He's in One Piece, but he's also part of the Phantom Troupe.

Chapter 23 Naval Supreme Council

Marine Headquarters, Marineford.

Inside the top floor of the headquarters tower.

Almost all the key figures at the heart of naval power today gathered around a round table for a sensational meeting.

Fleet Admiral Sengoku, the Supreme Commander of the Navy, sat with his arms folded at the head of the round table.

In the lower right corner, Akainu Sakazuki, Aokiji Kuzan, and Kizaru Borsalino, the three admirals representing the Navy's highest combat power, sit side by side.

In the lower left corner, Vice Admiral Tsuru, the "Chief of Staff" of the Navy Headquarters, sits upright.

"Click—"

"Click—"

A slightly incongruous clicking sound came from the empty room.

A few veins appeared on Sengoku's forehead. Seeing this, General Tsuru glanced at his watch.

"How long has it been?"

"An hour has passed..."

"That bastard Garp!" Sengoku roared, his teeth itching with hatred.

"Where has he been gallivanting off to this time?!"

Vice Admiral Tsuru remained expressionless, clearly accustomed to Garp's eccentricities.

"I just contacted his adjutant via Den Den Mushi; apparently, he's going to the New World to cause trouble for Whitebeard..."

"Click—click—"

Sengoku's forehead veins bulged, and he first glanced at Borsalino with displeasure, then said helplessly:

"He didn't go looking for trouble with Whitebeard; I think he went to visit his godson..."

"I heard Ace joined the Whitebeard Pirates."

Lieutenant General Tsuru nodded. "Knowing his personality, I guess he's going to check if Ace has been bullied..."

Zhan Guo rubbed his forehead, looking somewhat troubled, and said:

"Those are pirates, we should at least avoid suspicion..."

"Forget it, let's not wait for him, let's have a meeting."

"Click—click—"

The veins on Sengoku's forehead bulged to their limit, and he couldn't help but roar in fury:

"Borsalino! Could you please stop the nail clipping sound for a second?!"

"How scary, how scary! The old man is angry!"

Borsalino raised his hands, looking completely innocent.

He then quietly put away his nail clippers, lowered his legs off the back of the chair, and pretended to listen.

"......."

What terrible things did he do to deserve such a group of subordinates?!

Sengoku took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and slowly addressed the group:

"You've heard about it, haven't you?"

Sakazuki nodded first and began to speak:

"The Celestial Gold presented by the Kingdom of Sobel to the Celestial Dragons was lost during the loading process on the shore..."

Sakazuki's expression was serious:

"The last time such a heinous incident occurred was nine years ago, and the person involved was... Doflamingo."

Sengoku first nodded, then shook his head.

"These two incidents are completely different in nature. First of all, Doflamingo's identity is special; he himself is God..."

"Cough, he didn't really want to steal the Celestial Gold. He just wanted to use it to negotiate with the World Government and get the status of 'Shichibukai'."

"In other words... that theft was controllable, the target was known. But this incident is completely different."

Sengoku took out several document bags containing the complete account of the incident and pushed them in front of the group.

The group picked it up and began to examine it carefully.

"So that's why the old man was irritable. I thought it was because I was cutting his nails~"

...It's because you cut your nails!

"Well, didn't we leave two boats behind?"

Borsalino looked like it was no big deal.

Seeing that the Warring States' death gaze was directed at him, he immediately changed his tune, realizing the situation was dire:

"Yo yo yo~ Stealing the heavenly treasure... You've got some nerve! Young people these days are really scary~"

Borsalino made an exaggerated expression.

Sengoku ignored Borsalino's usual sarcastic remarks and sighed.

Actually, the loss of the gold in the sky had absolutely nothing to do with him.

However, the World Government pressured the Navy to investigate the truth of the matter, arrest the suspects, and give the Celestial Dragons an explanation.

Most importantly... we need to recover this windfall.

"Didn't they say the gold was lost right under CP0's nose? Didn't they suspect it was done by someone on their own side?"

Kizaru offered an irresponsible analysis.

"It's said that a CP9 member named Bruno has been identified, but the missing Celestial Gold is still missing. It's estimated that he was used as a scapegoat by the CP department."

The frog mirror from the Warring States period gleamed with the light of wisdom.

"What does Kuzan think?" Sengoku turned to look at his beloved subordinate.

Kuzan pondered for a moment, then spoke:

"Who were the navy personnel present at the time? What did they say?"

"The Navy officer present at the time was Smoker, who said he already had a suspect and that the incident might be related to the giant cruise ship that suddenly appeared in the South China Sea."

The Warring States period replied.

"Smoker..." Kuzan crossed his arms and rested them on the table, a look of agreement on his face.

"If he said it, it's highly credible."

Warring States nodded.

"I think so too. Smoker is a very reliable kid."

He silently thought to himself: This doesn't seem like the three of you...

"Therefore, our target for this mission is tentatively set as that giant black cruise ship that looks like a whale."

"Did Smoker say which direction the ship fled in?" Kuzan asked calmly.

Zhan Guo nodded slightly.

"Smoker is leading his warships in pursuit of that ship, but... according to his report, the direction the ship entered doesn't seem to be the Grand Line, but rather... the East China Sea."

"The East Sea, the weakest sea?" Kuzan asked, a look of confusion on his face.

"What's there?"

Zhan Guo shook his head. "That is precisely what puzzles me."

"Logically, these pirates set sail for ONE PIECE, but this ship is doing the opposite..."

The people below couldn't find a good explanation, so they all fell silent.

The air fell silent for a moment.

Sengoku straightened his expression and continued:

"In addition... Smoker also reported something else. He said that during his encounter with the people on this ship, he discovered something remarkable."

Sengoku's gaze swept around.

"He said... he encountered a user with the ability to withstand the power of Seastone!"

When Zhan Guo finished speaking, the faces of the people present, who should have been surprised, did not show the expected expression.

Seeing this, Sengoku narrowed his eyes slightly.

"So they knew all along...."

About two weeks ago, a young man with blond hair and a perpetually smiling expression landed at Marine Headquarters. He called himself Pariston and was also a user of Seastone.

Moreover, the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, Mermaid Island...

Similar individuals have been identified in various parts of the world through the monitoring of world governments.

Although the three generals before me all have personality flaws, their abilities are beyond doubt, and they have clearly learned of this matter through various channels.

So who's going?

Sengoku's gaze lingered among the three, finally settling on Kizaru.

There's no way around it, he's the most free of the three!

"Borsalino, I order you to head to the East Blue immediately after this meeting, and try to form a pincer movement with Smoker to block this group of pirates."

"Furthermore... investigate, we must find out where this batch of celestial gold is going!"

"Well—okay."

.........