Following Smoker's involvement, two large-scale naval battles erupted in the New World, each involving tens of thousands of combatants. Both ended with decisive victories for the Whitebeard Pirates.
Now, after those two massive engagements, the endless warfare in the New World had strangely fallen quiet.
But everyone knew this was merely the calm before an even greater storm.
Charlotte Linlin and Kaido's alliance was preparing for a decisive battle against the combined forces of the Whitebeard Pirates and Smoker.
The entire New World trembled with anticipation. This battle would determine the new and old overlords, decide the pirate kingdom's future. Regardless of who won, it would affect the fate of everyone in the New World—perhaps everyone in the world.
But honestly, most people in the New World hoped Whitebeard would win.
Because Whitebeard was easygoing. As long as you didn't provoke him, he wouldn't cause trouble.
Compared to Whitebeard, Kaido and Charlotte Linlin were the types who'd cause chaos even if you didn't provoke them.
Therefore, anyone who didn't want the New World to continue descending into chaos naturally hoped Whitebeard could maintain his dominant position and preserve some degree of stability.
Both sides were rapidly preparing for the decisive battle.
Meanwhile, Marine Headquarters at Marineford seemed to be secretly preparing something as well.
In Marineford's conference room, senior Marine officers sat assembled, preparing to discuss important matters.
Finn was in the New World, so naturally he couldn't participate. They weren't using video Den Den Mushi either.
However, he'd already submitted his proposal regarding Smoker to Headquarters. This meeting was to discuss that very matter.
Fleet Admiral Kong sat at the head of the conference table, a document in hand, staring at it with distracted eyes.
Admiral Sengoku stood before the projection screen, speaking earnestly to those assembled. The others—Sakazuki, Garp, Gion, Chief of Staff Tsuru, Kuzan, and several other Marine officers—all listened carefully.
The year and a half agreed upon with Finn was nearly up. He'd received Finn's report saying Borsalino had been dispatched to coordinate with Jinbe regarding Fisher Tiger's arrangements.
Theoretically, Finn made the plans, Jinbe provided support, and Borsalino executed the operation.
There shouldn't be any problems.
But this concerned the entire Marines' interests, and whether he, Kong, could secure the position of Commander-in-Chief of the World Government's military forces. So even though he felt confident everything was settled, Fleet Admiral Kong still felt anxious.
That's why he seemed absent-minded during today's meeting.
"Fleet Admiral? Fleet Admiral?" Admiral Sengoku called twice.
This finally pulled Kong from his wandering thoughts. He set down the document. "Sorry, I was distracted. Sengoku, what is it?"
Admiral Sengoku naturally wouldn't blame the Fleet Admiral. He smiled gently. "Fleet Admiral, we've already finished the discussion."
"Done so quickly?" Kong looked surprised, then glanced around the conference room. Understanding dawned, and he smiled slightly.
Sakazuki himself was a hawkish Marine officer, always part of the war faction. Now that the Marines were discussing military intervention in the New World and participation in warfare, it would be strange if he didn't support it.
Therefore, the hawkish Marines under his command would definitely support it.
This proposal originated with Admiral Finn, who wasn't present. He'd always handled affairs related to Smoker and the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Therefore, members of Finn's faction, including Gion and others, couldn't oppose this proposal.
Garp, that stubborn old man, probably couldn't come up with any objections either.
As for Kuzan, he should also stand with Finn.
Therefore, even though Finn wasn't physically present in this conference room, he still wielded tremendous influence. Now that the hawkish Marines and Finn's faction had reached common ground on this matter, there was naturally no reason for the neutral and dovish Marines to raise issues.
So the meeting concluded quickly. There didn't seem to be any problems.
But speaking of the dovish Marines... Fleet Admiral Kong looked at Garp, then at Kuzan, then at Admiral Sengoku.
In earlier years, before Finn had made his mark in the Marines, the dovish faction definitely held a huge advantage in internal factional struggles.
Initially, Admiral Sengoku was the leader of the dovish Marines. Zephyr could be considered to have one foot in the dove faction. Although Garp had more neutral tendencies, he supported Sengoku in most actions. Chief of Staff Tsuru naturally also supported her old comrade Sengoku.
Therefore, during that period, the dovish Marines could almost overpower the hawkish and neutral factions combined.
When Finn began rising through the ranks, he'd initially leaned toward the dovish Marines and maintained good relations with people like Sengoku. Admiral Sengoku had even intended to train Finn as the faction's next leader.
But later, Finn didn't actually transform himself into a dovish Marine. On the contrary, he gradually developed a distinct "Finn faction" that drew from hawkish, neutral, and dovish Marines alike—or the "G-7 faction," the "New Marines."
The philosophies held by these people were neither radical like the hawks, nor conservative like the doves, nor vacillating like the neutrals.
The New Marine faction, led by Gion and supported by Doberman, Momonga, and others, was primarily maintained by Finn himself.
Moreover, this faction had now largely absorbed the dovish Marines' power. It seemed poised to completely replace them.
Nowadays, Garp was easy to predict. Basically, as long as Finn asked, he'd support anything, large or small, because he owed Finn an enormous debt.
Although Zephyr, the former Marine Admiral, had retreated behind the scenes, he controlled the academy's new generation. He himself favored his student Finn most of all. Therefore, most of the influence Zephyr wielded was actually placed behind Finn.
Chief of Staff Tsuru maintained a close relationship with Finn as his former superior. Finn had learned extensively from her about navigating Marine politics.
Additionally, Chief of Staff Tsuru and Gion shared a relationship like sisters. Finn wielded strong influence in the Intelligence Department. After all, he'd come from Intelligence and had been instrumental in its restructuring. Naturally, he was no minor figure there.
Furthermore, Chief of Staff Tsuru greatly appreciated and recognized Finn's strategic capabilities.
Therefore, to a considerable extent, Chief of Staff Tsuru would strongly support Finn's proposals.
As for Kuzan, there was no need to elaborate. After Finn began developing his own faction, Admiral Sengoku had deliberately shifted focus and supported Kuzan as the new dovish faction leader.
But the problem was that Kuzan lacked ambition. With Finn supporting him, he basically faced no internal pressure and lived quite comfortably. He didn't even want to become an Admiral, so how could he possibly compete for faction leadership?
He practically wanted to join Finn directly. After all, they had a good relationship, and Finn never bothered or pressured him.
Basically, Finn had built his fortune by leveraging the dovish Marines' foundation.
However, he maintained an excellent relationship with the hawkish Marines' leader, Sakazuki. The two sides had cooperated on numerous matters.
In the past, such personal relationships between major faction members would've been impossible.
Especially hawks and doves—sometimes they wouldn't even greet each other in passing.
So generally speaking, although the Finn faction emerged from the dovish Marines, their overall relationship with the hawkish Marines was quite good.
As for the neutrals, there was no need to worry. If the Finn faction could get along with the hawkish Marines, why worry about the neutrals?
Although Borsalino rarely appeared at Headquarters in recent years and basically avoided messy entanglements, he maintained a good personal relationship with Finn.
In his earlier years, he'd worked under Admiral Sengoku as an assistant officer. Because of that relationship with Sengoku, he'd also taken good care of Finn.
Therefore, at this point, Fleet Admiral Kong suddenly recalled the dovish Marine faction that had basically disappeared.
He thought again of Finn's faction. After examining the Marines' current internal situation, he felt somewhat relieved while recognizing Finn's methods as formidable.
Before anyone realized it, Finn's faction seemed to have unified the entire Marines.
Finn's faction was remarkably inclusive. Whether doves, hawks, or neutrals, they all seemed capable of getting along well with them.
Thinking about it further, in the years since Finn's faction began taking shape, internal struggles and friction within the Marines had essentially been eliminated.
Even Sakazuki, that stern-faced man, had now eased relations with many people at Headquarters. The most obvious were Garp and Kuzan.
Garp now maintained a very good relationship with Sakazuki. As for Kuzan, it wasn't that their relationship was particularly warm, but mainly that their relationship had been extremely stiff back then. Now, at least, it could be described as peaceful.
Under Finn's influence, the entire Marine senior leadership had gradually moved toward a state of mutual tolerance and competition without breaking bonds. There might be rivalry, but it would never affect the Marines' normal operations.
This was undoubtedly extremely beneficial for the entire organization.
Thinking this, Fleet Admiral Kong glanced at Admiral Sengoku again. Sengoku must have noticed this development long ago, but he hadn't stopped it. He hadn't responded at all. He'd even seemed to go along with it, actively helping Finn.
As a faction leader, this was undoubtedly unqualified. But now, none of the dovish Marines seemed to think anything was wrong.
But as the future Fleet Admiral of the Marines, Sengoku's approach was undoubtedly very correct and appropriate.
Why had Sengoku abandoned his faction leader identity?
The reason was simple. As a Marine Admiral, regardless of which faction he originated from, he must not show favoritism.
As Fleet Admiral, he must treat everyone equally.
Otherwise, if the Fleet Admiral favored one side and became too biased toward a particular faction, it could very likely cause turmoil throughout the entire Marine leadership.
Sengoku undoubtedly understood this principle.
Now it seemed he intended to allow Finn free rein, which appeared more aligned with his future interests and political acumen as Fleet Admiral.
Because if Finn's faction could help him integrate the contradictions, rifts, and struggles within the Marines, Sengoku wouldn't have to work so hard addressing the Marines' internal problems. He'd only need to maintain firm control over Finn, the faction boss.
As long as Finn remained stable, the Marines would remain stable. Wasn't that beneficial for the Fleet Admiral?
At that moment, Fleet Admiral Kong suddenly seemed to understand something. Sengoku appeared more optimistic about Finn eventually taking over as Fleet Admiral in the future.
Otherwise, why arrange things this way?
But these weren't his concerns. By then, he'd already be working at Mary Geoise.
What's more, Fleet Admiral Kong himself actually preferred Finn as well.
"What's the conclusion?" Kong withdrew from his thoughts and asked.
Admiral Sengoku spoke solemnly. "We believe this plan is feasible. Compared to our previous strategy of non-intervention, it's even more conducive to the Marines' future deployment of operations in the New World."
"Excellent. Then let's proceed." Fleet Admiral Kong's voice carried authority. "Now that it's approved, begin addressing any gaps and shortcomings in Finn and Smoker's plan. Don't let anything go wrong when operations commence!"
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