As Sakazuki finished adjusting the sand table, he casually set the remaining military flags aside and asked, "How is the situation in Alabasta?"
Carlo, who had been paying close attention to that area, replied, "Crocodile is about to lose his patience. Judging from his recent movements, he's probably planning to act directly against the Alabasta royal family."
Sakazuki responded indifferently, "That kind of man is no longer of any use. Find a time and take his Devil Fruit back."
The original purpose of the Marines and the World Government in establishing the Seven Warlords of the Sea was to suppress the power of pirates in the New World. Crocodile had been the first one selected. However, at that time, the results were not very effective. At best, he could only deal with some pirates in the first half of the Grand Line.
The plan was shelved for a long time. It was not until Roger ushered in the Great Pirate Era that Sakazuki followed up with a sweeping campaign across the Four Blues, temporarily suppressing the explosive rise of pirates. Only several years later was the plan brought up again.
Several Warlords were selected in succession and stationed throughout the first half of the Grand Line to restrain the surging pirate tide. But later, under Sakazuki's ruthless purges, only three remained: Crocodile, Jinbe, and Amazon Lily.
They had performed well enough to avoid being eliminated. But now, they no longer had any reason to exist.
Pirates, at the end of the day, were meant to die.
Crocodile was arrogant and incapable. After exhausting his usefulness, he had nothing left to offer. The only thing of value was his Sand-Sand Fruit.
Carlo smiled and said, "Yes."
After a brief pause, he added, "Um... how do you plan to deal with Robin?"
He had not been able to figure out Sakazuki's thoughts and did not know what role Robin might play in the plan. After all, on Vegapunk's Egghead Island, there was already an original Seraphim version of Robin.
Sakazuki turned his head and looked at him for two seconds, then let out a faint chuckle. He waved his hand casually. "An insignificant person. Handle it as you see fit."
What had run through the entire world's history for eight hundred years was the so-called Poneglyphs, and many events had begun because of them. Even in the original story, Robin, who could read them, was essential for everything to move forward.
But none of that mattered to Sakazuki.
What he intended to accomplish was nearing completion. There was no need to dig into such mysterious relics as the Poneglyphs.
The fate of the one at Marine Headquarters had already been decided. Its final destination would be exile into the endless void of space, allowing the pirates of this sea to feel the despair of shattered dreams one last time.
Then, as the final great war began, pirates would be completely erased from the seas.
After that, a worldwide "great purge" would begin. Pirates, the World Government, and the Revolutionary Army would all be eliminated in turn.
This world would belong to the Marines alone…
* * *
Holy Land of Mariejois.
Inside the vast white palace, the Five Elders gathered together and listened to a report from a member of CP. Only after a long while did the agent withdraw.
Peter spoke first, "The Revolutionary Army's offensive has slowed down recently. In that case, our plan to squeeze those fools will have to be put on hold for now."
Warcury nodded. "On the Revolutionary Army's side, they aren't fools. If they're taking the blame like this, they'll definitely find a way to respond."
It was a pity…
Under the World Government's manipulation, the royal families of various nations had gathered their gold, silver, jewels, and Berry before evacuating. Each family could easily produce dozens of carts filled with wealth.
This kind of harvesting was far more efficient than slowly collecting Heavenly Tribute, and at the same time, it allowed them to deal with those fools.
Once the Revolutionary Army eliminated the fools across the Four Blues, the government would quietly handle a portion of them in the shadows. As for those in the Grand Line, they would not be a concern.
When the time came, a single "great purge" would be enough. This world would have only one ruler.
That ruler would be Imu-sama.
There would no longer be that ridiculous agreement of the Twenty Kings. An eight-hundred-year-long wish was about to be fulfilled.
Nusjuro slowly wiped the sword in his hand as he spoke, "The Revolutionary Army is nothing to worry about. The real problem now is the Marines. That man, Sakazuki… his mind is too deep, his methods too ruthless, and his talent too terrifying."
With the World Government's intelligence network, they could still obtain fragments of information from the New World. Sakazuki had not acted for years, yet the moment he did, he crushed one of the Four Emperors, Kaido, to the brink of collapse.
What did that mean?
What had once been a slightly favorable balance for the Marines had now completely tilted. A situation that should have cost them heavy losses was now filled with uncertainty, and the Marines might preserve their strength to the greatest extent.
For the World Government, that was not good news.
Saturn tapped his cane lightly. "Sakazuki's recent movements in the New World have been too aggressive. Yesterday, he carried out large-scale troop movements toward Whole Cake Island and Wano. He's probably about to make his move.
"Contact Red Hair and share the intelligence with them. As long as they can hold the Marines back for one or two years, they will fall into trouble. Without funding, relying only on seized resources won't be enough to sustain an organization of that scale."
The split between the Marines and the World Government had happened silently, without any direct clash. The World Government had simply cut off Marine funding.
In response, the Marines eliminated all CP agents they discovered in the New World and placed Egghead Island under full protection.
The confidence of the Five Elders came from one thing: money.
The Marines were too large. Pirates in the Four Blues had already been nearly wiped out, so as long as the Four Emperors could tie down the Marine headquarters' top forces for one or two years, the situation would collapse from within.
The Marine branches across the Four Blues would be the first to fail, triggering a chain reaction.
Even if the top fighters of the Marines were overwhelmingly powerful, in the end, only those still fighting pirates in the New World would remain. Every Marine branch across the Four Blues would be gone.
At that point, no matter how strong those remaining forces were, what could they do? Without that vast foundation, everything would become meaningless.
This world was interesting.
The World Government, the Marines, and the Revolutionary Army were three dominant forces, each spread across the world, each capable of ruling it. Yet none of them openly declared their intent to rule everything.
Only pirates were that simple.
One after another, they set out to sea dreaming of becoming Pirate King, dreaming of ruling the seas and creating a free world.
Yet they did not even possess the most basic foundation to achieve it.
And those pirates… the Marines would deal with them.
So as long as the leaders of the Revolutionary Army were eliminated, and the Marines were tied down by pirates until their foundation collapsed, the final victor would be clear.
There would be only one.
The World Government.
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