"The White Wolf Pirates went to sea again!"
Inside Marineford, the Fleet Admiral's office was filled with smoke. Fleet Admiral Elephant Yama took a long draw of his tobacco pipe, exhaling slowly. Never before had his head ached like this.
"Nisen, where do you think they are headed?"
"Not clear," answered Portman Nisen, the old man leaning on his cane. His voice, though aged, carried tempered sharpness. "But what can be foreseen is this… wherever the White Wolf Pirates land next, it will not be small. There will be upheaval."
His eyes narrowed, his words heavy.
"Last time, White Wolf Silas's presence at Elbaf was supposedly 'chance.' Yet if he had gone fully prepared, he would have brought the veterans of the White Wolf Pirates. The fact that both Cunning Roya and Rose Lily remained behind in Sphinx… and even then, Silas nearly withstood our combined Admirals alone; that is why the operation failed."
And of course, everyone knew the truth.
In the end, they had failed because of that mysterious kimono-clad woman beside Silas, who had spirited him away with an unknown power. Even Kong and Rona, standing right there, had been unable to stop her.
"Would it be Wano Country?" Yama muttered. It seemed a natural guess.
The White Wolf Pirates' alliance with Elbaf's giants was already carved in stone. But the Giant King could not leave Elbaf. The driving force behind the White Wolf Pirates, the reason their momentum had ballooned to such heights, was Silas himself, and Silas alone.
The others, while formidable, had not yet reached a transformative stage.
"If White Wolf Silas truly allies with the samurai of Wano…" Nisen's tone grew heavy. "Then even the Lords may not sit quietly in their gilded chairs."
Portman Nisen, a Marine Advisor now, had once carried the title of Admiral himself. He was of the same generation as Yama, having retired just before their comrade Sebas. Rona, the current Admiral known as Crimson Snake, had inherited his place.
Sebas's fate should have mirrored his own: retirement with honors. But instead… he had perished on his final mission, cut down by White Wolf Silas.
Yama's brows furrowed. "And what do you think of the Five Elders' latest 'proposal'?"
Nisen leaned on his cane. "You mean infiltrate the White Wolf Pirates with Marine seedlings?"
"Correct."
Nisen's cane struck the floor. "CP already tried to plant a line inside the White Wolf Pirates and missed their moment. Fixing it now is folly." He straightened, eyes bright. "But their failure gave me an idea. What does Silas lack? Not power. Not influence. People. A real crew. Successors. Why is he scooping up fresh talent all of a sudden? Because White Wolf Silas is planting seeds and he is already cultivating them."
And White Wolf Silas, as Yama and Nisen both silently acknowledged, had longevity on his side.
The rumors of Pure Gold, or some miracle akin to it, were too persistent. His vigor and his youthfulness despite his age were undeniable. If their suspicions proved true, then they were staring at more than just a powerful pirate. They were looking at decades, perhaps lifetimes, of threat.
In the long future, the White Wolf Pirates could become the greatest enemy the Marines had ever known. Perhaps even outlasting successors of Yama and Nisen.
"The current White Wolf Pirates are newly risen. If we embed our own at this fragile stage, results may not show tomorrow, or in five years. But in ten, twenty… when they rise in ranks, they will be ours. And on the day the truth of Silas's youth is laid bare, it will be our hands that deliver their fatal strike!"
Fire burned behind Nisen's eyes.
It was a plan tempting beyond measure.
Most pirate crews had painfully narrow recruitment pools. The so‑called strong pirates were born through endless bloodshed and survival. Those who could not endure died.
But Silas's White Wolf Pirates? He fostered rookies and nurtured novices under his protection. The perfect soil to slip a seedling into.
"If one Marine is not enough, then two. If two fail, then three. What the Marines have in abundance is manpower."
Yama stared at his old comrade. "Nisen. You already have candidates in mind, do you not?"
Nisen nodded and set two files on the Fleet Admiral's desk.
"These are Academy cadets. Freshly recruited, clean pasts. Innocuous. No attention has been paid to them yet, and there is no risk of intelligence leaks."
Yama flipped open the dossiers, and his eyes narrowed. "Zephyr… and Tsuru?"
"Exactly. Through my observation, both children embody the Marines' sense of justice. Zephyr is iron-willed. Tsuru, sharp and adaptable, with a mind that bends without breaking. They will not be swayed so easily."
"Others?" Yama asked carefully.
"There were two more promising seedlings, but their tongues wag far too easily. A spy who cannot shut their mouth is worse than useless."
Most importantly, Zephyr and Tsuru were unknown to each other, perfect for cross-referencing. Their reports could be compared against each other for signs of contradiction or betrayal.
"Any risks?" Yama rumbled.
"Every plan holds risk," Nisen replied bluntly. "But think. If even one makes it into Silas's core, even one, then the plan is a success. And if both fail, what have we lost? Only two cadets who have yet to grow."
For a long moment, Yama inhaled deeply on his pipe. The office filled with smoke. Something in him resisted the thought that gnawed at him, that he was throwing children into the tiger's maw. But what plan had no blood price?
Unproven potential was still only potential.
At last, his jaw firmed. "I approve."
A plan with little to lose, but the possibility of ending the White Wolf Pirates forever—it was a wager worth making.
After all, how many great pirate fleets had already been undone thanks to undercover agents feeding them fabricated schedules and ambush timings? This was no different. Only the scale.
Thus, with a dispatch from Marine Headquarters…
Two records vanished from the Marine Academy's roster.
And the world now had two more pirates.