The Retaliation Begins

[ Third Person POV ]

Marineford

A few days had passed since the meeting mainly addressing the Whitebeard Pirates. The pirate crew had made some more concerning moves across the New World, giving the Marines along with the World Government countless troubles.

When the World Economic News got their hands on that information. They had a field day writing the day's papers. This spread much chaos and turbulence across the world, everyone was holding their breathes thinking that a war was brewing. Little did the World Economic News, along with the rest of the world know that the Whitebeard Pirates were already on their way for some payback.

Furthermore, countless marines could be seen rushing to and fro, the Marines were already sending countless reinforcements towards vital assets; however, it was too late. A squad of Cipher Pol agents could be seen making their way to Fleet-Admiral Kong's office. Their masks covered their expressions, giving them an air of mystery as walked. 

Fleet-Admiral Kong, on the other hand, was currently sorting out a bunch of paperwork. He had managed to organize the proper Marine personell to cover certain vital islands that were essential assets for the World Government and the Marines. Garp was currently away pursuing Roger, while Sengoku was away in Mariejois. Leaving Zephyr in Marineford, but he didn't seem too bothered by it because he could still be with his wife and child. 

Borusalino, Kuzan, and Sakazuki were split up between Marineford, Mariejois and Enies Lobbby. Apparently, a Celestial Dragon had randomly decided to acquire some slaves and thought that the island would be a perfect place to do so. As a result, Kong had Sakazuki go over there and keep an eye out for the World Noble. Meanwhile, Kuzan was stuck in Marineford with Zephyr, he didn't seem to want to go to Mariejois. As a result, this led to Borusalino having to go to Mariejois to keep watch. 

Also, it was important to note that it had been time to collect the heavenly tribute. Though this was a matter that the World Government normally completely covered, Kong had assigned the majority of the Rear-Admirals to help out with the transportation of the Heavenly Gold. As for the Vice-Admirals, the majority of them were assigned to stay within Marineford. However, a couple of Vice-Admirals were assigned to various islands that the World Government got some rare resources like Seastone. 

It was to the point where Tsuru was called in to go guard the island of Latten. Other Vice-Admirals were sent to protect other essential World Government and Marine bases. The Cipher Pol organization was charged with the task of communication and espionage. The higherups demanded to learn the current locations of Whitebeard and the Storm Dragon. Those two, ended up becoming a high priority within the current situation.

The CP0 agents walked into Kong's office without knocking and briefly presented a bunch of files to him. Kong picked the files up and promptly began perusing them to find any vital information, and the CP0 troupe remained silent while waiting for his response.

"So what, you guys think that Kaido is going to attack us as well?" Kong asked seriously.

"There is a strong possibility, we had initially assumed that he would remain silent and gather forces to attack later. However, the commotion that is being caused by the Whitebeard Pirates is too attractive for someone like Kaido to pass up," The leader of the Cipher Pol troupe responded.

"Has he shown any signs of preparing for a fight?" Kong questioned further, "Because all I can tell from this report is the fact that Kaido is showing signs to join the fight, it doesn't seem that he has information about when it will happen."

"Well, it's not like we know when they will attack either," The leader argued, "The World Government, along with you guys, are only making preparations based on the Whitebeard Pirates movements. Even now, as we speak, we are currently still looking for Whitebeard and Boris; it's as if they just disappeared into thin air."

"As long as we keep an eye on him, there won't be a need to worry about Kaido. He wouldn't want to join a battle that's already over," Kong concluded, "However, what of Big Mom? Is she showing any signs of interfering in this conflict?"

"Negative," The CP0 leader responded, "She's currently eight months pregnant with twins, according to our sources. She's currently pre-occupied with that and some food that she had raided an island for."

"Moreover, Shiki seems to have vanished after the Edd War. We haven't even managed to get any word from him since then," The CP0 leader reported.

Kong sighed tiredly and messaged his temples, this entire ordeal was beginning to wear on him. The World Government wanted to instill peace and order throughout the world. However, that same organization does something random like picking a fight with people like Whitebeard. He normally never questioned the orders of the World Government. However, it didn't mean that he wouldn't question their decisions.

After a couple of more minutes of discussion with the CP0 agents. They left Kong to his business and left Marineford, their next mission was to infiltrate the Whitebeard Pirate's fleet and get more information on the current statuses of Whitebeard and Boris.

Meanwhile, Fleet-Admiral Kong resumed in his organizing his paperwork when his transponder snail that was resting on the corner of his desk began ringing. He immediately stopped what he had been doing and picked up the call.

"Fleet-Admiral, this is Vice-Admiral Tosa reporting from Enies Lobby. The Whitebeard Pirates are currently attacking! We are currently being overwhelmed by their force-" Tosa's line cut off before he could finish his report.

Kong kept a cool head and called a marine to send another Vice-Admiral to handle the situation. However, just as he was finishing up giving out orders, a Marine Soldier barged into his office before saluting and giving out a report. 

"Fleet Admiral Kong! There was a call for you coming from the ships responsible for transporting the Heavenly Tribute! They were all ambushed by the Whitebeard Pirates! They are requesting for reinforcements!" 

Kong quickly made another call to two other Vice-Admirals to go and supply reinforcements to them. However, the reports weren't done yet, as soon as he hung up the call. The special transponder snail belonging to the World Government suddenly rang.

"Kong! This isn't good, those damnable Whitebeard Pirates have raided Latten island! Send reinforcements there immediately! We cannot afford to lose such a valuable asset!" An Elder boomed from the other end of the line.

"Forgive me, but I cannot do that," Fleet Admiral Kong apologized.

"What do you mean, you can't!" 

"I've received two reports of the Whitebeard pirates attacking different areas belonging to the World Government. I've already sent reinforcements there, but the forces are now spread thin,"Admiral Kong explained, "The moment I send more reinforcements to Latten island, I will be leaving Marineford vulnerable to attacks. This possibility increases judging by the fact that we still haven't managed to locate either Boris or Whitebeard."

"That doesn't matter!" The Elder objected, "Losing Latten Island means that we will be scarce on Seastone for a long time! How else will we be able to manufacture weapons to stop devil fruit users?!"

"Send more reinforcements to Latten island immediately," The Elder demanded, "We can take the risk of Marineford getting wrecked, we can't take a risk on losing Seastone manufacturing."

Kong was now placed in a dilemma, the current Vice-Admirals remaining were just about enough to take on an attack from a large number of pirates. However, this was Boris and Whitebeard that they were currently up against. It would at least take two Admirals to take on Whitebeard, adding Boris to the equation was going to be a catastrophe. They needed all the help that they could get.

"Alright," Admiral Kong relented, "I will send Vice-Admiral Urban and a couple of Rear-Admirals to provide support."

"What about the candidate for Admiral? I read that one of them was currently within Marineford," The Elder asked.

"Unfortunately, we can't afford to do that," Admiral Kong objected, "He will be our trump card should they decide to invade Marineford."

"That's fine then," The Elder relented, "Just make sure to send reinforcements as quickly as possible."

"As you wish," Fleet Admiral Kong responded.