Chief of Staff Tsuru was remarkably good-tempered. She didn't care at all that Finn had wrecked her office.
After comforting Finn, who'd nearly fainted from anger, the two of them tidied up the bisected sofas and pushed them together for temporary use. They'd replace them later.
"I'm really sorry, Chief of Staff," Finn said awkwardly, sitting on the makeshift sofa with a teacup in his hand.
Tsuru smiled and waved dismissively. "It's nothing. When dealing with that guy Garp, I've wanted to kill him plenty of times too..."
Hearing this, Finn nodded in agreement. "Before coming to Marineford, I always admired Vice Admiral Garp. After all, he's a Marine hero..."
This was the truth. Before actually meeting Garp, Finn had thought he should be a very interesting person: approachable, powerful, entertaining in his actions.
Well, he was entertaining. But when it happened to you, it was hard to control the urge to beat him to death!
"When you have more contact with Garp in the future, maybe you can get used to it..." Tsuru said after thinking for a while.
"Is there no way to change him?" Finn asked.
"Everyone has tried... but in the end he's still the same," Tsuru said helplessly.
Wow. The Marines' number one troublemaker, worthy of his reputation.
He forced everyone to adapt to tolerating him!
Finn was deeply skeptical. If Garp hadn't been extraordinarily powerful, he would have been killed by the Marines long ago.
Just as Finn was contemplating this, Tsuru spoke again. "Although Garp isn't very reasonable in many aspects, you have to admit that at critical moments, he's a trustworthy comrade."
Finn didn't speak, just nodded.
That was true. Though Garp did all sorts of ridiculous things, he was indeed reliable when it mattered.
Thinking this through, Finn's heart ached again. The beautiful image he'd built in the Marines over the past years had all been destroyed by himself in just a few days. He didn't know what the Fleet Admiral was thinking now.
Probably wanted to kill Garp even more than he did?
Seeing that Finn had no intention of continuing to discuss that bastard Garp, Tsuru smiled. "Alright, let's not talk about that guy. Finn, now that you're discharged from the hospital, let's discuss serious work."
At this mention, Finn straightened. "Yes, ma'am. Commodore Rodriguez Finn of Marine Headquarters, reporting for duty!"
"I'm not accepting the report of a Commodore," Tsuru said with a teasing smile.
Finn's eyes lit up when he heard this, his expression full of anticipation.
As expected, as soon as she finished speaking, Tsuru pulled a document from her desk drawer, handed it to Finn, and said with a smile, "Congratulations, Rear Admiral Finn."
He reached out to take the document. After opening it, he found it contained approval for his promotion, along with a pair of Rear Admiral's insignia.
The document bore Fleet Admiral Kong's seal, meaning from the moment he received it, he'd officially become a Rear Admiral of Marine Headquarters.
Looking at the document, Finn felt both happy and emotional.
Happy that he was finally promoted again. After only one mission, he'd reached Rear Admiral rank. His life wasn't being wasted.
The Marines were still good. Basically, it could be said there were rewards for effort.
If you went elsewhere without connections or backing, you might get nothing in return even if you worked hard.
It was a pity that because of that jerk Garp, this promotion document might be the last he'd see for the next ten years or so.
Vice Admiral... a long way off.
Though he also knew that with his current qualifications, it would be difficult to qualify as Vice Admiral.
"Thank you, Chief of Staff. Everything is for justice," Finn said with a sigh.
Tsuru smiled. "You're welcome. This isn't my doing."
After they chatted for a while, Tsuru spoke up. "Finn, what do you think of the current situation at sea? What are your thoughts on our Marines' plans and objectives for the New World? If I were to establish a new intelligence department, what ideas do you have?"
Finn knew these questions from Tsuru were tests.
In other words, she was understanding him to decide how to arrange his work going forward.
Finn pondered for a moment, then spoke. "The current situation at sea is maintaining a fragile balance, and this balance may break at any time. Once broken, to be honest, I think our Marines' layout in the New World will be disrupted, and even..."
Having said that much, he didn't continue. The point was clear.
After a pause, Finn continued, "As for our plans and goals in the New World, I don't have opinions to express. It should be regarded as the most correct judgment under current circumstances."
He didn't answer the third question.
Chief of Staff Tsuru didn't seem to expect an immediate answer. She nodded. "Is that so? Then what changes do you think will break this fragile balance you mentioned?"
Finn pondered momentarily, then said, "A new Pirate Overlord being born."
Tsuru's eyes lit up, as if agreeing with Finn's statement.
"Currently, all pirates in the New World are ambitious. In fact, if nothing unexpected had happened, Shiki might have been qualified to unify the pirates more than two years ago. If that had occurred, perhaps this fragile balance would already be broken," Finn said.
In his opinion, if Shiki had won the Battle of Edd War more than two years ago, whether he'd eliminated Roger or subdued him, the New World would have undergone earth-shattering changes.
Perhaps Shiki would have truly reached the top. Once someone like him achieved dominance, he definitely wouldn't remain dormant. The world might be in chaos right now. Forget about Marines regaining control of the New World. Shiki might even be counterattacking Marineford.
"Fortunately, Shiki suffered a heavy blow at Edd War. It took the past two years for him to recover his former strength, buying us some time. But I think pirate hegemony in the New World is still likely to emerge at any time. Whether it's Roger, Newgate, or Shiki who's risen again, whichever of the three reaches the top will bring different changes to the world, and this change will inevitably break the current fragile balance," Finn analyzed.
Tsuru nodded solemnly. "It's pretty much what we thought."
After a brief pause, Tsuru continued, "Perhaps you don't know yet, but we're already preparing for this eventuality."
Finn froze momentarily. He genuinely didn't know, but after slight surprise, he wasn't shocked.
There were too many intelligent people in the Marines. It was impossible they wouldn't understand such things.
His own words were just judgments made from a high vantage point based on his original memories.
As for why he didn't know the top Marine officials were already preparing, that was also normal. Before this, he'd only been a Commodore. Though he'd entered the high-level stage, he was still on the fringe, only attending regular meetings. Occasionally, he'd been lucky enough to be called by Admiral Sengoku to attend "small meetings" and learn more advanced matters.
But he'd never believe the Marines would bring him to every such high-level "small meeting." That would be too self-important.
Therefore, it was reasonable for several Marine commanders, and even higher-ups in the World Government, to make such judgments and preparations privately.
Before Finn could speak, Tsuru continued, "One of them is reorganizing the Intelligence Department and building a more complete and efficient intelligence agency. I'll be responsible for this."
Having said this, Tsuru looked at Finn. "After all, if such a situation arises, it may be difficult to respond in a timely manner with our current intelligence capabilities."
Finn nodded. "Indeed, no matter how the situation changes, intelligence will always be one of the most important forces."
After hearing this, he understood much more. The Marines were preparing for both scenarios. One was conquering the New World. If they could conquer the New World before a new Pirate Overlord was born, everything would be manageable.
But it seemed the Marines also felt time was running out. Moreover, this wasn't so easy to accomplish.
Therefore, preparations were made in secret. If the situation deteriorated to this extent, there must be means to respond in a timely manner.
As for others, Finn didn't know how people like Admiral Sengoku were arranged, but Chief of Staff Tsuru should be responsible for strengthening Marine intelligence capabilities.
He should also be working in this aspect going forward.
"I'm glad you understand. You are indeed very smart. It's worth it for me to snatch you away from that guy Sengoku," Tsuru said with a smile.
Finn also laughed.
After laughing, Tsuru said, "So, how do you answer the last question?"
Finn thought for a moment and said softly, "First, we must stop operating independently and start collaborating on intelligence with various units under the World Government, such as the CP agencies..."
Upon hearing this, Tsuru nodded, looking very agreeable.
The Marines' current intelligence department operated independently, which was a long-standing problem because the Marines had always had a poor relationship with the CP agencies, another equal organization under the World Government.
The two were in a competitive relationship. It was said the Commander-in-Chief of the World Government's entire military had always been selected alternately between the CP agencies and Marine Headquarters.
The current Commander-in-Chief seemed to have come from the CP agencies. Of course, this was just rumor, and Finn had never truly verified it.
In fact, in terms of strength, the CP agencies were no match for the Marines. But they had a significant advantage: they reported directly to the Celestial Dragons and the Five Elders.
Therefore, to some extent, they were closer to the World Government, while Marine Headquarters had more autonomy.
So perhaps for political balance or other considerations, the top World Government leaders like the Five Elders had established the CP agencies as institutions on the same level as Marine Headquarters.
The two sides were in competitive relationship.
Of course, the CP agencies also worked hard and didn't rely entirely on "freeloading" to compete with Marine Headquarters.
In terms of military strength, they weren't even worthy of carrying the Marines' shoes. But in terms of intelligence, assassination, and all kinds of covert work, they crushed Marine Headquarters.
Therefore, everyone had their specialties.
Finn had the impression that Marine Headquarters did eventually collaborate with the CP agencies on intelligence and various missions. However, at present, the Marine Intelligence Department had yet to initiate this work. Judging from the current situation, it seemed this reversal only occurred after Chief of Staff Tsuru initiated reforms.
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