"Did World find that explosives family?"
Hearing Sengoku's question, Vice Admiral Tsuru shook her head. "During the Pandel Kingdom incident, CP heavily interfered with World's group. At the same time, considering the value of that explosives technology, CP also wanted to obtain it themselves. So World failed to get what he wanted. According to the intelligence Spandine shared with us, that family has now fled into the New World and is most likely hiding on Linderland Island."
"Linderland Island?" Sengoku was momentarily taken aback.
He quickly bent down, pulled out a map of the New World from beneath his desk, and spread it open across the table.
The map was far from new. It was covered with markings and annotations—clearly, Sengoku had recently been running simulations on it.
And what he had been simulating was precisely the ongoing large-scale conflict between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Flying Pirates.
His gaze soon landed on a particular island—that very Linderland Island Tsuru had just mentioned.
This island lay relatively close to the gateway region of the New World—in other words, not far from the Red Line.
But that wasn't the key point.
The key was that, based on Sengoku's previous strategic projections, there was a very high probability that both Shiki and Whitebeard would choose Linderland Island as the final battleground of this war.
According to current intelligence, both sides were continuously mobilizing fleets toward this island. Whitebeard's flagship, the Moby Dick, was already heading in that direction.
Marine Headquarters believed this was Whitebeard issuing a direct challenge to Shiki.
As for Shiki's own whereabouts—since he was a Float-Float Fruit user, Headquarters couldn't currently track him. However, parts of his fleet were indeed moving toward Linderland Island.
From this, it was clear that Shiki and Whitebeard had reached a tacit understanding. And given Shiki's pride, there was no way he would avoid the battle.
Marine Headquarters had concluded that within at most a month and a half, the most intense clash of this New World chaos would erupt there.
Shiki and Whitebeard were both heading there.
World—that bastard—was also heading there in search of the explosives family.
That alone was already chaotic enough.
And now, if the Roger Pirates learned that World possessed a Poneglyph, it was highly likely they would also head to Linderland Island to seize it.
That meant, in the near future, four of the most powerful pirate crews on the seas might converge on Linderland Island.
Just imagining the conflict that would erupt there was enough to give Sengoku a headache.
As the head of intelligence, Tsuru naturally understood the gravity of the situation. She looked at Sengoku, who was frowning over the map, and after a moment asked:
"We've reached the point where the Marines must make a decision. Do we let these pirates fight it out freely… or do we intervene?"
"Of course I want to smash them all to pieces," Sengoku said, his tone irritated. "But the problem is, based on how these bastards usually behave, whenever we gather forces in the New World, they all conveniently put aside their differences and turn their cannons toward us. So tell me—do we even have a chance?"
Whether it was Shiki, Whitebeard, Charlotte Linlin, Wang Zhi, or Silver Axe—these troublemakers of the New World had stirred chaos more than once.
This kind of large-scale war wasn't unprecedented.
But every time the Marines tried to intervene, these scoundrels would suddenly unite against them.
It was infuriating.
As much as he hated to admit it, Sengoku understood that the New World was no longer something the World Government could firmly control.
Over the past three years, the Marines' authority there had taken a severe hit. Several Marine bases in the New World had even been destroyed by pirates.
Within the World Government, many high-ranking officials already believed that this decline in influence would be irreversible for at least the next five to ten years.
Back then, everyone thought Rocks' death would be a massive blow to pirates.
But in reality, the opposite was true.
Rocks had been like a leash restraining monsters—his presence had kept the New World relatively stable.
Now that leash was gone.
And the New World had entered the golden age of pirates.
At God Valley, they had killed the "jailer"—and all the monsters had been set loose!
"A large-scale fleet deployment is definitely not advisable," Tsuru said, shaking her head. "There's no need for us to commit massive forces here. If we win, fine—but if we lose, it would be a disaster."
From the New World's perspective, the chaos was indeed terrifying. The Marines had lost their advantage, and the World Government's influence was rapidly declining.
But from a broader strategic view, the New World had never been the Government's core territory.
It was more like a breeding ground—a cage.
No matter how powerful the pirates that emerged there were, it was difficult for them to extend their influence beyond the New World or truly shake the foundation of the World Government.
Under these circumstances, concentrating forces for a decisive battle would be extremely unwise.
What if they won? At best, it would boost morale temporarily and ease the chaos.
But if they lost?
That would be catastrophic.
If the Marines suffered heavy losses in the New World, they might no longer be able to contain it.
And once that "cage" broke open, the pirates inside would pour out, spreading their influence across the entire world.
That would be a true disaster.
Under the current era's grand strategy, the Marines played the role of a gatekeeper.
As long as they could lock down the New World, that was enough.
That was the core strategic direction.
Winning or losing a few battles on a tactical level didn't matter much.
"So you're suggesting deploying elite forces?" Sengoku stroked his braided beard, thinking it over.
"Exactly," Tsuru nodded. "Linderland Island is near the gateway of the New World, not far from the Red Line. From a sailing perspective, it would take about two weeks to reach it from the G-1 Marine Base. Deploying elite forces for a probing operation is feasible. If the situation turns unfavorable, Headquarters can quickly mobilize reinforcements from G-1, and the front line can retreat into our defensive zone in a short time. The risk is relatively low."
Sengoku looked at Tsuru in silence for a long moment.
Then, after a while, Tsuru smiled faintly. "What? Afraid?"
Sengoku laughed, slapping the table. "Afraid of what? You think just because I became an Admiral, I don't dare go to the frontlines anymore?!"
There was no doubt—when they spoke of "elite forces," they weren't referring to Vice Admirals.
From the very beginning, they meant deploying Admiral-level top-tier combat power.
After all, against monsters like Whitebeard and Shiki, sending Vice Admirals would be practically meaningless.
Only Admirals had the qualification to stand on the same battlefield as them.
After a moment, Sengoku continued, "Contact Garp. Have him wait for orders at G-1. I'll discuss with Zephyr and decide when to move out."
...
Drop some POWERSTONES to push the story forward!
PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin