As contemporaries of Whitebeard in the Navy, Sengoku and Garp understood Whitebeard's terror better than Borsalino and Sakazuki.
Although Kaido was still considered a novice back then, the fact that he could now fight against Whitebeard to such an extent allowed them to indirectly assess his strength.
Moreover, the orders from a few days ago were to decide whether to take action depending on the situation. Sakazuki's sudden attack could barely be seen as seizing the opportunity, but as time passed, the orders from the World Government had changed.
"Garp, this is the latest order from above, the operation is canceled, everyone is to return, and you must bring those two back to me."
"What happened?"
Sengoku's tone made Garp sense something unusual. It seemed like something special had happened for the World Government to urgently change its strategy.
"Well, the reconnaissance team sent by the World Government to the Wano Kuni area has been annihilated."
"Annihilated? Are Kaido's men there also that strong?"
"It's not a matter of strength, it's that they didn't even see the border of Wano Kuni."
Facing Whitebeard, such a situation was understandable. He could stir up tsunamis, and at sea, they were nearly unstoppable. Before the fleet could approach, they'd be forced back by the tsunamis. If he wanted to leave, it was almost impossible to stop him.
Unless there was a reason for him to fight to the death, trying to destroy a monster like Whitebeard was essentially impossible.
Roger surrendered voluntarily, the Golden Lion attacked Marinfanto alone, and Rocks had his final showdown in Divine Valley. Amidst the Navy's numerous battle records, the log of capturing formidable enemies at sea was scarce.
Wald counted as one, but that was because of CP agents' scheming.
It's precisely these monsters' abilities that made the Navy cautious in their actions. However, the events on Wano Kuni's side were rather abnormal. According to the final report, they were attacked by biological weapons.
...
Not long ago, in the waters of Wano Kuni, perhaps when Yamato was still sound asleep on Genesect's back, most people were watching the battle broadcast from Ghost Island, though the lookout posts were not canceled.
The battle between Whitebeard and Kaido intensified, and the battlefield situation was gradually relayed back through reconnaissance. The conclusion was that Kaido and Whitebeard couldn't easily disengage for the moment.
However, the World Government's intelligence was far more comprehensive than that of pirates. They could roughly estimate how many people Kaido took and how many were left in Wano Kuni.
Even though Kaido was absent, the equally fearsome Arceus's whereabouts were unknown. Based on past intelligence, Arceus often left Wano Kuni, and whether he was present now needed to be tested.
Under such circumstances, a reconnaissance ship carrying a number of agents sailed toward Wano Kuni.
"Lord Arceus, those people couldn't hold back. Their ship has already come near."
The aerial squad brought back firsthand intelligence. Even though many of the agents mastered Moonwalk, a normal person wouldn't continuously use Moonwalk for travel, as it exhausts physical strength greatly, leaving the sky as a blind spot for them.
But the aerial squad was different. The Thousand-Year Dragon was a creature that naturally soared freely, easily carrying a few scouts.
Although the original Scout Captain Mandfeish had left, this squad still existed, patrolling the outer seas of Wano Kuni without cease after Kaido's departure.
So, it wasn't long before the ship was discovered directly.
"Since they dare to come, they must take responsibility for their actions. Queen, you are authorized to use those things; it'll be the perfect time to test their effectiveness."
"Rest assured, Lord Arceus, this is my greatest achievement in years."
Queen, in the Hundred Beasts, acting as their scapegoat, one of the Three Disasters, and the versatile subsidy. Even though Kaido didn't take him on this trip, his strength couldn't be overlooked.
The titles of Flame Disaster and Illusory Calamity were based on their abilities; the flames that burned battlefields and the illusions that deceived the senses caused great trouble. However, overshadowed by these people, the title of Plague Disaster that Queen held was slowly forgotten by the public.
Whether it was the original Brachiosaurus or the modified Tropius, they had little connection to the term, but Queen's title came more from his research.
However, this achievement bore little significance in battling strong adversaries of the same level. When conquering other islands, the goal was to capture rather than destroy, so naturally, Queen's methods that damaged reputation had been prohibited.
Yet, facing this group of agents from the World Government, Arceus had no goodwill, lifting the restrictions on Queen.
This was not only to test Queen's new products but also to inspect a new mode of warfare.
After receiving the orders, Queen didn't fly away from Ghost Island but headed to the gathering area of the Mareanie.
"Little ones, this is Lord Arceus's command. Just like in the previous exercises, launch these items."
By then, Queen had repaired his racial reputation among the Mareanie, obtaining numerous Corsola branches from Pierman, winning Mareanie's forgiveness through feeding offers.
Then he distributed a pile of small balls to several Mareanie, made from the resin produced by cultivating Berry trees. With deeper research, the Hundred Beasts had long discovered that, besides the Berry itself, the trees growing these Berries had substantial usage value.
Even the branches trimmed could be grilled with a peculiar woody aroma.
These resin balls encased the Plague Bombs Queen had engineered, a mutant variant combining the toxins of Mareanie and Weezing.
Then several Mareanie dived into the sea, swimming in the direction Queen indicated. After residing here for some time, they'd gotten familiar with the sea currents in this area, as well as the outer regions.
Those aboard the World Government's ship failed to spot the Mareanie swimming in the deep sea. Even though they were on guard against unknown situations, they were wary of humans. Mareanie swimming through the water appeared similar to squids, completely unnoticed with seawater as a barrier.
Then the people in the ship's cabins discovered that their vessel suddenly had several holes, the work of Mareanie. Wooden ships remained the global mainstream, and those mass-produced ships weren't crafted from precious timber, swiftly punctured by Mareanie.
Before they could hurry to repair their ship, the Mareanie's Spike Cannon had already fired into the cabins through the holes, followed by a gang of Mareanie climbing onto the deck amidst the chaos, shooting their spikes at targets, releasing Queen's concoctions into the mix...