Chapter 625: Navy Mobilization

Navy Headquarters, Marineford, Navy conference room.

After Kuzan hung up the phone, he walked straight toward the conference room.

Inside the conference room were all the prominent figures of the Navy.

Navy Admirals: Sakazuki, Borsalino, Fujitora.

Admiral Candidates: Gion, Tokikake.

Navy Vice Admirals: Momonga, Onigumo, Strawberry, Doberman, Smoker, Hina...

Retired personnel: Former Navy Vice Admiral and Navy Hero—Garp, former Navy Fleet Admiral—Sengoku.

Except for the Giant Vice Admirals, almost all of the Navy's high-end combat power had arrived, which shows how much the Navy values this operation.

"Gentlemen, since the Navy's founding, we have been fighting against pirates. Now, we have finally ushered in the opportunity to completely eradicate them."

"The Whitebeard Pirates, the BIG MOM Pirates, the Beast Pirates, and the Red Hair Pirates have already become a thing of the past."

"Bounties have been increased, and bounty hunters have helped the Navy eliminate those small-fry pirates."

"The Adventurer Guild has provided another path for those forced to become pirates."

"However, pirates can never be killed off completely, because there will never be a shortage of evil people in this world, and pirates can never completely disappear."

"But, we absolutely will not allow the appearance of the next Pirate King!"

The Navy officers present were slightly stunned; hadn't one already appeared?

Kuzan seemed to guess what they were thinking and said with a smile: "The Pirate King I am referring to is the Pirate King who started the Great Pirate Era."

Oh! So that's how it is.

"Therefore, we must bring the currently prominent Straw Hat Pirates to justice as a warning to others!"

Smoker nodded thoughtfully, then raised his hand with a serious expression.

"Vice Admiral Smoker, speak."

"Fleet Admiral Kuzan, the World Government and the Navy are no longer one entity, right?"

"That's correct. Now, the World Government is the World Government, and the Navy is the Navy."

"Since that's the case, the Straw Hat crew doesn't seem to have committed any major sins! Moreover, as far as I know, the Straw Hat crew doesn't seem to be pure pirates. No matter how famous they are, I've never heard of them attacking towns or plundering treasures, if we ignore the fact that he attacked Impel Down..."

Sakazuki immediately snorted coldly: "Vice Admiral Smoker, are you saying we should let them off?"

Smoker shook his head: "No, I mean that the Navy might not need to hunt them to the end, but rather adopt another approach. Admiral Akainu, you are the president of the Adventurer Guild; don't you think the Straw Hat crew looks a lot like adventurers?"

"I..." Sakazuki just wanted to refute, but then he couldn't speak and fell into deep thought.

Setting aside the colored filter toward pirates, the Straw Hat crew is indeed not a group of heinous villains, especially after the Navy and the World Government severed ties.

At this moment, the corners of Kuzan's mouth lifted slightly, but he quickly restrained it and put on a serious look.

"Smoker's words are not without reason, but the arrow is on the string and must be fired. Whether to hunt the Straw Hat crew to the end depends on how this Pirate King chooses."

"If he is willing to cooperate with us, heh heh, it's not impossible for us to work together."

"Does anyone else have any opinions? Speak up now! Otherwise, it will be meaningless to talk about it when it's time to set off."

The Hawk faction generals looked at Sakazuki in unison, but the latter showed no reaction, so they had no choice but to nod. Since the opinion leader had no objections, what objections could they have?

Actually, it wasn't that Sakazuki had no opinion, but his opinion wasn't about how to hunt the Straw Hat crew to the end.

Since becoming the president of the Adventurer Guild, his perspective on things had changed.

Before, he was just an employee; he hit wherever the boss pointed. Even if he could offer an opinion, it was basically ignored. At that time, he always thought the boss was an idiot, but only after becoming a boss himself could he understand the boss's hidden difficulties.

Sengoku: Huh?

After Kuzan's reminder, Sakazuki thought that if the Straw Hat boy could be used by him, perhaps the prestige of the Adventurer Guild could reach an even higher level.

But he hadn't figured out exactly how to use him yet, but one thing was certain: the Straw Hat boy was more useful alive than dead.

Seeing that no one was speaking, Kuzan nodded with satisfaction: "Very well, since everyone has no objections, let's set off!"

"Vice Admiral T-Bone, I'll leave it to you."

T-Bone saluted seriously: "Yes, Fleet Admiral Kuzan."

Ten minutes later, an unremarkable warship took off from the Crescent Moon Bay port, carrying a ship full of high-end combat power capable of shaking the entire world.

"Damn Garp, this time we're going to deal with your grandson, why do you look so happy?"

Garp rolled his eyes and picked his nose in passing: "At least you were a Navy Fleet Admiral before; didn't you hear what Kuzan said just now? As long as that brat Luffy admits defeat, it'll be fine."

"But, will he really admit defeat? Although I don't know much about him, no matter how I look at it, he has inherited the stubbornness of the Monkey family. You're his grandfather, don't you know at least that much?"

Garp fell silent immediately. After a long while, he said slowly: "If that's the case, then I will personally make him admit defeat. Things have reached this point; there's no room for willfulness anymore..."

At this moment, Garp's expression was calm, and the trace of seriousness in his eyes made even Sengoku look at him sideways.

As Garp's friend of many years, he knew it all too well: this time, the old man Garp was truly getting serious.

"Yeah, perhaps you should have done this a long time ago."

"Sigh..." ===== CHAPTER 627 =====