Pirates: From Vice Captain to Lord of the Dead

"Permission to dispatch troops freely? Ha, if you hadn't told me, I would have almost forgotten that I'm the Admiral of the Navy."

Sakaski sneered with a hint of gunpowder in his tone, cigar smoke rising from the corner of his mouth, and a gleam of light flashed in his eyes hidden under the shadow of the brim of his hat.

"It seems that Vegapunk has mastered something incredible, which makes you want to destroy him at all costs."

"This has nothing to do with the Navy. Don't ask so many questions, Sakaski. Contact us after you've formulated a battle plan."

……

After a 2-second pause, the Den Den Mushi hung up with a click.

"Akainu's personality is still too fierce. Even after two years of polishing, he is not as smooth as Sengoku in dealing with things."

In the holy land of Marijoa, the empty living room contained only a table and a few sofas. On the sofa, Saint Vauchuli, with a few scars on his bald head, held his forehead and sighed as he looked at the Den Den Mushi on the table.

"Thinking about it now, if Aokiji had been the marshal, things might have been better now."

"That's hard to say. Although Zhan Guo is smooth, he is also very cunning. Aokiji, whom he strongly recommended, may not be easier to control than Akainu. Moreover, Akainu's popularity is too high. We also have to consider the impact of the position of Admiral on the navy below."

Nasujuro Sei stood in the corner, his long sword resting on his shoulder, his fingers adjusting his round glasses that shone white.

"It's pointless to say this now. For now, let's focus on Egghead. It would be great if Blackbeard could force the Straw Hat Pirates to withdraw from this incident."

"Indeed, no matter what the outcome on Beehive Island is, it will always be a good thing for us. Of course, we must also prepare for the worst."

Peter, with his side-parted white hair neatly combed, stood in front of a French window, gazing solemnly at the distant sky.

"If not handled carefully, it could turn into a massive war of the highest order."

……

Marinford, after hanging up the call, Sakaski also began to arrange various matters for this operation.

"Everyone is almost gathered, right? Have you sorted out the information?"

"Yes! A meeting can be held at any time."

Brannu saluted and responded in a strong voice.

Sakaski put the document he was reading on the table, stood up, and strode towards the door past Branno.

"let's go."

"Yes!"

Leaving the office, Brannu followed the majestic figure wearing the cloak of justice. The dark shadows of the columns were reflected in the corridor through the faint golden sunlight.

The two walked through in silence until they reached the conference room at the end. Before they even opened the door, they could already hear the noisy discussions inside.

boom.

As the door was pushed open, the conference room suddenly became quiet, as if the sound had been frightened and escaped through the window.

Sakaski strode towards the stage. His movements were neither light nor heavy, but they could make everyone who was just whispering to each other become serious in just a few seconds.

The general's style of doing things will invisibly influence his subordinates. If it was Garp who walked in, the meeting would probably start with laughter and conversation. However, the aura that Sakaski exuded invisibly meant that no one dared to laugh in such a serious meeting.

This was also the reason why he was able to win the election that year, surpassing Aokiji, who was deeply loved by his subordinates. In the army, no one would question Sakaski's prestige.

"Explain the situation to them first."

Sitting down in the chair behind the desk, Sakaski spoke in a deep voice, opened the drawer and took out a cigar, bit it and took a puff, and the cigar suddenly lit up at one end.

"Yes."

Brannu nodded in response, picked up the information in his hand, turned around and faced the generals below the stage,

"Yesterday morning, the surveillance ship targeting the Straw Hat Pirates lost track of them in the Egghead Sea..."

From the moment the Straw Hat Pirates came into contact with Vegapunk, Branu recounted all the intelligence known to the Navy in detail.

It may seem a bit long-winded, but the experienced generals below know that the more it is like this, the more important the next action will be, and every detail needs to be considered rigorously.

As Brannu's unhurried voice continued to echo, the atmosphere in the entire conference room became increasingly solemn.

Smoker, Flying Squirrel, Gion...

The senior generals seemed to be thinking about something, as if they had guessed something, and their brows gradually furrowed.

The last time this kind of atmosphere appeared was during the Battle of Marineford two years ago, when a preparation meeting was held to deal with the overlord of the sea, the Whitebeard Pirates.

That is to say...

Are we going to go to war with the Emperor of the Sea?

Some generals who realized this exchanged glances silently, and this idea suddenly came to their minds.

"Nico Robin, the son of the devil, and Vegapunk, who has also inherited the will of the O'Hara scholars and secretly studies history in an attempt to overturn the world's stability, have been contacted. This is a very dangerous signal."

"CP0 has already dispatched to execute Vegapunk. According to the World Government's secret intelligence, the Straw Hat Pirates are very likely to go and rescue Vegapunk."

As if to confirm their guess, Brannu's introduction finally came to an end.

"To ensure the smooth execution of Vegapunk, the Navy will make all preparations and be ready to speak with the Pirate Emperor at any time—"

"The Straw Hat Pirates are going to war!"

The words fell.

The generals below finally couldn't help but become restless.

"Are we finally going to take action against them?"

"To have grown into a pirate of this caliber in just two years is even more exaggerated than Red Hair back then."

"It's really a storm coming."

Huoshaoshan smiled foolishly. No one had expected that the Straw Hat Pirates would grow to this point.

The first meeting specifically for the Straw Hat Pirates was the Alabasta incident two years ago. The scene of Reiner being put on the bounty list with 500 million Beli is still vivid in our minds.

In the eyes of them who had fought at sea for many years, two years passed in the blink of an eye, and the other side suddenly became the strongest in the world.

Sakaski did not interrupt the voice below. Declaring war on the Sea Emperor was no small matter.

This time, we only have half a day to prepare from the time we receive the news to the time we take action. We must give them some time to slow down. Sending troops in a hurry will only cause delays.

After a while, the noises from below gradually died down, and the generals had almost recovered from their shock.

"If a war really breaks out, how will the troops be deployed?"

Smoker spoke first:

"Although they only have a dozen crew members, their experiences in the Bankoku and Wano countries have proven that the Straw Hat Pirates are a truly dominant force."

"Besides, Egghead itself possesses formidable combat power. To deal with such a lineup, headquarters would have to exhaust all its forces."

"That's right. For this operation, headquarters will deploy more than half of its elite troops, including all the troops from various branches near the Aiglehead Sea and along the way."

Sakaski nodded, and then, under everyone's astonished gaze, he said in a deep voice:

"In addition, all high-level combat forces, including the headquarters generals, will go there, including me."

"Nani?"

"this!"

"What about headquarters?"

Hearing this, the generals below almost couldn't sit still, but they hesitated to speak.

This lineup is not much worse than the one at Marineford back then.

But in addition to the main ship, Whitebeard also has a super fleet consisting of nearly fifty pirate groups participating in the battle, many of whom are famous pirates in the New World.

Compared to this, the Straw Hat Pirates still have a big gap.

But on second thought, Egghead also has extremely powerful Seraphim and the third generation of Pacifist Legion.

In the plan to subjugate the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the navy has already witnessed the horror of these human weapons.

On the other hand, compared with the top war, this time there is no support from the Seven Warlords of the Sea

Emmm okay, actually it doesn’t make much difference whether there are Seven Warlords of the Sea or not.

But what surprised them was that devoting all their high-level combat forces to the upcoming battle would mean that the Holy Land of Mary Geoise would have to face its greatest defense barrier—

The naval headquarters will be left with a shortage of troops.

Will the Five Elders agree?

In terms of the distribution of combat power, Sakaski believed that his judgment would not be wrong. As for what those generals were thinking, he could also roughly guess.

Ironically, if they simply wanted to declare war on the Straw Hat Pirates, the Five Elders probably wouldn't allow headquarters to send out troops on such a large scale.

But in order to eliminate Vegapunk, it is possible, and even declaring a war on the Straw Hat Pirates has become a side job to ensure the success of the operation.

Last time, the Straw Hat Pirates went to war with the Beasts Pirates in Wano Country, which was also a perfect opportunity to take advantage of the situation and destroy the two pirate groups.

However, due to the convening of the World Conference, the Five Elders would rather keep all their forces in Mary Joaquin and wait than allow him to send a large number of troops to Wano Country.

Although revolutionaries did show up and attack the Holy Land in the end, he had nothing to say.

But this opportunity is rare. Taking advantage of the permission to send troops freely, no matter what the outcome of Beehive Island is, he will bring out all his fighting forces this time.

If the Straw Hat Pirates win, they will go to Egghead as planned. If Blackbeard wins, he will immediately turn around and attack Beehive Island.

Sakaski's eyes darkened and then gleamed with a sharp light.

He would never miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to eliminate the two sea emperors in one fell swoop.

The meeting seemed to be held at a leisurely pace, but Akainu already had some ideas about this battle, and there were not many points to discuss.

As time was running out, this meeting, which was brewing a huge war, ended simply and quickly.

Half an hour later, at the port of Marinford.

"Quick! Move faster!"

"The Second Fleet is ready! Apply to leave the port!"

"Permission to depart!"

"Supply team! Restock our ship with ammunition!"

The warships formed a torrent and were neatly arranged in the bay, ready to go like ferocious steel beasts.

There was a lot of movement of people on the shore, and the navy of various arms performed their duties. The urgency of preparing for war quickly spread to the entire steel fortress.