Chapter 241: New Marineford

Secrets are most valuable only when they spread.

Saint Saint Saiwen deeply believed this.

After the Morning Star Group cadres pushed the matter layer by layer, Corazon accidentally learned: Ma Xieer D. Teach, a former Whitebeard crew member, was Rocks' son.

At first, Corazon didn't take it too seriously.

When he heard that Rocks was the old captain of Whitebeard, Shiki, Kaido, and Xia Luote Lingling, Corazon's first reaction was: This is fake news.

How could anyone be so fierce, actually the captain of four Emperors of the Sea?

Even more powerful than the Pirate King, Luo Jie.

Even more fierce than the current Morning Star Group.

Anyone with a little common sense should know that the World Government would never allow such a powerful person to exist.

If the news were true, the Rocks Pirates would have long since attacked the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.

However, adhering to the principle of believing it might be true rather than believing it might be false.

While patrolling the Inazuma seas, Corazon transmitted this news in encrypted form back to Navy Headquarters, leaving it to the Old Man to distinguish truth from falsehood.

As a Navy spy embedded in the Morning Star Group, Corazon actually quite liked his current life.

He witnessed the changes in Inazuma with his own eyes.

He even hoped that one day the Captain would promote the Inazuma model to the whole world, allowing all living beings of different races to eat their fill.

Therefore, he selectively passed on intelligence, choosing only those pieces of information that caused little harm to the Morning Star Group.

Sabaody Archipelago, Island 60.

Temporary Navy Headquarters.

Smoke filled the large conference room, where Navy high command, led by Sengoku, gathered together.

"Moving the Headquarters to the New World is a matter of great consequence; everyone, share your thoughts."

Sengoku understood that the Sabaody Archipelago was a complex web of power, involving not only the slave trade serving the Celestial Dragons but also serving as a gathering place for underworld intelligence.

It was unsuitable for the Navy to establish its Headquarters there.

But if the Headquarters were moved to the New World, the Navy would face the threat of the four Emperors of the Sea directly.

Akainu, smoking a cigar, said in a deep voice.

"G1 Branch firmly controls the entrance to the New World; I propose swapping the Headquarters with the G1 Branch,"

"In this way, the G1 Branch guards the Paradise fortress, while the Headquarters sits at the entrance to the New World."

"At the same time, rename the new Navy Headquarters to New Marineford, constantly reminding us not to forget the destruction of Marineford."

As soon as the words fell, the hawkish Navy officers cheered.

"Admiral Sakazuki's words are profound."

"The Great Pirates are all in the New World; establishing the Headquarters in Paradise is indeed a waste of talent."

"Yes, yes."

Seeing this, Sengoku rubbed his messy hair; the matter of moving the Navy Headquarters to the New World involved adjusting the Navy's strategic focus.

The gap between the first half and the second half of the Grand Line is so vast that even 'worlds apart' fails to depict it accurately.

In fact, what Sengoku worried about most was the hawkish Navy rashly launching a war against the Emperors of the Sea.

The last time they targeted an Emperor of the Sea, not only was the Headquarters Marineford destroyed, but the Navy was nearly broken in half.

Sengoku's peripheral vision swept over the Navy high command, hoping someone would raise a different opinion, however—

Kuzan sat with a gloomy face, silent.

Borsalino leisurely trimmed his nails.

Garp closed his eyes, sleeping soundly.

Zephyr sat expressionless.

Sengoku also saw that after the Battle of Marineford, the factional split within the Navy had become more severe than before.

The only thing worth celebrating was: old comrade Zephyr was no longer clamoring to create a New Navy, but was building a new faction within the Navy.

Better for the meat to rot in the pot than rot outside.

"Everyone, let's vote."

When he saw the vast majority of Navy high command raise their hands, Sengoku nodded: "I will report to the Five Elders for approval as soon as possible; Tsuru, you and Zephyr will lead the relocation work..."

Just then, the Den Den Mushi fax phone in Sengoku's pocket buzzed incessantly.

Sengoku hurriedly took out the codebook and deciphered the message his beloved son had risked his life to send back.

【Former Whitebeard crew member Ma Xieer D. Teach is Rocks' son...】

"Nani?!"

Cold sweat poured from Sengoku's forehead; the oppressive feeling brought by Rocks many years ago seemed to return all at once.

The only Admiral in Navy history to be killed was the work of Rocks' hand.

"Garp, Tsuru, Zephyr, Sakazuki, Kuzan, Borsalino, stay; everyone else, go prepare for the relocation work immediately."

After the group of Navy officers left one by one, Sengoku finally spoke.

"Xiao Mi Guo risked his life to send back intelligence; the Morning Star Group seems to be searching for Rocks' son, the former Whitebeard Pirates intern Ma Xieer D. Teach."

Garp finally opened his eyes.

"Rocks' son? Is the news true?"

Just as he was both enemy and friend to Luo Jie, Garp actually quite admired Rocks' character.

Back then at God Valley, Garp and Luo Jie joined forces to defeat the demonized Rocks; the first sentence Rocks spoke after regaining consciousness was—

【Luo Jie, Garp, run quickly; you cannot die here!】

Facing the scum of the World Government, true heroes have no division of stance.

Karp never expected Rocks' son to still be alive, let alone to have once been an intern of the Whitebeard Pirates.

"It should be correct." Sengoku trusted the intelligence Xiao Mi Guo had risked his life to deliver.

Karp picked his nose: "Should the grudges of the previous generation implicate the next?"

If the Navy and the World Government were determined to target Rocks' son, Karp had to re-examine: was the path arranged for Ace in the future viable?

If the World Government had not let go of Rocks over so many years in the past, then Luo Jie's son Ace...

Huh? Karp suddenly realized: Luo Jie's son is Buggy, what does that have to do with Ace?

Barzab... could this be something you planned from the very beginning?

The three Admirals Akainu, Aokiji, and Kizaru, knowing little about Rocks, offered no opinion.

Vice Admiral Tsuru put down her pen: "Report it to the World Government and leave the decision to the Five Elders."

Zephyr spoke to vote, a rare occurrence: "I agree with Little Tsuru's proposal; the Navy's recent focus should be moving the Navy Headquarters to the New World."

"Let the World Government worry about such matters."

Previously, Zephyr offered no opinion because he had lost all hope in the Navy and was determined to leave to establish a New Navy.

Speaking now was a struggle for the right to speak.

For Zephyr to protect the growing New Navy led by Enel and Smoker, having a voice within the Navy was indispensable.

Even if he had to cast aside this old face, he must persist until Enel and the others became Navy Vice Admirals.

"Very well." Sengoku nodded.

"Everyone get back to work."

After a brief preparation, Sengoku faxed the revised application to move the Navy Headquarters and the intelligence on Rocks' son to Saint Saturn.

"A turbulent season indeed."

In just one short year, the Battle of Marineford, Wano becoming a World Government member nation, Barzab becoming Saint Saint Saint Saiwen, the Four Emperors of the Sea, and the Saint Saint Saiwen Warlords...

A few days ago, the Navy fleet escorting the Celestial Gold was hijacked... the true culprit has yet to be found.

Now, Rocks' son has appeared again.

For some reason, Sengoku always felt a giant hand behind him pushing this step forward.