"Then, Vice Admiral Taro, is there an even more Advanced level of swordsmanship?" Sherman pressed.
"An even more Advanced level of swordsmanship..." Taro sighed.
"It should be the supreme Realm of having no sword in hand and no sword in heart!"
Sherman was deeply shaken and murmured, "No sword in hand, no sword in heart?"
After contemplating for a long time, Sherman suddenly looked up at Taro. "Thank you for your guidance. I think I understand!"
He then bowed to Taro again and jumped off the ship to depart.
Taro was dumbfounded. What? What did you understand?
It wasn't until Sherman's figure disappeared from sight that Taro snapped out of it.
This boy is too gullible. He didn't even get a bit part in the original story; could it be because he was too trusting and ruined his 'build'?
Thinking that he might have accidentally ruined Fujitora's Genius student, Taro felt his head start to ache again... As the sky gradually darkened, the discussion between Sengoku and Navy Grand Staff Officer Vice Admiral Tsuru in the Fleet Admiral's office was drawing to a close.
The two Marine great tacticians had spent the entire afternoon studying troop deployments in preparation for the upcoming war.
Sengoku looked up at the clock on the wall and grabbed a den den mushi.
"Notify Vice Admiral Garp and the Three Admirals to come to my office."
He paused, glanced at Vice Admiral Tsuru, and added, "And Vice Admiral Taro, notify him too!"
"Yes, sir."
When Taro received the notification, he was on his way to the cafeteria for dinner. He curled his lip. "They really know how to pick a time, always right at dinner."
However, Taro behaved this time. He didn't pack his dinner to eat there. If he did that twice in one day, he was worried Sengoku might die of anger on the spot.
Taro was the first to arrive this time. He was self-aware enough to know he wasn't the only one summoned. After entering, he obediently pulled up a chair and sat down.
Once everyone had arrived, Vice Admiral Tsuru picked up a stack of documents and stood up.
"Take a look, all of you. See if there's anything to add."
As she spoke, she distributed the deployment for the execution day and the contingency plans for various scenarios to everyone present.
Taro took them and flipped through quickly. Fifty Marine warships were deployed in the waters surrounding Marineford, nearly 100,000 Marine elites were concentrated in the square in front of the headquarters, and all coastal defense heavy artillery was in place.
Aside from "Knight of the Sea" Jinbe, six Warlord of the Sea were lined up in the front, with various Marine Vice Admirals and their respective units standing ready behind them.
The Three Admirals, as the strongest combat force, were stationed below the Execution Platform.
Garp, Tsuru, and Taro served as the mobile force, on standby at all times.
This plan was almost identical to the original story, with the only difference being Taro, who was assigned to personally protect Vice Admiral Tsuru.
He thought, "I warned you so many times about Blackbeard, and you still didn't take it seriously!"
After quickly finishing, Taro felt greatly disappointed. He lowered his eyelids and sighed silently.
Until everyone had finished reading, no one spoke up, and the atmosphere gradually became awkward.
After a long time, Sengoku finally broke the silence.
"Does no one have anything to add?"
Once someone spoke, the previously oppressive atmosphere vanished, and the air seemed to flow again.
Garp tore open a bag of donuts and began eating with a "crunch, crunch."
Akainu silently lit a cigar and took a puff.
Kizaru started trimming his nails again, looking completely nonchalant.
Aokiji pulled down his sleep mask and immediately began pretending to sleep.
Taro looked at the reactions of these four guys, completely bewildered.
Holy crap, who am I, where am I, what should I do?!
Sure enough, in the next second, Sengoku's gaze swept over everyone and finally locked onto Taro.
"Taro, you tell us!"
Tell you? What the hell can I say!
Taro's cheeks twitched violently. If he had known, he would have brought dinner. Damn, he'd been careless.
"Fleet Admiral, I have nothing to say. I think this plan is quite good," Taro said perfunctorily.
Vice Admiral Tsuru glared at Taro. "If he tells you to speak, then speak."
Taro's lip twitched, looking completely innocent. What else could he say?
Finally, he took a deep breath and looked at Vice Admiral Tsuru. "You know how wary I am of Blackbeard."
Vice Admiral Tsuru rested her hands on the table. "Mhm, go on."
"But in your plan, there are no precautions against Blackbeard at all, yet you're certain he'll show up." Taro was somewhat dissatisfied. "I don't know how you can be so sure of that."
"He's just a newly appointed Warlord of the Sea. Does he dare defy Marineford?" Sengoku said dismissively as he collected the documents from everyone.
Taro narrowed his eyes and said disapprovingly, "He even defied Whitebeard. Why would it be impossible for him to defy us too?"
Sengoku returned to his desk and, without looking up, fed the documents in his hand one by one to the small goat beside him.
"I've said it many times: he is irrelevant to the overall situation. Besides, what can he do all by himself?"
Taro frowned. "So, we have no idea where Blackbeard's companions are, right?" He paused, his tone becoming more serious.
"Fleet Admiral, that Birdman named Lafitte from the Blackbeard Pirates infiltrated Marijoa; we've all seen him."
"They even infiltrated the Holy Land. How can we easily conclude that Blackbeard is alone?"
"I believe Blackbeard's crew must be hiding in the shadows, plotting something."
Sengoku still didn't care. "Even with those few pieces of trash, it won't amount to anything."
Taro was suddenly speechless. Fine, after all, the old man could wipe out the Blackbeard Pirates with a single punch; he certainly had the confidence to say such things.
After Taro stopped speaking, the room fell silent again.
It wasn't until the little goat had eaten all the documents that Sengoku adjourned the meeting... Holy Land Mary Geoise.
Five of the Seven Warlords of the Sea were holding a banquet.
"Tyrant" Bartholomew Kuma had already undergone Dr. Vegapunk's final modification, losing his original consciousness, and sat quietly to the side reading a book.
"Hawkeye" Dracule Mihawk held a glass of red wine, savoring it slowly.
Gekko Moriah was feasting on delicacies, his body and head still wrapped in bandages. It seemed the injuries he sustained from being defeated by Straw Hat Luffy had not yet healed.
"Heavenly Yaksha" Doflamingo and "Blackbeard" Marshall D. Teach clinked their glasses and laughed heartily, though it was unknown what they were discussing.
During the last Warlord of the Sea meeting, Doflamingo had been somewhat interested in Blackbeard, who dared to send someone to Marijoa to recommend himself. Unfortunately, Lafitte's performance against Taro at the time was too pathetic.
It wasn't until Blackbeard captured Ace that Doflamingo began to take this new Warlord of the Sea seriously again.
During these few days in Marijoa, the two had met several times and enjoyed each other's company.
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