The interview lasted for half an hour before finally ending.
When Fred and his group stepped out, they were t with a shocking sight—the Marine officers were all injured, except for one Vice Admiral and two Rear Admirals.
As for Diamante and Lao G, their condition was even worse.
One had lost a leg, the other had lost an arm. They looked like trees that had been chopped down, barely able to stay upright.
"Uh... this..."
"Captain Ryuen, what... what happened to them?" Fred's face turned pale, sweat forming on his forehead. His eyes were filled with shock and disbelief.
He never imagined that the Dream Crew would actually get into a direct fight with the Marines.
"Hehehe~~~"
"Director Fred, don't worry. My crew just had a little sparring match with the Marines. See? They're not that badly hurt." Ryuen smiled casually, as if the scene before him didn't matter at all.
"Uh, Captain Ryuen, Director Fred, I'll be taking my leave now." The journalist standing nearby sensed the tense atmosphere and quickly spoke up.
"Alright, just make sure Morgans publishes it as soon as possible!" Ryuen waved his hand dismissively.
"Got it, Captain Ryuen! I'll report everything to the boss!" The journalist nodded repeatedly, promising to deliver the interview details to Morgans as soon as possible.
With that, he hurried back to the news ship and ordered an imdiate departure.
Only after leaving the waters of Long Ring Long Land did he let out a sigh of relief. Then, he carefully relayed everything from the interview to Morgans, emphasizing Ryuen's request.
After hearing it, Morgans imdiately decided to publish the interview in the next day's newspaper.
~~~~~~~
"Alright, Officer Fred, this cooperation went well."
"But rember, you can only tell Saint Isred about those matters once you're back in Mary Geoise." Ryuen spoke with a warm smile.
His tone was light and casual, but his eyes carried a hint of nace.
Fred felt a chill run down his spine.
He knew exactly what Ryuen ant by "those matters"—their secret deal, sothing that absolutely couldn't be exposed to anyone else.
"I understand, I understand. Well then, Captain Ryuen, we'll be leaving now." Fred forced a smile, but in his eyes, Ryuen looked more like a terrifying devil.
He silently prayed that everything would go smoothly.
However, when he t Ryuen's deep gaze, an eerie chill crept over him.
"Alright, you can go now." Ryuen said flatly, his eyes flashing with disdain.
With Ryuen's permission, Fred finally let out a breath of relief. He quickly led his n onto the governnt ship.
The Marines also returned to their warships, preparing to set sail.
At that mont, a seagull silently landed on the top of Fred's ship's mast. It stood there motionless, its sharp eyes locked onto Fred's every move.
"You two, how was it? Satisfied with the fight?" Ryuen turned to Kuina and Hog.
"They were too weak. No fun at all. By the way, Ryuen, when are we making our move?" Kuina pouted.
"Hehehe~~~"
"They have an Eternal Pose, but it'll still take ti for them to reach Mary Geoise. We'll act after the newspaper cos out tomorrow." Ryuen chuckled.
"But Ryuen, why didn't we take this chance to capture those Marine officers too?" Daisy asked curiously.
"Because there were too many of them this ti..."
~~~~~~
Marine Headquarters.
Sengoku had just put down the Den Den Mushi when he started massaging his temples. His head was aching.
"What exactly did they do? Why haven't they been stripped of their official status?" Vice Admiral Tsuru asked, puzzled.
"We don't know yet. But Fred really didn't revoke the Dream Exploration Team's official status on the spot."
Gaya Island's profits were under his control, and now the Dream Exploration Team had taken a chunk of them. This situation was getting strange. Sengoku's voice was deep and serious.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, does this plan have to be carried out by the Dream Exploration Team?" Aokiji asked, a bit confused.
"It has to be them. Only they were able to defeat the Big Mom Pirates.
They're the only ones strong enough to take Big Mom's place in the New World. No one else is capable." Sengoku said in a firm tone.
At first, he thought the Dream Exploration Team would surely lose the World Governnt's protection, which would allow him to label them as pirates and put a bounty on them.
Once they entered the New World, the Marines would cooperate with them to replace the Big Mom Pirates' position.
That way, one of the Four Emperors in the New World would be on the Marines' side.
Sengoku had already planned everything, but sothing unexpected happened—Fred didn't imdiately strip them of their official status.
Now, Sengoku had a headache.
"Nothing's set in stone yet. Maybe Fred is planning to return to Mary Geoise and report to Saint Isred before making a decision?" Vice Admiral Tsuru guessed.
"...I hope so." Sengoku let out a long sigh.
——
The next morning, a news bird landed on the Dream Vessel at Long Ring Long Land's shore.
"Still 50 Berries, right?" Nami pulled out 50 Berries and handed them to the bird.
The news bird nodded, took a newspaper from its bag, and handed it to Nami before flying off.
"Well? Is it in there?" Nojiko asked.
"It's in. We can tell Ryuen to make his move now." Nami smiled and said softly.
"Alright, I'll contact him now." Nojiko nodded and took out a Den Den Mushi to call Ryuen.
——
Sowhere in the Grand Line, just half a day had passed, and Fred's official ship still hadn't made it back to Mary Geoise.
The three warships that were originally escorting the ship had disappeared.
"Director Fred, are we really going to spend our whole lives being controlled by them?" A man in a suit said angrily.
"No way!"
"Just wait. Once we're back in Mary Geoise, I'll find a way to get our hearts back!" Fred said in a low voice.
"God of Flas: Annihilation!"
Boom!!!
"Ahhh!!!"
God of Flas: Annihilation!
Just as Fred finished speaking, a massive fla suddenly fell from the sky, like a burning teor crashing down onto the official ship.
In an instant, the ship was engulfed in raging fire, and even its hull was burned into gas.
The scorching flas spread rapidly, covering the entire sea.
From a distance, the once calm ocean had turned into a sea of fire, rolling like magma and radiating intense heat and blinding light.
——
Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
Lindgas was grinning as he threw an arm around Isred's shoulder, acting as if they were the best of friends.
Isred's face was dark with anger. He was holding a newspaper, which had Fred's photo and a full report.
He... and this guy Lindgas... were friends?
---
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