I'm on my way to Marineford and since I have time to plan, I've been writing down basically a task list of people to recruit. Nico Robin is a must, she is smart and a good way to infiltrate and influence the Straw Hats. You're a great guy, Luffy, but you're an even better treasure hunting gopher and diversion. Plus, controlling Luffy's timing of reaching Raftel is essential, because every variable must be under control. How did Oden know that 20 years later pirates were going to come storming into the new world? Someone has made a prophecy and I need to know all of Im's as well as Joyboy's backhands.
Sure a faster way would be to shake down Rayleigh. Torture him until he reveals the truth. But a man who let his brother in all but name, Roger, go to his death probably thinks the contents of Raftel are important enough that he'd die to keep them safe. Plus, it would get Shanks on my ass because Rayleigh definitely wouldn't go down without a fight. Sadly, I have to go about finding Raftel the hard way.
Trafalgar Law was a pretty good pick too, and this year was when he would get the Ope-Ope no mi. Rosinante couldn't and shouldn't be saved. If I approached Law with the promise of defeating Doflamingo, he'd join in a heartbeat. The immortality surgery must be under my control. I would be lying if I wasn't intrigued by immortality, but it would be worse if others got immortality.
Perona was out, for now. Moriah was probably picking her up this year. Her devil fruit is spectacularly powerful against the strong, so I hope I can take down Perona if I take down Moriah. I'd have to break her down before making her loyal to me, but hey whatever works.
At this point I think I'm one "Oh, Gon" away from being Hisoka since I've been thinking about these kids' potential after they grow up for hours. It's time to change tracks.
I also have to get certain Devil Fruits. Thunder Fruit, since it's near the beginning of 1512 and Enel destroyed Birka in 1514 is top of my list. Assuming a year and a half after eating for him to get to that level, I can get to him before he eats the fruit and "save" him from his suffering. He'll be too cocky after he eats it for recruitment. Anyway, the priority is Goro-Goro no mi. Enel is secondary and disposable.
A non-cannon Mythical Zoan that was in the game - Bat Bat Fruit: Model Vampire. It is said to be in the Isle of Promise or Magic Town in the New World. I don't know if that place even exists, but it's worth a try.
Finally keep an eye out in the New World for the dark fruit, mostly for its ability to transfer devil fruit powers. The Castle fruit, The Float fruit etc. are spectacular strategic treasures needed to fight a war, and the dark fruit can get me access to all of them. It's somewhere in Whitebeard's territory so hard to get to.
Suddenly, the wall of my room snapped as I heard Garp declaring "we're here brat". As I followed him out, I was shocked by the massive scale of Marineford. Truly, you can see why the Marines are the number one force in the sea, even if they're spread out too thin. If they ever decide to wipe out even a Yonko pirate group like they did with Whitebeard and every marine was trying their best, it would probably take less than one day. The Paramount war was half a joke. Kizaru and Aokiji were not trying 100%, Sengoku was monitoring Garp most of the time, and Garp didn't do shit. The Shichibukai were obviously also not trying their best. Literally 4/5 of the top brass was fucking around and they still won...sorta.
As the ship pulls into harbor, I see the marines giving a respectful greeting to Garp. The Marine Hero title carries a heavy weight around here. Not wanting a piece of this attention, I sneak off to the recruiting area since Garp has already introduced me to the lead instructor. The one armed wonder himself, Zephyr! Since I didn't want to basically get trained by Garp and be associated with him too much, I'm following the normal headquarters recruiting procedure with my recommender being Garp.
"Hello, Lieutenant Serk-Ann. I am here to meet with Teacher Zephyr. I was referred by Vice-Admiral Garp"
"Oh, really? Amazing! I expect big things from you. I'll put you on his calendar, he'll be back from the training grounds by 5 pm. You can wait in the lounge until then".
I slowly moved back to a seat after thanking the lady. She seems nice. Well, I only have an hour to kill, so I might as well read the newspaper. Let's see...shit! How could I forget... Wapol! He becomes king in 1516, and eats the Baku-Baku no mi around that time, I think. Either way, his fruit is exceptional in its uses, and let's not forget Wapometal. I need that fruit. Looks like I'll need to have a serious chat with Zephyr about speeding up my training. I need to go out as soon as possible. I currently have some degree of experience with Observation haki, so I need to push Zephyr to teach me Armament too. I'll be talking to him soon, hope he takes my bait...