Blaize stayed for a night and decided to leave the next morning. He also introduced Kuina to Zephyr, it surprised the latter when he said he took her as a Marine trainee under his command.
Meaning, he's going to train her. But, Zephyr couldn't find anything special in her. As for Regis, he needs no introduction as he's Zephyr-sensei's old student.
Blaize pondered over the Haki concept. Haki nature theory that Zephyr spoke gave him a new outlook. It will be a big breakthrough in his strength if he comprehends the concept correctly.
Blaize didn't sleep for the entire night, he just relaxed on the ship deck and enjoyed the star-filled sky while looking through the files of Speed pirates.
--
After informing Zephyr, Blaize left the training camp early morning. He needs to prepare for the upcoming battle against Speed pirates.
After reading their file, he got a general idea of their strength and what they are good at. Without a doubt, they are strong as the crew's combined bounty is nearly 3 billion.
What surprised Blaize is their battle records, they even had an encounter with Beast pirates but they were able to escape unscathed.
The Captain of the Speed Pirates has a staggering bounty of 1.48 Billion berries while his brother has a bounty of 1.2 Billion. Aside from them, there are other strong pirates among their crew.
But, the core fighting strength of the crew is both Speed and Luke. If they want to bring down the Speed pirates, the only option is to take down Speed and Luke.
Otherwise, it's no use. Meaning, he and Kuzan have to defeat one each. Just thinking about fighting such a strong pirate crew excited Blaize very much.
Only by fighting someone stronger than him, he can enjoy the battle and at the same time, improve himself! It's been so long since he met a worthy opponent where he can fight by putting his life on the line.
--
Before Blaize's ship could reach the Headquarters, Kuzan contacted him via the Den Den Mushi and explained the strategy.
By his plan, they will leave from Headquarters at night and reach the destination, Greenhill Island, by tomorrow morning. The night gives them good cover and it's when the pirates are the least alert.
They will strike in the morning and catch them off guard. Kuzan continued,
"It won't be easy to bring them down! One of us had to fight Speed or Luke. Did you read their files?"
"Yes," Blaize answered.
"Then, Who do you want to fight?" Kuzan asked. He wanted to take Speed and let Blaize handle Luke but he wants to hear Blaize's opinion first.
"I will take Speed!" Blaize responded, surprising Kuzan.
"Are you sure? He's not weak, you know. Speed is good at fleeing. He's so fast that not many people in the world can catch him once he decided to escape.
Even I am not confident of stopping him!" Kuzan expressed his thoughts.
"I have a way to restrain him. If nothing goes wrong, he won't be able to escape."
"Oh!" Hearing his words, Kuzan pondered. 'It looks likes I need to change the plan.'
His initial plan is simple. He wanted Blaize to defeat Luke at the shortest time possible while he handles Speed. During the fight, Blaize will get all the help from the other Marine officers.
As soon as they take down Luke, using numbers to their advantage they will try to stop Speed. Frankly, Kuzan isn't confident of defeating Speed pirates.
It's because the number of resources at his hand is limited. Of course, if Marines dispatched another Admiral, Kizaru or Akainu, they can effortlessly take down the Speed pirates but it's not possible.
There are countless Great Pirates in New World, the Marines can't dispatch all their greatest forces just to take down a single Pirate crew.
It's frustrating but there's no choice. There's only so many Marines but the sea is full of Pirates.
"Then, we will go by your choice." Kuzan and Blaize then discussed the strategy and corrected a few things.
In no time, Blaize also reached the Headquarters. He went to meet Kuzan and other Marine soldiers and officers who are going to partake in the operation.
--
Greenhill Island, New World.
Just as Blaize and Kuzan were having a meeting with the officers under their command, the Speed Pirates were relaxing on the Island without any care in the world.
The pirates were enjoying the wine and meat prepared by the chefs while Speed, Luke, and the other two people sat some distance away from the rest of the crew.
"Captain, is it ok for us to remain here for such a long time?" A woman in her thirties asked. Suddenly, anger surfaced on her face. "We even lost our territory to that beast pirates, ahhhh, just thinking of it makes me furious."
"Cool down, Jasper. Did you forget what happened that day? If not for Captain stopping that beast Kaido, we wouldn't be alive right now." A scar-faced man named, Vulken, commented.
Hearing it, Jasper grunted and smashed the huge boulder behind her. At that moment, Luke, who had a muscular physique spoke. "Jasper, first increase your strength then we will speak about reclaiming our territory. You are too weak!"
Luke gulped the wine from his bottle and asked Speed who rested on the ground with his right arm as support while gazing at the endless sea before him.
"Speed, why are we staying here?" He knew his brother isn't like him, he's an extremely intelligent, cunning, and clever person.
In their younger days, their village was destroyed and their parents were killed. As Orphans, they were forced to fend for themselves and thrown into the cruel world of pirates, very young.
Only after Speed became a devil fruit, their life turned for the better. Luke knew if Speed does something, there's always some deeper meaning behind it; it's always like this, as long as he remembers.
"It's because it's a nice place to have a large-scale battle; the scenery is good while the Island is huge." Speed replied. Luke didn't understand, Speed knew this so he continued. "I am talking about the Marines."
His words grabbed Jasper and Vulken's attention. Jasper exclaimed. "Captain, are you saying Marines will come looking for us?"
"100 Percent!" Speed affirmed.
"Last time, we crushed the entire fleet and heavily injured that old Admiral. Considering that, Brother, even if they knew our location they won't dare to come at us." Luke chuckled.
"Luke, you musclehead. I have told you countless times, Don't underestimate the Marines. The Marines may have already discovered our location and I made sure of that. It's just a matter of time before they come looking for us."
--
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