Although he had already given Garp the order to stand guard in the East Blue, facing a situation like this, he worried whether that old man, Garp, could keep things under control!
Thinking of this, Sengoku once again cursed that guy who was causing trouble in the black market.
Was a single Dark-Dark Fruit really worth placing a 10-billion bounty?
Just casually putting out a ten billion bounty would have been enough to make those pirates go insane!
Honestly, it's ridiculous!
"We absolutely cannot allow a war to break out in the East Blue."
At this moment, Sakazuki spoke first, his expression stern. "Perfect timing, there's nothing much going on right now. I can personally make a trip!"
"That won't do. Don't bring up Garp, he's just an exception, happening to get involved while he was on leave."
Tsuru shook her head at Sakazuki's words, speaking helplessly. "If Marine Headquarters sends an Admiral with a fleet to the East Blue at this time, those pirates will only become more frantic. If that ends up drawing the Four Emperors themselves into the East Blue, it will be disastrous."
The Devil Fruit hadn't even appeared yet. If Marine Headquarters deployed an Admiral and a fleet now, who knew if the pirates would assume the Marines were also trying to seize the Devil Fruit?
If that made the pirates unite against the Marine Headquarters, and if the Four Emperors themselves joined in, a real war could erupt.
Honestly, just thinking about a pointless war starting for no reason made one want to curse out loud.
Sakazuki: "..."
Hearing Tsuru's words, Sakazuki fell silent as well. He knew she was right. If a war were triggered before the Devil Fruit even appeared, that would be catastrophic.
But… he turned his head, looking at Kuzan, who was sleeping with his eye mask on and his hands behind his head, completely unconcerned, and then at Borsalino, who was leisurely drinking hot tea and reading a newspaper.
Finally, his eyes landed on Sengoku, his tone turned serious: "If the three admirals go together, we can deter the pirates and the four emperor crews."
Hearing this, Sengoku furrowed his brow, as if weighing Sakazuki's suggestion.
Sakazuki did have a point. But having all three admirals move at once was a major action for Marine Headquarters; he would need to request approval from the World Government first.
And there was something Sakazuki hadn't said aloud: the combined presence of the three admirals could deter the pirates, but if anything slipped out of control, it could also trigger a full-scale war.
The risk was extremely high.
However, just as Sengoku was deep in thought…
"Um... I forgot to tell you all something."
Borsalino set down his newspaper, his strange mouth slowly opening as he spoke lazily. "I have another mission to carry out and won't be available for now."
"Mission?"
Sengoku snapped out of his thoughts and looked at him in surprise. "Why don't I know about this? What mission?"
"It's an assignment from the research laboratory. It might affect Vegapunk's important experiment, so I must carry it out."
Borsalino spread his hands helplessly as he looked at Sengoku. "Also, I should remind Marine Headquarters to be prepared, because this mission target is quite a headache."
"Mission target? Who?"
"On Whitebeard's ship, Teach."
Everyone: "...?!"
Everyone turned to look at Borsalino.
"Whitebeard?!"
Sengoku's expression tightened, and he immediately became serious. "You're actually being asked to go after a member of the Whitebeard Pirates? Marine Headquarters isn't prepared for a conflict with them! Can't Vegapunk choose a different target? And Teach? Who is that? Among Whitebeard's division commanders, I don't recall anyone named Teach!"
"Just a crew member, not a commander."
Borsalino shook his head, looking helpless. "I know it's troublesome, but it seems connected to an important experiment at the laboratory. So it can't be refused."
He sighed. "Of course, it's only some blood and tissue. I'll be careful. If conditions allow, I'll do everything I can to avoid a war."
"Just some blood and tissue?"
Hearing that, Tsuru let out a small breath of relief. "In that case, it's not too serious. The Whitebeard Pirates wouldn't declare war on Marine Headquarters over something like this."
Not to mention a bit of blood and tissue, even if you chopped off a whole arm, Whitebeard still wouldn't start a full-scale war. At most, he'd attack a few nearby branches to vent his anger for his son; they could handle that by warning the nearby branches.
"But if that's the case, Sakazuki's suggestion can't be carried out."
Sengoku sighed.
If something like this happened while both sides were in a standoff, there was no doubt the Whitebeard Pirates would launch a war on the spot and with so many pirate crews gathered in that area... It would be disastrous.
Finally, after some thought, he said, "In that case, it can't be helped. Sakazuki, Kuzan..."
He looked at the two of them with a serious expression. "You two will hold the headquarters. If the four emperor crews fully mobilize, move immediately. You absolutely must stop them in the New World. Under no circumstances may they enter the East Blue!"
"Yes!"
"And Borsalino..."
Sengoku looked toward Borsalino again, tone equally stern. "Be careful as well. You must avoid—"
Before he could finish…
"Purururu!"
The Den Den Mushi on the table rang loudly. Sengoku's eyelid twitched, but he still cut off his words and answered the call, face filled with authority.
"Hello—"
But the moment the word hello fell, his pupils shrank violently.
He slammed the table and shot to his feet.
"What? It appeared?"
…
"If those guys find out that the ten-billion bounty was issued by you, and that the Dark-Dark Fruit is in your hands, they'll probably turn right around and attack us."
Zephyr looked at Ian, who still had the leisure to calmly train, and shook his head with a bitter smile. "This is basically treating those pirates like monkeys!"
"There's one thing you said wrong. The Dark-Dark Fruit is not in my hands."
Ian set down the axe and sat directly on the ground while speaking with a serious tone. "It's in my daughter, Aria's, hands."
"Isn't that the same thing? And is that really the point right now?"
"It's not the same. That was a gift you gave to my daughter."