Sherlock stood at the bow of the steamship. Behind him were Aramis, Harden, and Selkirk, all wearing gas masks despite the fact that the ship was still docked at the shoreline. None of them had yet entered the Mad Green Forest, but they remained vigilant, casting cautious glances at the eerily silent island.
"What's the holdup? Send someone ashore already," Aramis urged impatiently. Without waiting for a response, he stepped off the bow, leading a group of armed crew members, all equipped with gas masks, toward the edge of the forest. Each carried a small pouch containing additional gas masks and antidotes derived from IQ.
Harden and Selkirk followed suit, disembarking with the rest of the crew. This trap, meticulously set by William to ensnare the Marines, including Garp and several Vice Admirals, did not discriminate between friend and foe. The Mad Green particles posed a threat to anyone exposed without protection. Even William and his crew had risked their lives in this gambit.
As the search teams ventured deeper into the forest, they began dragging back incapacitated individuals, their bodies covered in green spots, to the shoreline. The Marines were fitted with gas masks and set aside, while the injured members of William's Royal Guard were given the IQ-derived antidote before being outfitted with gas masks as well.
Aramis paid little attention to the other incapacitated individuals they encountered in the forest. Instead, he remained alert, constantly scanning his surroundings. Eventually, the dense canopy thinned, and he came upon a scene of devastation. Trees were splintered, the ground was cracked, and the area resembled the aftermath of an earthquake.
He recognized these signs as the aftermath of a battle, likely involving William or one of the high-ranking officers of the Morgan Pirates. Leaping onto a still-standing tree, Aramis surveyed the area. It didn't take long for him to spot William and Garp lying on the ground, glaring at each other with unyielding determination.
Aramis jumped down and hurried to William's side. Supporting his captain's head, he poured the IQ-derived antidote into William's mouth before securing a gas mask over his face.
William, who had been barely able to move his eyes and whose breathing had grown faint, suddenly heaved his chest violently as the antidote took effect. He coughed several times, gasping for air. Then, from beneath the gas mask, came a hoarse, triumphant laugh:
"I've won!"
The East Blue had grown unsettlingly quiet.
In recent months, the region had been a hotbed of activity, drawing the attention of the entire world. First, Golden Lion Shiki descended upon the East Blue. However, the legendary pirate, once an equal to the Pirate King Gol D. Roger, was soon killed by the newcomer Morgan William. Following this, the Marines, led by Vice Admiral Garp, launched a surprise operation to capture William shortly after his victory over Shiki. The Marines quickly convicted him, and it seemed as though the matter was resolved.
But the chaos didn't end there. The East Blue was soon engulfed in a series of upheavals: pirate uprisings, the burning of the Faraise Kingdom's palace, and warnings of attacks on the Tequila Wolf Bridge Kingdom. Amidst this turmoil, Morgan William boldly escaped prison in broad daylight, capturing a Vice Admiral and a Commander in the process. He left Kalmar City unscathed and even paid a visit to Tequila Wolf before disappearing.
The events in the East Blue during this period were nothing short of spectacular. The local press couldn't have been happier, their hands overflowing with sensational material.
And then, suddenly, both sides of the conflict vanished. Neither Morgan William nor the elite Marines led by Garp could be found.
This disappearance left the Marines Headquarters far more uneasy than the people of the East Blue. They knew that Garp and his team had ventured into the Calm Belt to locate Morgan William's secret base. But soon after, all contact with them was lost.
The entirety of Marineford was now on high alert. Even Fleet Admiral Sengoku and Vice Admiral Tsuru were on edge. The leadership suspected that another force might have been involved, aiding William in taking down Garp and the other Vice Admirals. Theories ranged from the Four Emperors to the Revolutionary Army, or even old enemies of Garp seeking revenge. Until the reconnaissance ships sent out by Sengoku returned with information about the movements of these factions, the state of heightened vigilance would remain.
In the New World, within the Dressrosa Kingdom, its king, Donquixote Doflamingo, sat with his legs crossed at a small round table. A sly grin spread across his face as he listened to the voice of his undercover agent, Vergo, through the Transponder Snail. Vergo was reporting on the current situation within the Marines.
"Buddha Sengoku—so impatient!" Doflamingo chuckled, his laughter strange and unsettling, as Vergo informed him that Sengoku had deployed reconnaissance ships to monitor the movements of the Four Emperors. "The moment the Marines show weakness, the Four Emperors will sniff it out."
"Sengoku's close relationship with Garp is well known," Vergo replied, his tone analytical. "And Garp is a symbol of the Marines. It's only natural for Sengoku to be this tense."
"What about Morgan William? Any news on him from the Marines?" Doflamingo asked.
"None," Vergo answered promptly. "Like Garp, he's vanished. He hasn't reappeared in the East Blue either, but he's likely still in the Calm Belt."
Doflamingo's grin widened. "If Garp's disappearance has nothing to do with the Four Emperors or other factions, then things are about to get very interesting. Imagine this: the Four Emperors notice the Marines suddenly fortifying their base and sending reconnaissance ships near their territories. They'll want to investigate. And when they find out that 'Iron Fist' Garp lost in the supposedly weak East Blue, who knows what they'll do?"
"Do you really believe Morgan William could defeat Garp on his own? That seems unlikely. Sengoku probably thinks the same, which is why he's making all these preparations. If William were capable of that, he wouldn't have been captured in the first place," Vergo said, skepticism evident even through the Transponder Snail.
"Preconceived notions lead to blind spots, Vergo," Doflamingo countered, his eerie laughter resuming. "In this world, nothing is impossible. Don't lock your thinking into rigid patterns. If I were like those brainless pirates who only know how to fight the Marines head-on, how could I have sent you to infiltrate them? Look at you—a pirate, now a Marine. If that's possible, what isn't?"
There was a brief pause on Vergo's end before he replied, somewhat reluctantly, "Speaking of that, Doffy, Sengoku is currently investigating the backgrounds of high-ranking Marine officers, focusing primarily on those from the East Blue. I think we should reduce our communications for now. They've already discovered that a certain Major Gin joined the Marines five years ago, back when Morgan William was still just a small-time pirate. The investigation is expanding."
Doflamingo chuckled again. "See? Even when he was weak, he had the foresight to plant a seed within the Marines. That alone proves he's a clever man. People like him are the ones who create miracles."
(End of Chapter)
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