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  .....

  To be ho, Smoker's idea greatly appealed to Zephyr.

  But this wasn’t something he could decide on his own.

  "Smoker, don’t rush this..."

  "I’ll discuss it with Sengoku and Tsuru first. Once everything is prepared, you proceed."

  Smoker nodded. "There are already plenty of sve traders in the Sabaody Archipeght? Maybe I could infiltrate them and gather some intel first..."

  "Absolutely not!" Zephyr’s expression darkened.

  "Sabaody Archipego is way too close to Marine Headquarters. Do you think the Disciplinary Iion Unit is blind?"

  "Don’t let a little cleverness make you reckless! Without Tsuru’s approval, you’d be dragged back here within ten days!"

  Smoker fell silent, unsure how to respond.

  Zephyr tinued, "Your pn may be feasible, but it’s far from ready. If Sengoku and Tsuru don’t approve, you absolutely ove forward."

  Smoker frowned. "And if they disagree?"

  Zephyr waved dismissively. "That’s not your !"

  "Garp, Sengoku, Tsuru, and I have known each other since we were recruits. Not many from eioill alive, and our bond isn’t something you imagine."

  He paused for a moment, then sighed. "Fine... I’ll give you some background, so you don’t act impulsively."

  Smoker raised an eyebrow. "Background?"

  "First, the four of us arely fans of the Wover. The only reason Sengoku became an admiral is that he’s the best at pying the part."

  "What?!" Smoker was shocked.

  "Sed, the gover doesn’t trust us. They’ve pnted spies all over the Navy. There was even aire squad of undercents once, which forced the Navy’s most promising rising star—someoh unparalleled maritime skills and a prestigious lio leave."

  "It doesn’t stop there. Even high-ranking officers have spies among them! When I first proposed self-funding for the Navy, something ‘ued’ happened right after. And there weren’t many people at that meeting..."

  Smoker asked, "Didn’t you iigate?"

  Zephyr shook his head helplessly. "Of course I did. But there was no trace of evidence. When it es to intelligehe Navy is leagues behind CP (Cipher Pol)."

  "And third—most importantly—you must not, under any circumstances, let Fleet Admiral Kong find out about this!"

  Smoker’s eyes widened. "What?!"

  "Kong is a gover loyalist through and through. He follows their orders without question."

  "But isn’t Sengoku the same way?"

  Zephyr chuckled. "ly. We ’t all ighe gover, we? Sengoku pys that role because he’s the ‘weakest’ among us."

  Smoker blinked. "The weakest? Admiral Sengoku?"

  It didn’t surprise him that Garp could best Sengoku; after all, Garp was the Navy’s legendary hero.

  Zephyr defeating Sengoku wasn’t impossible either.

  But Tsuru?

  That was hard to believe.

  No wonder she could chase someone as ing and dangerous as Dofmingo like he was nothing more than a stray chi.

  Zephyr crified, "Who said I was talking about strength?"

  "Then... what did you mean?"

  "Drinking," Zephyr said matter-of-factly.

  "Wait... Tsuru outdrank you all?"

  Zephyr smirked. "The three of us passed out. She was the one whed us all back."

  "..."

  After this versation, both Smoker and Zephyr silently agreed not t up the idea of selling pirates again.

  The mission had beeful, full of twists and turns.

  Although dealing with the detestable Celestial Dragons had been unpleasant, at least they hadn’t turned hostile toward the Navy.

  On the way back, the crew felt rexed. Even Zephyr seemed to be in a better mood.

  But their peace was short-lived.

  An urge arrived, breaking the calm.

  A Navy messenger found Smoker and handed him a sealed order.

  After reading it, Smoker’s expression turo one of shock.

  The messenger saluted.

  "Captain Smoker, please head to Admiral Zephyr’s ship immediately."

  "Uood!"

  Smoker made his way to Zephyr's fgship, striding fidently into the and room.

  Despite how Zephyr often rexed aboard Smoker’s ship for fort, there was no denying that his own warship was far more advanced and powerful.

  As a captain, Smoker anded a mid-sized vessel, carrying around a hundred crew members.

  In trast, Admiral Zephyr’s fgship was a massive battleship with a full plement of 1,000 crew members—ships of this css were typically used during Buster Call operations.

  anding such a vessel required at least a senior vice admiral.

  When Smoker arrived, the and room was already bustling.

  Whenever an admiral set sail, they would usually be apanied by several vice admirals.

  However, sihis rimarily a training mission for recruits, Zephyr had brought only a few instructors along.

  After a short wait, everyohered.

  Zephyr spoke up, "Alright, let’s begin! Notis, give us the details."

  Notis, a rear admiral wearing dark sungsses, responded promptly. "Yes, sir!" He stepped to the front, holding a stack of dots.

  "Everyone, something major happened retly. Due to its sensitive nature, it wasn’t publicly announced.

  "But now that the situation has been resolved—and it directly retes to our uping mission—we’re bringing you up to speed."

  "Eleven days ago, several notorious pirates in the New World, each with bounties in the billions, spired to form an alliahey inteo create a massive pirate fleet!"

  "What?!"

  Everyone except Zephyr was stunned.

  Pirates with billion-berrie bounties?

  Such figures were virtually untouchable for an average vice admiral. Only an admiral or a massive deployment of forces could hope to deal with them.

  Notis tinued, "Let me introduce these pirates." He pinned several wanted posters to the board.

  "The ringleader: Wang Zhi, ruler of Beehive Isnd, with the Isnd-Isnd Fruit ability. Bounty: 1.832 billion berries.

  "The sed group: The Treasure Pirates, led by Captain John, the Bomb-Bomb Fruit user, with a bounty of 1.318 billion berries. His vice-captain, Silver Axe Red Mountain, a Silver-Silver Fruit user, has a bounty of 1.01 billion berries.

  "The third group: The Ruin Pirates, led by Crusher Cruz, a former member of the Golden Lion Pirates and a Smash-Smash Fruit user. Bounty: 1.01 billion berries. His vice-captain, Fire Flower, the former queen of Amazon Lily and renowned for having the stro Haki among female pirates, has a bounty of 1.2 billion berries."

  The room collectively gasped.

  If these groups successfully uheir fleet would boast five pirates with bounties over 1 billion berries!

  Even an admiral might struggle to tain them.

  Smoker rubbed his as he stared at the wanted posters.

  "This feels like a reunion of Rocks Pirates alumni," he muttered, noting the deliberate omission of Rocks D. Xebeame in the briefing. Clearly, his existence was being iionally erased.

  Raising his hand, Smoker asked, "This happened over ten days ago... What’s the current status?"

  "Pirates betray each other all the time. Surely this alliance hasn’t gone smoothly, right?"

  "Exactly," Notis replied, spping another photo onto the board.

  "Big Mom, fearing this alliance might threaten her own power, leaked the meeting’s time and location to the Navy!"

  The room erupted into murmurs of astonishment.

  Smoker couldn’t help but grin to himself, raising an invisible thumbs-up.

  Cssic Big Mom. Well pyed.

  .....

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