The biggest opportunityin the past two decades?
Stussy was stunned. Was Finn speaking without thinking? How could he make such outrageous claims so casually?
The greatest achievement in the past twenty years? Obviously, that was Garp defeating the Rocks Pirates at God Valley.
He'd forcibly disbanded the Rocks Pirates, which had gathered many of the ocean's top pirates under one banner.
Just look at their various "shareholders" who were now operating independently, and you'd understand how powerful the Rocks Pirates had been.
Whitebeard, Golden Lion Shiki, Kaido, Charlotte Linlin, as well as Captain John, Silver Axe, Ochoku, and others who'd gradually disappeared in the tide of pirate hegemony in recent years.
All of them were big shots who could shake the seas with a single stomp of their feet.
To achieve a similar feat? Harder than ascending to heaven. If you wanted something comparable, the only person qualified now was the disappeared Pirate King Roger.
Perhaps only capturing him could be considered merit of that level?
Huh? Wait. Pirate King Roger?
Stussy looked at Finn with sudden surprise. As someone who'd collected detailed intelligence about Finn, Stussy naturally knew plenty of inside information.
For example, Finn had once accurately predicted Roger would become Pirate King.
And afterward, he'd been the first to judge that the Roger Pirates would disband!
At the time, those statements had been considered sensational.
But it turned out Finn had been completely right about everything!
In the past, everyone thought the Marine who knew Roger best should be Marine Hero Garp.
Now, Stussy suspected Finn might actually be the Marine who understood Roger best.
Thinking this, Stussy leaned slightly toward Finn and took his arm.
The way they appeared, it looked like a young couple walking together arm in arm, very affectionate.
As expected, this woman truly used her beauty as a weapon.
After taking Finn's arm, Stussy whispered, "Vice Admiral Finn, you're not talking about Roger, are you?"
Finn grinned. "Who knows?"
Seeing he wasn't interested in her physical charms, Stussy's mind quickly shifted. She loosened her grip on his arm slightly and said with a smile, "My lord, you just mentioned there was a place for me in the Marines?"
"What? Is Miss Stussy tempted?" Finn asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It's naturally an honor for Stussy to be repeatedly invited by Vice Admiral Finn. But if I remained in the CP agency, perhaps I could bring more benefits to you, my lord?" Stussy said softly.
Without waiting for Finn to respond, Stussy continued, "After all, if I join the Marines, I'd just be another subordinate helping you. What do you think?"
Finn pretended he'd just thought of this possibility. He reached out and stroked his chin thoughtfully, frowning as though carefully considering it.
Sometimes, many things couldn't be stated explicitly.
If Finn tried persuading Stussy to cooperate with him now, it would seem cheap, as though Finn were the one begging.
But if Stussy proposed it herself, things would be different. The offensive and defensive positions would shift. The initiative would be in Finn's hands.
At the same time, this kind of arrangement was different from recruitment. After recruitment, it was equivalent to job-hopping. No one could trace anything back.
But whoever spoke first would somewhat break protocol and would definitely create a potential handle.
Finn didn't speak, waiting for Stussy to make the first suggestion.
He also felt that with Stussy's ambition, she'd definitely find ways to climb higher if any opportunity presented itself. He'd dangled Roger as bait. There was no reason for her not to bite.
Sure enough, she'd taken the bait!
As for Stussy, she genuinely didn't realize Finn had so many layers to his thinking. She simply assumed he was dangling this bait to trick her into switching to the Marines.
Though she was also curious. What about her had caught this rising star's attention? Why did he keep inviting her?
Could it be that she, Stussy, had some exceptional qualities she herself hadn't discovered yet?
But that wasn't the point. The point was she genuinely had no intention of joining the Marines. Unlike the CP agency, which didn't absolutely prioritize combat strength, allowing her to reach Senior Operations Commander despite not being overwhelmingly powerful.
But the Marines were different. There were too many combat monsters in the Marines. Strength was paramount, even for the Intelligence Department.
Look, the previous Deputy Director of the Intelligence Department had been Finn. The current head of Intelligence Staff, Chief of Staff Tsuru, had also fought her way up from the front lines step by step alongside Garp, Sengoku, and Zephyr.
Who dared underestimate her strength? Definitely first-rate.
With Stussy's capabilities, if she joined the Marines, she'd genuinely need to rely on Finn's protection. It would be difficult to make breakthroughs in other areas. It wouldn't be as comfortable as remaining in the CP agency.
So Stussy genuinely didn't want to go. She felt the Marines weren't suitable for her.
But she definitely wanted to seize this opportunity.
Moreover, she genuinely didn't have much loyalty to the CP organization. The higher she'd climbed, the more secrets she'd learned. When she'd first joined CP, she'd been somewhat grateful. After all, she'd been an orphan, adopted and raised by the World Government.
Later, she'd discovered the World Government was secretly engaged in human trafficking. This dark truth made her wonder if her entire past was a lie. It was questionable whether she'd even been an orphan originally; perhaps her entire family had been killed, and she had been kidnapped and simply told she was an orphan. The truth of her being a clone created by MADS remained hidden from her.
But there was no point pursuing such matters. It wasn't affordable to pursue them. While understanding the darkness, she'd also better understood the World Government's power.
So she could only follow her instincts. But don't even mention loyalty.
This was just the tip of the iceberg of dark secrets.
Without loyalty, Stussy felt insecure. She wanted to protect herself, not be treated as a disposable pawn by the CP agency or World Government.
Then she'd need more power, status, and merit to prove her value to the World Government.
The more value she represented, the less likely she'd be abandoned.
She'd reached her ceiling within CP-0 for the time being. It was impossible to become Director-level in the short term. Senior Operations Commander was nothing to someone as insecure as her.
Finn's appearance, along with his appreciation and interest in her, seemed to give Stussy an idea.
No further advancement within CP for now, but she could work toward connections with the Marines. Not too much, because she couldn't handle too much. After all, the CP agency wasn't foolish. If she genuinely shifted toward the Marines, she'd only die faster.
But if it was just Finn, then there was nothing problematic. She could even report back that she'd seduced Finn, the rising Marine star, and perhaps receive approval and encouragement from her superiors.
If she could take this opportunity to become a secret partner with Finn, both could help each other, whether in the Marines or CP, and continue advancing with the power of this secret partnership...
Wasn't this beneficial?
She believed Finn was intelligent. At the same time, she felt she'd detected the scent of a kindred spirit in Finn.
He shouldn't reject this, right?
"Hehe, Miss Stussy, isn't what you're saying a bit inappropriate? We're brother organizations. Marine Headquarters has always respected the CP agency. We cooperate frequently. I don't understand what you're suggesting," Finn said with a smile, pulling his arm from Stussy's grasp.
Stussy wasn't concerned by this. Instead, she said, "Yes, yes, the CP agency and Marine Headquarters are very close. That's precisely why we, as representatives of both parties, should cooperate well. When there are good opportunities, we shouldn't forget each other, right?"
What is the actual relationship between Marine Headquarters and the CP Agency? Don't you, Finn, know perfectly well?
If it's so harmonious, why do you keep trying to recruit people?
As the warships anchored in the harbor drew closer, Finn stopped smiling and said seriously, "Miss Stussy, please give me some assurance. How can I simply hand you such tremendous merit without any proof of commitment?"
Seeing this, Stussy fell silent momentarily. After brief reflection, she made up her mind. After checking to ensure no one was nearby, she whispered, "CP-0 is planning to establish a new organization within the Underworld, primarily to gather intelligence. I intend to get involved in this soon... This information is top secret. I'm telling you, Vice Admiral, right now. At the same time, I have a personal promise: if I truly become the person in charge of this project... I can use this power for your benefit, as long as my interests are protected..."
Finn was genuinely shocked. As expected, this was the beginning of Pleasure Street's establishment.
Honestly, if Admiral Sengoku and Chief of Staff Tsuru had accepted his proposal over two years ago and established a similar structure in advance, CP-0 probably wouldn't have gotten involved. But now things were different.
The Marines' plan was half-dead. The "non-existent organization" couldn't be called useless, but it definitely wasn't as useful as Finn had envisioned.
Now CP had found a new approach and begun working on it. It probably wouldn't take long. With their professional methods, they could definitely establish this operation in the dark world and squeeze out the Marines' "business space"...
If Stussy had mentioned something else, Finn might have suspected she was deceiving him.
But mentioning this was indeed enough to prove her sincerity.
Thinking this, Finn nodded. "I hope you, Miss Stussy, will remember that no one likes betrayal."
Stussy smiled, a hint of amusement appearing on her face, though she said nothing.
Finn was warning her that this news passing from her mouth to Finn's ears was tantamount to leverage, and also proof she'd damaged CP agency interests to some extent.
From one perspective, this could be considered communication between sister organizations. But from another, it wasn't impossible to call it betraying the CP organization.
On the other hand, Finn was also making his stance clear. He didn't like being betrayed either. If Stussy dared play double agent, he'd be furious. It wasn't impossible he'd find an opportunity to eliminate her.
Without waiting for Stussy to speak, Finn smiled and said, "Happy cooperation."
"This is a secret between us, correct?" Stussy asked again.
"Of course. You don't want me involving the Marines too deeply. At the same time, I don't want to involve the CP agency too much. It's sufficient to limit this to the two of us..." Finn nodded.
Now, Stussy finally felt relieved.
She'd feared the Marines were planning something institutional. But since only Finn was involved, it was a private matter.
Feeling reassured, Stussy took Finn's arm again and said, "Now, can you tell me about your greatest opportunity in the past twenty years?"
"Haha, you guessed correctly just now. It's Roger's whereabouts. I've already found him," Finn said with a smile.
Stussy was shocked. It was true!
Finally, she'd made the right bet. This information alone was worth everything!
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