Next Bonus, 100!!
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Green Bit.
An isolated island, situated to the north of Dressrosa, it was connected to the main island by a single iron bridge.
For a time, the local residents were able to cross the bridge without incident.
But two hundred years ago, the waters around the bridge became infested with schools of ferocious fighting fish, capable of easily capsizing any ship that dared to pass.
And so, the island became inaccessible by sea. Even the locals no longer dared to cross the bridge.
After the "Toy Rebellion," Dressrosa had been split in two. Doflamingo's regime and King Riku's were locked in a stalemate.
Due to international pressure—a coalition of member nations appealing to the Five Elders in support of King Riku—Doflamingo's rage had been temporarily held in check.
After all, King Riku was still the monarch of a member nation. Could a country just be usurped like that? If other member nations were to face a similar situation, what then? It was a classic case of "the rabbit mourns the fox."
But as time went on, the public's attention waned, and the Five Elders began to tacitly approve of some of Doflamingo's actions.
The Donquixote Family's moves against King Riku's army became more and more frequent, more and more brazen.
They no longer even bothered to hide their intentions. The Donquixote Family was amassing an army on the King's Plateau, preparing to crush King Riku once and for all.
With Doflamingo's vengeful nature, he was not about to let this grudge go. I may not be able to get my hands on you, Jin, but I can still crush King Riku.
In truth, King Riku's army was in a situation similar to that of the "rebels" in Jin's home world.
They had the vocal support of many nations, but no one was willing to offer any actual aid.
Every country had its own interests to consider. They weren't about to go to war for King Riku.
Without outside help, it was only a matter of time before King Riku's army was annihilated.
And the "righteous" Marines?
The Marines' "justice" did not extend to this matter.
Their purpose was not to maintain world peace, but to maintain the order established by the World Government and the Celestial Dragons.
It was for this very reason that Jin, after the incident with Rosinante, had immediately begun to lay the groundwork in the New World, sending Loki to offer his support.
Even then, he had foreseen what Doflamingo would do.
His home world's civilization was ancient, its history unbroken.
Many events could be predicted by studying the past.
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Law, acting as a representative, accompanied King Riku to the island. There, he met the other allies King Riku had gathered.
The Tontatta Kingdom, the dwarves.
"Though they are small in stature," King Riku explained, "they possess incredible strength and speed. The people of Dressrosa call them 'fairies'."
In front of a treehouse, Law met the king of the Tontatta, Gancho, a small old man with a white beard and a crown.
He explained that the dwarves' feud with the Donquixote Family went back nine hundred years.
Therefore, when Doflamingo had returned, they had dedicated themselves to overthrowing his rule.
King Riku's army had retreated to this island and had been attacked by the dwarves.
But after King Riku's sincere plea, the dwarves had taken them in and had agreed to form an alliance to fight against Doflamingo.
This meeting was to confirm their alliance and finalize their battle plan.
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Marine Base G-1.
Vice Admiral Momonga was lying in the sun, enjoying a leisurely afternoon.
One might think that as a Marine base in the New World, the most dangerous sea in the world, the work would be endless.
But that was not the case.
The mission of the forward bases like G-1, G-5, and G-14 was not to actually take on the Four Emperors.
Their purpose was to form a defensive line, to prevent the Yonko from attacking Mary Geoise.
A direct confrontation with a Yonko? You'd have to be insane.
Their role was primarily one of surveillance, a nail hammered into the New World by the World Government.
Marine Headquarters' strategy could be summed up in one sentence: a heavy hand in the Four Blues and Paradise, a light touch in the New World.
And so, as long as they didn't run into a situation like the one G-5 had faced, a commander like Momonga had a lot of free time.
The two attacks on G-5 had both been special cases.
Normally, the Marines didn't bother the Yonko, and the Yonko didn't bother the Marines.
They maintained a tacit understanding.
Just as Momonga was wondering if he should take a vacation on the Gran Tesoro, an orderly rushed over.
"Sir! Urgent report!"
"Hm?" Momonga said calmly. "What is it?"
"A call from the Warlord, Donquixote Doflamingo. A fleet, composed of the Heart Pirates, the Muscle Pirates, the Nut Pirates, and the Loki Pirates, is heading for Dressrosa. He is requesting Marine support."
Momonga frowned. He had heard about the situation in Dressrosa.
Doflamingo requesting Marine intervention under the pretext of a pirate attack was perfectly reasonable.
And though he was disgusted by Doflamingo's actions, as a Marine, his hands were often tied.
But even if his hands were tied, he could still bend the rules a little.
"Deploy a fleet?" Momonga said. "I can't act rashly. Report this to Headquarters first. And have our intelligence officers monitor the fleet's movements. Confirm their objective."
"Yes, sir!" the orderly replied.
Most of the high-ranking officers in the Marines disliked the Warlords. Momonga was one of them. He had no desire to get involved in this mess. He would kick the can up to Headquarters and let them make the decision.
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G-1's report reached Headquarters.
It was first received by the staff of the General Staff Office in charge of the New World, who then passed it up the chain of command to the Chief of Staff, Vice Admiral Tsuru.
Tsuru would then assess the situation.
Only a truly urgent and important matter would be passed on to Fleet Admiral Sengoku for a final decision. A serious situation would even require a meeting with the three Admirals.
That was the standard procedure. If every piece of intelligence, every document, went directly to Sengoku, he would be buried in paperwork.
When Tsuru received the report, she immediately connected it to the rebellion in Dressrosa last year.
A clear picture began to form in her mind.
"So," Sengoku said, feeding a piece of paper to the goat under his desk, "this pirate fleet is the aftermath of last year's conflict?"
"Yes. We can't help Doflamingo, and we can't help King Riku."
Sengoku had a headache.
Tsuru nodded. Doflamingo was a Warlord. He was on the same side as the government. They couldn't just arrest him. That would upset the balance of power between the Marines, the Warlords, and the Yonko, a system established by the Five Elders. Although, with Jin in the picture, that balance was not as stable as it once was.
And King Riku was the former king of a member nation, with the support of the other member nations. Furthermore, the higher-ups in the Marines knew that he and the dwarves were the real victims.
To wear the coat of justice, only to help the aggressor and oppress the victim... even Sengoku couldn't stomach it.
And so, they tacitly changed the subject.
"By the way," Sengoku said, "where's Garp?"
"He went to the first half of Paradise," Tsuru replied.
Sengoku knew his old friend well. "Because of his grandson?"
"Yes," Tsuru nodded.
Sengoku sighed. He felt for Garp.
A "hero" of the Marines.
His son, Dragon, was the leader of the Revolutionary Army.
His adopted grandson, Ace, was the commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' second division.
And his biological grandson, Luffy, had also gone out to sea to become a pirate.
He was surrounded by rebels.
No one would be happy with a son and grandsons like that.
"We have intelligence that Ace is in the first half of Paradise, hunting the traitor, Teach," Tsuru said. "They might run into each other."
Although Teach's murder of Thatch and his desertion of the Whitebeard Pirates had been covered up, the higher-ups in the Marines knew about it.
"This year's rookies are exceptionally strong," Sengoku said, a worried look on his face.
He could feel a massive vortex of war brewing, one that threatened to drag the entire world into its depths.
Just then, a call from the Five Elders interrupted his thoughts.
A moment later.
"What is it?" Tsuru asked.
"The Five Elders have ordered Momonga and Gion from G-1 and G-5 to intercept the pirate fleet."
Tsuru wasn't surprised.
Given the recent changes, it was clear that the Five Elders, who had previously needed Jin, were now starting to favor Doflamingo.
The political landscape was shifting rapidly.
The Marines and the World Government, in theory, were not supposed to interfere in the internal conflicts of member nations.
But under the pretext of fighting pirates... that was not a violation of "justice."
With a single order from Headquarters, Vice Admiral Momonga and Vice Admiral Gion deployed their fleets.
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