Michael was a renown figure within Marine Headquarters.
After all, as the strongest "nepotism hire" he kept a low profile and no one was quite sure what achievements he had under his belt.
The only thing known was that he was practically Fleet Admiral Sengoku's adopted son.
Promoted to lieutenant commander at eighteen, Rear admiral at twenty.
Although those Vice admirals with codenames following the "color + animal" pattern had all achieved their ranks in their twenties as well.
But that was built upon absolute strength—no one would ever raise objections to their promotions.
As for Michael, in the eyes of most, he was just a Devil Fruit User with a rare flight ability.
Beyond that...
Nothing.
Thus, only the highest echelons of the Marines truly understood Michael's strength.
Ordinary vice admirals and rear admirals weren't even in the loop.
And over the past two years, Michael had been constantly shuttling between SWORD, the Revolutionary Army and the Cross Guild, barely showing his face at Marine Headquarters.
This led to Doberman and Onigumo paying little attention to Michael.
What they cared about was Michael bringing the princess of a pirate nation to Mary Geoise and declaring that the entire Amazon Lily would become a Marine state!
For the ultra-radicals who can kill anyone for the sake of Justice, this was utterly intolerable.
So, when Michael stood up, what Doberman and Onigumo felt wasn't intimidation...
But humiliation!
A nepotism hire in the Marines, daring to challenge battle-hardened warriors like them who had fought their way up through the seas!
"Michael! Don't think just because you're Admiral Sengoku adopted son that we'll go easy on you!"
"You've made a huge mistake—you should have killed these pirate descendants yourself!"
Michael merely glanced at them before locking his gaze onto Sakazuki's face.
"Hey, Sakazuki, is this your stance too?" His voice was lace with killing intent.
"I thought we'd reached some kind of understanding during our last meeting."
"I know nothing about this. I'm only here to report to Admiral Sengoku about the recent situation at G-1." Sakazuki shrugged, showing no emotional fluctuation.
"With the increasing number and strength of pirates in the New World, I wanted to transfer Vice Admiral Onigumo and Rear Admiral Doberman to G-1 to assist me."
From start to finish, Sakazuki remained perfectly calm.
Even when his eyes lingered slightly longer on Hancock and her sisters, it was just that—a brief pause.
At this, Michael immediately understood.
Right—if Sakazuki had objections to this matter, given his personality, he would have raised them directly himself, not had subordinates or colleagues speak for him.
He had brains and strategy, but his communication style was always straightforward.
He might not care much about his colleagues' lives, but he wouldn't play mind games with them either.
"Good, now I know where things stand."
After speaking, Michael instantly spread his wings and charged towards Onigumo and Doberman.
Neither of them had expected that Michael would actually attack them right in front of Sengoku and Sakazuki!
Michael extended both hands forward, pressing them against the two men's faces.
Compared to these two combat-oriented Marines, both over two and a half meters tall, Michael's body seemed somewhat "petite."
Yet it was precisely this "petiteness" that made Michael's terrifying strength all the more horrifying.
Onigumo and Doberman's heads were slammed straight into the floor by Michael.
The actual damage wasn't severe, but the humiliation was extreme.
After the initial shock, their fury rapidly surged.
But then, they discovered an unacceptable fact…
They couldn't stand up.
The force exerted by Michael's single hand was something they couldn resist even with their full strength.
They were pinned firmly in those craters.
Especially when the fingers gripping their faces gradually tightened, leaving behind bruised, purplish marks on their skin.
Only then did they suddenly realize!
This Michael was clearly the same as Sakazuki and the others…
A monster.
"Alright, Michael, are you planning to kill a Marine officers right in front of me?"
As Sengoku spoke up to stop him, the force Michael had been exerting on Onigumo and Doberman instantly vanished.
Smiling, he sat back down on the sofa and randomly picked one of the three little heads to pat…
Sandersonia immediately blushed and lowered her head.
At this age, little girls like her had no resistance to gentle older brothers.
"Old man, it wasn't me who wanted to act. They were the ones provoking me" Michael shrugged.
"As a Marine Vice Admiral and Rear Admiral, they really shouldn't have such loose tongues in the future."
"Otherwise…"
"They might really die."
Though Michael's lips curled into a smile, his icy blue eyes held no trace of amusement.
Onigumo and Doberman, who had just pulled their heads out of the floor, shuddered, their gazes filled with wariness and… fear.
They could sense that next time, Michael truly would kill them.
"Enough, Michael. I promise you, this will absolutely be the last time. They just didn't understand your plan" Sakazuki stood up.
"Admiral Sengoku, what about my earlier request?"
"I approve. You can take Onigumo and Doberman to G1 now."
Sengoku's voice betrayed no emotion, but that in itself was the greatest bias.
After all, he had thought this deal was a huge win, only for two radical idiots to suddenly butt in and nearly ruin everything!
By now, Sengoku was beginning to notice the increasingly clear factional divisions.
He started considering whether to just assign all these radical combatants to the New World—better to make full use of them.
"Then we'll take our leave."
After saluting Sengoku, Sakazuki led the others out of the office.
"So… what was the point of them coming?" Hancock suddenly spoke up. "Just to get beaten up by you?"
"Well… you can't expect everyone to have a brain."
Michael shrugged, flashing his signature gentle smile.
But after everything that had just happened, Hancock couldn't help feeling that Michael's smile...
Was downright creepy.
"So old man, about the Amazon Lily matter, it's settled then?"
"Mm, since you're the one spearheading this, you'll have full authority over it" Sengoku nodded.
"Just don't cause any trouble... As for military funding, you don't need to worry about that."
Michael nodded, then pointed at the three youngsters.
"Oh right, in addition, let's assign these three to be my direct subordinates."
"I'm already a Rear admiral, yet I only have Stella as my direct subordinate. It's a bit pathetic."
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