Settsetse! The Pirate Nemesis

"I'm sorry, we couldn't be of much help," Dr. Vincent said somewhat apologetically. "Mr. Sett and Mr. Hawkeye helped Frivans so much, and we couldn't do anything..."

"It's nothing," Sett said nonchalantly. "Where are your daughter and wife?"

"They are still unable to get out of bed, but with the new medical supplies, their condition can be greatly alleviated. And...we have also received new aid."

"?"

Just as Sett was still wondering, Morgans leaped down from the sky. Dressed in a reporter's outfit, Morgans grinned and said, "The Flevans affair is a huge scandal for the World Government! Big news! Reporter Morgans loves big news!!"

"It's a real loss for the World Government that they didn't shoot you."

Upon hearing Morgans' words, Sett nodded with an understanding look.

The world government of this world can be said to have a very unfortunate fate. Sett didn't even want to think about what would happen to public opinion if the matter of Flevance were reported.

They just silently like it, or even fan the flames from behind.

--------------

Let me make this very serious: this is outrageous! While 2k words isn't long, my update frequency is very high, okay? Seriously, Eagle God has raised the update speed to a level that doesn't belong to Qidian! 2k words per chapter is my physical limit; anything more than that would be a genetic mutation!

127. Naval Routine Meeting

"What...what's going on?!"

At Naval Headquarters, Sengoku slammed the newspaper onto the table with a look of despair.

The newspaper headline read: "Former Celestial Dragon Doflamingo, in collusion with CP9, spread rumors and maliciously blocked Flevans, causing widespread suffering and death among the people."

"Shocking! Some things Flevans had to say!!!"

"Bounty hunter supernova Sett destroys the Donquixote Family, upholding justice and honor!!"

"Let bounty hunters save the world? The Navy? Where is the Navy?!"

And most importantly: "What are the Seven Warlords of the Sea? Why is Sett chasing after the Seven Warlords?"

"What? I thought it was something serious."

Leaning back in his chair, eating senbei, Garp, whose white hair had increased again, said nonchalantly, "What? I think this is perfectly normal. On the contrary, it's a great job." As he spoke, he saw in the newspaper that Sett had chosen to distribute all the stored supplies to others after defeating the Donquixote Family, and he laughed heartily with satisfaction.

"I thought this kid was planning to double-cross me for some money! I didn't expect him to just give it away for free like that! Brother Zefa, your student is really great! He's just my type, hahaha!!!"

"..." Zephyr rubbed his temples, looking like he had a headache—he had originally planned to talk to Sengoku and the others about Sett during this routine meeting. But the atmosphere... the atmosphere was a bit off.

Just as Zephyr was about to say something, Vice Admiral Tsuru, after a moment of contemplation, said with some emotion, "This young man named Sett... although he is a bit simple-minded, his love for the Navy is genuine."

"That's true." Sengoku nodded, a hint of regret in his eyes, and said, "It's a pity we couldn't recruit him into the Navy. Otherwise, the Navy would have had another supernova officer! ...No! That's not what we're discussing! We're discussing the negative impact of this public opinion!!"

Sengoku said somewhat angrily, "Any soldier with even a little affection for the Navy wouldn't dislike Sett. Because what Sett does are things they want to do, but are inconvenient to do or dare not do."

Carrying the red flag while opposing the red flag is more deserving of death than directly opposing the red flag. As members of the world government system, even if they have some dissatisfaction with some of the world government's policies, they have no right to say anything.

But Sett is different. Sett gives them the feeling of being a purer version of themselves, saying what they want to say but dare not say, and doing what they want to do but dare not do.

"The Seven Warlords of the Sea Plan... This is indeed not the right time to let the common people hear about it."

Upon hearing Sengoku's words, Vice Admiral Tsuru nodded gently in agreement.

"It's one thing for us to oppose the Seven Warlords of the Sea plan, but it's another thing for others to know about it... Sett is currently riding high, so it's best if others don't know about the Seven Warlords of the Sea plan. Otherwise, not only the World Government, but also the reputation of our Navy will be affected."

"On this point... I do have something to say."

Zephyr raised his hand, a hint of hesitation in his eyes. Zephyr's action surprised Sengoku and the others. Garp, especially, with a senbei dangling from his mouth, widened his eyes and exclaimed, "Hey! Zephyr, you've finally said something!"

Yes, ever since his family was killed by pirates, Zephyr's fighting spirit seemed to have been extinguished. He stopped going out to sea to hunt pirates and instead spent his time training new recruits with a depressed attitude. He would still attend routine naval meetings, but he rarely spoke, let alone made any constructive comments.

Feeling the curious gazes of the crowd, Zephyr paused, then said somewhat strangely, "In fact, the number of people signing up to join the Navy has increased recently."

Upon hearing this, Vice Admiral Tsuru and Admiral Sengoku exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes—since the Great Pirate Era, countless people had dreamed of freely choosing to join the ranks of pirates. In contrast, the number of Marines enlisting had plummeted... It was only because of their massive existing fanbase that things seemed to be going well...

“...explain in detail.”

Sengoku stared intently at Zephyr, knowing that this concerned the future of the Navy!

—In response, Zephyr said, “I asked my students in this class, and many of them were influenced by Sett and wanted to change the Navy from the inside out, change the world, and decided to dedicate themselves to justice, which is why they joined the Navy.”

"Among them... there are some who are dissatisfied with the World Government."

'...'

When they heard the first part of the speech, Sengoku and the others felt somewhat pleased, but when they heard that there were people who were dissatisfied with the World Government, they immediately realized that this matter was not as simple as it seemed on the surface.

"That really is... a headache."

Vice Admiral Tsuru rubbed his temples and said, "If the Five Elders find out, it won't be as simple as just a demotion. However... it's a fact that the number of people enlisting in the Navy is decreasing. Maintaining the balance will be the key issue we need to address next."

After a pause, Lieutenant General Tsuru said, "I'll draft a plan later... We must handle this carefully, otherwise, whether we disperse them to various branches or bring them together for training, it could lead to disaster!"

"……Um!"

Sengoku, who was standing to the side, nodded in agreement.

Influenced by Sett, those dissatisfied with the World Government began to branch out from all becoming pirates to becoming bounty hunters, while others chose to join the Navy in an attempt to bring about change from within. Those who became bounty hunters can be ignored, but those who joined the Navy must be carefully dealt with… otherwise, in addition to the conflict between hawks and doves, the Navy might also develop a Sett faction… or some other strange entity like the Wolverine faction.

Useless internal strife is something that all organizations, regardless of size, need to avoid, and only a meticulous and thoughtful general like Tsuru can put Sengoku at ease handling it... In any case, Garp should be the one to handle it.

If that guy handles it, the news of Garp drinking with Sett will probably be in the papers the next day...

"Speaking of which, why did even Borsalino get involved?"

Sengoku said wearily, "Wasn't he on vacation? Why is he in Flevans?"

"This has nothing to do with Borsalino."

Vice Admiral Tsuru, who was standing nearby, said, "He received a request for help and went to bring CP9 back... The World Government is probably going to have a headache."

As he spoke, he paused, and a slightly helpless yet kind and gentle smile appeared on Lieutenant General Tsuru's face: "This little Seti is really something. He's so young, yet he's stirred up such a mess on the entire sea."

--------

I'm going to grab a bite to eat... I'll get back to writing when I get back.

128. A Transfer Order

In the conference room, while Sengoku and the others were still discussing how to deal with the new recruits, on the other side, Sakazuki, who had rushed back from various places, glanced at Kuzan beside him, his eyes filled with calm.

As things stand, there are no ideological conflicts between them. Both are candidates for general, though from different factions, and their interactions are primarily aimed at getting to know each other.

“Speaking of which… if I remember correctly, the concept you originally endorsed was ‘Burning Justice’…” As they walked toward the conference room, Sakazuki asked casually, “Why has it changed like this?”

Kuzan, who once followed Garp, also yearned for burning justice. At that time, Sakazuki had high hopes for Kuzan, believing that his passionate drive could help him make the seas more peaceful and eradicate all evil.

However, at some point, Kuzan began to become inexplicably silent. This was a complete contrast to the enthusiastic guy he used to be—could it be that Devil Fruits can affect a person's emotions?

After a moment of silence, Kuzan glanced at Sakazuki beside him, shook his head, and walked into the conference room without saying a word.

Ohara changed not only the fates of the scholars on the island and Robin's fate, but also greatly influenced Kuzan's own destiny...

Upon entering the conference room, Kizaru was already seated—as the fastest man, Kizaru was always the first to arrive, then waited silently for the meeting to end so he could leave without saying a word, truly a model of a hard-working individual.

Even now, listening to Sengoku and the others' discussions, Kizaru's face was full of indifference—even as a candidate for admiral, Kizaru still acted as if he didn't care about anything. He simply went about his duties methodically, never doing anything unnecessary.

However, in a sense, this is precisely why the Five Elders and other high-ranking officials of the World Government have high hopes for Kizaru... After all, working in the World Government, sometimes the more you do, the more mistakes you make. Doing nothing is better than doing nothing at all.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Sengoku pushed the newspaper forward.

"You've all probably heard about Sett's situation..."

“Yes, I’ve seen it.” Sakazuki nodded, then said, “I think he did the right thing. Whoever commits a crime should be imprisoned… no, even immediate execution wouldn’t be a problem! This would at least greatly curb this damned Great Pirate Era!”

"..."

Sakazuki's words didn't surprise anyone—it was no secret that Sakazuki favored Sett within the Marine Headquarters. In fact, most of the Marine Headquarters' officers, especially the hawks, held goodwill towards Sett. This was especially true of the high-ranking officers who knew about the Shichibukai plan…they absolutely did not want this so-called Shichibukai plan to come to fruition.

In contrast, Sakazuki was merely the only high-ranking officer candidate who openly expressed support for Sett's remarks. The number of officers who secretly supported him, though remaining silent, was unknown to anyone.

In the past, they would discuss these things privately. For example, Moria, and other great pirates. Sett's outrageous remarks after defeating them had many supporters within the Navy.

But this time is different. This time, even in private discussions, they will remain tight-lipped. The reason is quite simple...

"Even Celestial Dragons should..."

"Enough!!"

Seeing that Sakazuki was about to say something more, Sengoku quickly reprimanded him.

Although Sakazuki didn't say anything more, his meaning was undoubtedly clear. In fact, even just the words "Celestial Dragons" conveyed Sakazuki's true intention.

After a long silence, Sengoku shook his head. "This is not something we can discuss... Let's talk about something else."

"Ah."

The others nodded. Sensing their distracted expressions, Sengoku sighed inwardly—the Celestial Dragons' noble birth was an indisputable fact. Based on that, Sengoku desperately wished the Celestial Dragons could live their entire lives in Mary Geoise, ideally never venturing out, to avoid causing so much trouble…

Let's change the subject.

Sengoku thought to himself, then saw Kizaru's nonchalant expression—this guy always slacked off like this in any meeting. While it might not seem particularly annoying, for the moment, he was indeed a good distraction!

Thinking this, Sengoku narrowed his eyes and then asked, "Speaking of which... Kizaru, what was the meaning behind those words you said?"

"Huh? Mine? My words?"

To be honest, Kizaru has been so absent-minded during meetings that he's practically developed the ability to sleep with his eyes open.

"this."

Sengoku opened the newspaper and turned the page. The headline read: "Shocking! Navy Admiral Candidate Wants to Resign and Become a Pirate!"

"Shocking! A candidate for admiral actually wants to sleep with himself!"

"Shocking! The admiral candidate is impotent in that area!"

"Shocking! A Marine Admiral openly claims he can't subdue the Celestial Dragons!"

"..."

Silence fell, then Kizaru stood up abruptly; "Who wrote this?! Which newspaper?!"

"The World Economic News... is a reporter named Morgans."

Taking a deep breath, Sengoku's face was filled with despair; "If I am guilty, arrest me. Don't make me lead a junior naval officer like you, a candidate for admiral!"

"really……"