An Emperor of the Sea showing up at another Emperor of the Sea's main base was not a casual visit. Usually, such a thing only happened when war was being declared or when an alliance was being formed.
Even if nothing actually happened, a meeting between two Emperors of the Sea was enough to rattle the nerves of the Marine and the World Government.
"Of course I know that. Or are you worried that I might do something unpleasant after entering your headquarters?"
"Worororo, of course not. I admire your courage, but this time, don't run away halfway through."
Kaido tacitly agreed with Red Hair's proposal. He then activated his flame clouds again, lifting Amazon Lily once more and moving it toward the predetermined destination.
"Damn it… a bunch of lunatics…"
Some time after Kaido had left, Crocodile reappeared at the location, planning to try his luck. However, all he saw was an island missing a large portion of itself. Naturally, the Eternal Pose he wanted had also vanished without a trace.
"Ground Death."
Seemingly unwilling to accept it, Crocodile used his ability on the ground, attempting to search the soil for anything valuable. But after the land was scoured by his yellow sand, the only things carried out by the grains were a few fragments.
The shortcut to the One Piece had slipped away once again. Crocodile could only leave in frustration. While he was at it, he also intended to check where that b*stard Buggy had ended up.
"Report. The battle has ended. We saw Kaido leave with the island, and there was no sign of Bullet. He is now missing."
Aside from the CP0 agent who had already died, there were other CP0 members nearby as well. However, they had not carried out that suicidal mission; they were only responsible for observing the situation.
Calling it "missing" was merely a formal way of putting it. No matter how one thought about it, it was impossible for someone to simply disappear while fighting Kaido, especially someone like Bullet.
For a person like him, the reason for disappearing could only realistically be death. It remained "uncertain" only because they had not witnessed it with their own eyes, so they left a small margin in the report.
"Red Hair Shanks departed together with Kaido. Their destination is unknown. During the time Kaido and Bullet were fighting, Red Hair remained on the Kuja island.
"At the same time, judging from the traces left on the battlefield, the so-called Eternal Pose pointing to Laugh Tale has most likely been destroyed."
One report after another was sent out by the CP0 agents. Only after confirming that there was no new information did they leave the area and head toward the Marine warships stationed not far away.
Of the ten warships originally carrying out the Buster Call, only nine remained. Many pirates were still imprisoned aboard them. As for the one ship that had sunk..
It was not a loss caused by pirates attacking the Marines. Instead, it was the result of Shanks clearing a path for someone. A long-distance Kamusari had directly erased a warship from the sea.
"Yes, understood, Fleet Admiral Sakazuki. We will return immediately."
On the fleet of warships, Momonga was receiving orders from Akainu.
The main force could not possibly enter the location where Kaido and Bullet were fighting, but small-scale reconnaissance was still possible.
Even so, such reconnaissance could only be carried out by Marines at the Vice Admiral level. Ordinary Marines simply did not have the ability to step onto that battlefield.
Bullet's defeat and Kaido retaining his title as the "Strongest Creature" quickly spread back through the reports.
"Losses… we lost a warship."
"Didn't I tell you to stay away from the battlefield? How did you still suffer losses?"
At Marine Headquarters, Sakazuki frowned upon hearing Momonga's report. He had only asked casually, but he had not expected something to actually have gone wrong.
The warships used for Buster Call missions were all large vessels, extremely expensive to build, comparable in cost to war machines like the Pacifista.
Although such a cost seemed insignificant considering the scale of the World Government and the Marines, it was still a huge sum.
Even if money was not the issue, building a warship still took time, and that alone carried enormous costs.
The Marines were currently operating at full capacity due to frequent missions. Losing a large warship without achieving any results would have a considerable impact, both now and in the future.
"It was an unknown attack. We had already dealt with a large number of pirates. Those who escaped from the festival were either eliminated or captured.
"But halfway through, a slash suddenly came from that direction, and one warship just happened to be on its path…
"I felt an overwhelming intimidation in that slash. It didn't seem like a stray attack, more like a warning.
"If we had tried to block it…"
Momonga did not finish his sentence, but the meaning was clear.
Even from such a great distance, Shanks's Kamusari was enough to carve out a path.
Ships simply could not withstand such an attack. Even the sea itself had been split open by the aftermath of the strike, leaving a fissure that took a long time to close.
"A warning… Hmph. A bunch of lawless b*stards. They're getting more and more insane…"
Akainu spoke slowly, but Momonga could clearly hear the anger in his voice.
The Marines being threatened by pirates was, in itself, an insult to them.
"My apologies, Fleet Admiral Sakazuki. In that situation… I believed we shouldn't fight."
"I know. I'm not blaming you. I was the one who told you to judge the situation yourself."
Separated by such a great distance, even Akainu, the Fleet Admiral of the Marines, knew he could not give reckless orders.
Marine Vice Admirals were all experienced veterans, and every fleet would inevitably have a commander with extensive experience leading troops.
The individual combat strength of such Vice Admirals might rank near the bottom among their peers, but their command ability was among the very best.
These people understood the actual conditions on the front lines far better than the Fleet Admiral sitting in the rear. Once the large strategy was set, everything depended on their ability to adapt to circumstances.
If everything had to be reported, not to mention whether the staff department can handle the workload, by the time orders arrived, the opportunity for action would be long gone.
The reason Akainu was angry was that, as Marines, they had been threatened by pirates, and there was nothing they could do about it.
Even though Akainu had not been on the battlefield, Momonga's description was enough for him to understand that the attack contained Conqueror's Haki.
Intimidation was merely the most basic use of Conqueror's Haki. Even someone who had just awakened it could use it to intimidate others and make them lose consciousness.
Infusion, however, was the advanced application of Conqueror's Haki. Even in the New World, where Conqueror's Haki appeared frequently, only a very small number of people had mastered this technique.
From Momonga's perspective, the only ones capable of using such a move would be Kaido, Red Hair, or Bullet. Sending Momonga to lead a force against a monster capable of Conqueror's Haki infusion wouldn't be carrying out a mission. It would be sending them to their deaths.
No Fleet Admiral would give such an order, unless he were a spy sent by pirates or the Revolutionary Army.
"Withdraw and return. There are other missions waiting."
"Yes, sir."
"Kaido won. According to CP0's report, Bullet has also gone missing."
"Missing? Don't fool yourself with that kind of talk. Can a monster like that just disappear out of thin air?
Either he's dead, or he joined forces with Kaido."
Nasjuro and Saturn were discussing the news that had just arrived from CP0.
However, Saturn did not agree with Nasjuro's thoughts.
Bullet was a Devil Fruit user. The nearby CP0 agents had not seen him fly away from the island, nor had they found any trace of him on it.
In that case, Bullet couldn't possibly have left by swimming, could he?
"I know. I was just trying to lighten the mood between us."
"Lighten the mood? That's not something one would expect to hear from you, Saint Nasjuro."
"…"
The meeting room of the five suddenly fell silent, but the silence was soon broken again.
"Then regarding this matter…"
"This matter? Wasn't Bullet already a dead man to begin with? As we said before, the Eternal Pose was taken by Kaido.
As for Bullet, there's no need to overturn our previous conclusion."
Not only Bullet, but the prisoners who escaped from Level Six, none of them had ever been publicly announced by the World Government.
They did not want to cause panic, nor did they want to lose their so-called face. There were numerous political considerations involved.
As a result, the outside world simply had no idea that someone like Bullet even existed.
"That's true. That man's level of threat is already high enough. There's no need to add another achievement to emphasize it. Let's handle it that way."
The original purpose of announcing that a pirate had defeated a certain opponent was to publicly demonstrate that pirate's danger to the world, to let others know how terrifying that person was.
If you ignored them, you would suffer the consequences as well. Therefore, if you discovered them, you should contact the Marines immediately.
Across the seas, relying solely on the Marines' own informants was not enough. The people living on the various islands and nations were the best informants.
But now Kaido had already reached the peak in both threat level and popularity.
The World Government had no need to declare to the world how dangerous Kaido was through this method.
His past opponents were already more than enough proof.
Now, Kaido's victory would only increase the arrogance of pirates. A defeat for Kaido would be far more worth publicizing.
"Then regarding this matter… how about emphasizing that the Marines captured a large number of pirates from the Pirates Festival?"
"Let's do it that way. Weren't the Marines already operating near that area anyway? It fits perfectly. That organizer… besides Bullet, who else was there?"
"I don't remember. Something like Festa… the captain of some pirate crew? I can't recall his name."
"Then forget it. An insignificant person. The name isn't important. The people below will handle the arrangements."
"You're right. Let's proceed as we discussed. Hopefully it won't cause too much trouble. The seas are already chaotic enough."
Festa would never have imagined that, compared to Roger, he was nothing at all.
Gol D. Roger's name was something the Five Elders remembered, and did everything they could to conceal.
As for the name Festa, it was utterly insignificant. Not worth mentioning at all.
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