Carlo smiled and said, "Then I'll be waiting for good news, Doctor."
He nodded to Vegapunk, then activated his ability.
Whoosh!
He vanished from Egghead Island.
* * *
New World, New Marineford.
Inside the Fleet Admiral's office, Sakazuki sat in his chair with his legs propped sideways on the desk, his eyes closed as he rested.
Whoosh!
Carlo suddenly appeared in the room.
Without opening his eyes, Sakazuki spoke. "How is it on Egghead's side?"
Carlo replied, "It still needs more research. After all, it's their first time doing this kind of experiment. I watched for a while just now, and it failed several times. But Dr. Vegapunk said it will definitely succeed before the final war."
Sakazuki let out a soft "Mm." He lowered his legs, opened his eyes, and stood up to stretch slightly.
"Then there's nothing to worry about."
He walked over to the massive sand table in the room. All the arrangements had already been completed, and what remained now was slow attrition.
In the eyes of the world, the war between the Marines and the pirates in the New World looked like a long and exhausting battle.
But in reality, it was different.
Sakazuki's goal was to draw out the pirates of the New World and wear down the tens of thousands under each Emperor. Only after that would he launch the final decisive battle. Otherwise, the aftermath would never end.
From the perspective of pirates, the World Government, and the rest of the world, the Marines held the advantage in strength, but it was not overwhelming. At best, they could only grind things down slowly.
One side was deliberately setting the board, while the other only believed that was how things were. The root of it all was the gap in information. Sakazuki had hidden things too well.
The key was Carlo's teleportation ability.
Although he used it often, aside from Enel, Bullet, and a few people on Egghead, no one else in the world had ever seen it. Even within the Marines, people like Morris and Zephyr knew nothing about it.
And this was the true key to crushing the Four Emperors.
Everyone believed it had to be a war of attrition because the Four Emperors ruled separate territories, far from one another. Any movement of Marine top fighters would be noticed, giving them time to prepare, which made overwhelming them impossible.
But no one knew that Sakazuki had something that could completely overturn the battlefield.
Teleportation.
Shanks' Observation Haki Killing was indeed absurd, but in the final battle, if he simply teleported himself, Bullet, and Garp directly to him, then no matter what kind of "killing" it was, it would mean nothing.
There would only be one outcome. Death.
The means to crush the Four Emperors had long been in Sakazuki's hands. At the same time, the plan to use the Door-Door Fruit to ambush pirate fleets in the New World had already been put into motion.
Now, it was all about controlling the pace and slowly wearing everything down.
They would mislead the pirates, mislead the World Government, and mislead the Revolutionary Army. If not, once the war ended too quickly, dealing with the World Government and the Revolutionaries would become troublesome.
At present, those two forces had already split the world in half, each controlling one side. And the Marines, in the end, were still an enforcement body. A military force.
If things moved too fast and they freed up their hands, then no matter which side they chose to eliminate, the people would only acknowledge the one that remained.
Eradicating pirates and governing the world were two different matters. People would admit that the Marines had merit in destroying pirates, but they would not believe they could rule the world. Not to mention Sakazuki's reputation and his brutal methods.
If the Revolutionary Army were eliminated, the World Government would still remain the official authority, and the Marines could not shake that.
If the World Government were eliminated, the Revolutionary Army's policies and the support they had gained would far outweigh anything the Marines achieved by defeating pirates.
That was why Sakazuki had Vegapunk support the Revolutionary Army with technology. The sooner they reached the Red Line, the sooner everything could end. Then he could cleanse this rotten world.
When that time came, the pirates would be gone. The Revolutionary Army and the World Government would conveniently destroy each other, and the Marines would stand as the only official force left in the world.
As for how to deal with that world… he had already made his plans.
Standing before the massive sand table, Sakazuki observed the layout while asking, "How are things on the Revolutionary Army's side?"
Carlo sighed softly as he answered, "They're coming in fiercely. It's only been a few days since they declared war, but the scale of this fire is beyond anything anyone expected.
"Every member nation in the Four Blues has fallen into war. Compared to countries that aren't part of the World Government, the nobles and royal families in these nations oppress their people far more, so more people are rising up to resist.
"Right now, the Revolutionary Army is only limited by sailing speed. But within half a year, they should take over the entire Four Blues.
"The situation is simple. Wherever they arrive, the people are already rebelling. They welcome them, then the main force sweeps through and destroys the kingdom. It's unbelievably fast."
Sakazuki gave a faint chuckle. "That's normal. It's a crushing gap between eras. But the pace is still too slow."
After years of development, an industrial force crushing agrarian kingdoms was as easy as playing a child's game.
"When they start struggling in the Grand Line, we'll give them another push. We'll hand over the technology for warships that can cross the Calm Belt…. The Marines don't have time to wait."
With the Marines' current funds, they could hold on for about half a year. With additional gains from captured resources, they could barely last until the final battle.
As for the reason, the Marines and the World Government had already split.
On the surface, everything still looked normal. Before, there were only suspicions, and no one had openly broken ties. But not long ago, when the Revolutionary Army declared war and began attacking and occupying member nations in the Four Blues, the government realized something.
They could no longer command the Marines.
Not only did Sakazuki do nothing, but all the branches in the Four Blues ignored direct orders from the World government. Without saying a word, both sides had already parted ways.
The government began pulling back funds and supplies, and simultaneously, Sakazuki quietly cleared out all government agents on his side.
Now, the New World belonged entirely to pirates and the Marines, while the Four Blues had become a battlefield between the World World Government and the Revolutionary Army.
Four major forces. Four rulers of the seas. But in the end, only one would remain.
Who would it be?
Sakazuki picked up a Marine flag from the sand table and placed it on Kibu Island, where Kaido's flag stood.
The pirate flag was knocked over, and the Marine flag stood firm.
His voice turned cold. "A dog. And it dares to flip my table. Who gave it that courage…"
The attack on Whole Cake Island had been a great victory, but the assault on Kaido had been disrupted when he flipped the board, throwing everything into chaos. It made Sakazuki wonder if he had stayed inactive for too long.
Had these people forgotten what fear was?
* * *
A few days later.
New World, Kibu Island.
The island where Kaido had held his war meeting had become even more crowded since that day.
He was stationed there, and the high-ranking officers remained as well. Reinforcements kept arriving, pirates filled every corner, and the momentum of a counterattack had already taken shape.
During this time, the busiest group was under one of the Tobiroppo. Because of the death of her only family, her younger brother Page One, Ulti had nearly gone mad.
Day and night, she led her subordinates to attack the Marines. Each time she returned covered in wounds, and the next day she would lead another assault.
Her subordinates suffered the most, as they didn't have the monstrous recovery of Zoan users.
But what they didn't know was that everything was about to end. They would not need to keep fighting like this anymore.
High above Kibu Island, ten thousand meters in the sky, the Marine Fleet Admiral, who should have been at headquarters, stood alone on the clouds. His coat of justice fluttered loudly in the wind.
Sakazuki took a drag from his cigar, then flicked it downward. He slowly exhaled a trail of smoke before leaning forward.
His body dropped like a free-falling weight.
Flames burst out, and his body turned red, thick black smoke pouring out, like a meteor crashing toward the island…
**
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