Dante wasn't a fool; fools couldn't grasp the intricacies of Rowen's appraisal of the "fancy" Moonlike Stream Murdering Sword.
Betrayed?
No, Dante knew he could make some changes to the outcome; he just hadn't done so. The only thing he wasn't sure about was whether his crew had to die!
If it was Rowen's death plot, no matter how hard he tried, if Rowen wanted them dead, no one could save them.
At Edie's words, Dante raised an eyebrow, meeting her gaze seriously. "You already have the answer to this question in your heart, don't you?"
Edie didn't know, nor did she dare to know, what the true plan of that person was. She didn't even entertain unauthorized thoughts.
Marine Soryu (Azure Dragon)!
This name could calm a crying child in the New World, not simply because he had killed many people.
Indeed, Dante's handover of the Territory Manatee to Lafitte had exposed their whereabouts. But Dante had consulted Rowen beforehand, and Rowen had expressed indifference, willing to cooperate fully, even if it meant killing Marine and government agents.
Whether Dante and his group, as pawns, could survive didn't depend on Rowen's thoughts but on Dante's abilities. Because the cruel reality was... it wasn't about living or dying; only through real combat could everything make sense.
The reason those soldiers would die was simply because Dante's abilities were insufficient.
Drip...
A dripping sound echoed. Edie took a drag from his cigar, glanced down, and noticed a black scar on the blue carpet where Dante stood. Blood trickled down his fingers, and an invisible killing intent began to spread.
Edie looked relaxed because this killing intent wasn't directed at him.
Nor was it aimed at Rowen.
It was more like remorse.
Remorse for not being able to save his fallen comrades.
"Marine Soryu (Azure Dragon) is indeed not a simple figure."
Observing Dante's change, Edie was surprised and sincerely apprehensive of the Marine Vice Admiral whom he had never met.
"One last question..."
After a moment, Dante's hoarse voice broke the silence.
"Speak, Rear Admiral Dante."
"When did the plan start?"
At his question, Edie removed her pipe and smiled bitterly. "Why do you think I'm still alive amidst the chaos of the New World?"
Edie wasn't afraid of merely hiring the Germa Kingdom to start a war. But the continuous chain of events leading to the unrest in the New World, even alarming the Gorōsei (Five Elder Stars), made it clear why he could sit here undisturbed.
Once targeted by the Gorōsei (Five Elder Stars), not even Umit could protect him, so Edie had no choice but to comply.
"I see!"
Dante closed his eyes. That time, even before he received the command, after assuming the role of Whirdset!
Rowen had already planned this before going to resolve the turmoil in the New World.
...
The culprit was the Marine, a speculation among the pirates, but the least desirable outcome.
Because it was the Marines, and the only Marine in the New World who could retaliate against them was the one stationed at Punk Hazard, the fearsome Marine Soryu (Azure Dragon).
This grudge had to be put aside for now.
After all, it wasn't their own people dying, so why should they care?
If pirates wanted to unite in enmity, it was more difficult than preventing Marines from going rogue and government officials from being corrupted by power.
The League conference continued, and Lafitte was pleased, beginning to discuss various policies of the Pirate League with the captains.
Burgess didn't care about these matters. He wasn't stupid, rather quite cunning, but his cunning was reserved for real matters and battles. He didn't care about or want to deal with these convoluted trivial matters; he was indifferent.
At this moment, the bored Burgess sat in the open doorway of the submarine, propping his feet on the control panel, half asleep and half awake against the chair.
Suddenly, after who knows how long, a series of "dī dī" sounds rang out. Burgess, still groggy, lifted his head and looked at the flashing indicator lights, completely puzzled.
"What's going on?"
"Did I hit something?"
"It's none of my business!"
And the crimson lights flashing everywhere gave him an extremely ominous feeling.
"Burgess, what are you doing?!"
The submarine's door had been open all along, and everyone noticed the alarm-like "dī dī" sound and the erratic flashing of the red lights. Lafitte raised an eyebrow, asking.
"I don't know, it just started alarming out of nowhere!"
Burgess stuck his head out of the doorway, trying to distance himself.
At this moment, a series of beeps sounded.
"Unrecorded navigation instructions detected, confirmed capture, emergency response initiated."
Burgess turned around to see, in a corner of the control panel, a Den Den Mushi with its eyes open, speaking matter-of-factly. It was the kind of Den Den Mushi commonly found on Pirate Ships for broadcasting notifications.
"Life forms detected inside the cabin, automatic return measures initiated."
Burgess: "Huh???"
The next moment, with a "thud," the cabin door suddenly closed automatically.
At the same time, under the curious and puzzled gazes of the surrounding pirates, the middle section of the submarine began to undergo continuous transformations, splitting into two halves.
Then...
Puff!!
A beam of light suddenly emerged from the rear end of the front half of the cabin where Burgess was located. Amidst the bewildered stares of the group, the propelling force generated by the beam caused the silver-white bullet head to tilt upwards.
Wait a minute, a bullet head?!
Finally, Lafitte remembered why this thing looked so peculiar; it was because it astonishingly resembled the shape of bullets used in firearms with higher technological content! It was just that two bullet heads were connected back to back, and since most submarines had a similar design, he found it odd but didn't think much about it at the time.
And, if it was a bullet...
Boom!
Just as he was thinking, the beam suddenly surged, and a terrifying wave of energy spread outwards, causing the unsuspecting pirates to stumble.
Then, to the astonishment of everyone, the bullet head swiftly shot up into the sky and flew away...
And if it was a bullet, it could fly!!!
"Fuck!!!"
Watching the trajectory of the bullet head drawing a white line in the sky, Lafitte was at a loss.
Was this considered falling into a self-made trap?
He clearly heard that the "return measure" had been activated!
Where would Marine's equipment with automatic return go?
Naturally, it would return to the Marines' side!
Hmm?
Wait a minute!
Suddenly, Lafitte calmed down, looking down at the remaining half of the bullet head that had been knocked into a small building due to the impact, feeling inexplicably panicked.
"What would typically happen if captured?"
Boom!!!
The deafening roar, accompanied by dazzling thunderlight, instantly enveloped the entire Drifter. Dante, who had escaped several kilometers away, turned back at the sound, his heart filled with fear.
If he wasn't mistaken...
Had he been sleeping on top of a bomb all this time???
...
New World, Punk Hazard.
"Automatic return? When did you come up with this?"
Rowen looked at Vegapunk operating on the console, his spirits lifting upon hearing the phrase "automatic return measure."
To activate certain devices without recording navigation instructions could be achieved through simple mechanisms. Detecting life forms was even simpler; there were heat source sensors on the seats. But this automatic return measure was quite remarkable; even without a satellite, how was it positioned?
Being able to create such a system, Vegapunk truly deserved the title of king of black technology! A capable wife could hardly cook without rice, yet here he was, giving up even the pot!
"That's just to deceive them. I prepared two sets of recordings, one for normal operation, and the other for this..."
Vegapunk rolled his eyes. "Didn't you realize that wasn't my voice?"
Rowen: "..."
Well, I overthought it.
"If there's no external interference, the final landing spot will be here!"
Vegapunk pointed to a common unmanned sea area on the sea map. "After finding out that the landing spot isn't a Marine base, he, with no means of communication, will surely hurry back to rendezvous with his companions."
"Using both scent and radio signals, by then..."
The faint radio signals were gradually received through the Den Den Mushi, translating the trajectory of the bullet head's flight into visible dots on the radar.
"Following him will lead us to Teach, right?" Rowen chuckled coldly.
In order not to arouse suspicion, the soldiers on Dante's ship even sacrificed their lives, allowing Lafitte and Burgess to approach the submarine voluntarily, acquiring a special scent undetectable by human noses.
This scent was difficult to remove; to quickly get rid of it, one would have to tear off the skin where the scent was attached.
So even if Burgess abandoned the submarine with the tracking device and swam home, he would still be tracked by the sharks trained by Vegapunk, with no escape.
After so much effort, there was only one goal.
That was to find Teach and kill Teach!
When Teach was simply expelled from the pirate crew, with Whitebeard's presence, Rowen couldn't do anything about him. But now that Teach had become a disgrace to the entire Whitebeard Pirates crew, daring to cause trouble, Rowen would never let him go.
(The end of this chapter)
You can read ahead up to 70 chapters on my patreon and I've also activated (date to date) subscription model on my patreon https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395