Zephyr is Marine's head instructor. From new recruits to high-ranking officers, he has students everywhere. He has a great deal of influence within Marine, while also being largely free from its rules.
Although Marine regulations state that they cannot launch an all-out war against one of the Four Emperors without orders, Zephyr normally would not break that rule. But if Lucci killed Uta, then he could be certain that the mad old man would attack Wano Country at any cost.
When that happened, one thing would set off another, and Marine might very well be dragged into war by Zephyr.
In truth, Marine had wanted to wage war against one of the Four Emperors for a long time. But at least for now, that was impossible, because Marine had not yet broken free from the World Government's influence.
Although Kaido's earlier attack on the World Government, along with Pandora Island's later attempt to declare independence, had greatly weakened the World Government's authority, it was still an organization that had ruled the world for more than eight hundred years. Even if it collapsed, that would not happen overnight.
Besides, the most dangerous period for it had already passed. As a result, the three major organizations now had much more independence, but they still could not simply break away.
Of course, to maintain this balance, the World Government had to give up quite a lot every year. In return, it gained stability.
The government itself valued stability above all else. Now that a stable balance of power had formed across the seas, they had no intention of destroying it for the time being.
At the same time, they were worried that if Marine really wiped out one of the Four Emperors, Marine's reputation would rise sharply. Controlling this increasingly difficult-to-use weapon would then become even harder.
The situation among the world's various powers was always extremely complicated. Enemies did not necessarily have to be attacked. The Four Emperors' existence actually benefited the World Government in certain ways, and Marine Headquarters more or less thought the same way.
Once a balance of power was formed, it was very difficult to break. If Marine acted recklessly, it would come under attack from every other power. They were confident they could defeat any single force, but they could not guarantee that they could stand against the entire world.
If they wanted to move against one of the Four Emperors, they needed an opportunity—a proper excuse.
Everyone understood this, so no one wanted to provoke Marine. At the moment, Marine Headquarters really was the strongest power on the seas.
Uta was that opportunity. If anything happened to the girl, Lucci would also have trouble explaining himself to Yuri.
That was why he wanted Uta to realize the gap between their strength and back down on her own. But Uta obviously could not give in so easily.
Her purpose in coming to the East Blue was to take Luffy away. Besides, Luffy was a close friend she had known and played with since childhood. How could she let the Four Emperors take him?
Still, refusing to back down required a proper approach. Directly falling out with Lucci and fighting him was the worst possible choice. What she needed to do now was buy time. As long as she could hold out until that Warlord arrived, everything would be fine.
"What? A big shot from the New World actually cares about a few little pirates from the East Blue?"
Uta sent her subordinates away. With only her and Lucci left aboard the Going Merry, she asked in confusion, "Do you really care about a few small-time pirates from the East Blue?"
She did not believe Rob Lucci was unaware of Luffy's identity. Luffy was Garp's grandson and Dragon's son. Neither of those men was someone to provoke. If Luffy had truly caused trouble for them, that would be one thing. But he was clearly just a small-time pirate who had never even left the East Blue. Why would someone like Lucci travel thousands of miles to come here for him?
Uta did not actually know what position Rob Lucci held in Wano Country. She only knew that he was a spy, similar to someone from CP. But given Lucci's strength and his special status as someone who could teleport, his position was definitely not a low one.
What exactly had Wano Country discovered?
Lucci did not seem particularly concerned. "It concerns classified information. I'm afraid I can't tell you anything."
As a spy, Lucci had thoroughly investigated the various powers in the East Blue after arriving there. He had been somewhat surprised to learn that Garp's grandson had become a pirate, but he was not especially concerned.
After all, Garp's son was a member of the Revolutionary Army.
Compared with pirates, the Revolutionary Army was an even greater enemy of the World Government.
So it was not especially hard to understand why his grandson had become a pirate too.
After learning this, Lucci had focused his search for clues about the Shikon Jewel fragments on Luffy. In the East Blue, Luffy's identity and strength made him the most suspicious person.
The Shikon Jewel fragments possessed a will of their own. Most of them also appeared in the bodies of powerful people.
Lucci could also find a connection to Luffy and the others through the word "West" in the clue.
According to his investigation, Luffy and the others had stayed in West Rob Village for quite some time a few days earlier. Most of the village had also been destroyed, which was likely the result of a conflict between them and Arlong.
Arlong had fought them and discovered the secret of the Shikon Jewel fragments within their bodies. But he had ultimately been defeated because he was not strong enough. After using the last of his strength to reveal the clue about the Shikon Jewel fragments, he had died.
The more Lucci thought about it, the more certain he became that the fragments were with Luffy.
So even if it meant offending Marine, he still had to take Luffy and the others away.
Uta frowned slightly. She watched as Lucci waved his hand and gathered several people together. It was obvious that he intended to use his teleportation ability to take them away.
She grew anxious. Lucci clearly was not going to let her stall for much longer, so she immediately began to sing.
The Song-Song Fruit's ability required her to sing before it could be activated. The better the song sounded, the stronger the fruit's effect became. It was an ability that suited Uta extremely well.
Uta herself loved singing, which allowed her to develop more of the Song-Song Fruit's abilities. Every so often, she could feel herself becoming stronger.
She wanted to pull Lucci into her virtual world as well, but Lucci reacted quickly. The moment Uta was about to sing, he had already activated his psychokinesis.
The psychokinetic force shot forward like a cannonball. Uta defended herself with all her strength, but she was still blasted away.
Blood ran from the corner of her mouth, and her head rang. Just like that, Lucci had defeated her.
The gap between her combat power and Lucci's was simply too great.
Fortunately, a sword slash came from the distance at that moment.
The slash moved so quickly that by the time Lucci sensed it, it was already in front of him. He hurriedly summoned his psychokinesis and entered his human-beast form.
In Wano Country, Lucci had obtained an Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit called the Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Ancient Type, Tyrannosaurus Form. As one of the ancient "strongest creatures," the dinosaur's power was beyond question.
Lucci did not particularly value the tyrannosaurus's abilities, however. What he wanted was the incredible stamina and recovery ability common to Zoan Devil Fruit users.
When he had still been working for the World Government, he had gone to Wano Country on a mission. There, he had grown envious of the tough bodies and powerful recovery possessed by Zoan users. Otherwise, he might even have been able to obtain a Logia Devil Fruit through Yuri's connections.
Lucci believed that his own psychokinesis was already powerful enough. By using it to enhance his physical abilities, then adding Haki on top of that, he would be nearly unstoppable if he also had a strong body. That was why he had chosen the Tyrannosaurus Fruit.
It was not the strongest type of Zoan, the Mythical Zoan, but the Ancient Zoan was still powerful. More importantly, it suited him perfectly.
He entered his human-beast form in an instant and combined it with his psychokinesis. Lucci believed he had become an absolute defense. But in front of that sword slash, his psychokinesis was as fragile as paper!
?!
Lucci's eyes widened in disbelief as he felt his psychokinesis being torn apart with ease. The sword slash then struck his body. Black Haki covered his chest, but the slash, already weakened by his psychokinesis, once again tore through his Armament Haki without difficulty.
"Ugh!"
Lucci let out a muffled groan. After tearing through both his psychokinetic and Armament Haki defenses, the sword slash cut deep into his body, as if it intended to split him in half.
Fortunately, after eating the Tyrannosaurus Fruit, he had become incredibly tough. The sword slash did not cut him completely open, but it still left behind a huge wound that went all the way to the bone. Blood poured from it.
"Mihawk?!"
Lucci suddenly looked toward the direction from which the sword slash had come. He already knew who it was without even seeing the man's face. In the entire world, who else could produce such a powerful sword slash besides Hawkeye Mihawk?
Why had he come to the East Blue?
Lucci was genuinely shocked. Although Hawkeye Mihawk had his own base, he had always acted entirely according to his own whims. He also had incredibly sharp eyes, making it impossible for intelligence agents to track him. Because of that, Wano Country had trouble keeping track of his location as well.
The World Government did have satellites capable of reaching space, but they could not exactly use one to monitor a single person's movements twenty-four hours a day. That would be an absurd waste of resources.
Although Hawkeye was one of the Seven Warlords, he was not actually a lapdog of the World Government. He only used the Warlord title to enjoy some peace and quiet.
As long as there was no conflict of interest between him and Wano Country, there was no reason for them to monitor him. That was why Lucci had never expected Hawkeye to suddenly appear in the East Blue.
What was going on in the East Blue? How could a place where nobody would normally bother to go have so many powerful fighters?
Lucci's expression darkened. Hawkeye's old duel with Shanks had attracted countless powerful people. He was someone capable of defeating a former Four Emperor, yet Lucci had never imagined that this mission would bring him into conflict with Hawkeye.
"Mihawk, are you trying to start a war with Wano Country?" Lucci asked grimly.
There was a certain understanding between Wano Country and the World Government. They had a deep grudge against each other, after all. The World Government's global authority had been shaken by Wano Country. If the World Government sent out its forces, it might not be impossible to overthrow Wano Country—but what would happen afterward?
Once they entered an all-out war with Wano Country, they would suffer heavy losses even if they won. The price would be far too high, so the World Government would not act without complete confidence.
That was why Lucci did not care whether he provoked the World Government. As long as he did not push them too far, everything would be fine. That was also why he would not kill Uta. Killing her would give Marine an excuse to mobilize all its forces.
If Marine was willing to conquer Wano Country regardless of the casualties, the World Government would not object.
After all, Marine and the World Government were gradually showing signs of splitting apart. If Marine Headquarters and Wano Country truly suffered mutual destruction, then even if it further worsened the situation on the seas, the World Government would accept it.
Unfortunately, Marine Headquarters had always focused on Kaido, one of the Four Emperors. They had little interest in Wano Country itself.
Hawkeye was different. He was a lone wolf with nothing holding him back. Even if he provoked Wano Country, what could they do? Could Wano Country really set a perfect trap for just one man?
Hawkeye was alone, which made him incredibly difficult to deal with.
In a way, Wano Country viewed Hawkeye the same way the World Government viewed Wano Country: not worth eating, but too wasteful to throw away. They could fight him, but they would have to accept the consequences.
So Hawkeye did not care about Lucci's threat. Holding the black blade Night, he said calmly, "You're in my way."
A powerful presence slowly rose from Lucci's body. He spoke to Hawkeye in a low voice. "So you've decided to become Marine's lapdog."
"Marine has nothing to do with this. I simply became interested."
Hawkeye looked bored, but he had actually come to the East Blue for his own reasons.
He was also a member of the Twilight Hermit Society, and Adam's earlier words had caught his interest.
The person the Twilight Hermit Society had been waiting for had appeared. They stood at a turning point in history, pushing the tide of the era forward.
Hawkeye did not know who that person was. He had only suddenly realized that many people had turned their attention toward the East Blue.
The Fleet Admiral of Marine Headquarters, Kaido of Wano Country, and Yuri were all major figures in the world.
The East Blue was also the hometown of Marine's hero, Garp. Another former Marine Admiral, Zephyr, often traveled there as well.
Finally, the thing that interested Hawkeye most was that Red-Haired Shanks had lost an arm in the East Blue.
Hawkeye found that hard to believe. He and Shanks were fairly familiar with each other. In the past, they had even fought over the title of the world's greatest swordsman, so Hawkeye knew his strength very well.
How could someone like that have lost an arm in the East Blue?
Hawkeye had asked him about it before. Shanks had said that he had bet his arm on the New World.
Hawkeye had not been very interested in the matter at first. But a few days earlier, when he received a message from An, he suddenly connected it with everything else. That was what made him interested in coming to the East Blue.
And not long after arriving, he saw that boy.
The moment he saw Luffy lying on the ground, he knew that this had to be the person Adam had mentioned.
Because Shanks's straw hat was still on his head.
Anyone Shanks thought highly of was bound to interest Hawkeye. So he had stepped in.
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