Two days passed quietly.
Early today, Vice Admiral Tsuru's ship arrived at the port of the Magiatsuka Kingdom. Her first stop was the local Marine base.
Seeing how messy everything was inside, she couldn't help but get angry.
"If I remember correctly, the one in charge of this Marine base is Captain Corky, right? And he was appointed by Sakazuki himself," she asked as she walked out of the base.
"Yes, Vice Admiral Tsuru. Captain Corky and his three warships are currently docked at the G5 branch," her aide quickly replied.
Tsuru narrowed her eyes slightly and said in a cold voice,
"Contact Headquarters. Tell Sakazuki to deal with Corky. Someone like him isn't fit to be a Marine anymore. He left his post without orders from us."
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Vice Admiral Tsuru…"
"But… wasn't Corky's withdrawal directly ordered by the World Government?" the aide couldn't help but ask.
Tsuru shook her head and said:
"Corky is an officer of the Marines. He only takes orders from Marine Headquarters. The World Government has no authority to command him—not even the Five Elders."
"The worst part is, even after retreating, he didn't report to HQ. He's finished as a Marine Captain."
"Thank you for the guidance, Vice Admiral Tsuru. I understand." The adjutant gave a serious salute, then turned to contact Marine HQ.
At that moment, Gion walked up beside Vice Admiral Tsuru with a faintly mocking look in her eyes.
She said softly, "Hehehe~ Who would've thought that Sakazuki, our Fleet Admiral known for absolute justice, could misjudge someone so badly~~~"
Vice Admiral Tsuru turned to her and gave a helpless smile.
"Alright, Gion, that's enough. We've got more important things to deal with now." She gently patted Gion's shoulder, signaling her to let go of past mistakes.
Gion nodded to show she understood.
They turned and left the Marine base, heading for the hotel to meet with the Dream Exploration Team and see if they could help solve the current crisis.
...
At the same time Vice Admiral Tsuru arrived, Revolutionary Army Chief of Staff Sabo also quietly entered the Kingdom of Magiatsuka.
Unlike Tsuru, he didn't make a public appearance. Instead, he went straight to the hotel to meet with Kana and the others.
The Revolutionary Army HQ had already expected that Kana and the others' identities would be exposed.
This meant their original plan might not go smoothly. Since their influence in the New World was still weak, any change in the plan could lead to more trouble.
So when he heard Kana mention that Angela wanted to raise the flag of the Dream Exploration Team, Sabo didn't seem the least bit upset.
"Then…"
"Sabo, what do we do now?" Kana asked hesitantly.
Sabo and Damm looked ashamed too.
This plan was supposed to let the Revolutionary Army take control of a country in the New World from behind the scenes. That would've made future operations in the region a lot easier.
But they messed it up…
"I'll wait until I talk to Mr. Ryuen before deciding. I know him—he probably picked the Kingdom of Magiatsuka because he hates trouble," Sabo said gently as he looked at the three squad leaders.
.....
At the top floor of the hotel—
Everyone from the Dream Exploration Team was awake and eating breakfast in the dining room.
"The Marines got here fast, and Sabo's here too~ By the way, Ryuen, the other day you said you wanted Angela to cooperate with us—what did you mean by that?" Nojiko suddenly looked at Ryuen across the table.
The others turned to Ryuen too. After everything that happened that day, no one had asked him yet.
Nojiko had just remembered.
Ryuen put down his chopsticks and explained:
"It's actually simple. I just want Angela, who's about to become queen of the Kingdom of Magiatsuka, to publicly reveal how much Heavenly Tribute they've been paying the World Government each year."
"That's it?" Nojiko clearly didn't believe it.
Neither did the others.
Ryuen smiled and continued:
"Of course it's not that simple."
"After Angela reveals how much their tribute has increased each year, there's something even more important—she'll also announce how poor the people have become because of it."
"What...? That's impossible!" Leah's eyes widened in shock. "Isn't that like airing all the dirty laundry of her own country?"
"That's right," Ryuen nodded. "Next, Angela will get a few people to pose as pirates. These 'pirates' will go through interviews, saying they were forced to become pirates because the taxes were too high and they couldn't survive."
"This… this is a brilliant plan!" Robin couldn't help but praise it. "That way, people will start to feel sorry for the Kingdom of Magiatsuka—and also start to resent the World Government's tribute system."
Ryuen went on:
"Exactly. When the time comes, Angela will explain that their taxes are high because the tribute they owe to the World Government is too high."
"If they don't raise taxes, they won't have enough Berries to pay the tribute."
"Little one, this chapter isn't over yet—click to the next page for more, it only gets better!"
"And if they fail to pay the tribute, the Kingdom of Magiatsuka will be kicked out of the World Government alliance. Once that happens, they'll be considered a non-member state."
"And non-member states are left to deal with pirates and Marines on their own."
"So you want to stir up public anger and make people question and resist the World Government with this move?" Nojiko asked with a frown.
Ryuen nodded.
"A lot of people already know about this, but no one's ever said it out loud."
"This time, I want everyone across the sea to understand—so many people become pirates because the Heavenly Tribute the World Government demands is just too high."
"They're the real reason behind all the chaos."
"That means the Kingdom of Magiatsuka… or rather, Princess Angela might become a target for CP assassins. After all, this move exposes the World Government's dark side," Robin said, a worried look on her face.
"Her safety will have to depend on herself and the protection of the Revolutionary Army," Ryuen said calmly.
Hearing that, Nami looked puzzled. "The Revolutionary Army?"
Everyone else looked confused too.
After all, Ryuen had already agreed to let the Kingdom of Magiatsuka fly their flag. But now he was saying Angela would be protected by the Revolutionary Army—it didn't make much sense.
Seeing their confusion, Ryuen slowly explained:
"We can't stay here forever, but the Revolutionary Army has the people to protect Angela properly. And to be honest, we don't have much use for this country anyway. We might as well hand it over to the Revolutionary Army to manage."
After saying that, Ryuen suddenly remembered something, turned to Nami, and said:
"Oh right, Nami, bring out that Devil Fruit. We'll sell it to Angela later. As for the payment… let the Revolutionary Army handle that."
Nami's eyes lit up. She patted her chest and replied excitedly, "Alright! Leave that deal to me, heeheehee~~~"
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