he encounters an opponent like a four emperors pirate crew, he should be able to cope with most accidents."
"Isn't this a bit conservative? I think we should take the opportunity to directly defeat the Blackbeard Pirates head-on. As long as we defeat Blackbeard, then there's no need to worry about other conspiracies at all."
Ace said his thoughts. He couldn't help but want to participate in the battle from the start.
Looking at Ace, Akira said in a deep voice, "Ace, I know you're anxious. But now is a critical moment. You can't just act recklessly according to your temperament. You're very talented, but your personality is too impulsive. In the pirate crew, your strength is also second only to me... If I could, I wouldn't want to put a combat force like you in the rear either. But Marco needs to lead the overall situation, and command the battle. I also have to deal with Blackbeard with all my strength. Aokiji is strong, but he's unpopular. So, only you can take on the heavy responsibility."
"I." Seeing Akira's solemn expression, Ace didn't know what to say anymore.
Marco patted Ace's shoulder, and said, "Ace, Akira is right. You sitting in the rear has extremely important significance. If nothing unexpected happens, then it's fine. Once something unexpected happens, whether or not we can win will depend on you. So, you're the most important link in all our deployments."
These words weren't Marco comforting Ace. Instead, that was indeed the case. No matter what kind of war it was, the most feared thing was for the rear to catch fire. Although the rear wasn't that important in a war like the one between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Blackbeard Pirates, if something went wrong, it could also change the entire battle situation.
Akira said, "Ace, just like what Marco said, you have to know your importance, and see the situation clearly."
Seeing that Akira and Marco had both said that he was so important, Ace's spirits immediately lifted. He said, "I understand."
Then, he left this place, and went to discuss with his team with high fighting spirit.
"Akira, you put Ace in the rear. I'm afraid it's not just for this, right?"
As Akira's best partner, Marco understood Akira's personality very well. How could Ace, such an important combat force, be casually placed in the rear? Wouldn't it be better to replace him with Jozu or Thatch, who had a more stable personality?
Akira's expression became solemn. He said, "Letting Ace guard the rear is something I've thought about carefully. His strength is very strong, but his personality is still a bit impulsive. I'm afraid that he will lose control when he sees Blackbeard. That Blackbeard guy has obtained Pops' ability. Ace is no longer his opponent. Even me, I have to try my best. I still don't know if I can kill him."
"After the Summit War, Ace's impulsive personality has been restrained a lot. I think even if he hates Blackbeard again, he won't mess around in this kind of situation, right?" Marco said good things for Ace. He had seen Ace's changes during these few months.
Akira said, "It's not just that. As time goes by, I've been feeling more and more uneasy in my heart. I always feel that something unexpected will happen. Marco, you should know how strong my Haki is. My Busoshoku Haki might be a bit lacking, but I can guarantee that my Kenbunshoku and Haoshoku Haki aren't necessarily weaker than Shanks. Especially my Kenbunshoku Haki, it has given me a premonition. So, in order to prevent accidents, I wanted to leave a division with the strongest combat power. Ace's Second Division is exactly the strongest one. Even if something unexpected happens, I believe he can cope with it very well."
The Whitebeard Pirates now had more than a dozen divisions. However, among these more than a dozen divisions, Ace's Second Division was the strongest one, because although Marco was the commander of the First Division, he was now basically performing the duties of a vice captain, helping Akira manage the entire Whitebeard Pirates. So, his First Division was good, but it couldn't compare to Ace's Second Division, which was full of youthful vigor.
The most number of young pirates in the Whitebeard Pirates were in Ace's Second Division. Their captain, Ace, was a warmonger. So, the strength of the division was particularly strong. It was much stronger than the other divisions. It was precisely because of this that Ace had been so anxious when he heard Akira not letting him face the Blackbeard Pirates head-on before.
Marco didn't speak now. Kenbunshoku Haki was a very strange Haki. It was completely different from Busoshoku Haki. Roger had been said to be able to listen to all things back then. He didn't know if that was true or not. However, he wouldn't have any doubts about Akira saying that he had a bad premonition in his heart, because he knew how strong Akira's Kenbunshoku Haki was. Even Whitebeard was far inferior to Akira.
"Since that's the case, then it's necessary to have a safeguard to prevent accidents."
While Akira and them were preparing to go to war, Smoker, who had had contact with Aokiji before, returned to Navy Headquarters with his people, and directly met with Akainu, saying that he had important information.
As the Navy Fleet Admiral, Akainu was very busy. However, after hearing that Smoker had important information, he still received him. Actually, he didn't have much goodwill towards Smoker in his heart, because Smoker had been Aokiji's subordinate before. Moreover, he was now leading a group of infamous Navy. But now that he had become the Navy Fleet Admiral, he wouldn't show it even if he didn't like it. He still had this much self-control.
"What do you have to see me for?" Akainu asked directly after seeing Smoker.
Akainu didn't have much goodwill towards Smoker. Similarly, Smoker also didn't have much goodwill towards Akainu. He had hoped that Aokiji would become the Navy Fleet Admiral even more. However, since things had reached this point, he naturally wouldn't reveal the dissatisfaction in his heart.
"Fleet Admiral, the matter is like this. When we were chasing the Kid Pirates, we encountered..."
Smoker told the process of encountering Aokiji from beginning to end, without adding anything.
Hearing this, a cold light flashed in Akainu's eyes. He said in a cold voice, "You encountered that traitor?"
Hearing Akainu say that Aokiji was a traitor, Smoker was very unhappy in his heart. He said, "Fleet Admiral, Admiral Kuzan, he..."
"Shut up. He's not a Navy Admiral anymore. He's a pirate now. I don't want to hear you say these kinds of words again, understand?"
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