Meanwhile, Borsalino turned into a streak of light and returned to the battleship.
"Moshi moshi, now we can talk!" Borsalino said.
"You've seen his strength for yourself," Sengoku's voice came through.
"Mmm, so scary! What a monster! You mentioned his self-imposed body limit, his silence state, his Devil Fruit awakening — he hasn't even used any of that, and yet he still managed to slash my waist once. If I wanted to get some lighthearted revenge for that strike back in Loguetown, I'm afraid that's not happening." Borsalino said casually.
"Borsalino, I have a task for you. Rosinante said Bins will be taking Bratt back to Sky Island. I'll send you to keep watch. If Bins shows up, do you have the confidence to kill him in one strike?" Sengoku asked gravely.
Bins' ability was undeniably a major threat — to the World Government, to the Celestial Dragons, and to the Marines.
As long as Bins lived, both the World Government and the Navy would be forced to act with restraint when it came to the Grey Kingdom. If they wanted to make a move against the Grey Kingdom, the first step would have to be eliminating Bins.
Otherwise, the Grey Kingdom's assassination would remain an endless headache.
But Bins had been hiding on Sky Island all this time, and the Navy never had a good chance to strike at him. If Rosinante really intended for Bins to take Bratt back to Sky Island, this might be the opportunity they had been waiting for.
If they could take advantage of this chance to kill Bins, Sengoku wouldn't hesitate to go to war with Rosinante right now if that's what it took.
This was a delicate time — the Marines were in the middle of a leadership transition, and ideally everything should pass smoothly. But Sengoku was willing to risk clashing with the Grey Kingdom even at such a time, just to get rid of Bins — that alone spoke volumes about how dangerous he considered the man.
"There's no way. Trying to assassinate Bins is basically impossible, at least with Rosinante present. In the fight just now, his speed was almost on par with mine. On top of that, his Observation Haki lets him read the future — trying to strike Bins down right in front of him would be next to impossible," Borsalino said, shaking his head.
"Not even the slightest chance?" Sengoku asked with a frown.
"Fleet Admiral, don't forget — everyone from the Grey Kingdom carries Rosinante's healing seal. Even if I seriously injure Bins in front of Rosinante, even if I strike a fatal blow, that would at best kill him in the ordinary sense. Someone with the healing seal doesn't die that easily," Borsalino explained.
"The healing seal, huh? What a troublesome ability…" Sengoku rubbed the bridge of his nose, frowning deeply.
"Killing Bins isn't actually that hard — we just need to find his exact location on Sky Island, then find a way to stall Rosinante so Bins can't call for help. Then the odds of killing him are much better. I think that's far more realistic than trying to ambush him in front of Rosinante," Borsalino said.
"The C-Organization's agents have already infiltrated several divisions of the Grey Kingdom. But the Grey Kingdom is proving much tougher than we imagined. The C-Organization's people still haven't managed to gain the trust of their division leaders, so we still don't have a confirmed location for Bins. It may take some time to find him. Looks like we can't move against the Grey Kingdom in the short term," Sengoku admitted, his frown deepening.
Ever since the battle at Marine Headquarters, Sengoku had grown extremely wary of the Grey Kingdom, convinced that they would one day become a direct threat to both the Marines and the World Government.
The Grey Kingdom's recent moves had only confirmed his suspicions. In just a short period of time, they had conquered more than a dozen countries.
Once, they even took down five countries in a single day. True, those were mostly small Kingdoms, some barely larger than a town — but it still shocked Sengoku to see just how quickly the Grey Kingdom was expanding.
At this rate, Sengoku was certain the World Government would not be able to suppress them forever. Eventually, a clash would be inevitable.
Which meant there would inevitably be a war.
But before they could strike, Bins remained an obstacle that could not be bypassed.
He had to be eliminated before they could move on the Grey Kingdom. Otherwise, it would be a huge disadvantage for both the World Government and the Marines. Even leaving aside the danger he posed to the Celestial Dragons, Bins' mere existence was a serious threat to Marine operations and the World Government itself.
"Borsalino, when the time comes, test the waters. See if there's a chance to make a move…" Sengoku still sounded reluctant, but then he suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
"No… forget it. Just confirm whether Bratt is really being sent out of the Sabaody Archipelago. We cannot afford a major clash with Rosinante on Sabaody. If we push him too far, he might snap — and if that happens, every Celestial Dragon on Sabaody will be buried with him. Damn it, why does it have to be now of all times?" Sengoku growled.
"Understood, message received. But if Rosinante is on the Sabaody Archipelago, are we really not going to keep him under surveillance? That guy wouldn't come here without a reason!" Borsalino said lazily.
"Surveillance? How? I'd love to put him under surveillance, but with his Observation Haki, secret surveillance is practically impossible. And if we try to watch him openly — well, you heard him just now. He always does exactly what he says. Better leave this one to the C-Organization — they're more suited to that kind of thing," Sengoku replied.
"Got it." Borsalino tilted his head with a crooked grin.
Then he hung up the Den Den Mushi.
He turned into light once again and shot away from the battleship.
Once Borsalino had left, the Marines withdrew as well. Rosinante led his group toward the residence that Raijin Kisu had arranged for them.
It wasn't far from here, so Rosinante and the others didn't bother getting back into their vehicles — they simply walked. Rosinante was just about to strike up a conversation with Red-Hair, planning to see if he could get some information about Rayleigh's whereabouts.
But just then, the air flashed with a blinding light — Borsalino reappeared.
"Yo, little brother, we meet again!" Borsalino said, suddenly appearing in front of the group.
"So it's you Sengoku sent. Makes sense — if Sengoku wanted to try something, you'd be the most suitable one with that speed of yours," Rosinante said.
"You're joking, little brother. I'm still injured, you know. How could I possibly do anything right now?" Borsalino replied casually.
"Let's hope so," Rosinante said.
"Oh? Aren't these the members of the Red-Haired Pirates? Red-Hair Shanks… I remember you were an apprentice on Pirate King Roger's ship. Funny thing — I think my mission this time also involves the Red-Haired Pirates. Hey, little brother, can I take them in?" Borsalino tilted his head as he asked, his voice playful.
The moment he said that, everyone from the Red-Haired Pirates tensed up. Yasopp and the others even broke into a cold sweat.
Only Shanks remained calm, a glint of excitement flashing in his eyes — as if he were eager to fight.