Kuro walked straight into the Marshal's office through the wide-open door and saw Sakazuki sitting at the desk. "You wanted to see me?"
Sakazuki, who was smoking a cigar, raised his head high when he saw Kuro enter, looking quite arrogant.
If Kuro hadn't known that this guy always had that expression, he would have turned around and left immediately, because it looked like he was about to get scolded.
"Kuro, you're here."
He nodded, flicked a document forward, and Kuro reached out, causing the document to float up and land gently in his hand.
"What is this? Redhead? Teach?"
At first glance, Kuro saw the name on the document and then frowned.
The contents of the document seem to indicate that Red Hair caused trouble in Teach's territory, a place called 'Asteria'.
The document states that two of these three countries originally flew Teach's flag, but due to Shanks' intervention, one country is gradually falling, while the other, not wanting to be drawn into the war between two Yonko, has secretly contacted the World Government, seeking to become a member state.
"so..."
Kuro sat down in a nearby chair, lit a cigar, and carefully examined the document. He exhaled a puff of smoke, his expression turning serious: "Are we going to war with Shanks?"
"No..."
Sakazuki said in a deep voice, "The higher-ups don't want it to escalate into a full-scale war. We want to make contact with the country that wants to become a member state, and let the Red-Haired Pirates fight their own battles."
Kuro frowned, deep in thought.
As long as a fight doesn't break out, that's fine. After all, this should be the Navy's initiative to break into the Four Emperors' territory, which could easily turn into a full-scale operation. If a fight does break out, it will be a battle between the Navy and the pirates. It's unknown whether Teach will team up with Shanks. Kaido and Big Mom are currently in Wano Country and might make a move. Moreover, there are other pirates on the high seas. Once they discover that the Navy has mobilized in full force, they won't just stand by and watch.
But if we don't send out the whole force, then we have to pick a few strong ones to go... wait, pick the strong ones?
Just as he had a bad feeling, Sakazuki said, "Kuro, go there."
"ah?"
Kuro looked up at Sakazuki in surprise, "Me?"
"Yes, I'm talking about you."
Sakazuki said in a deep voice, "The Navy is not suitable to mobilize in full for this matter. You go and see what's going on, meet with the king of that country, and while you're at it, check the intelligence on Shanks' side. It would be best if you could capture him."
No, what do you mean by that?
You think too highly of me, don't you?
I'm going to capture one of the Four Emperors? Why don't I just go and attack Mary Geoise?!
"No, this matter, Admiral Kizaru..."
"Borsalino has other matters to attend to right now, you'll have to go." Sakazuki was ruthless and didn't mince words with Kuro, directly interrupting him.
Kuro smirked, knowing he couldn't bargain with Sakazuki; there was no point in trying.
Seeing Sakazuki's serious expression, Kuro sighed helplessly, "Alright, I'll go."
It's just to provide support to a country, not to actually fight Shanks. Teach is probably hiding somewhere and won't show up.
“Yes, right now, you're the only one at headquarters qualified to do that,” Sakazuki nodded.
Kuro twitched the corner of his mouth, said nothing, and walked outside.
Watching Kuro leave, he exhaled, his expression inscrutable, and murmured, "This is the limit of what I can do."
There's really nothing right now that would motivate Kuro to get involved, otherwise he wouldn't have been idle for so long, especially with Borsalino still around. If you want Kuro to gain more seniority and merit, you'd have to find something to do. If the position of general were vacant, it wouldn't be so complicated.
Borsalino's influence is already declining, and he must find a way to increase Kuro's influence so that he can smoothly take over. After all, it has been half a year since he decided to step down.
The power of 'Sword,' the power of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, all rested on Clow Reed's shoulders. Six months of preparation, coupled with Borsalino's deliberate downplaying of his influence, had brought him to the brink of power; he was just one step away from achieving it. And with this latest operation...
Sakazuki picked up the Den Den Mushi, dialed the number, and said, "Prepare a ship for me to go to Mary Geoise!"
...
"I knew it!"
After leaving Sakazuki's place, Kuro couldn't help but say something.
Sakazuki's visit to him was definitely not good news, but Kuro found himself not too surprised by it.
He was a lieutenant general, or a candidate for general. Once he reached that position, there was no escaping the duties he was supposed to perform.
It doesn't matter who goes; if he doesn't go, someone else still has to go.
In a situation where there's a possibility of dealing with Shanks, Fujitora and Green Bull have missions to fulfill, and if the old man doesn't go, then there's basically no one else left.
"Ugh, after a few months of peace, this kind of mess still happens..."
Kuro shook his head in distress. Fortunately, Sakazuki didn't say that he necessarily had to go to war with Shanks. His goal was simply to protect the country that wanted to join the World Government and keep it from being destroyed.
After walking into his office, Kuro sat down and smoked a cigar for a while before saying to Chloe, "Tell me about the specific situation in Astrea, not about that emperor, but about the current state of affairs."
"Yes, Mr. Kuro."
Kro nodded and said, "Asteria was originally a unified kingdom, but more than ten years ago, the prince who was originally going to inherit the throne died of illness. The old king only had this one son, and the news of the prince's death saddened the old king, who also passed away. With no heir to the royal family, the nobles of Astrea refused to submit to each other, and eventually split into three major noble camps, dividing Astrea into three countries: the Duchy of Sema, the Duchy of Felton, and the Duchy of Faya. The Duchy of Sema is in the northwest, the Duchy of Felton is in the northeast, and the Duchy of Faya occupies the entire southern part of Astrea."
"These three countries were originally Whitebeard's sphere of influence. After Whitebeard died, Blackbeard usurped them. However, the Principality of Faya took the opportunity to become independent and did not fly the Blackbeard flag. But Blackbeard didn't seem to care and did not pursue the matter."
Upon hearing this, Kuro nodded. The country they were to contact on the document was the Principality of Faya.
“That red-haired bastard has come to Astia and taken over that Felton Duchy. Now the Faya Duchy is coming here to help. Kuro, prepare the ship, we’re going.” Kuro said.
"Red hair?"
Kro was taken aback, then said gravely, "Are we going to start a war with Shanks?"
"What war? Is he so bored that he wants to fight me? Isn't he going to find that idiot Teach?!"
Kuro rolled his eyes. "We're just going to take a look. Shanks is targeting the Principality of Felton, while we're going to contact the Principality of Faya. We're not on the same path. Given that guy's habits, he probably won't take the initiative to invade a neutral country."
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