One Piece: Deriving All Things

"A conspiracy?"

"We're still looking into that," Sengoku said gravely.

"The World Government is treating this with the utmost seriousness. The CP has already dispatched agents to Dressrosa."

"Regardless of what schemes might be in motion, we absolutely cannot allow those three to unite."

Sengoku's voice grew hard, sweeping a sharp gaze across everyone in the room.

"This meeting is a preemptive move—to prepare for the worst."

Tsuru leaned forward, calm yet suspicious.

"So the Whitebeard Pirates are handing territory to Sanders. But what about the Beasts Pirates?"

"Don't tell me… they're there to gift land as well?"

That was unthinkable.

The Thunder God Pirates had zero ties to the Beasts Pirates.

In fact, their history was rife with conflict and bloodshed.

Dressrosa used to be controlled by Donquixote Doflamingo, Kaido's key partner in artificial Devil Fruit production.

Sanders had fought Kaido right on that very island.

More recently, the ex-Warlord Crocodile joined the Beasts Pirates—

And he had once been defeated by Sanders' own swordsman, the blind warrior Issho.

These weren't rival groups simply minding their own business.

This was deep, mutual animosity.

"So why would King, Kaido's right hand, show up in Dressrosa now?"

"Could it be... for the remnants of the artificial fruit factory Doflamingo left behind?"

But that theory didn't hold water either.

If Kaido wanted the factory back, he would've sent someone long ago—

Not wait until now.

Besides, Doflamingo had already escaped from Impel Down.

He was perfectly capable of rebuilding the operation from scratch.

Based on Vice Admiral Tsuru's analysis, Doflamingo and Kaido had likely reestablished contact already.

She suspected that SMILE production had resumed—

She just hadn't found the new facility yet.

After all, Doflamingo had operated across the seas for over a decade.

No one truly knew how many islands he had nests on.

Like a cunning rabbit with many burrows, it wouldn't surprise her if he had thirty hidden strongholds scattered throughout the Grand Line.

The sea was vast.

Islands dotted every corner of it.

Many remained undiscovered even by the World Government itself.

"As for the Beasts Pirates," Sengoku said, voice low and serious,

"We currently have no information on their intentions."

Between the two Emperors, Sengoku was far more concerned about Kaido.

Whitebeard cared about family.

Kaido cared only for chaos—

He was the kind of pirate who sought to upend the world.

If Sanders, who already bore a grudge against the World Government, were to ally with Kaido...

"It could turn into a catastrophic threat," Sengoku murmured.

Just then—

Knock knock.

A sharp, deliberate knock cut through the heavy atmosphere.

Sengoku frowned, slightly annoyed.

No one would dare interrupt this meeting unless it was urgent.

"Come in," he said, voice stern.

A Marine pushed open the door and quickly walked in.

After saluting Sengoku and everyone present, he opened the file folder in his hands and began to report:

"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, we've received word from Dressrosa—

The Beasts Pirates' Wildfire King, King, has already set sail. Judging from his direction, it looks like he's heading back to Wano."

"King has left?"

Sengoku's expression tightened slightly.

He hadn't expected King to leave Dressrosa so soon.

From the moment King arrived until now, it had been less than half a day.

Could it be that he was really just passing through for resupply?

Impossible.

There's no way the right-hand man of a Yonko would go to another Yonko's base just to pick up supplies.

Kings don't meet kings.

The major pirate crews rarely ever meet face-to-face lightly.

Otherwise, the Marines wouldn't have been so concerned about both Marco and King heading to Dressrosa.

"Have we figured out what King went to Dressrosa for?"

Sengoku asked, frowning.

"We haven't,"

The Marine answered quietly.

"There wasn't enough time."

"Based on our intel, King stayed in the Thunder God Pirates' territory of Hanatani for a short while, then left."

"What about Sanders?"

"Any sign of him?"

Sengoku pressed, his brow furrowed.

"No. We've got our people watching the area around Hanatani, and we haven't seen Sanders come down from the sky."

"King was received by the Thunder God Pirates' vice-captain, the blind swordsman Issho."

The Marine replied honestly.

"Seems things aren't as bad as we imagined."

Vice Admiral Tsuru's tone relaxed a bit.

"If the Thunder God Pirates and the Beasts Pirates really were forming an alliance, there's no way it would be decided this quickly."

"Maybe King's visit really was just a coincidence."

"We can't afford to let our guard down,"

Sengoku waved the Marine away and said seriously:

"Kaido's a lunatic. So is Sanders."

"Who knows what those two are thinking?"

Among the original Four Emperors,only Red-Haired Shanks and Whitebeard Edward Newgate had relatively normal minds—they wouldn't just randomly go to war with the Marines.

Big Mom isn't exactly all there either,

but at least she mostly stays in Totto Land having babies and rarely leaves her territory.

Kaido, though, is different.

He's so insane he tries to commit suicide regularly—

people all over the world have seen him jumping off cliffs trying to end his own life.

Sanders is even crazier than Kaido.

He dared to attack the Holy Land, Mary Geoise, itself.

Even now, part of Mary Geoise still lies in ruins, not yet rebuilt.

Who knows if those two might suddenly snap and team up to stir up trouble?

The world is already chaotic enough—

Sengoku didn't want to see it spiral even further out of control.

"What should we do?"

Vice Admiral Tsuru asked softly.

With something this serious happening, the Marines had to respond.

They couldn't wait until things actually exploded—

or they'd be left scrambling and overwhelmed.

"We must be prepared in the New World."

Sengoku said with a resolute expression.

The Marines had to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

"Garp, end your vacation. You'll be in charge of keeping an eye on the Whitebeard Pirates. Monitor Whitebeard's movements closely."

Sengoku turned to Garp as he gave the order.

Garp nodded solemnly—

he understood how serious things had become.

"Kuzan, stay put for now. Don't go wandering around. Remain on standby at the New World base with Akainu.

If there's any unusual activity from the three major powers, you and Akainu will be the first to respond."

Aokiji gave a lazy yawn and nodded slowly.

Sengoku glanced at Kizaru next—

but ultimately gave him no orders.

Two of the three Admirals were already being deployed.

One had to remain near headquarters on standby.

Especially since Kizaru was the fastest—

he could quickly respond to any emergency.

Marineford wasn't far from the New World.

If anything happened, they could respond swiftly.

"Tsuru, stay at headquarters for now. Put the pursuit of Doflamingo on hold."

"Understood," she nodded in response.

"Everyone else—remain at your posts, but be ready. At any moment, you may need to deploy to the New World."

Sengoku looked toward the other Vice Admirals.

He couldn't ignore the rest of the sea just because of the three major pirate crews.

There were still plenty of pirates out there that needed to be dealt with.

"I'll notify the intelligence division to investigate the true purpose of the Whitebeard Pirates and the Beasts Pirates."

"We'll monitor their every move closely."

"If anything changes, I'll inform you all immediately."

"Yes, Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"

As the meeting came to an end,the Marines sprang into action.

Garp, Akainu, and Aokiji set out for the New World.

Multiple fleets were deployed in preparation—

ready for whatever chaos might erupt.

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T/N:

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