A few minutes later, in a barely intact building in the harbor.
Gawain, Kuro, and Aokiji sat together.
There was a flickering candlelight on the table, and the light flickered, reflecting Kuro's cold face.
"In other words, after learning about what happened in the Water 7, the first reaction of the World Government was not to send troops to support, but to think about resolving this chaos at the lowest cost and stabilizing the sea again."
"And the final result of their discussion was to launch a Buster Call to let all refugees and this city sink into the bottom of the sea?!"
Kuro's voice was filled with suppressed anger.
This once selfish and cruel pirate, after becoming Gawain's right-hand man and having a true companion, has undergone many changes that he never thought of.
He even has some of Gawain's shadow.
Sympathy for the weak.
This is the quality that Kuro sees in Gawain, which is Gawain's biggest difference from other pirates.
Although he never said it, and perhaps even he himself did not realize it, the first person to understand, follow, and want to be the same kind as Gawain among White Knight Pirates was none other than Kuro himself.
That's why he felt sorry for the suffering of the civilians in the Water 7 and even wanted to help these people at great risk.
If it's the former him, he would only sneer at them at this moment.
He knew how much the civilians in the Water 7 expected the help of the Marines.
That was the only thing that supported those people's beliefs!
But now you tell him that the Marines fleet arrived here to execute the Buster Call?!
"Fuck justice!"
Kuro's almost uncontrollable roar made Aokiji bury his head even lower, and all he felt was unspeakable shame.
He wanted to argue, but the truth was right in front of him.
Aokiji didn't know how long those glaciers could stop Akainu, but he knew that once that man arrived at Water 7, everything would be burned to ashes.
This once glorious city had only one destination: sinking into the sea!
"You... No, we don't have much time left."
"Tsk!"
Kuro spat, then took a deep breath and gradually suppressed the surging emotions in his heart.
Soon, everything gradually became clear in Kuro's mind.
"The Marines have two purposes for executing the Buster Call. One is to prevent the spread of the Pluton blueprint. The other is, as you said, to end this war."
"In that case..."
Thinking of this, Kuro did not continue but turned to look at Gawain: "Can we trust this guy?!"
Gawain glanced at Aokiji and saw that the latter was now holding his arms across his chest, bowing his head and saying nothing.
He nodded and said: "This guy appeared here and revealed the Marines's movements to a group of pirates, which already explains the answer."
"Then I will continue."
"The plan must be advanced so that Franky and others can speed up their actions and spread the forged blueprint before the Buster Call is launched."
"Forged the Pluton blueprint as the plan?!"
Aokiji chewed on the key information in Kuro's words repeatedly and understood it after a little thought.
He couldn't help but exclaim: "This is a good strategy."
"Those pirates came for the Pluton blueprint. After they succeeded, the dilemma of the Water 7 would naturally be solved."
"But at that time, whether it was the World Government or Akainu, the first task should be to prevent the spread of the Pluton blueprint, and the Buster Call would naturally be unnecessary."
"Clever."
"As expected of you, Gawain!"
Aokiji subconsciously thought that this was a plan Gawain came up with.
After all, a man with a vision far beyond the times thinks such an unreasonable thing… made perfect sense!
It was completely reasonable!
Kuro's lungs were about to explode, and his expression looked like he had been constipated for a week, but he couldn't explain it.
After all, arguing on this issue makes him very narrow-minded!
However, the two of them agreed with the plan of forging the Pluton blueprint.
Only Gawain's frown remained unrelieved: "Has there ever been a precedent for the Buster Call being interrupted?!"
Aokiji calmed down, pondered for a moment, and shook his head: "Even in the records within the Marines, the number of times the Buster Call has been executed is very few, and the most recent one was a few years ago."
"Are you worried that even if the pirates besieging the Water 7 retreated, the World Government would still want to execute the Buster Call?"
Gawain nodded: "At least we can't pin all our hopes on the possibility that the World Government will stop executing the Buster Call."
Recalling everything he knew about the Buster Call, the World Government, and the Five Elders.
Gawain felt a sense of uneasiness in his heart.
With the improvement of his Observation Haki, he had a certain premonition of possible crises in the future, and he had had premonitions in several battles he had experienced before.
And this premonition was confirmed without exception.
This time, the uneasiness in Gawain's heart was the strongest ever.
"In any case, make preparations for both situations."
Gawain looked at Kuro: "Kuro, take your men to count how many ships are still available in the Water 7. At least they should be enough to support the refugees in the city to evacuate to the next harbor."
"If it's not enough... Then go and rob!"
"Water 7 isn't short of anything, especially pirate ships."
Kuro flashed and turned into a gust of wind, disappearing from the room.
Only then did his voice echo back.
"I understand."
Then Gawain set his sights on Aokiji: "What are you going to do next? Are you going to leave or stay here to help?"
"Uh..."
Aokiji smiled: "If you provide food, I can consider it."
"Then it's settled."
Gawain shook his head and couldn't help but smile.
With such a powerful fighting force joining him, he can do a lot more.
Before he had been worried about unexpected attacks from people like Ochoku, so he wasn't able to act freely.
Now, with Aokiji holding down the fort, those worries were gone. He could clean up the surrounding areas properly.
Gawain then briefly explained the identity he was currently using for disguise, as well as the general situation in Water 7, before leaping into the air and rushing out of the harbor.
He began patrolling around Water 7.
Once he found any threatening targets, Gawain would decisively act, slicing their ships in half with a single strike.
Whenever he got tired or hungry, he would find a deserted island to absorb some earth's vitality, instantly recovering to full strength.
He became a human perpetual motion machine.
In just one night, the pirates, who had been eager to take action, were forced to retreat from the area around Water 7 for tens of nautical miles.
Only the clouds in the sky grew denser and heavier, occasionally flashing with lightning, but no rain ever fell.
… … ...
Aokiji entered the refugee camp under the leadership of the guards, and he temporarily took over the job of the chief guard.
"Really..."
"I haven't agreed yet."
He looked at his uniform, which was a little small, and shook his head helplessly.
"But it feels good."
After taking off the marine admiral's uniform, Aokiji felt relaxed, and his steps were much lighter.
Most things in the camp were handled by a dedicated person, and everything was carried out in an orderly manner under the arrangement of Kuro.
Aokiji was free for a while.
He wandered around the camp and witnessed many scenes that were completely different from what he had thought.
The members of the White Knight Pirate, wearing shabby marine uniforms, walked among the refugees and gave everyone a small piece of bread or rough medicine.