Summary: Uh-oh, Garp is back! Poor Sengoku might want to run...

  Warning! Chapters 57-61 were all posted back-to-back! Make sure you didn't miss any!

  Chapter 59: You Motherfuckers Did What?

  The meeting was rger than it had been the st time they met on this subject, but the mood was no less tense as Sengoku surveyed the group. Kong and Tsuru were present again, of course, but so were Admirals Kuzan and Sakazuki. Having both of those men, who thoroughly loathed each other, present in the same meeting wasn't exactly conductive to a pleasant day. For better or worse, the subject matter had shot any idea of a pleasant day in the foot anyway, so it wasn't too much of an additional loss. Or so Sengoku tried to comfort himself.

  "So that's Abasta's final word, then. They've completely closed their ports to the World Government and ejected both representatives and Marines alike until the bounty of Princess Nefertari and her companions is removed? Complete with public apology required on our part for issuing them at all?"

  Tsuru nodded stiffly, not deigning to repeat herself. It was an adequate summary of her far more detailed report. It left out just how dire that result was, given that one of their most important supply lines in Paradise had just been firmly cut, but they were all painfully aware of that anyway. Unsurprisingly, given he was a literal as well as figurative hothead, Sakazuki was the first one to speak up, and not with a particurly welcome or useful comment.

  "We can't just let those traitors get away with that! We should go in and remind them that-"

  Kong, not Sengoku, cut him off at the knees with a raised hand and firm shake of his head.

  "No. Not only are we already dealing with political backsh from other founding kingdoms that are now worried we'll do the same thing to them, but you know perfectly well what we have coming up. Abasta is a hideously tough nut to crack, triply so now that they've somehow built up a cadre of ten Devil Fruit users. Including, of course, the Suna Suna no Mi, which would be an utter nightmare to fight in the desert. We'd need to send both of you, plus a sizable fleet element, just to break Abasta's back. All for no gain at all, as we'd end up destroying the very ports we need for logistics supply in the process."

  Kuzan snorted derisively at the comment, only adding fuel to his fellow Admiral's anger by adding his own two belli.

  "Not to mention it would deplete our reserves even faster. We're going to have to scramble to find new supply lines as is. If we burned the resources to take Abasta to task, all while gaining nothing but ash and sand in return, it would freeze some of our most critical projects and potentially starve half the Marines in Paradise. Unless, of course, we practically turned pirate ourselves and seized food from isnds that can ill afford it."

  It was, even Sakazuki knew, painfully true. The vast majority of isnds in the Grand Line, even in Paradise, were hardscrabble and marginal. They didn't produce much in the way of surplus food beyond their own needs and sold what little extra that did grow to the merchants they relied on to bring in things they couldn't make locally. As a result of that, the immense needs of the Marine fleets were supplied not from the Grand Line itself, but from the four Blues. Brought in via logistics vessels…over half of which had previously passed through Abasta.

  With that connection now firmly cut, since the World Government would never actually give into Abasta's demands, they were going to be cutting into their reserves all across the board. Those reserves were deep when it came to basics. Food, nails, sails, that sort of thing. But they most certainly wouldn't be able to maintain their ongoing construction projects longer than a few months without a major effort in fixing their logistics. Actually fighting a serious war, one that would virtually certainly invite both the Yonko and the Revolutionary Army to strike elsewhere while it went on, would cripple even their basics in less than six months. Possible even if they won.

  There was silence for a long few moments, before Kuzan spoke again.

  "Are we sure we want to go through with the execution pn now? If we hold off, maybe trade our captive for some concessions, we could easily get our own house in order in three or four months. After which we could lean on Abasta or resume our original pn, whichever proved more viable as a show of strength."

  Sengoku was the one to give a sharp head shake to the negative this time, speaking up firmly a moment ter.

  "No. Eventually dealing with Abasta will be a political clusterfuck no matter how we do it. A net loss of influence, even if we pull off a win without much actual military cost. As for resuming our current pn ter? How? We've been waiting for a chance like this for the better part of two years. Whitebeard doesn't operate in Paradise often, outside of Fishman Isnd at least. Worse, our sources within his fleet say he's declining in a way that can't be reversed. In a year or two, at the absolute most, he'll be too weak to hold his position. He'll pass it off to either Marco or Fire-Fist, and neither of them will grant us the strong blow against the Yonko that we need to be seen making."

  Tsuru's voice when she spoke made it clear she knew she was going to be shot down, but she spoke anyway.

  "We could always aim for one of the others. Big Mom does a fair bit of business in Paradise."

  Sakazuki snorted derisively, but it was Kong who spoke.

  "She's also the weakest of the Yonko in anything but pure numbers. We could take her out, but doing so would be costly and have little affect on the overall situation. Shanks is irritatingly difficult to pin down, the least actively troublesome, and we don't want to piss off the Dark King by going after him. Rayleigh is the one person alive we are damn near certain knows what Roger found on Laugh Tale, and him shouting about it to all and sundry would be a complete disaster. Kaidou, meanwhile, is both directly allied with Linlin and virtually unassaible in Wano. That alliance also makes taking Linlin out doubly unadvisable, as he'd be virtually certain to retaliate."

  Silence descended for a minute, before Kuzan tentatively offered one more idea.

  "There is a way to lure Kaidou into Paradise personally, to take him out directly instead of fighting through his forces. His dau-"

  Kuzan was cut off as a horrendous crash sounded from somewhere forward of them in the Headquarters building. All five of those present were on their feet in an instant…and they each paled a moment ter as a bellow reached them.

  "SENGOKU, YOU ROTTEN BASTARD, WHY THE FUCK DOES MY GRANDSON HAVE A BOUNTY ON HIM. I'M GOING TO BEAT YOU WITH YOUR OWN SPLEEN UNTIL YOU COUGH UP AN ANSWER I LIKE!"

  The senior officers just barely had enough time to process that Monkey D. Garp was back before they had to raise their respective defenses to protect themselves from the shattering wall as he burst through. Even if they wouldn't admit it to a soul, all five of them flinched as they spotted him looking more pissed off than any of them had ever seen him…

  ... ...

  King Cobra was pleased, as he watched the results of the testing. The first round of trade with Skypiea had proven fruitful. Enough so for him to bite the proverbial bullet and sever contact with the World Government until his terms were met. He'd been stringing them along, hinting that maybe he'd give in and accept something less than a full retraction, as much as a means to buy time as anything else. Admittedly, he'd expected that said 'buying time' would ultimately favor the World Government and require he find a less offensive, to them, concession to demand. A pardon for Vivi and her crew, rather than a full retraction and apology, for example. Not having to admit they were wrong, being able to py at being magnanimous by 'pardoning' the crew for 'great services rendered,' would have been far easier for the powers that be to choke down.

  Frankly, he was pleased as punch that he wouldn't have to accept that. He'd grown increasingly disgusted with the fools for years even before this recent series of epic fuckups proved them incompetent along with malicious. Now, as he watched the results of the weapons testing, the product of giving Skypiea Dial Engineers access to more metal than they'd ever been able to imagine having before? He was quite certain by the time they finished reequipping his new navy, as well as training the new Devil Fruit users, that the Marines were going to have a hell of a time if they tried to come down heavy handed on Abasta.

  Triply so as he'd broken into the old archives from prior to the Void Century and dusted off some knowledge of combat systems and techniques he was pretty sure the WG had no idea Abasta retained. If those idiots thought that one of the founding twenty, the only one who hadn't given up rule of their people to go live with fucking fishbowls over their heads, didn't remember a few dangerous things? Well, they'd find out the hard way that Abasta's archives were excellent. He'd even found a manual for what he was fairly certain was a primitive version of the Marines 'secret' Rokushiki. A manual that detailed nine powers, not six. Even if he was pretty sure none of them were quite up to what he'd seen the Strawhat crew demonstrate.

  Of course, if he wasn't so certain he had time, then it might not have mattered. But Nefertari Cobra was no fool. He'd reached out to all of his contacts the moment he'd realized he was potentially getting into a pissing match with the World Government. Some of those contacts he'd used to stir the political pot nicely. Others, though…those would have worried the WG if they'd known he had them. It was those contacts that had come through with the most critical information. The information that the World Government was busy pnning something big, very big, involving Whitebeard. Fleet assets the entire world over were being condensed and concentrated for what was likely going to be a serious attempt at taking on the strongest man in the world.

  All of which meant that, for once, the World Government just ft out didn't have enough attention to pay to a country that could prove itself a tough nut to crack. Not even one that made up a critical cog in their logistics supply chain. In six months, that might not be the case, depending on how their little war with Whitebeard went. But in six months, Cobra intended any fool attacking his country to discover that doing so would be the st mistake they ever made.

  Cobra wasn't a violent man by nature. No more than his daughter was. But he was still a D. and, unlike most, had at least a vague understanding that there was something off about those that bore the initial. Enough so to carefully conceal that fact from official records. Now, the World Government had thought they could use his daughter in their little games. Those motherless bastards were going to have to realize, sooner or ter, that there were some things you just didn't do. Somehow, he found he didn't mind the thought of being part of that reality check at all.

  Smiling grimly, Cobra left the testing grounds. If he didn't get moving, he was going to be te for training. At 48, he wasn't delusional enough to think he was ever going to be a combat monster. But to hell if he wouldn't put in the effort to make him hard to assassinate. It was one of the World Government's favorite tools when force failed, after all. Besides, he needed the exercise. His new chocotier was entirely too good at making sinfully tasty treats, and he wasn't going to give them up! Which meant burning off the calories if he didn't want to end up needing to be rolled between rooms by his servants…

  ... ...

  Marco blinked, looking around himself at the 'dies' that surrounded him. Then he tipped his head back to look at the massive, luridly pink giant foliage that looked, frankly, a big obscene in shape. Like it wasn't sure if it wasn't to be boobs or a giant set of testicles. Ah. Well, at least he knew where he was. Even if he wasn't sure why Kuma had sent him here of all pces. Was the Warlord making some sort of commentary about him? Well, if he was, he was afraid the man had rather missed the mark.

  "Ladies, lovely to meet you. I don't suppose I could trouble the Kamabakka Kingdom for a ship, could I? I'm a little worn out to be trying to fly across the Grand Line at the moment. Ah, and access to a Den Den Mushi would also be rather nice-yoi."

  The 'dies' around him tittered, with more than a few blushing in his general direction. The fact that he was entirely sincere and polite seemed to win him more than a few appreciative looks. A few of them were close enough to his rather broad 'type' that he might have been otherwise tempted to follow up on those blushes. As it was, he was a bit more worried about what had happened to his companions that he was interested in a tumble. Thankfully, one of the Okama proved quite willing to lead him to a Den Den Mushi, even if they informed him there weren't any ships avaible at the moment. Annoying, but he could make do with flight, once he recovered a bit. Paradise wasn't that hard to get around in, if you were used to worse.

  Well, at least he'd gotten the pleasure of ripping Bleackbeard's heart out of his chest and setting it on fire personally, before Kuma, Moria, and Dofmingo had intervened. Unfortunately, Marco was only certain of Moria's death before Kuma had managed to tag him. Worse, Ace had been tagged by Kuma in the opening exchange, hit before he could even register the Warlord was present and bring up his already depleted Haki. That meant that only Jozu was left, with their handful of other 1st and 2nd division crew having been ordered to retreat once it became clear Bckbeard had somehow convinced Moria to give him refuge.

  That somehow was now quite a bit clearer, post ambush. The other two Warlords couldn't have been present for anything less than a trap. One explicitly ordered, and most likely paid handsomely for, by the World Government. The Warlords weren't exactly known for working with each other willingly, after all. No, the World Government had clearly taken advantage of the fact they were tracking Teach to use the traitor as bait, and Marco hadn't spotted it in time. He could hope that Jozu could take the remaining Warlords…but he suspected that was too much to hope. He had most likely been captured by now. Which had to be the point of this entire ambush from the Marine's perspective.

  Marco needed to talk to Pops ASAP. Then, he needed to figure out if it was possible to intercept the bastards before they brought Jozu to Impel Down. Assuming that's even where they intended to stash him. Not to mention needing to figure out where Ace had ended up. Fuck, this was very not good. The Marines had obviously decided it was time to push, and that boded ill for everyone involved…

  ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

  A/N 1: Well Abasta's gone and done it now. Though so have Sengoku and the rest. I wonder if his spleen will survive?

  A/N 2: With Cobra we see a few things, such as why Abasta is somewhat confident it can get away with shutting the WG out. I will restate here, for crity and so I can point the many many people that will likely whine over it to this A/N, that NO, Abasta couldn't stand up to a truly serious attempt to bring them to heel. Not yet, at least. What they can, and have, done is make it so costly that the calculous of war says it's firmly not worth the price. Were the WG not currently distracted by something else, they might still try to make an example of the country. But between political backsh and the fact they are a bit tied up on the military front, they currently don't have the means or will to hammer Abasta. Eventually, they might, but Abasta will do everything it can to keep stacking the odds while they have a window of opportunity.

  A/N 3: So far as I know, we don't know much about Marco's personal 'tastes.' But he seems to be just about the most commonly Yaoified character other than Ace. Often WITH Ace. As such, I amused myself by making a more mild reference here that his tastes are simply 'wide,' and doesn't disclude Okamas. An equal opportunity sort of guy, rather than leaning any particur way.

  A/N 4: We also start to see here how things are shaping up differently than canon in regards to the Ace/Whitebeard/Marines/etc situation...