The Marines ultimately waged a modest war against Inazuma in a certain sea region of the New World over this incident.
Actually, rather than being about the incident itself, it was more like a contest for the territory Shiki had left behind. The Marines deployed Vice Admiral Sakazuki — one of the future three Admirals — and even Moli suffered a minor loss at his hands.
So the Marines joined forces with the World Economic Journal to loudly proclaim this victory, effectively putting the previous incident behind them.
This kind of back-and-forth was an unspoken understanding between both sides. Neither the Marines nor Ren wanted to truly go to war at a time like this. Letting them have a painless victory was no great loss.
"That Vice Admiral's combat strength is formidable. If you ever run into him at sea, you'd better be careful." Moli was still quite hung up about losing to Akainu.
But this was hard to avoid. After all, although Akainu was still a Vice Admiral, his strength was already firmly at Admiral level.
What those three lacked now was merely the rank itself.
Once Kong took office as Commander-in-Chief and Sengoku became Fleet Admiral, they would immediately assume their posts. The Marines would usher in the era of the three Admirals once more.
But when that time actually came, those three would be less of a threat instead.
After taking office as Admirals, they wouldn't be able to act as freely as they could now. Marine Admirals were answerable to the Celestial Dragons. As Vice Admirals, they could still roam the world freely, hunting pirates wherever they pleased.
"That guy is a Magma Fruit user. His destructive power is immense, and it's somewhat effective against your flames."
At that moment, a blonde woman in a white dress with an elegant shawl draped over her shoulders walked out slowly.
Moli only then noticed the somewhat unfamiliar woman's presence. She furrowed her brows, glanced at Ren, and then asked, "And you are?"
"My name is Stussy. We've actually met before, Miss Moli. I wonder if you remember — it was a few years ago, at Linlin's banquet." Stussy wore a smile that seemed approachable enough, but Moli didn't feel particularly good about that smile.
It felt a bit fake.
"The tea party?" Moli seemed to recall something. "I remember now. You have deep ties with Big Mom."
"Just a small acquaintance from the past. More importantly, I've now allied myself with Inazuma. We'll be colleagues from now on, Miss Moli." Stussy extended her hand in a friendly gesture.
Moli was still completely confused. Why would this woman suddenly join Inazuma?
Fortunately, Yukiko came out to help explain.
"Miss Stussy was formerly a member of the MADS research institute. But now that MADS has been disbanded, she has come to join us."
As she spoke, she subtly signaled Moli to keep her doubts to herself for now.
Ren naturally knew Stussy's true identity as well, so when she showed up at his door, he was somewhat puzzled. As for the matter of MADS, that was the first time he'd heard of it.
According to Stussy, MADS was a research organization composed of the world's top scientists. Vegapunk, whom he had always wanted to recruit, was one of them. Beyond that, Caesar, Vinsmoke, Queen, and others were also members of this organization.
This background naturally made it impossible for Ren to refuse Stussy, who had come to "ally" with them. He personally would have preferred Vegapunk, of course, but since Stussy was already here, Vegapunk must have already been taken by the World Government.
Without Vegapunk, settling for second best and taking in Stussy was acceptable enough.
How much research capability this woman actually had, Ren didn't know. However, having worked alongside Vegapunk and the others, she at least had some understanding of their research results.
On that point alone, she was already a treasure.
As for the little schemes Stussy harbored within...
One application of the Orochi Seal, and she'd be one of their own anyway.
Over the years, the World Government had planted quite a few agents in Inazuma. Aside from Gara from the beginning, only another fellow named Katarl had ever resisted the Orochi Seal. Now both of them were dead on the battlefield, and the remaining agents had all become their own people.
Stussy's position within CP0 was actually quite special, but that didn't mean she had the strength to resist the Orochi Seal.
This was also why Ren had kept Stussy despite knowing her true identity.
"Mr. Ren, may I ask when I'll be able to go to Inazuma's research institute? You promised you'd fund my continued research." After exchanging pleasantries with Yukiko and Moli, Stussy tried to get to the point.
The purpose of her mission was to obtain the core of Inazuma's technology — something the World Government had yearned for all these years.
The destructive power of those War Machines was simply too great. They couldn't rest easy unless they had full control over them.
"A ship to take you to the research institute has already been prepared. Please don't be impatient, Miss Stussy." Ren walked over to her side, and a small white snake slowly slithered out from his sleeve.
"What is this...?" A look of surprise appeared on Stussy's face. She didn't understand why Ren was handing her a snake at a moment like this.
She had to admit, though, the snake was quite beautiful. Its white scales looked as though they were carved from jade.
"Ah—!"
The moment Stussy took the white snake, what had seemed harmless suddenly opened its mouth, baring its fangs, and bit down hard on her wrist.
Stussy cried out in pain and quickly threw it to the ground. The white snake slithered away and vanished into the darkness as if it had never appeared at all.
But on Stussy's wrist, a black three-tiered mark now remained. It looked like an ouroboros — a serpent devouring its own tail.
"Yukiko, take our Miss Stussy to Enkanomiya."
...
Enkanomiya.
"Are you the Miss Stussy that Lord Ren mentioned?" Keiko adjusted her glasses, scrutinizing the seemingly young, petite woman before her.
"What field did you research at your former institute?"
"A bit of everything. Lineage Factors, power systems, ancient technology, viruses, and Devil Fruits..." Stussy was now completely one of their own.
She stared in wonder at this research institute hidden deep beneath the ocean. "The World Government sent me to spy on Inazuma's technology, but I doubt they could have ever imagined that such a place existed in the deep sea beneath Inazuma."
"There are far too many things the World Government can't imagine."
[
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