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Seeing that everyone had understood what he meant, Marco went on, "So rather than stopping Ace, what I really want is for him to find Teach as soon as possible."
"While Teach's body still hasn't fully recovered, let Ace be the one to take him down. After all, that bastard might very well have set his sights on Pops as his target."
At that, everyone couldn't help but pick their newspapers back up, eyes dropping to the paragraph describing Blackbeard's plan to steal the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
"Damn it, not only did Teach kill Thatch, he's actually planning to steal Pops' power too?"
"That bastard Teach—we really did misjudge him all these years."
"Disgusting. I called that guy my brother for so long. Just thinking about it now makes my skin crawl."
"Let's just set sail too. If we take Teach down early, we can all breathe easier."
"Yeah, let's head out right now!"
The Whitebeard Pirates were all fired up, looking like they were ready to leave the Moby Dick at any moment and join Ace in hunting down Teach.
"Alright, that's enough." Whitebeard stomped his foot on the deck with a dull boom, drawing everyone's attention. "There's no need to mobilize the whole crew over this."
"But Pops, Teach has his eye on you," someone called out.
"Yeah, Pops, we're your sons—we have to protect you."
Even some of the non-commander veterans of the crew shouted up at him.
They'd spent so many years under Whitebeard's protection; now that they knew someone was targeting him, of course they wanted to protect him in turn.
Seeing this, Whitebeard felt both moved and gratified. "In the end, whether Teach's Dark-Dark Fruit can really steal other people's Devil Fruit powers still hasn't been proven."
"Same goes for whether his body can truly contain a second Fruit; that hasn't been proven either, and as for him wanting to take my Fruit—that newspaper already said it's just Arton's speculation."
"So there's no need for you lot to worry so much." Whitebeard paused, then suddenly burst into loud laughter. "Besides, who am I? I'm Whitebeard!"
"Even if Teach is plotting to steal my Devil Fruit, it's not like it's so easy to pull off GURARARARA." As he spoke, Whitebeard laughed heartily.
Seeing that open, booming laughter, most of the Whitebeard Pirates finally let go of their anxiety.
Only people like Marco the doctor, and old hands like Jozu and Vista, still held a sliver of worry in their hearts.
They all knew that Whitebeard had grown old. Compared to his prime, the Whitebeard of today was undoubtedly weaker.
"No matter what, we should still stay on guard against Teach, and as for Ace's side of things, if the situation allows, we ought to give him some support as well." Marco said, looking at Whitebeard. "Even if the main Whitebeard fleet isn't suited to go, the subsidiary crews under us should at least be able to show their faces."
As the First Division Commander, how could he not understand why Whitebeard didn't want the earlier, hot-blooded crew members to sail out after Teach and assist Ace?
As the oldest of the Four Emperors' crews, the Whitebeard Pirates had countless eyes on them.
Marines, the World Government, even other great pirate crews—everyone was watching their every move.
Ace was strong; so long as he didn't run into a Marine Admiral or a Yonko-level monster, he could still put up a real fight even after leaving the Whitebeard Pirates.
Even if he couldn't win, the odds of Ace getting away with his life were still very high, but the other more ordinary members of the Whitebeard Pirates weren't like that.
Sending them out on their own would be no different from throwing them into the center of a maelstrom.
For Whitebeard, who treated every last one of his crew as family, that was something he simply couldn't allow.
However, compared to the main Whitebeard crew, the subordinate groups flying under their flag were much more flexible. Letting those people move at a time like this would be about as appropriate as it gets.
Chapter 464 – Fleet Admiral Sengoku Finds This All Very Annoying
"Then in that case, Whitey Bay seems like a pretty good fit." Vista rubbed his chin as he spoke. "Since she set sail specifically to go looking for her lover Arton, she might've already reached the Grand Line by now."
"Come to think of it, she normally moves really fast. The fact she hasn't managed to find Arton quickly this time… it kinda doesn't feel like her at all."
"Arton moves fast too, remember. He practically didn't spend any time at all getting from the East Blue to the Grand Line." Jozu said. "If Whitey Bay set off from the New World, it's only natural she might miss Arton in passing."
"Speaking of which, I guess you could say we're pretty fated with Arton. First Whitey Bay went chasing after him, and now Ace has run into him as well."
"If Whitey Bay really does end up becoming Arton's woman… Pops would be pretty happy about that."
Marco looked over at Whitebeard, whose lips were already curling up at the corners despite himself.
"Pirates as outstanding as Arton… in all these years, I haven't seen many like him."
"Sure, that guy seems to like women a little too much, but if Whitey Bay doesn't mind, then I've got nothing to complain about either GURARARARA." Whitebeard let out several loud laughs, then turned to look at Marco. "Marco, I agree with your proposal. You handle this matter."
"Leave it to me, Pops." Marco nodded firmly. "I'll make sure this gets handled well."
Even now, Whitebeard still had IV bags hanging from his body, with lines feeding into him.
Whether as the First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, or as the crew's doctor, Marco didn't recommend Whitebeard tire himself out over something like this.
Letting Marco take charge here was about as appropriate as it could get.
After giving Jozu, Vista, and a few others a quick round of instructions, he immediately turned and went off to start preparations.
…
At the same time, somewhere else.
Marine Headquarters. Grand Conference Room.
Right now, the large conference room was already filled with Marine officers of mid- and high-rank.
Everyone was waiting for the Fleet Admiral to arrive.
During that time, Marine officers kept hurrying in, drenched in sweat, grabbing whatever empty seats they could find.
"This really is a rush meeting. Why was it called so suddenly?"
"Probably something to do with the Flameblade Pirates."
"Flameblade Pirates? That Arton guy? What did he do this time, did he attack us again?"
"No, it's not that he attacked the Marines. Hey, don't tell me you haven't read Morgans' special rush edition today?"
"I've been swamped with work; I haven't had time to look at it yet."
"Figures. Otherwise you'd know what I mean. Let me break it down for you properly—wait, the Fleet Admiral's here!"
The chatting officers noticed Fleet Admiral Sengoku and Staff Officer Tsuru entering the conference room, and they all stood to attention and saluted.
"Sit down, all of you. Let's get this meeting started."
Sengoku waved a hand for them to be seated and took his place at the head of the room. Both he and Tsuru were holding copies of the newspaper.
"I'm sure most of you have already seen today's special edition. It reports some of the latest developments regarding the Flameblade Pirates."
"To accommodate those who haven't read it yet, Tsuru, give everyone a brief rundown first."
After saying a few words to the Tsuru beside him, Sengoku glanced toward the corner, where Admiral Kuzan was sitting with his eyes closed, resting, and next to him, Borsalino was blatantly goofing off.
As if sensing Sengoku's gaze, Kuzan and Kizaru both straightened their posture a little.
Even if they were Admirals now, the man sitting opposite them was still the Fleet Admiral; they had to at least show him a bit of respect, but only a bit—both of them still kept a fairly relaxed attitude…
At least, until Tsuru got to the part about Arton.
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