Chapter 183: Meeting, News and Messages
Chapter 183: Meeting, News and Messages
_________ POV Narration_________
Gan Fall's office was much fuller than usual, filled with leaders from all groups currently residing within the Sky Islands.
On one couch stood Sengoku, casually combing his shining black afro while patiently waiting for the meeting to start. He was wearing clothes similar to those he wore during his time as a Fleet Admiral, he was only missing the coat and the epaulettes.
To his side stood a calm and stone-faced Aokiji, who was also dressed in his usual suit. He kept his Admiral's coat and yellow epaulettes, he still wore them proudly despite their current position...
Momonga was also present, he sat with his legs crossed as he twirled his moustache, his long blade was sheathed and sat rested on his shoulder.
The former Vice Admiral wore an open white suit with a purplish shirt underneath. He had his eyes closed, seemingly resting while waiting for everything to start.
Across the table from them, sat on another couch, were the 'representants' of another faction currently under Enel.
Francisco, the former First Mate of the Rocks Pirates, was sat straight on the couch, only slightly leaning back as another regular cutlass rested at his hip.
He wore his usual white open shirt and black pants. His blonde hair did look a bit longer than usual, as he had not gotten around to trimming it.
Another pirate legend, Shiki, the Golden Lion, sat at his side, wearing a yellow and white kimono.
The man had two cutlasses resting at his hip, both of them Named Blades, as he smoke a large cigar while casually exchanging words with his companion.
His bladed legs didn't even scratch the wooden floor of the office, a true swordsman only cut when he wanted after all...
On the other end of the table, the one towards the entrance, stood a man dressed in a Deep Green cloak, wearing casual clothing.
He had long spiky black hair and his face was adorned with a red tattoo. He was Dragon, the Leader of the revolutionaries, behind him stood Ivankov and Karasu, two of his army's commanders.
And on the other end of the table, representing the residents of the Sky Islands was an old man that sat on a large cushioned chair.
It was none other than Gan Fall, the old man looked just as lively as usual, his long beard and hair seemed to have gotten slightly whiter, likely due to stress.
He was wearing a white robe which revealed his white wings as his back rested in his chair.
To his side stood Wyper with his arms crossed. The tribal warrior was dressed in a black suit, with a cannon and a bone spear strapped to his back.
Their groups weren't exactly all that friendly with each other.
Sengoku didn't exactly like either Shiki and Francisco or the Revolutionaries.
Aokiji shared his sentiments in that regard, but he didn't outright hate anyone. His stance being a lot more neutral than that of his former superior.
The one-armed Momonga didn't interact with the others either, but he hated none of the parties present.
He had even gotten friendly with Francisco, the old pirate was training him on both Haki and Swordsmanship at the end of the day.
They all diligently waited for the one that had brought them all together to arrive.
And they didn't have to wait long, as the door swung open to reveal Akainu and Enel, who walked in silently and looked at everyone in the room.
"Ah, everyone is here now~!" The Queer King was the one to speak out as Akainu took his seat beside his fellow marines. Thankfully the couch was large enough to accommodate him as well.
Enel also walked over, grabbed a chair and sat beside Gan Fall, who nodded in greeting.
Ivankov winked at the Emperor as he took a seat... Enel just blinked a few times and nodded in greeting.
"Quite the gathering we have here today..." Enel said as he crossed his arms and leaned into his large chair.
"Quite the gathering indeed captain! Did you sleep well?" Francisco greeted his captain with a wide smile.
"It was quite nice. I did need the rest... I also had a rather nice surprise in the morning..." Enel nodded as he responded with a forced smile, remembering his encounter with the little 'intruder'.
"Ah, yes... I did see someone sneaking into your cabin, but I decided not to do anything about it when I realised it was just a kid..." Francisco waved his hand around a bit, before finally getting to the subject of the meeting.
"Now that greetings are over, we should get straight to the matters at hand.." Sengoku said as he stopped combing his hair and adjusted his round glasses.
"I do have to agree with Sengoku on that one... I still have a few matters to attend to..." Dragon said as he waved his hand, gesturing for Ivankov to hand him some papers.
Gan Fall also nodded, slowly pulling out some papers as well.
"We'll start off with the first thing... We recently received a message from a man calling himself Buggy D. Clown.
He claims to have thought over our offer and accepted to aid us whenever the war starts..." The old God spoke in a dry tone as he read over a few of his papers with a monocle.
"Yes... I visited him recently. He is a warlord running a rather large Bounty Hunting business and dealing artificial devil fruits to the Beast Pirates..." Enel nodded as he explained the situation with Buggy to everyone present.
"... To think that man would become a warlord..." Akainu shook his head with a sneer.
"He's probably just a figurehead anyway... A replaceable pawn. Is his assistance worth anything at all?" Momonga spoke as he continued twirling his moustache in boredom.
"He has hundreds of ships under him, with plenty of New World and Grand Line faring pirates. I believe he should be helpful to bolster up numbers..." Enel explained some of his reasoning in 'recruiting' Buggy.
Enel couldn't exactly explain to them how the man's luck seemed to defy reality itself, and how he'd eventually end up forming an alliance with two other prominent warlords, Crocodile and Mihawk.
He didn't have any proof to back up that the alliance would happen, and he didn't even know the circumstances under which it had happened in the show...
But one thing was for sure... It was a lot better to have such a wild card on their side, rather than the enemy side.
"Well, I trust your judgement, captain..." Francisco said as he blinked slowly and nodded to his captain.
"Don't think having more people on our side will hurt... At this point we're not even waging war anymore, we're just planning to completely CRUSH the opposition..." The Golden Lion crushed his cigar in his hand as he spoke with a large grin plastered on his face.
He looked at all of the people nearby with a sharp gaze, smiling as he anticipated the upcoming war.
"... It's always good to have more allies. Especially someone tied to the underworld, like Warlord Buggy is...
Though I am unsure how much of those ties are made by him or the World Government..." Dragon looked through some of his reports as he scowled.
He had also noticed that the Government was extremely 'involved' with the new Warlord that had taken over the business that the Joker(AKA Doflamingo) had left behind.
"It should be fine... His pirates travel quite a bit of the Grand Line, they should at least be able to check up on some kingdoms and relay information first-hand...
We also have Shanks for information, but this isn't exactly a bad thing..." The Lightning Emperor just waved his hand and dismissed the concern.
He was well aware that Buggy was nothing more than a pawn for the World Government, but that didn't mean he couldn't be useful to them as well...
"Very well, I guess we will welcome his support. We will instruct him to relay information to us periodically..." Dragon sighed as he noted down a few things.
"That's the first subject out of the way already..." Gan Fall said as he leaned into his chair and sighed deeply.
"There's plenty left to talk about..." Sengoku crossed his burly arms as he looked at Enel.
He didn't have any reports or papers, but he didn't need them. He just spoke directly from memory.
"Kizaru has confirmed that he's already on his way here with the Neo Marines. It apparently took a bit of effort to convince them to at least follow him..."
The Former Fleet Admiral scoffed as he remembered how stubborn both Zephyr and Tsuru were. The two of them put together to lead a group of marines was certainly difficult...
Tsuru and Z were both exceedingly capable, they both had very loyal followings and they knew how to handle leadership positions. But the two of them would normally but heads a lot.
The uncertain state of the world was certainly not aiding them in any way...
"When they arrive, we'll have to fly them up here... I'm guessing Shiki has that handled though." Enel said as he scratched his chin and wondered when exactly the Neo Marines would arrive.
"Yep, I can float up their fleet, no problem... They'll call us when they reach the shore of the grand line, and I'll just fly over to them." The Golden Lion nodded as he smiled a bit.
"I'll tag along... Z and Tsuru will definitely not trust the situation if you showed up alone..." Akainu scoffed as he spoke out.
"No, it's better if I go... Z and Tsuru didn't really have much of a soft spot for you, Akainu..." Aokiji said as he shook his head, his calm expression not breaking for one second.
Akainu scoffed again, but he couldn't quite refute his comrade's words, so he ended up just grumbling a bit and turning his head to the side.
"It's a rather joyous occasion, I am quite stoked to meet up with a few more of my former colleagues!" Momonga smiled a bit as he leaned his head on the sheath of his long blade.
"You'll get the chance to catch up with old friends, I'm sure... But there's always the problem of living space..." Dragon spoke out this time around.
The living arrangements on the Sky Islands were already messy enough.
Upper Yard housed the Sky Guards, in cabins and training grounds, the Shandian Tribe in the Golden City, and the Revolutionaries in their underground tunnels.
Akainu and the rest of the marines lived with the revolutionaries still, but they knew that they would need their own place now that there were going to be more of them.
"... We need to start building a base for the Marines to reside in, don't we?" Enel sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance.
"Yep..." Gan Fall sighed as he thought about handling the logistics of yet another group moving in...
Skypea couldn't quite accommodate that many more people. And Upper Yard was already packed to the brim with people, to the point where it was a miracle that the Shandians weren't complaining.
"We don't have to build it on these two Sky Islands, Shiki has more than enough land to accommodate such a group." Enel smiled a bit as he seemed to get an idea.
"Yep... But we do still need to handle construction..." The Golden Lion also seemed to be a bit annoyed at the prospect of work.
"Well, we do have a start already, don't we? Didn't Francisco and Garp recently ruin one of the islands?" Enel's smile widened as he envisioned how the marine base would fit on the barren mountain that was left in the wake of the fight between the two titans of his crew.
"... Well, it's as good a place as any. At least it's going to be quiet." Sengoku seemed to be quite alright with the location as well.
Just like that, it was decided.
They would build a marine base there. Well, the Neo Marines would handle building most of it. But the Revolutionaries were going to at least build them housing.
Dragon would ask Morley, his earth-controlling Army Commander, to set up a cave system for the Marines to live in while they built a more permanent residence.
Shiki once again agreed to work together with Morley, to make her job easier.
They continued speaking of the logistics for a bit, as well as of the materials they would use up for furniture. Thankfully, Shiki's islands were filled with forests, so they had plenty of wood to spare.
"Well, that settles it. The Marines will all move into the currently barren island..." Gan Fall sighed as he noted a few things down and slowly placed his pen to the side.
"Any other news?" Enel asked as he rested his head on his palm.
"Well, one other, rather important piece of news..." Dragon was the one to speak up this time around.
He pulled out a strange-looking shell, which Enel recognized as a Tone Dial, used to record sounds.
"A message from someone you should know quite well... Morgans."
Enel raised an eyebrow when hearing that. Dragon didn't wait for him to say anything and just pressed the play button.
"Greetings listeners!
We live in dark present, dear listeners!
Our precious news, our fabulous tabloids are being censored...
We are unable to reach out to most of our associates."
Enel scowled a bit when hearing Morgan's voice... It sounded strangely lacking in energy...
"Many people are dying in the streets, trying to fight for their rights, or out of indignation for those that have fallen already...
It is truly a bleak world. But it has always been one!"
That lacking energy seemed to return, however... It was almost as if he had revitalized, steeled himself.
"I hope this broadcast reaches as many people as possible...
We must not bend our knees, dear listeners...
DO NOT GIVE UP!"
Yep, that energy was now in full display, as Morgans spoke out loudly on his speaker.
"We are still fighting!
We will never stop until justice has been served!
Don't let your minds become distracted by their lies!
Do not fear Pirates or Revolutionaries!
RIGHT NOW, YOUR ONLY ENEMIES ARE THE ONES LEADING YOU!"
Enel blinked a few times as the recording ended.
'... A rather interesting Propaganda piece...'
That thought echoed throughout the heads of most of the people present in the room.
"Morgans is currently still active. He has apparently found a way to broadcast this message in many cities across the world, inspiring protestors all around the world to stand up once more..." Dragon spoke as he looked at his reports with a grimace.
"Well, to be more specific. He planted speakers in all major cities and broadcasted this message until the speakers were found and destroyed." Ivankov spoke out as he shrugged a bit.
It was rather impressive after all, the lengths that Morgans was willing to go to just to mess with the World Government even more.
"Still... I'd say that this is quite irresponsible..." Sengoku scowled a bit as he joined in the conversation, giving his two-cent.
"Yep... The protestors will never be able to achieve much. Many more lives will be lost." Gan Fall shook his head as well, not quite appreciative of the message that Morgans was trying to send.
"... It is a bit harsh. But no one is truly safe anymore. All of the cities are headed in a rather obvious direction. The Government even started starving some of them...
Encouraging protests may hasten the process for some people, but those rebellious enough to go out on the streets would have been purged eventually anyway." Dragon seemed to be able to justify Morgans's actions.
Sengoku and the Marines seemed a bit displeased with the explanation, but no one could refute it... After all, they were all well-accustomed to the ways of the World Government.
The atmosphere in the room seemed to turn sour for a few seconds, as everyone seemed to have their own opinion on the message of the propaganda piece they had listened to.
"At the very least we know Morgans is safe..." Enel clapped his hands together with a smile, trying to uplift the people in the room a bit.
"He is a rather great ally to have, and he has already proven himself in the past. He is capable, and I'm sure he's already weighed the risks and benefits of sending such a message to the people..."
Enel was aware that the loss of life was great already. That was exactly why he wasn't exactly blaming Morgans for stirring up the pot...
'If everything started and snowballed to this point, then things are already dire for the protestors... Morgans at least gives them some hope with his broadcast...'
In the end, everyone in the room still came to their own conclusions regarding the broadcast and continuing protests... But most still seemed to agree with Enel's words, especially the revolutionaries.
After breaching the three main topics of the meeting, they spent a few more hours debating on a few smaller issues on the Sky Islands...
Enel was finally able to leave at the end, something that he had greatly anticipated.
He turned into a flash of lightning and disappeared as soon as the meeting was over.
He reappeared at his cabin and contemplated whether or not to fall asleep and digest the information...
But he wasn't particularly tired...
'... Since I have the energy to spare... Might as well go to Garp and start training my body properly...'
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Hope you liked the chapter!
Morgans is still keeping the revolution alive. Debatable whether or not that's a good thing.
Enel finna be starting the Garp training method tho(some may be able to guess what it is).
He'll be strengthening his body before looking into how to awaken his df btw. He still has plenty of time before Nika awakens his anyway.
If u want to support me look up VeganMaster(Vegan Cult) on Patre_on, you'd also get 10 chapters in advance (or 5 depending on tier)