When the warship arrived at the Edd waters, everyone's expressions looked grim.
Admiral Sengoku stared at the dark sky and felt that heaven itself was working against him.
"We chose wrong..." Admiral Sengoku said helplessly and regretfully as he stood on the deck.
Borsalino and Sakazuki beside him wore similar expressions, though Borsalino looked more or less indifferent as always.
Only Finn appeared puzzled. What did he mean?
"Admiral, maybe we're right? The Edd War Sea is so vast... why don't we go in and search?" Finn suggested.
Admiral Sengoku sighed deeply. "Shiki is a cautious man. He also commands the world's best navigator. Our Marines' climate research intelligence is actually no match for Shiki's resources. Perhaps we made this mistake and misjudged the weather in the Edd Sea, but Shiki... he wouldn't make such an error."
At this point, Admiral Sengoku looked at Finn's somewhat incredulous expression. He smiled inwardly, reached out and patted his shoulder. "Finn, you did nothing wrong. If anyone erred, it was me. I was too careless."
After all, these three sea areas had been identified by Sengoku himself. Finn had only found the most likely location within the range he'd provided.
Finn really couldn't be blamed for their current situation. Sengoku had trusted the climate report from the Intelligence Department too much.
After hearing Admiral Sengoku's words, Finn finally understood what was happening.
He desperately wanted to tell Admiral Sengoku that if they rushed in now, it should still be timely.
Maybe the battle between Roger and Shiki was over. Maybe Roger's pirate crew couldn't be caught. But as for Shiki, the ship's rudder might already be embedded in his skull. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to deal with him!
Looking at the sky now, it seemed this gloomy weather had lasted several days. But in fact, a massive storm had just formed and swept through not long ago.
It was precisely because of this phenomenon that Admiral Sengoku mistakenly believed they'd made errors in their climate intelligence.
From this perspective, Admiral Sengoku felt that even if the Roger Pirates really chose to pass through here, Shiki wouldn't risk total fleet annihilation to ambush Roger in such conditions.
That wouldn't be killing the Roger Pirates. That would be delivering warmth to them!
"Admiral, I think we may still be able to fight for this!" Finn said quickly.
Originally, seeing the weather, Admiral Sengoku and the others were planning to turn around and head to Chalanna or the Rees Wilson Sea. This way, although it would be gambling on luck, they might still catch up.
Of course, Admiral Sengoku no longer held much hope.
If they kept traveling back and forth like this, even if the warship was fast enough, they probably wouldn't arrive in time.
He even believed the Marines could now declare the mission a failure.
However, though slightly frustrated, he wasn't deeply affected. After all, the Marines had only considered this an opportunity worth pursuing from the beginning.
Even if they failed, there was no real loss.
It could even be considered profit. After all, regardless of outcome, Shiki would probably have a major battle with Roger. If either of these pirates suffered defeat, that would be a victory for the Marines, right?
Therefore, Admiral Sengoku quickly adjusted his mood. As a commander, he couldn't indulge in discouragement.
Listening to Finn's persistent insistence, Admiral Sengoku smiled and continued, "Finn, you're still young. You don't understand these pirates yet. Golden Lion Shiki is ambitious, powerful, and ruthless. He's also an extremely meticulous man. Over the years, he's been very aware of his weaknesses and has never made mistakes in this matter. So... Shiki is impossible to appear in this weather."
Admiral Sengoku's evaluation of Shiki was very fair.
As Shiki's old rival, he was qualified to assess him this way.
His ambition, strength, and power needed no elaboration. As for his meticulousness, Finn had always felt Shiki seemed somewhat impulsive in his memories.
For example, single-handedly challenging Marine Headquarters at Marineford...
But one had to admit that when Shiki hadn't lost his mind, he was indeed thoughtful, right?
How could someone without careful planning execute an operation hidden for more than twenty years?
What's more, if he wasn't skilled at this, he would have been killed by the Marines or his peers long ago. Could he have become the current Pirate Overlord?
Therefore, Finn felt Admiral Sengoku's words made tremendous sense and almost wavered in his conviction, thinking Shiki might not really be inside.
But he quickly eliminated this thinking, because there was an extremely important factor here that no one had noticed yet!
Roger was even more of a disaster magnet than Rosinante!
How to put it? Roger was quite different from Rosinante. He felt like a child of destiny, a son of the times.
But unfortunately, anyone involved with him usually met bad ends!
Look at Rocks, a pirate overlord about to lead his crew to conquer the world. Roger happened to debut as a pirate, and shortly after, defeated Rocks in the Valley of the Gods.
After that, the Rocks Pirates went away. The various crew members went their separate ways. Pirate forces in the New World became chaotic.
Look at Whitebeard. Though nothing had manifested yet, in the future, Roger's own son would be the fuse for the Whitebeard Pirates' destruction. Wasn't that significant?
This was even more true for Garp. As a Marine hero, he'd been directly tricked into losing his grandson because he'd agreed to help Roger care for his child. He'd live in pain for half his life.
As for Shiki... no need to elaborate. He was the person most influenced by Roger. He'd be forced to fall from the position of "Pirate Overlord" because of Roger... Alas, it was terrible.
No one had noticed Roger's cheating-level protagonist aura yet, so no one thought much about it.
But Finn knew very well that Shiki was inside!
"Admiral!" Finn suddenly shouted, his voice sharp with urgency. Then, with determined intensity, he continued, "If we don't move now, what's the plan? Head for the Chalanna Sea? The Rees Wilson Sea? Judging by the timing, we won't make it. So, realistically speaking, are we just declaring this operation a failure in advance?"
Admiral Sengoku was startled by Finn's shout and looked at the young man with surprise. Finn had always given him the impression of being very sensible and measured. Who'd expected him to suddenly start shouting?
However, after hearing Finn's question, Admiral Sengoku hesitated momentarily, then nodded. "You're right."
"Are we just going to give up like this? Is our Marine organization so lacking in perseverance? Edd Sea is right before our eyes... Are we going to abandon the mission at the last step before reaching the finish line?" Finn said with passionate intensity.
Honestly, he looked somewhat like a "hot-blooded idiot" now. The words coming from his mouth sounded more like what a shounen manga protagonist would say.
But it must be said, his words genuinely stirred Admiral Sengoku's emotions.
Looking at Finn like this, he seemed to recall his own youth. Back then, he'd been just like Finn, full of passion and unwavering determination.
Then he thought again. This was Finn's first time coming to Headquarters to participate in such an important mission. He'd performed well previously. Perhaps, unlike the veterans, Finn was unwilling to admit failure like this?
Thinking this, Admiral Sengoku turned his head to look at the turbulent sea and gloomy sky ahead.
In fact, he hadn't planned to proceed earlier. Another consideration was that the climate was unstable. After entering, they might suffer unnecessary losses. Even though the people he'd brought were all masters, they were still human beings who couldn't fight against nature itself.
Knowing there was high probability Shiki wouldn't appear in such a stormy sea, still leading the warship in there... Wasn't that madness?
As a wise strategist, Sengoku naturally wouldn't do such a thing.
But now, looking at Finn, his heart finally wavered. He smiled. "Never mind. Consider it for the sake of our Marines' future. I'll take you through this storm, Finn."
Originally, Admiral Sengoku admired Finn and took good care of him.
Seeing Finn's passionate state now, he recalled his past self. Finally, Admiral Sengoku decided to teach Finn a lesson here!
There was nothing wrong with being passionate and steadfast. But for many endeavors, if you were heading in the wrong direction, continuing to insist would only lead you further astray!
Ignoring Finn momentarily, Admiral Sengoku raised his hand. "Pass the order. Enter the Edd Sea!"
The Marine Captain beside him quickly responded, "Yes, Admiral!"
Soon, the warship, which had originally slowed, began accelerating again and headed toward the stormy Edd War waters.
Sakazuki, who'd always ignored Finn, now looked at him thoughtfully.
He genuinely hadn't expected Admiral Sengoku would take such good care of Finn. He was really going to rush into the storm?
Setting aside other matters, the three strongest fighters on this ship were all Devil Fruit users. If this warship capsized, everyone would be doomed.
But Sakazuki was just contemplating. It wasn't that easy to capsize a warship of this caliber.
This incident made Sakazuki pay more attention to Finn. Perhaps this kid would soon be personally trained by Admiral Sengoku?
Could Finn... become a like-minded partner?
Though thinking all this, Sakazuki still didn't approach to talk with Finn. After glancing at the turbulent sea, he turned and left.
Borsalino, however, said with a smile, "Finn, Admiral Sengoku really takes excellent care of you."
Finn smiled and said seriously, "Vice Admiral Borsalino, what if... Shiki and the others really are in the Edd War Sea?"
Borsalino watched the storm, thinking to himself, "How is that possible?" But he smiled and said, "I hope so."
Looking at Borsalino's expression, Finn felt somewhat emotional. As expected, no one thought Shiki would appear in such weather.
But unfortunately, this was the truth!