They only knew that burning a pirate flag, an act tantamount to a declaration of war, was absolutely impossible to gloss over easily.
In fact, Red Hair was already preparing to take action. Friendly relations with Luffy aside, Bartolomeo's behavior had crossed a bottom line. If it wasn't dealt with, the Red Hair Pirates would no longer be able to maintain their footing in the New World.
Aside from news like this, most of the reports in the papers were about kings of various kingdoms being attacked halfway to Mariejois, yet ultimately arriving safely under the protection of the Marines.
After all, the time for the Levely was drawing closer and closer.
"How are things on the pirate front?"
"At present, a total of thirteen pirate crews have attempted to kidnap royalty, but all of them were crushed before they could get close to the ships. Everything is under our control."
Inside the New Marine Headquarters, Akainu was listening to a messenger's report.
The fifty affiliated nations qualified to participate in the Levely were scattered across the seas. To reach Mariejois, they had to cross the seas that stood in their way, and that had become an opportunity in the eyes of pirates.
Kidnapping kings, extorting ransoms, taking a nation's royalty hostage to force the World Government to release captured pirates, or simply seeking fame—harboring all kinds of motives, they launched attacks on the royalty traveling across the seas.
Under normal circumstances, encountering these nobles who lived deep within their palaces was no easy task. The defenses of a kingdom were like iron hedgehogs to most pirates. But to them, the Levely was a once-every-four-years chance for royalty to venture out and practically hand themselves over.
"Order the patrolling troops to remain vigilant at all times. If anything happens to the royalty of any nation, it will be a disgrace to us all."
"Yes, sir!"
Before Akainu could finish speaking, another messenger walked in.
"Report! Fleet Admiral Sakazuki, the ship of the Lulusia Kingdom has been attacked. The king is safe, but their princess has been kidnapped by pirates."
"Then what are you waiting for?! Dispatch a rescue team!"
At present, Ryokugyu was stationed at Mariejois. Fujitora hadn't returned at all because of the Dressrosa incident and was instead outside Mariejois eating udon. Kizaru was rushing around putting out fires everywhere. Sakazuki had to remain at headquarters. Personnel were, in fact, stretched thin.
Thinking back to the Levely of previous years, incidents like this wouldn't even have needed reporting. People would have gone straight to the rescue.
After scolding the messenger, Akainu suddenly felt that Sengoku had had it much easier when he was Fleet Admiral.
"Why are you still here?"
"Well… Fleet Admiral Sakazuki, I wasn't finished. After the kidnapping, the passing Ryugu Kingdom has already rescued her."
"Go back and change jobs. You're not suited to being a messenger."
Akainu chose to reassign the soldier in front of him, then waved them away.
"Ryugu Kingdom… when was the last time they participated in the Levely again?"
Ryugu Kingdom is an affiliated nation and has the right to participate in the Levely, but the Levely has never had anything to do with them. The last it happened dates back to the era of the previous Mermaid Princess.
That Mermaid Princess did not refer to an ordinary princess, but to the awakened Poseidon. After that, the Fish-Man had never appeared at such occasions again.
This was truly unprecedented.
Otohime's efforts had borne some fruit, and with Mjosgard's lobbying, Ryugu Kingdom had finally taken a crucial step. Still, this wasn't something Akainu needed to concern himself with right now.
He couldn't decide who attended the Levely. What he was responsible for was ensuring that those participants arrived here safely and intact.
Setting the matter aside for the time being, Akainu went on to arrange other operations.
Meanwhile, out on the sea, the ships of several nations had already gathered together.
The ships of the Prodence Kingdom, Dressrosa, and Fishman Island were sailing side by side. Though these nations came from all over the world, their destination was the same, so traveling together was only natural.
Normally, the Lulusia Kingdom should have been part of this formation as well, but they had chosen to travel alone. Their reason was simple: they said they didn't want to be tainted by the smell of fish.
"Father, will there really be results this time? These humans don't look very friendly."
On the Ryugu Kingdom's ship, the eldest prince Fukaboshi wore a worried expression. The Lulusia royalty hadn't even tried to avoid the issue, openly talking about a fishy smell right in front of them, wearing their discrimination plainly on their faces.
"Yes, Father. We just rescued them, and yet getting these royals to agree to our proposal will probably be very difficult."
Ryuboshi shared the same view. They had only just set out, and already they had encountered setbacks.
"Don't worry, Princes. King Neptune, not all humans are like that. I think your proposal is very good. At the conference, Dressrosa will stand on your side."
"The Prodence Kingdom feels the same way. You helped us resolve quite a troublesome matter. Those who don't know how to be grateful will sink back into the sea sooner or later."
"Then thank you both. As for your proposal, however, I'm afraid I won't be able to help much. After all, it's likely that no country would listen to what we have to say."
Over this period, they had exchanged quite a few ideas. At the very least, Neptune had already learned that King Riku intended to propose abolishing the Shichibukai system.
Different national circumstances led to different perspectives. Dressrosa had endured ten years of enslavement because of Doflamingo, whereas Ryugu Kingdom had avoided many troubles thanks to Jinbe's status as a Shichibukai.
Jinbe's personality and race meant there was no conflict between him and Ryugu Kingdom; instead, they were in a mutually supportive relationship.
What they had encountered along the journey also left Neptune feeling a bit more pessimistic.
"It's fine. It's all for the sake of our own countries. There's no right or wrong here."
At this moment, both King Riku III and King Elizabello II were aboard this ship. King Riku had spent nearly a month finally dealing with part of the complex ethical issues within his country. At least now, those responsible for maintaining the kingdom's operations no longer had lingering worries.
After that, with the Levely approaching, he set out together with Elizabello II.
Along the way, they encountered the pirates who had kidnapped the princess of the Lulusia Kingdom.
Even after abducting a nation's princess, their greed had not abated. They set their sights on other kingdoms once again.
This group of pirates was itself relatively wealthy. They didn't use wooden sailing ships, but submarines, and it was precisely because of this that they had been able to successfully ambush Lulusia Kingdom's ship.
At this moment, through the periscope, they were observing Dressrosa's ship.
"Those two are princesses as well, right? If we capture them too, how much ransom do you think we can get? Princess Comane, how much do you think your father would pay?"
"I don't know! Let me go right now, just contact my father! No matter how much you want, he'll pay it! Keep these people away from me, don't touch me with your filthy hands!"
"Hahaha! I just love how generous you royals are. Don't worry, once we get the money, we'll definitely let you go. But could you do me a favor and shut up? You're noisy as hell!"
The interior of the submarine was sealed and stifling, and Comane's crying only made the pirates even more irritable. In the end, under the threat of a blade, Comane stuffed her own mouth and dared only to sob quietly.
The pirates continued to use the periscope to observe other royal ships and secretly launched torpedoes, planning to sink them.
Due to technological limitations, they could only check whether the torpedoes hit through the periscope. Then they saw what should have been a sure hit suddenly veer off halfway, exploding into nothing more than a massive splash.
"Enemy attack!!"
The guards aboard the ship snapped to attention, hurriedly searching for the attackers targeting the royalty. But after looking for a long time, they still couldn't find the enemy, and it was only thanks to Viola's Devil Fruit ability that the attackers were finally located.
"Underwater! It's a submarine! They're moving again, someone's charging over there. It's the Knight of the Sea, Jinbe!"
Jinbe had also happened to arrive in the area. As a Shichibukai, he was serving as an escort for the Ryugu Kingdom this time; after all, the royal family of Ryugu Kingdom was on this ship.
Because of her health, Otohime had ultimately remained on Fishman Island after repeated objections from Neptune and the others, but the rest of the royal family was aboard.
Even though their goal was to push for equality between Fish-Men, Merfolk, and humans, and to address the issue of slavery, they couldn't entrust all their safety to humans alone.
The reason the torpedo had just missed was because Jinbe had altered the water currents. Seeing the enemy submarine preparing to fire again, Jinbe directly lifted the submarine out of the sea and, with a burst of strength from his arms, split it cleanly in two.
Only when the hull was torn open did the pirates inside finally see what was happening outside.
After subduing the pirates, Princess Comane of the Lulusia Kingdom reverted to her true nature, shouting curses and stomping on the pirates Jinbe had knocked down, until she slipped and fell by accident.
Jinbe had intended to help her up, but he too ended up becoming a target of her verbal abuse.
"Don't touch me! You filthy fish from the depths, don't pass some disease on to me!"
People dare not vent their anger on villains, because villains don't reason. They only speak with their fists.
But they do dare to lash out at the good people who rescue them, because they know that those people are good.
In the end, Jinbe and the others simply notified the Marines, who contacted the people of the Lulusia Kingdom and then took the willful princess away.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Ryugu Kingdom began traveling together with two other human kingdoms. The princesses chatted among themselves, while the kings discussed political matters.
All in all, things went fairly well. King Riku and the others disliked the Shichibukai system, but they still acknowledged Jinbe's chivalry; after all, Jinbe's reputation on the seas was quite good.
Many kingdoms were on their way to the Levely, and some had already arrived, such as the Sorbet Kingdom.
Moreover, their queen dowager, due to senile dementia, often got lost in Mariejois. The guards there frequently saw this elderly woman appearing in all sorts of places around Mariejois.
While the various kingdoms were on the move, the Revolutionary Army was not sitting idle either.
With many kings having left their own lands, the absence of royal rule exposed certain problems in some kingdoms, which in turn gave the Revolutionary Army opportunities to act.
Taking advantage of this period, they were rapidly expanding their revolutionary activities. Meanwhile, part of the Revolutionary Army's upper leadership had gathered at Baltigo to discuss their next steps.
Leader Dragon, the five army commanders from the East, West, South, and North Blue, as well as the Grand Line, along with the chief of staff Sabo, had all assembled there.
"The Levely is about to begin, and we must also commence our operation. This will be the most important step in our revolution. Everyone must be extremely careful."
"Don't worry, Leader. We've tested this many times already. Infiltrating Mariejois won't be difficult, and the specific hiding positions have all been prepared."
Karasu presented their plan to Dragon, confirming it once again. Ivankov, however, raised a different viewpoint.
"But Dragon, shouldn't we take a bigger step? Opportunities like this only come once every four years. If we let those kings return safely, some of our actions won't be nearly as smooth."
"This is enough. For now, all of this can only be considered minor skirmishes. God's Knights have yet to appear, and the World Government still has deep reserves of power."
"Leader, there's another issue. There's something strange beneath Mariejois."
Morley spoke up with some hesitation, revealing new intelligence.
"Strange?"
"Yes. A while ago, I tried digging a hole in the Red Line, but I found that there are many tunnels inside, so spacious that even giants like me can crawl through them.
Those tunnels are designed with a lot of space. It looks like they've existed for many years."
"You're saying the area beneath the Red Line has been hollowed out?"
"Yes, that's what it seems like. Still, that actually makes things more convenient for our operations."
"How could this be…"
Morley was the user of Push-Push Fruit, as well as an okama, a giant, and a revolutionary—a walking bundle of buffs.
With his ability, he could dig tunnels without making a sound. Yet from Morley's description, it seemed the Red Line concealed an enormous secret unknown to the world.
"What should we do, Leader? Change the plan?"
"No. The plan remains unchanged, but be extra cautious. If there's danger, withdraw immediately."
After that, Dragon took out another item and pushed it in front of Sabo.
"Leader, this is…?"
"A Devil Fruit. A member of the Revolutionary Army found it not long ago. This will be a highly dangerous mission, but whether you eat this fruit or not is up to you."
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