3-THE SPECIAL SCIENCE GROUP
I’ve now established why Vegapunk would want to go to Wano and why Sentomaru would protect him during the trip. Coincidentally, Sentomaru told us in chapter 601 that he recently officially joined the Marines, and he’s listed as being part of their science unit. This is likely the same unit that houses the SSG, Vegapunk’s latest science division. A perfect fit.
We’ve had multiple chapters now seeing debate within the Marines about whether or not they should get involved with the events unfolding on Wano. The latest report they heard from Drake, through Coby, was that Big Mom and Kaido were in the process of forming an alliance. Essentially, the return of Rocks.
I’m not going to speculate on the rest of act 3 and how that unfolds, but I think it’s very likely that the intermission between acts 3 and 4 sees us jumping out of Wano once more. What stops Drake, who’s been mysteriously absent since this raid started, from reporting what’s been unfolding to SWORD? During Act 3, he saw Kaido make a proclamation that he’s going to be teaming up with Big Mom and start making moves to find the One Piece. Imagine the Marines and the Government catch a wind of this. Why wouldn’t this immediately become priority number 1?
Let’s assume for a moment that things on Wano have escalated to a point where Sakazuki decides it necessary to send the SSG to Wano to deal with Big Mom and Kaido. You already have Sentomaru as part of the unit, and elsewhere you have Vegapunk insisting on going to Wano himself in order to see the full effects of Caesar’s experimentations with fake devil fruits. The Perfect Storm.
Why would CP0, knowing that the rulers of Wano are demanding Vegapunk, not take advantage of this opportunity? They can essentially have Vegapunk arrive first under Sentomaru’s protection, his cover being doing surveillance and research on the island, while the Marines mobilize the SSG in secret to defeat the allied Yonko forces.
Only to have Luffy beat them to the punch.
