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"That's great! I wasn't originally planning on taking this chief of staff position, but I'll go back and talk to Hong..."

Zhou Ze started spouting nonsense, his ramblings becoming increasingly outrageous, which infuriated Momousagi.

"Zhou Ze, you bastard, what nonsense are you spouting?"

After Momousagi shouted angrily, she indeed stopped asking questions.

Seeing this, Zhou Ze grinned silently and said nothing more.

He's finally figured out how to deal with a woman like Momousagi.

He made grand pronouncements in the early stages, but refused to admit them to anything.

Mid-term ramblings, incoherent and disjointed;

He remained silent for a while, then feigned death when the time was right.

Just apply this formula, and you can't go wrong!

Chapter 434 Variables

The Holy Land, Mary Geoise.

After the Five Elders returned from their audience with Lord Im, they fell into deep thought. After an unknown amount of time, the blond-haired man was the first to lose his composure.

"Blackbeard died so quietly? Just a few months ago, Shanks personally... This is really unexpected!"

"Cough cough!"

The long-haired old man glanced at him indifferently, stopping the other from any potential disrespect towards Lord Im.

"Since this information came from Lord Im, it must be correct. We just need to modify the plan according to Lord Im's instructions. The rest is not our concern!"

The five elders all became solemn, and the old man with the cane gave a soft "hmm."

"Lord Im declined to comment on the rest of our plan, which suggests he agrees with it overall, and he specifically told us about Blackbeard..."

The old man pondered for a moment, "However, Shanks doesn't seem interested in what's behind Blackbeard. How can we use Blackbeard's death to lure him into our scheme...?"

The bald man holding the knife's glasses flashed for a moment, and his voice was icy cold.

"Bringing him into the game isn't difficult; the key issue is who will deal with him!"

"Ok?"

The bald man's words immediately attracted the attention of the others.

"Do you have a solution?"

Upon hearing this, the bald man curled his lip in disdain, showing utter contempt.

"Have you all forgotten why Shanks became one of the 'Four Emperors' four years ago?"

The other four old men were stunned for a moment when they heard this, then they quickly realized what was going on.

"You mean...? But Lord Im rejected our suggestion to reveal the mermaid princess's secret, and clearly doesn't want us to talk about what happened back then..."

The bald man tapped the scabbard lightly on his shoulder, interrupting their conversation.

"No information needs to be revealed!"

"All we need to do is make Shanks believe that someone already knows the 'truth,' and that this person is on our side!"

The long-haired old man pondered for a moment, seemingly grasping some of the bald man's thoughts.

"You mean Zhou Ze?"

He stood up from the sofa and paced back and forth.

"With Blackbeard's Dark-Dark Fruit and Tremor-Tremor Fruit abilities, there are very few people in the world who can kill him, and Zhou Ze happens to have the strength to do so."

"What we need to do is make Shanks believe that Zhou Ze killed Blackbeard and that he also learned some 'truths' from Blackbeard..."

"Most importantly, this 'truth' is the 'future' that his captain, Gol D. Roger, was willing to gamble with his life?"

The bald man with the knife's sneer deepened, and he gave a disdainful snort.

"Isn't the meaning of Shanks' life in this world to witness the 'future' his captain foresaw? It was the same four years ago, and it's the same now!"

"The Red-Haired Men must be having a hard time sleeping if they find out something about a 'most powerful admiral in the history of the Navy,' the 'youngest chief of staff in 800 years,' and a 'model navy man who is astute, wise, and upholds justice,' right?"

"Do you think Red-Haired Shanks dares to gamble with us... no, that's not right, gamble with us... and see which side Zhou Ze is really on!"

The bald man with the knife spoke with absolute certainty, as if he knew everything about the redhead's choice.

However, the Five Elders had no objection to this judgment. The old man with the cane suddenly stomped his short cane.

"That's right, it's obvious how the Red-Headed League will choose."

"That guy, who seems to have the magnanimity to embrace the world, is ultimately nothing more than a pathetic wretch following in Roger's footsteps!"

"Four years ago, he helped us a lot by defeating that league!"

The blond man also chuckled.

"He was the one who stopped Kaido's actions during the Marineford War six months ago. Come to think of it, he was really worried about 'variables' that Roger hadn't foreseen!"

The old man with the birthmark on his head nodded.

“He was worried about ‘unexpected changes’ in the world, so we told him that if ‘unexpected changes’ occurred, we didn’t believe he wouldn’t get involved!”

Having said that, how to get Red Hair involved was no longer a problem. The atmosphere among the Five Elders seemed to have become more lively, unlike the oppressive atmosphere before.

"By the way, speaking of that alliance, it reminds me of 'Tyrant' Bear!"

The old man with the cane suddenly spoke in a strange tone. Seeing the others casting intrigued glances, he shook his head.

"No, no, it's not about the SSG. Vegapunk is making steady progress in that area of ​​research. I'm talking about that guy Roswald..."

"Rozward?"

The name left the Five Elders momentarily stunned. After a while, they remembered that there seemed to be a Celestial Dragon in Mary Geoise.

"What happened to that guy?"

"Roswald recently applied to the World Government, hoping we would assign him 'Tyrant' Bear; he lacks a suitable mount!"

The old man with the cane recounted the incident as if it were an amusing anecdote, as if it were a joke after a meal.

"Give it to him once the SSG unit is completed!"

The long-haired old man waved his hand dismissively.

"These good-for-nothings will soon have their day, so until then, it's reasonable to try to meet their demands!"

The five elders all understood what the long-haired old man meant by "come in handy," and they all glanced in the direction of Lord Im's secret garden.

Then, respectfully and quickly averting their gaze, after a moment of silence, the old man with the birthmark on his head coughed, drawing everyone's attention back to the present.

“During the last incident on Sicily Island, Stussy’s CP0 identity should have been exposed. It seems that Stussy will find it difficult to continue lobbying Big Mom. We need to find a suitable candidate!”

The blond man made his choice almost without hesitation, and announced it loudly.

"That's easy. Let CP0 contact that albatross, that guy who manipulates public opinion. They have plenty of ways to persuade BigMom!"

"Also, warn that bastard that if he dares to try anything funny in this matter, the World Government will no longer tolerate him!"

The old man with the cane rubbed his short cane and shook his head.

“Morgans (the editor-in-chief of the World Economic Herald, that big bird) wouldn’t be that stupid; what he’s been asked to do this time is no news,”

"He is very clear about when and how he should appropriately withdraw his professional ethics as a journalist!"

"Moreover, the news that 'the most outstanding genius in the history of the Navy killed the only person in the world with two Devil Fruit abilities' is enough to make him wisely choose to shut up elsewhere!"

The bald man with the knife adjusted his glasses, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

"Hmph, when he needs to be clear, he better really be clear!"

Chapter 435 Calming the Storm

For the first time since joining the navy, Zhou Ze experienced the joy of slacking off.

Hmm... I really am slacking off!

Princess Shirahoshi, thanks to Aquaman's abilities, made Chief Advisor Zhou serve as an air force pilot for many consecutive days.

Finally, this country bumpkin couldn't take it anymore and, in a very unsportsmanlike manner, used someone to bait the spot, jumped into the water, grabbed the fish by hand, and hooked it onto his own fishing hook.

There's no way around it, a fisherman will never go home empty-handed!

"Hey, Shirahoshi, I just pulled it out of the water, didn't I? I just put it back in, didn't I?"

Zhou Ze looked at Bai Xing's distressed face and felt helpless. He couldn't very well lie on the shore and drink seawater as fish soup.

Bai Xing's grievances weren't actually because Zhou Ze was fishing. In fact, even the slow-witted girl had noticed that Zhou Ze's behavior was somewhat abnormal over the past few days.

They had been at the base for a long time, and neither of them had returned to Alabasta or Little Garden.

This made Bai Xing miss Weiwei and her brother Wang, and she was also worried that something might have happened to them.

"Lord Zhou Ze, when are we going back?"

Zhou Ze paused for a moment, then looked up at Bai Xing, who was lying on the shore with only her large head showing.

"Hmm? Is it too boring at the base, Shirahoshi?"

Bai Xing seemed to be thinking of Tina and Momousagi, who had only arrived a few days ago. Afraid that Zhou Ze would misunderstand, she shook her head repeatedly and explained anxiously.

The enormous fish tail churned the sea, causing the bay to surge instantly. The warships bobbed and swayed with the current, attracting a group of marines who had just developed some resistance to Shirahoshi to come out and watch.

"Ah, no, Lord Zhou Ze! I'm just... Fishman Island...!"

The little girl didn't know how to explain it so that no one would get hurt, and she was so anxious that tears were about to come out.

Zhou Ze flipped himself up, floating in front of Bai Xing. With a wave of his hand, he unleashed his inner strength, catching a large teardrop that had fallen from Bai Xing's eyes.

"I understand. Then let's not wait any longer and head back now!"

"what?"

Bai Xing's bewildered eyes almost forgot to continue producing tears. Just as she was about to speak, Zhou Ze shook his head.

"No, Shirahoshi, you didn't disrupt any of my plans. I was already planning to return to Fishman Island in the next few days!"