Another half a month later.
The Country of Peace.
Kuro finally returned.
This time, he did not bring anything with him. He flew back alone and did not use the Golden Lion.
After returning, he directly called for a meeting.
Leda, Crowe, Kuzan, especially Kuzan. Since he is still here, some things will be easier.
"Oh, what's going on? You asked someone to have a meeting as soon as you came back?"
Kuzan came with Moore. When he arrived at the main hall, he greeted Kuro and then thought of something. "Don't tell me you got some orders at Headquarters?"
"Don't jinx it. Let's talk about it when everyone is here." Kuro glared at him. "You are not a general now, it's easy for you to talk now."
Kuzan shrugged and sat on a futon at the side. Then, he felt that something was wrong and directly lay on it. "Alalala, it was just a little guess, but now it seems that something really happened."
Kuro lit a cigar and spat out a mouthful of smoke without answering.
Soon, Crowe arrived with Basil, and Leda appeared in the hall with Pallas and Fanny.
"Kuro! Did you bring me anything delicious?" Leda asked expectantly.
"Eat, eat, eat. You only know how to eat. After a year of rest, we have to work."
Kuro rolled his eyes. "I believe you already know some of the specific information about the Waterfront Star Island."
These words made Crowe's eyes narrow.
Sure enough, there was a big move.
"Mr. Kuro, the island we know about is the battle between Straw Hat and Blackbeard. Is there any other secret?" asked Crowe.
"Yes and no."
Kuro said, "The higher-ups don't want to see another Pirate King, even if it may come out, so they came to order. We… want to start a war against the New World's pirates."
All-out… war?
Crowe's pupils shrank. He had thought about a lot of things, but the most he thought about was that Marine would target this so-called 'New Yonkō (Four Emperors)'. He never thought that there would be a full-frontal war.
"Alalala…"
Hearing this, Kuzan murmured and sat up again. "Are you playing so big? But this kind of thing is meaningless."
He is also a Marine Admiral and knows the history of the past. It's not that they haven't fought with pirates on all fronts, but they can't bear the casualties and in the end, they can only give up New World.
Another one like this?
Kuzan glanced at Kuro, but this was not the same as before. The old Marines and the current Marines were completely different.
Especially after this man made a name for himself on the Grand Line, Marine also rose up in the wave of the Great Age of Pirates. Akainu, Kizaru, and his generation of Marines are the peak of Marine's combat power, but Kuro can be said to be the peak of Marine's era in the history of Marine. He occupied the Country of Peace and ended the Yonkō (Four Emperors) era, making Marine's prestige reach a terrifying level.
Now all fronts are at war …
The battle might not be the same as before.
"Yes, it's that big." Kuro said, "We will bear the pressure from the rear and concentrate on finding those who jump more fiercely on the sea. The main battlefield will be resisted by the Headquarters.
"In other words, are we going to deal with Straw Hat and the others? This is really… a difficult problem." Kuzan said.
Of course, there are many pirates in New World. It is unrealistic for them to deal with all of them, but it is not easy to deal with the leader. It can even be said that they are the main force.
"When did you become so responsible?" Kurzan looked up at Kurlo.
"I have no choice…"
Kuro exhaled a mouthful of smoke. "I'm in this position. I have to do something. I can't embarrass the old man, nor can I let down the expectations of the faction."
This was one of the reasons why he didn't want to be promoted. In addition to his own request, he knew that once a person reached a high position, some things were beyond his control.
At the very least, a social animal can never abandon the influence of others and live alone there. It will always carry some burden.
"Kuzan, you have been freeloading here for so long, you have to help me," Kuro said.
"Alalala, I am not a Marine now."
"But you are a member of 'Sword'. Come on, it's not a big deal for you to do a favor. Marines can't stop your pace."
"I am still disabled…" Kuzan patted his leg.
Kuro didn't even want to talk to him. For this Logia, the difference between losing a leg is not very big.
"Mr. Kuro… who should we target first?"
Crowe, on the other hand, couldn't argue with him. When he said this, he was thinking.
Now the sea, all of them came up recently, the oldest is still Tiki, but the time of ascension is also very short, after Whitebeard died.
As for the most recent three, it was only a year after the Battle of Wano Country.
It would be easier to do it now.
"Who else are they targeting? They are a group of people like rats. How can they be so easy to encounter?"
Kuro pointed his finger at the table and said, "Tell Kaz to get ready and bring people to meet me. First, remove these people's sphere of influence, clean up the nest and force them out. But we have to wait for Headquarters to act first and then we will start."
Their occupation of the Country of Peace has already made the pirates impatient. If it weren't for the fact that the Country of Peace is easy to defend and difficult to attack, someone would have attacked them long ago.
Even so, the surroundings are not peaceful now. Otherwise, why would Kuro recruit Marines here and often put them down? Isn't it to prevent those annoying pirates from entering?
"Yes, I understand!" Crowe responded vigorously, and the corner of his eye touched with Kuzan.
Opportunity… is here!
… .
The atmosphere on the sea was a little heavy.
In particular, in the first half of the Four Seas and Grand Line, those elite Marine Admiral Schools began to assemble and gradually moved towards the headquarters of the New World, making the Underground World that received the intelligence extremely nervous.
Is this another big move?
Isn't the Yonkō (Four Emperors) era over? What else do you want to do…
But soon, those underworlds could not sit still.
This is because the World Government has announced that they want to catch all the evil pirates in one fell swoop and let Marine directly point to the New World and restore the order of the world.
The Underground World that received this news were all active and they inquired about the authenticity of the news one by one. The real information was quickly obtained by them.
It's true, because the World Government doesn't want to see the appearance of One Piece and wants to take this opportunity to expand the World Government's influence to the maximum.
In other words… the war has begun!
This news, some people are happy and some people are sad. The interests of the Underground World are different. In a big war, some will make their business bigger and some will shrink.
But no matter what, they are useless. Even the attitude of the allies is not very useful.
What the World Government really wants to do is to disregard the attitude and face of the affiliated countries.