"Bang!!"
In the Fleet Admiral's office at Marineford, the Marine Headquarters, a dull explosion rang out.
Sitting in his chair, the rugged-looking, white-haired Fleet Admiral Gustav slammed his fist onto the desk in front of him.
The desk cracked directly under his fist.
The newspaper on the desk, still smelling of fresh ink, was pierced by the splintering wood.
"Can anyone tell me how things evolved to this point!"
The group of Marine generals standing in the office were all startled by his sudden, explosive roar.
Standing at the front, Admiral Kong, who sported a mohawk, glanced at the contents of the newspaper on the desk.
On the front page of the newspaper, the photo of a white-haired young man with a cigar in his mouth was torn.
To the right of that white-haired youth stood Rocks, the greatest pirate overlord of the New World.
To the left was the strongest female pirate on the sea, Charlotte Linlin, the Third Division Captain of the Rocks Pirates, smiling as she offered a light for his cigar.
A line of eye-catching large characters was arranged at the top of the photo.
[Another monster emerges from the Rocks Pirates! The new Fourth Division Captain, Sorus Karlo, the strongest rookie who defeated Wang Zhi!]
Looking at the text on the newspaper, Kong's eyes widened, and a hint of pleasant surprise subconsciously appeared on his face.
However, after noticing Gustav's grim expression, he restrained himself.
Weighing his tone, he asked cautiously, "Fleet Admiral Gustav, Carlo... he's the undercover agent we placed in the Rocks Pirates..."
"I know! Although I'm eighty years old, I'm not senile yet!!"
The old Fleet Admiral, who was about to retire, huffed in anger.
"Then why are you so angry, Fleet Admiral? Carlo becoming the Fourth Division Captain of the Rocks Pirates—isn't that a great thing for us Marines?"
Kong was a bit confused.
"A great thing? Heh heh, then take a look at this!"
Gustav threw another stack of documents over.
Kong quickly caught it and began flipping through it.
Several curious heads poked out from behind him.
"Old man Kong, what's written on it?" Garp mumbled indistinctly.
Kong impatiently pushed his head away. "Don't eat donuts in the Fleet Admiral's office, you bastard, Garp!"
At this moment, Sengoku had already read out the key points of the document.
"After verification by the Marine Crime Investigation Bureau, the principal offender who led the pirates to rob the celestial tribute in the Prodence Kingdom Celestial Tribute Robbery Incident on August 17, sea circle calendar 1478, and caused the death of Elizabeth I, is..."
"Sorus Karlo!"
Sengoku's exclamation caused Kong's expression to change drastically.
"What did you say?"
He snatched the document and looked closely; the more he read, the uglier his expression became.
By the end, fine beads of cold sweat broke out on Kong's forehead.
In this investigation document from the Marine Crime Investigation Bureau.
The entire process of the crime was described in detail.
According to the testimonies of the Prodence Kingdom soldiers who were abandoned at sea but luckily did not die, and the captured pirates of the Rocks Pirates.
There were three masterminds of this robbery incident.
They are:
Wang Zhi, Fourth Division Captain of the Rocks Pirates.
Sorus Karlo, the newly promoted Senior Combatant of the Rocks Pirates.
Barbarossa Kaido, the newly promoted Junior Combatant and intern of the Rocks Pirates.
Among them, Wang Zhi arrived last and destroyed an escort ship.
And he had an internal conflict with Sorus Karlo, who had already completed the robbery.
As for the cause of death of King Elizabeth I of the Prodence Kingdom, it was caused by the joint efforts of Sorus Karlo and Barbarossa Kaido.
Elizabeth I was first knocked into the sea by Sorus Karlo.
And then killed in a sneak attack by Barbarossa Kaido.
Among them, Sorus Karlo bears seventy percent of the blame!
Seeing the final division of responsibility in the report, Kong's face turned pale instantly.
He gripped the document in his hand tightly and looked up sharply at the old Fleet Admiral behind the desk.
"That's not right, Fleet Admiral! Elizabeth I was clearly killed by Kaido, so why should Carlo bear seventy percent of the responsibility? This is unfair!"
"Fairness?" Gustav laughed in anger. "You're actually talking to me about fairness..."
He stood up abruptly and slammed the table again, roaring.
"Knowing that he is a Marine undercover agent and not a real pirate, he shouldn't have robbed the celestial tribute in the first place! Much less should he have made a killing move against Elizabeth I!"
"Carlo definitely didn't do it on purpose!
It's impossible for him to have made a lethal move knowing Elizabeth I's identity.
Besides, his current identity is a pirate; carrying out Rocks' robbery mission was a last resort, he couldn't have refused!
If he didn't go, he would definitely be suspected by Rocks!"
Kong tried to explain for Carlo.
But Fleet Admiral Gustav, in his fit of rage, wouldn't listen at all.
"What's the use of telling me this?"
"Go tell the World Government! Go tell the Prodence Kingdom! Go tell the Elizabeth royal family!"
"I..." Kong was speechless, his face full of bitterness.
After a silence of over ten seconds, he asked in a strained voice, "Then... what is the... meaning from above?"
Gustav sat back down in his chair and sighed:
"I know that for Carlo, there might be a reason, or he might have been wronged. But..."
"Because of the death of Elizabeth I, many New World allied nations, including the Prodence Kingdom and the Dressrosa Kingdom, are furious and have jointly requested the Gorosei to severely punish the killer. Otherwise, they will refuse to attend this year's World Conference."
"Under pressure, the World Government has agreed to increase the bounties on several principal offenders."
Kong was silent, worry showing in his eyes as he asked hoarsely, "Carlo... how much is his bounty?"
"See for yourself." Gustav took a new bounty poster from his desk and tossed it onto the table.
Garp and Sengoku leaned in curiously to look and immediately widened their eyes.
"Whoa! Isn't this bounty a bit too high? Right now, whether in terms of strength or the level of threat he poses to us, Carlo shouldn't have reached this height yet."
Garp inconspicuously stuffed a donut into his mouth and spoke in a muffled voice.
Gustav gave him a sharp glare, his right hand reached into the void, and a bag of donuts suddenly appeared in his hand; he tilted his head back and poured them all into his mouth.
"No! My donuts!"
Amidst Garp's painful cry, he chewed loudly:
"Didn't I say it? The bounty amount was increased; the extra part was strictly requested by the Prodence Kingdom. If Carlo is caught, they will pay that sum."
"Oh, right."
Gustav said solemnly:
"In view of the increasingly rampant behavior of the Rocks Pirates, the higher-ups have decided to carry out a large-scale encirclement and suppression operation against them in the near future.
At that time, our Marines will fully cooperate and deploy all high-level combat forces.
Including myself, the retired Haines, and Director Columbus from Impel Down, everyone will take action, striving to surround and kill Rocks, and take down Whitebeard, Golden Lion, and the others!"
"What?" Garp and the others were deeply shaken upon hearing this.
Kong frowned. "But how are we going to lure Rocks into the encirclement?"
"It's simple!" Gustav tossed the donut bag in his hand; the bag vanished into thin air and returned to Garp's hand, making Garp so angry he was about to curse, but fortunately, Sengoku covered his mouth.
"Pirates are all profit-driven, and Rocks is no exception."
"As long as we give him a sufficiently tempting bait, he will automatically take it."
He held up one finger.
"Ten billion Berries!"
"This time, the World Government is going all out, offering treasures worth ten billion Berries to lure the entire Rocks Pirates into moving out, and then deploying troops for a full-scale encirclement!"
"The location is—"
"The International Charity Temple, Puttelocrone!"