The headquarters of the Marines was busier than usual. Marines could be seen hurrying from one corner to another, sending in reports, and there was a sense of worry in the air.
A few hours ago the Marines lost all contact with the judicial island of Enies Lobby. One of the most important places of the organization. Due to Aqua Laguna, transponder snails, and other communicating devices were not acting right.
The Marines already had a report of some unknown group of pirates attacking the judicial island. But they had underestimated the threat. But it wasn't the first time someone attacked Enies Lobby.
They were confident in the island's defense, especially as the CP9 and a Vice Admiral was stationed there. Due to a recent event, that involved a high-ranking member of the world government getting assassinated. Eneis Lobby was much more fortified, so they were more then confident in their defense.
And yet, somehow an unknown group of pirates were not only able to beat the infamous CP9, but they even went as far as to kill a vice admiral as well.
Almost everyone knew about Vice Admiral Onigumo and how powerful he was. For a group of pirates to come out of nowhere and suddenly do all of this was quite shocking news. And that wasn't all, the full island was almost destroyed due to the battle and it was an incident that would bring shame to the marine organization as a whole.
But while others were panicking, Luffy was internally sighing in relief at the whole situation.
'At least now I know Usopp and the others made it out of the island safely…' Luffy thought, leaning back on his chair. Eyeing the other old marines as they discussed about what to do next.
Currently, he was sitting in a meeting table with Sengoku and a few other marines. Like him, another warlord was present, Bartholomew Kuma. But the giant of a man was totally ignoring the chaos, and was busy reading a dictionary. A dictionary of all things.
But who could blame him, Luffy would rather be out there like Zoro or Kuina who were picking fights with Vice Admirals rather than be here. As a warlord being present at Marineford, he had to join the meeting.
Well, that wasn't true. Luffy was pretty sure he was getting special treatment here. Luffy could never see Sengoku putting Moria or Mingo through a meeting.
Still… who would have known that, the meetings would be so boring?
Then again, it wasn't a full waste. It was kind of fun hearing secondhand reports about his own crew beating the ever-living shit out of the CP9 agents. Not to mention, somehow they also managed to kill Onigumo.
A sense of pride swelled in his chest. The reports were unclear about what happened. But he was sure Usopp and Gin might be involved in that kind of situation. Who knows maybe Anchor, Nami and Law helped as well. Luffy wouldn't know the full details until he was back with his whole crew. So he had to do with just that.
It also worked in Luffy's favor that, his crewmates wore disguises when they attacked Enies Lobby. Meaning the Marines were running circles trying to figure out the identity the unknown pirates.
Also, for some reason, the Marines were confusing Usopp and his group to be part of the Kid Pirates? How did that happen?
Eh… it didn't matter. It did throw off the Marines even further.
It also didn't help that Kid pirates after 'presumably' killing Spandam fled from Water seven and was attacking any marine ships that came their way.
And when one of the rare admirals tried to stop them… well, let's just say that, it didn't go well for the marine side of things.
Things were really confusing in some ways, but still, the Kid pirates killing Spandam was something unexpected.
In canon, there was no mention of them being near Water Seven. But then again, his group spent a lot of time in Skypiea. So maybe that's why? Who knows….
'Things certainly went better then expected,' Luffy thought, going over the reports on how Kid pirates demolished a marine vessel that tried to stop him. 'It might be pipe dream… but having him on my crew would help quite a lot. Kid for all he's worth is strong… but then again, recruiting him would be a pain in the ass. Not to mention how bad Anchor or Coby would react if I recruited him. Kid for all his worth is a pirate, through and through.'
While others weren't paying attention, Vice Admiral Cancer who was present there was amused at Luffy for reading through the reports. Something that reminded him about Dragon, and how serious he was. A small smile dawned his face, before moving back to Fleet Admiral Sengoku to discuss about the recent events.
But of course, Luffy didn't notice it. He was far more busy in reading the reports of new pirates, mainly about the future worst generation. It wasn't just Kid who was making a name in the big sea. No, there was also Capone Bege stirring up chaos in Sabaody and Appo who was had presumably allied with the beast pirates.
Some things were either getting fast-forwarded or delayed due to all the butterfly effects. But Luffy wasn't worried about them. There was also a report about the island of Jaya getting destroyed previously, but he knew what happened there.
Funnily enough, there was also a report of his new bounty-hunting organization, CDS. The marines were keeping an close eye on them, as they were now much more active in protecting Alabasta. Speaking of that, Luffy wondered how Vivi was doing.
By the time, Luffy was done with reading the reports, the meeting was still going on.
On Luffy's right side, a seat was empty, it was supposed to be for Garp. But the old bastard bailed on him, when he figured that a meeting was taking place. The old man went out to hunt pirates, taking Coby along with him for some reason.
Honestly, Luffy didn't know how to feel about that. Grandpa could be pretty hard with training, and that was coming for him.
But who knows Coby might pick up something from the old man. The others in his crew were also having a good time. It was only him, who had to suffer through the boring meetings.
Luffy looked to his left, where he saw the giant figure of Kuma. Luffy for appearance's sake was keeping himself at ten feet hight with his powers. Being as tall as Kizaru and the other admirals gave a sense of intimidation and authority that he was totally abusing.
But even then, Kuma was more than double his height, with his big bulky body he looked quite scary. His haki was no joke either, so Luffy was curious as to why he was working with the Marines.
Luffy before coming here, asked Dragon and Sabo. But even they were clueless. Unlike how fan theories claimed him to be an undercover spy for the revolutionary, it seemed that wasn't the case. So he wondered why… Dragon seemed to know something, but he was a bit reluctant to share, which only made Luffy more curious.
Luffy was wrong in one sense, he wasn't the first warlord to come here in Marineford. No, that would be Kuma. From what he gathered, the giant of a man spent most of his time in marine headquarters after joining the ranks, taking orders from them.
Amongst all of the warlords, only Kuma listened to any orders from the marines. That was why he was quite well known amongst the higher-ups of the Marines. Luffy could feel every marine around him being tense, but that wasn't the same for Kuma.
Well, people were still wary of him. But that was to a lesser level than Luffy's. It seemed they were used to him being around here. The only reason why Luffy was accepted so well, was because of all the PR-campaigns that Morgan did over the year.
People saw him more as a hero than a pirate.
"What!" Luffy blinked, looking towards Sengoku who had a transponder snail in his hand. "The pirates kidnapped Spandine?!" Sengoku asked, "What was he even doing there… Agh! Any clue on where they might be going, rare admiral Smoker?"
Something was said from the other side and Sengoku nodded.
"Good! We will send troupes to Water Seven. We can't let those kinds of dangerous pirates escape." With that, he ended the call.
'Well, Spandine is dead… and Smoker got a promotion. Cool,' Luffy mused.
"If it's a worry, I can go and capture the pirates," Kuma said, suddenly bringing all of the attention to him. The giant closed off his dictionary looking at Sengoku, "I could go there in Water Seven, immediately and start my work…"
'Yeah, no.'
"That won't work…" Luffy said, not intending to send Kuma of all people on his crew. Onigumo was one thing, but Kuma was in a different league. "Didn't you say something about the attackers being part of Kid Pirates… then why not hunt them down? They should know where their 'alleys' are. Also aren't they also involved in some assasination in Water Seven…"
The marines turned to Luffy thinking over what he said. Some agreed, while others wanted to go after the pirates. Luffy couldn't argue too much or the marines might get suspicious. But at the end, it wasn't needed.
It seemed Kuma was now more interested in hunting down the Kid pirates instead. Poor them. But at least his own crew was safe now.
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