Soon, a fierce alarm sounded throughout Marineford, and all personnel entered search mode. However, the first thing Grimm thought of was Vegapunk, who had met with CP0 afterward. He immediately sent someone to question him.
Marine Chief of Staff Aokiji quickly found Vegapunk. After dismissing the others, before Aokiji could speak, Vegapunk asked first, "Could this be about the CP0 that just came here?"
"Do you know?" Aokiji asked, crossing his arms.
If Vegapunk was the smartest person in the world, Aokiji was undoubtedly the most skilled in social interactions and emotional intelligence—definitely the top in the Navy.
"He's a bit strange!"
"Strange?"
"Yeah, I've had some dealings with CP0 before. I wouldn't say I'm very familiar with them, but I have some insight. The CP0 that just came here feels completely different from before!"
Vegapunk is very clever. He deliberately revealed some information to perfectly avoid suspicion.
"What did he say to you?" Aokiji asked again.
"Some questions about CP0's failure in Water City. Most of the rest are classified—I can't say more!"
Aokiji asked a few more questions, but in the end, under Vegapunk's evasive responses, he couldn't get any more information and could only let it go, then reported to Aokiji.
"Report: That's the result obtained from Vegapunk!"
After reporting to Aokiji, another Navy Rear Admiral stepped forward, holding some documents and said, "Report: Surveillance shows that about four hours ago, in a side street west of the Science Research Institute, the surveillance Den Den Mushi was suddenly destroyed. We suspect this is related to CP0's disappearance!"
"This kind of thing, why wasn't it reported earlier?" Aokiji was furious. "Such coincidence must have a reason!"
His tone was very serious. It's extremely rare for a Den Den Mushi to malfunction normally, but to break down at the same time as the CP0 incident—how could that be a coincidence?
It looks like everything should start with the surveillance footage.
"Where is the destroyed Den Den Mushi?" Aokiji asked solemnly.
"Report! Location: A16," the Rear Admiral answered.
"Aokiji, you and Rear Admiral Butler go investigate together. Return as fast as possible and report back to me!"
"Understood!"
"Kizaru!"
After calling out, Aokiji looked back—seeing that Kizaru was crossing his arms, nose already starting to bubble, with snoring sounds coming from him.
"Kizaru!!!"
Aokiji roared, bursting into anger, and slapped Kizaru's nose, popping the bubble. Kizaru was startled, quickly raised his head, and opened his eyes wide. "A-Aokiji, you're not serious, I was actually sleeping!"
"Did you hear what I was saying?" If personnel weren't so tight and time so urgent, Aokiji would have punched this guy straight into the sea.
Kizaru chuckled, wiping the saliva from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve: "Ah… it's very serious, the situation is very serious. After all, the government's top secret agent—ah, very serious, very serious…"
Meanwhile, Aokiji's face darkened. But he was already used to Kizaru's style.
"Have Sakasuki and Kuzan lead their teams to search. Capture anyone who can be identified!"
"Got it, got it!" Kizaru replied perfunctorily. He didn't care about the government's affairs anyway.
"Hey!" Seeing Kizaru acting so nonchalantly, Aokiji sighed, then told Sengoku: "Sengoku, order all ships to stop. I suspect the other side has very clever hiding techniques, including disguise techniques. They might be waiting for our ships to set sail and slip away!"
"I understand!"
Sengoku nodded and accepted the order. Suddenly, he couldn't help but remind, "But, Marshal, two hours ago, two ships already set sail!"
Aokiji's pupils contracted sharply, showing a pained expression: "Which two?"
"The ships headed to North Blue under Vice-Admiral Bradley, and Vice-Admiral Saisu's ship heading to Water City for investigation."
"Immediately recall them. Tell them to keep a close watch on everyone on board, and thoroughly check every crew member. No one is allowed to escape!" Aokiji ordered.
"But they're just a few government agents. What's so special about alerting the entire Navy? Anyway, leave this matter to Sakaski and Kizaru. I want to go home and eat donuts!"
Kizaru lazily waved, turned around, and left the room.
If it were normal, Aokiji would scold him a few times. But this time, Aokiji suddenly thought Kizaru had a point!
No matter how important CP0 is, it's not enough to make the entire Marine Headquarters busy—especially since there's still the World Government behind it.
Now's the time to flatter the government, or else the position of Fleet Admiral that they promised might be lost—wouldn't be fun! At least, they should make the higher-ups think: "See? I've tried my best!"
...
"Brrr, Brrr, Brrr, Brrr, Brrr…"
On a ship heading to Water City, Vice-Admiral Saisu suddenly received a message from his subordinate, the Ensign, from the headquarters!
"Vice-Admiral Saisu, immediately return to the headquarters, lead your entire crew back now!"
Hearing the call from the Den Den Mushi, Saisu frowned and said, "What's going on?"
"There's no time to explain now. Just turn around and head back immediately!"
Indeed, it was the headquarters' Den Den Mushi. Reluctantly, Saisu ordered the ship to turn back. About fifty meters away, a soldier patrolling the ship's bow heard his order and his pupils flickered.
"Finally sensing it, huh? But it's already past the Justice Gate. Maybe it doesn't matter anymore!"
First, stop this ship from returning to the headquarters—no, it should be heading back inside the Justice Gate!
After finding a reason to leave temporarily, Grimm arrived at the ship's control room.
Meanwhile, Saisu entered a room alone and dialed the Den Den Mushi again, asking, "Admiral Sengoku, I'm now nearby and there's no one around. Can you tell me what's going on?"
Sengoku's voice was very cautious: "Vice-Admiral Saisu, be very careful. There might be soldiers disguised as enemies on your ship!"
"Check your crew immediately. This matter is too complicated to explain slowly. In short, there might be imposters among your crew, and they could be stronger than you. Be very careful."
"I understand!" After hanging up, Vice-Admiral Saisu fell silent for a few seconds, thinking.
They've infiltrated the enemy. If that's the case—does that mean the enemy first infiltrated Marineford and then sneaked onto his ship?
But first, he must enter Marineford's Marineford—what kind of person is he? How could he have such ability?
But no matter what he thought, he could only follow the orders from headquarters and temporarily stop sailing, returning there!
Saisu hurried out of the room, entered the deck's center, waved his hand, and ordered the Navy: "All personnel, prepare to change course and return to headquarters!"
The soldiers' instinct is to obey. Especially these personnel who have been rigorously trained in the Navy.
No one asked unnecessary questions. They quickly prepared to change course and head back.
But at this moment, outside the control room below the deck, a soldier entered—soon, he was stopped by the guard on duty, who asked, "What are you doing?"
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