Ever since Yemu, captain of the Sky Pirates, appeared once in Water 7 three months ago, he seemed to vanish from the sea again, leaving no trace no matter how anyone searched.
Under ordinary circumstances, this would not be anything worth worrying about.
Every Marine knew how troublesome the Sky Pirates were. They often disappeared at sea, appearing and vanishing without a trace. If not for that, the Marines would never have allowed them to grow to their current size. But this time was completely different.
There was only one reason. Among the important figures of the Sky Pirates, Yemu was the only one who had disappeared.
To say nothing of vice captain Thunder God Enel and Weapon Warrior Erza, who had been running wild across the Four Seas and the Grand Line for three months now, making such a name for themselves that their momentum was faintly beginning to overshadow Yemu himself as captain.
Fishman Tiger, the navigator, had already been spotted by Marine intelligence agents on Fish-Man Island.
Erik, known as Sword Wind Swordsman, and the ship's doctor Ayala had also been seen in Flevance.
The Sky Pirates splitting into three groups naturally drew the attention of the Marines and the World Government. The spies they sent out had also learned of the Sky Pirates' plan, which was to recruit quickly and expand their forces.
The Sky Pirates had always followed a policy of elite manpower, so there was no way their sudden mass recruitment was without purpose. Clearly, they were preparing for some major move.
That was what worried the Marines and the World Government most.
Yemu had dared to break into Impel Down, known as an iron fortress, all by himself.
If he gained a large number of troops and subordinates, no one could imagine what dangerous things he might do.
Thinking of this, Sengoku suddenly looked in the direction of the Holy Land Mary Geoise, then shook his head.
If Yemu's purpose in recruiting troops really was to invade Marine Headquarters or the Holy Land Mary Geoise, as Sengoku imagined, then Sengoku might actually laugh with joy.
The reason the Marines and the World Government had been unable to do anything about the Sky Pirates was not because their combat power was so overwhelming, but because the Sky Pirates were so elusive.
Leaving aside the World Government, just the three men currently stationed at Marine Headquarters, Garp, Sengoku, and Zephyr, were already enough to wipe out any pirate crew on this sea.
As for stopping the three pirate fleet captains under Yemu from recruiting troops, the Marines and the World Government had not been without such thoughts. The answer, however, was that they were powerless to stop them.
There was no need to even mention Fish-Man Island. The disbanding of the Sun Army had provided Tiger, whose reputation on Fish-Man Island was already sky-high, with an endless supply of manpower. And with the advantage of the sea, the Marines had no way to make a move.
As for the First Fleet led by Thunder God Enel, unless they deployed an Admiral-level powerhouse or Marines on the scale of a Buster Call, their efforts would have little effect against the terrifying destructive power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
The situation in Flevance was the best. Erik and Ayala seemed to be hiding somewhere without taking any action, but that was precisely what made people even more uneasy.
Especially now, while the Reverie was being held.
If something happened...
Would the Marines and World Government soldiers stationed in the Kingdom of Flevance really be able to handle it?
Just thinking about all this gave Sengoku a splitting headache.
He even felt that the Sky Pirates were far more troublesome than Roger had been.
And for Sengoku, the problems did not end there.
"Is there any news from Wano Country, where the Beasts are?"
"According to our intelligence agents, the cooperation between the Beasts and the Sky Pirates is top secret. Only Kaidou and Queen know the details. However, based on other information, we can infer a few things. Recently, some members of the Beasts Pirates led by King have been secretly capturing Devil Fruit users. In addition, the Beasts have gained three more Zoan ability users recently. One of them ate an Ancient Zoan, the Elephant-Elephant Fruit, Mammoth Form. It was eaten by a fish-man named Jack. The other two are the Bat Fruit and the Giraffe Fruit..."
As the intelligence officer spoke, Sengoku's expression gradually darkened.
Every bit of it was bad news.
Not only did it further prove that the Sky Pirates truly possessed the ability to extract Devil Fruits from ability users, it also meant that the ones gaining Devil Fruit powers were not only the Beasts, but the Sky Pirates as well.
After all, trade always went both ways.
"So after their battle with Gecko Moria, the Beasts' strength didn't decrease. It increased instead?"
"Yes. In fact, the reason the Beasts were so eager to cooperate with the Sky Pirates was also because of Moria. During that battle in Kuri, the Beasts suffered no losses among their high-level fighters, but they lost many ordinary subordinates. Kurozumi Orochi, the current daimyo of Wano Country, thought he saw an opportunity and tried to bargain with Kaidou, which angered Kaidou..."
"Is that so?"
Sengoku's head ached, but he quickly made a decision.
"Have the intelligence agents keep an eye on the Beasts. Those samurai of Wano Country aren't that easy to deal with. Have we found any trace of Golden Lion Shiki?"
"Well... no..."
At this point, the intelligence officer hesitated before saying, "Fleet Admiral Sengoku, could it be like the rumors say? That Golden Lion Shiki has already been killed by Fire Dragon Yemu..."
"Impossible."
Sengoku denied it without even thinking.
"You have never fought Shiki, so you don't understand how powerful he is, let alone that nearly unsolvable Float-Float Fruit of his. Unless he seeks death himself, even if Garp and I joined forces, we couldn't keep him there. So it's impossible for Fire Dragon Yemu to have killed him. Besides, if he really wanted to kill Shiki, wouldn't it have been easier to kill him directly in Impel Down? Why let him out?"
"This..."
The intelligence officer truly had no explanation for that.
"Then, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, what do you mean?"
"Watch for the possibility that they have formed an alliance, just like the alliance between the Sky Pirates and the Beasts..."
"I understand. I'll have the intelligence agents pay attention."
"Mm. Is there still no news from the intelligence agents we planted in Water 7?"
"No. It's as if they vanished from the world. Could they have been..."
"Wait a little longer. As long as we can find the Sky Pirates' base, everything will be worth it. By the way, is there anything else?"
The intelligence officer was about to say no, but then he suddenly remembered something and pulled a wanted poster from the files in his arms.
"There is one more thing, actually... Fleet Admiral Sengoku, please take a look!"
What appeared in Sengoku's hand was a wanted poster showing a young man with red hair. Written on it were the words: Shanks, Red Hair Pirates, bounty of 10 million Belly.
"What is this? Is there something strange about this bounty?"
To be honest, a bounty of 10 million Belly was not worth Sengoku's attention at all.
"We didn't notice it at first either, but because he's been very active recently, we investigated him carefully and discovered something unbelievable. This pirate named Shanks was actually once a member of the Roger Pirates. And according to our intelligence, he has awakened Conqueror's Haki and has become a swordsman... Of course, the most important part is that he's only sixteen years old..."
"What!?"
Sengoku's pupils instantly shrank, and his expression turned grim.
"Another Fire Dragon Yemu?"