More than a year has passed since the start of the full-scale war, and the navy's initial series of victories at sea have turned into a stalemate.
Although Sakazuki was there to oversee things, those pirates were no pushovers. A large number of pirates in the New World felt their living space was being squeezed and basically all went to the front lines.
This place is different from the pirates on the Grand Line or the Four Seas who can use a single ship as their base. They have territory, and if the Navy wants to wipe them out, they will definitely resist.
In a year, both sides had gone completely mad, and the whole new world was in complete chaos.
It's pretty much the same at headquarters; chaos is everywhere.
Kuro's side is similar. Kuro and his men only come back for supplies once in a long while, and they go off to war again after only a few days. Even Lida has made many trips in the past year.
For the past year, he had received no news from Straw Hat and Teach; it was as if they had vanished. Their base on Beehive Island was also empty, and he had no idea where Teach was.
The seas are chaotic, but Wano Country is still quite good. Although the battle is at a stalemate, it is inevitable in the course of war. As long as the war can be won, that's fine. Kuro will occasionally go down to deal with some ignorant pirates, but the ultimate goal is still to find Teach and the Straw Hat.
However, the phone call he received while he was resting was somewhat surprising.
Poseidon, the sea god...
Kuro knew who it was; the greatest mermaid princess, Shirahoshi, was Poseidon, one of the three great weapons.
But who would want to talk about this? The World Government is so crazy. If they knew this, the last World Conference wouldn't have been just Charlos capturing Shirahoshi alone. It would have been everyone going together to capture Shirahoshi.
But how was it discovered?
The Den Den Mushi said, "Those pirates passed by Fishman Island, wanting to capture Shirahoshi and start a war. However, they didn't expect that Shirahoshi would attract a large number of giant Sea Kings, wiping out all the pirates."
"ah..."
Kuro responded, "I see. Well, there's nothing we can do then. What are the plans from above?"
"Capture!"
The Den Den Mushi said, "Admiral, there's a plan to lure Princess Shirahoshi here during the World Conference and capture her. They participated last time, and they should participate again this time. This time, Sakazuki will lead the team and be responsible for 'escorting' Shirahoshi."
"Okay, I got it. Where is that Straw Hat Boy?"
"Um, I've only received the message that it appeared, but I'm not sure where it is yet."
"Okay, let me know when you get confirmation."
Kuro put down the microphone and leaned back. "It's finally here, but... we'll have to put it off for now."
The escort mission for the World Conference came first, and Kuro was not spared this time either. Although it was the same last time, the situation was different. Four years ago, the World Conference was not as intense as it is now. Now the entire sea is in turmoil, so most of the Navy needs to temporarily withdraw its main force to escort the kings to the conference.
If this had happened a year ago, right when the war started, Kuro definitely wouldn't have agreed, and Sakazuki probably wouldn't have either. That was the time when dogs were really out of their minds.
But now, with the battle at a stalemate, the Navy's battle lines are stretched too thin, making it difficult to make any rash moves. Meanwhile, the pirates have been forced to shrink their battle lines over the past year, leading them to no longer be confined to territory and instead adopt the traditional pirate methods.
You start with just one ship; everything else depends on robbing.
Given the pirates' superior mobility and ability to hide, the Navy currently has no effective solutions. Since they cannot gather together, they have reverted to the most traditional method of the Navy capturing pirates, resulting in a stalemate.
That's why the World Government decided to mobilize their navy to escort the kings at this World Conference.
The difference this time is that it's a large fleet escort, with each person in charge of a large fleet, combined with the nearby king to form the safest force.
The task assigned to Kuro was to meet with King David of Dressrosa, whom he was quite familiar with, as well as some other kings in the surrounding area who were qualified to attend the World Conference.
Led by Kuro himself, and assisted by his lieutenant generals, they headed to Mary Geoise.
Kuro wasn't too concerned about this kind of thing; he could let Kuro plan it, and he would just provide one person.
"General..."
Beside him, Bao Huang knelt, her small hand pressed against her temple, and said, "Lady Lida is back."
"Oh? You're back...?"
Kuro took a bite of his cigar and exhaled a puff of smoke.
Before long, the shoji screen was pushed and pulled, and Lida, still in the shape of a little girl, walked in excitedly, "Kurokuro! I'm back!"
The way she was acting made it seem like she was about to pounce on him.
Kuro raised an eyebrow and said, "Go wash your hands first. You haven't even washed the blood off your hands yet. What have you been doing!"
"ah..."
Lida stopped in her tracks and subconsciously looked at her hands, where there was indeed still blood on them.
"Oh, I ran into some pirates on my way back. They were a bit tough, so I got some blood on my hands," Lida said.
As a lieutenant general, and a powerful one at that, Lida would naturally go on the expedition. Kuro had already dealt with most of the major figures, so the rest of the nobodies were no problem. To prevent any accidents, Kuro also asked Moore to stay on Lida's ship so that he could take her with him if they encountered any danger. However, Kuro was proud that Lida hadn't made any mistakes in the past year and had basically returned successfully every time, with no one able to cause her any harm.
After all, it was on the high seas, and her ability to develop the power of Whitebeard's vibrations was unmatched on the ocean; few could rival her.
"Go take a shower first, then rest. We'll go to Mary Geoise in a while."
"Huh? Why are we going there again?"
"The World Conference has started, so it's a good time to take a break. We have a mission here."
"Oh," Lida replied and ran to wash her hands.
"Protect the Emperor, contact Kuro. If he hasn't returned, tell him to come back," Kuro said.
"Yes, Your Excellency General." Bao Huang responded and obediently retreated to make the contact.
Kuro exhaled another puff of smoke, pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed, "This is tough..."
It's that stupid thing again, the World Conference.
According to Kuro, this World Conference should not be held. With the war at this point, what's the point of holding a World Conference? It's useless to hold any conference until this war is over.
Kuro could foresee that the withdrawal of the main naval force would lead to another wave of chaos.
It seems like those above don't care much about this kind of thing. Their core base is definitely more important to them. The Celestial Dragons are more important than the member states, which are more important than pirates. As the Navy, we have to obey orders from them.
The lives of working people are just so tough.
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