Chapter 21 – Information warfare
“First, we’re going to attack Enies Lobby… no, we should start with Impel Down. Shiki was captured after all.”
Morgans was engrossed in taking notes while listening to Lunacia’s words.
After receiving a tip-off from none other than Lunacia herself, he came to a pirate island called Hachinosu to get an interview.
Lunacia isn’t the only one in front of Morgans.
Edward Newgate, Charlotte Linlin, Kaido. The three of them were also sitting in front of him.
However, Newgate and Kaido were busy drinking while Linlin was eating her sweets.
Lunacia is the only one answering the question, and for Morgans, it is easier that way because he could ask in-depth questions because they have known each other for a long time, so he didn’t bother the others.
Roger’s era is over, and the world has entered the Great Pirate Age.
When asked who are the strong pirates comparable to Roger, the first to be mentioned is Whitebeard.
The reason is that he had once fought evenly against Roger.
However, Morgans was certain.
As long as this report appears in the newspapers, that evaluation will change.
“But, I can’t believe it… is this for real?”
“Yeah, it’s true. Just like in the past, we will rebuild Rocks Pirates here in Hachinosu… well, for a limited time.”
“The world will be overturned, you know!? I mean, how did you gather the three of them here!?”
Lunacia smiles as she answers Morgans’ question.
“Well, you know. It’s a maiden’s secret.”
“Are you even at the age where you can be called a maiden?”
Kaido whispered, but it was not Lunacia who took action but Linlin.
She feeds him with a fist to the head.
“Lunacia is a maiden, and I am a maiden. Got that?”
“…yeah.”
Sensing that it would be dangerous if he continues about this topic, Kaido nodded and backed away.
More importantly, for Morgans, he could not imagine how in the world Lunacia gathered the three of them in one place.
For example, if Lunacia was to be rumored to have met even one of these three, the Marines’ alert level will increase all at once.
However, the Marines don’t seem to have detected their actions. Not even the Marines’ surveillance vessels could be found around Hachinosu.
There seems to be a secret means, but Morgans felt that asking that would be life-threatening, so he moves on to the next question.
“To use the name of Rocks even if only temporarily… does it mean that you are inheriting his will?”
“That’s not the case. Being the King of the World sounds troublesome… governing by using brute force as a background is only for the short term, and if nothing happens, such a system will disintegrate sooner or later.”
In Lunacia’s view, governance through brute force would surely cause a rebellion at some point, and it would ignite everything into flames, burning all at once.
If you rule without using force, such a large-scale rebellion might not occur, but it is not hard to imagine that the World Government will still make trouble for such people sooner or later.
Building and expanding her own influence, Lunacia could understand the difficulty of ruling and governance very well through first-hand experience.
A large number of petitions would come from all over, all the time, and just dealing with that is too cumbersome.
She sometimes wonders how Rocks was planning to rule after he became the King of the World.
Lunacia suspects that becoming the King of the World itself is his goal, and dealing with the problems and issues that would arise later on would be thrown randomly into someone else’s bucket.
She can easily imagine Rocks saying ‘I’ll give you the land you want, go rule as you like’ while laughing.
Sighing deeply, even bottomlessly, Lunacia whispers.
“I think the World Government is doing really great on their job… though it’s strange coming from their enemy.”
“Can I write that?”
“Ah, no. You shouldn’t.”
“Okay, nothing about that… from my personal point of view, I think that you are doing a better job in terms of governance…”
From Morgans’ point of view, Lunacia’s territory is far wider than any nation there is.
Moreover, it extends not only to Grand Line, but also to the East, West, South, and North Blue. It is no exaggeration to say that if you can find Lunacia’s orphanage, it is within her sphere of influence.
This island, Hachinosu, is not an exception. She had ruled it after the death of Rocks.
However, unlike other islands, she respects that it is a pirate island, and all that Lunacia really did was create an orphanage.
Doing what adults would do, but not willing to raise a child? The pirates must bring their children to the orphanage. Find some orphans while looting an island? The pirates must bring them to the orphanage. With the exception of those two additional rules, Hachinosu has not changed much.
Furthermore, Hachinosu doesn’t hang the rule ‘don’t pick a fight against those under Lunacia’s influence’, but the pirates know very well what would happen if they do.
Lunacia can efficiently guarantee the security of various islands by intimidating pirates, and in exchange, she will receive taxes called protection fee――very cheap taxes, and you can even pay with goods――and on top of that, she would also trade actively with islands outside of her influence.
In addition, not all taxes enter Lunacia’s pocket. They are mostly used in building roads, hospitals, and schools, as well as returning them to the public through creating and maintaining such public facilities and welfare.
For this reason, in recent years, even some non-affiliated nations with the World Government that are treated as lawless areas have begun to fall under Lunacia’s control, making her expansion unstoppable.
Morgans believes that in terms of the sphere of influence, no pirate could ever beat her.
While thinking of that, he asks once again.
“So, why will you call yourself Rocks?”
“Since the start of the Great Pirate Age, aren’t there a lot more pirates?”
Morgans nodded to Lunacia’s question.
Seeing that, she says.
“So we thought we should introduce ourselves to the rookies.”
Morgans quickly took note of her remarks and asked more questions.
“I heard you mention earlier, you will first target Impel Down?”
“That’s right. We can’t have Shiki missing after all. After that, Enies Lobby, and followed by…”
Lunacia eloquently said the names of large marine bases and the islands where government agencies can be found.
She named more than 30 of them, but Morgans wrote all of them down.
“Can I write this?”
“You can. That will make it even more interesting.”
“You didn’t mention Marineford. You won’t attack it?”
“We’ll pass on it. After all, if we really want to join hands and attack, we’ll crush Marineford at the first blow. It won’t give the Marines time to deal with us.”
Lunacia said confidently, and continued after a slight pause.
“There’s the thing of introducing ourselves to the rookies, but our goal is to have some fun with old friends while remembering Rocks.”
“That must be the world’s most dangerous reunion party.”
Lunacia laughs, hearing Morgans’ words.
After the interview, Lunacia watched Morgans leave the room.
After confirming that his presence has gone far away, she asks.
“What do you think?”
“Cunning brat.”
“I want you to call it information warfare.”
Kaido asks Lunacia, who pouts as she says that.
“That’s too much of a hassle. Can’t we just say it directly?”
“I think it’s natural to do our best to win. And, in this way, you can see the World Government and Marines scrambling around in panic… wouldn’t that look interesting?”
“That does sound great…”
Lunacia nodded with satisfaction upon hearing Kaido’s words.
Linlin then asks.
“Those guys, would they fall for that?”
“Even if it turns out to be a lie, we’ve won as long as it gets written in the newspaper. If the World Government and the Marines didn’t raise their security even while being told where our targets are, I wonder how it would look from the civilians?”
“Won’t the civilians think… they targeted somewhere else?”
“No way. Civilians don’t have the strength to fight. And among those targets I mentioned, with some exceptions, there are towns where ordinary civilians are living.”
Linlin deepens her smile upon hearing Lunacia’s words.
“The people are worried after finding out that their island is targeted, asking the Marines to strengthen the security… as they strengthen the securities of many islands, the Marines are forced to scatter their forces, but if they don’t strengthen the security, the people will start distrusting them.”
“That’s right. We’re the ones attacking, so we must always have the initiative and can to attack any place we want. Compared to that, the ones defending might have a powerful force, but the area they need to protect is also vast… as I mentioned before, the islands I named earlier are not only in Grand Line, but in all four Blues.”
“Sounds terrible…”
Linlin says so, but her face shows a smile.
“Don’t the World Government and Marines have their dogs lurking in Hachinosu? Is there a possibility of a leak?”
Lunacia proudly threw her chest out while answering Newgate’s question.
“About one week before this meeting, I made some rumors in Hachinosu that I might go to Impel Down.”
“…I can guess the results.”
Newgate and also Linlin understood.
Kaido doesn’t seem to care. He’s just drinking.
“I turned into fog covering all of Hachinosu and including surrounding waters, found all of those who are contacting all kind of suspicious places, and secretly disposed of all of them.”
“Every time I know more about it… your ability, isn’t that too cheating?”
“I found it very helpful being so versatile. So, I’m going to tell you the real details this time… are you ready?”
The two nodded at Lunacia’s question.
The only one who didn’t nod was Kaido, who wasn’t listening at all.
“Apprentice Kaido. Tell me what I just said?”
“Mm? You said, there should be good drinks in Mary Geoise… did I get it right?”
“Right now, I really feel very unfortunate for your subordinates…”
The other two also nodded to show agreement with Lunacia.
“Who usually thinks about plans or give orders in your crew?”
“What? I just think I want to do this, and I would fly to do it. Why?”
“Shouldn’t you use your head a little bit more?”
“That’s annoying. Everything’s fine as long as you’re strong enough. Ain’t that right?”
Kaido’s words are also the truth, but that wasn’t what Lunacia wanted to say.
But she probably couldn’t get through to him.
He was like this a long time ago.
“Oh well… whatever.”
Thinking she should give his subordinates a drink next time, Lunacia started to talk about the details of the plan.
Meanwhile, at that time, Shiki was at the port of the island Lunacia designated as her base.
He had already been told about the plan’s details, and since he shouldn’t be around during the interview, he was currently looking after the ship.
The ship might be big, but there is a way to reduce the chances of being found.
They had already tested it many times and it has been confirmed that there are no problems.
“A plan only possible with me and Lunacia.”
Shiki makes the ship float while Lunacia turns into a fog covering the ship.
As a result, it would only seem that a fog was floating in the air.
Even so, ordinary fog only drifts around, so it would still feel strange for a fog to push forward without losing to the wind.
However, it’s better than seeing a flying ship.
Even if the fog is moving forward against the wind, those who have seen them might think that it’s quite possible, being in Grand Line and all.
“We’re planning to arrive at the destination on a night with a full moon, so… it’s really exciting to think about.”
Mary Geoise is centered around Pangea Castle, with the residential areas of the World Nobles around it.
In order to reach that residential area, they must pass through the Celestial Dragon Gate, which is heavily guarded.
If anything happens, Admirals from Marineford would quickly come, and with the map of Mary Geoise and the layout of the guards unknown, one could tell how difficult it is to succeed in a surprise attack.
However, Lunacia had reliable informants.
She has obtained a rough sketch of Mary Geoise and has some knowledge of the security system in most places.
The source is the former World Nobles, Saint Homing and his wife.
Their family was saved by Lunacia and are now living a good life.
However, Doflamingo left to keep his promise of working for Lunacia, leaving his home.
Saint Homing was reluctant at first, but he couldn’t refuse when Lunacia, the benefactor who saved their family, asked for it with her head bowed.
The information that could be gained from him and his wife is not only outdated but also based on memory, so there are many vague parts.
But it’s much better than nothing.
“Her cunning really helps her.”
Saving former World Nobles, and getting information about Mary Geoise from them――an ordinary person cannot imagine such a thing.
There are many ways to use World Nobles, but former World Nobles are just civilians without the protection of the Marines.
The only ones who would save such people are either incredibly good-natured people, or――
“Damn brat, she’s really grown up…”
‘I’m really getting older thinking like this’, Shiki lightly sighed.
And one week after the interview with Morgans.
An article appeared on the front page of the World Economic Newspaper.
‘Rocks Pirates, reunited under the command of Rocks D. Lunacia in Hachinosu!
World, tremble to your knees!
The fearsome Rocks is back――!
Includes an exclusive interview with Lunacia!’
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