Marine Headquarters Marineford.
Lights were brightly lit.
All Marines woke up from their sleep.
The Marine high-ranking officials gathered together.
Sengoku, who had just become Fleet Admiral, sat in the main seat with a gloomy expression.
Akainu and Aokiji, who had just become Admirals, walked in. Kizaru, who was about to become an Admiral, was initially casual and leisurely, but feeling Sengoku's anger, he also sat up straight and didn't dare to drink tea.
Except for Garp.
He walked in, yawning, "What's going on in the middle of the night? Do people not need to sleep?"
Sengoku was not in the mood to joke around with his old friend.
His gaze swept over everyone present.
Marine Headquarters, Marine powerhouses with real authority from Vice Admiral and above.
"Everyone is here."
Sengoku's tone was calm, but everyone could feel the impending volcanic eruption hidden in his words.
"Just a short while ago, someone invaded Holy Land Mary Geoise, set fires everywhere in Pangaea Castle, and released all the slaves."
As soon as these words came out.
A thunderclap seemed to explode in everyone's ears, instantly dispelling all drowsiness.
They all looked incredibly shocked and disbelieving.
The sound of individual swallows of saliva rose and fell.
"Hahaha, those Celestial Dragons are getting what they deserve today, what good news!" Garp clapped his thighs excitedly, laughing loudly.
Everyone looked at Garp with admiration.
Only you would have such courage.
"Garp!!"
"Alright, that's too rude to say, I'll try my best not to laugh." Garp automatically covered his mouth.
After Garp's ruckus,
everyone's voices also became more numerous.
"Who is it? Who has such courage and strength?"
"No one has ever done this in hundreds of years."
"It's even more unbelievable than a pirate becoming the Pirate King."
"Sengoku, the highest-ranking Marine officer currently guarding the Holy Land is Gion, what's the situation?"
Chief of Staff Tsuru inquired about Gion, whom she highly valued.
She even had the thought of adopting her as a younger sister.
"There are two culprits. The identity and name of the main culprit are unknown, but this is his photo."
Sengoku distributed the photo.
Everyone looked down.
"How terrifying, so young, yet capable of such a crazy act. The sea is becoming more and more frightening." Kizaru's distinctive voice rang out.
This was almost everyone's thought.
"The younger they are, the greater the danger. For such unforgivable criminals, we must suppress them with strong measures to uphold the dignity of the World Government and the Marines!" Akainu clenched his fist and slammed it on the table.
"Does anyone here recognize him?" Sengoku asked everyone.
Just now, when he saw the photo sent back from the World Government,
he felt like he had seen him before.
But he couldn't remember.
"It's him?" Chief of Staff Tsuru and Chaton, Gion exclaimed simultaneously.
Next to them, Zephyr frowned.
"You know him?"
"I remember, he's Gion's younger brother." Chief of Staff Tsuru was very certain she had seen him at Gion's home.
"Yes, he's Gion's younger brother, a very hateful fellow." Kaji gritted his teeth.
He had pursued Gion.
But he had been tricked many times by this guy.
Yet Gion cared about him the most.
He couldn't even teach him a lesson and could only suffer in silence.
The reason I couldn't pursue Gion was because her younger brother was causing trouble.
If it weren't for him,
with my talent and looks, I, Kaji, would have succeeded long ago.
"Gion's younger brother?"
Sengoku's heart sank.
Gion has been the highest commander of the Marine forces in the Holy Land for the past few months, and her younger brother invaded Pangaea Castle, freed the slaves, and succeeded?
As a strategist, Sengoku began to feel uneasy.
"That's impossible, he's very weak. He was always at the bottom of the class in the Navy Recruit Camp." Zephyr also remembered, unable to believe it: "His strength simply couldn't have accomplished all of this."
"What's going on? He was a member of the Navy Recruit Camp, why was he allowed to leave?" Sengoku looked angrily at Zephyr.
The main culprit who invaded the Holy Land now,
is actually a Marine.
The Marines couldn't bear such responsibility. Having just become Fleet Admiral, Sengoku couldn't imagine how he would face the Five Elders with such a black mark.
"He's not a member of the Navy Recruit Camp, he was expelled." Zephyr looked at Kuhe's photo with some disgust.
Everyone looked at Zephyr.
Expelled?
This Rookie, who accomplished such a feat, was expelled from the Navy Recruit Camp.
Why?
"Zephyr, why was he expelled?" Sengoku slammed the table in anger. Was it because he was expelled that he harbored resentment towards the Marines and the World Government, leading him to do such a thing?
If so,
then Zephyr, your responsibility is huge.
Zephyr looked innocent: "In the Navy Recruit Camp, he simply couldn't keep up with the progress of his other classmates. His talent was very poor. Although he worked very hard, he was always at the bottom."
Sengoku's face darkened further.
Even if his talent was very poor,
given that he was Gion's younger brother, there was no need to expel him.
"Sengoku, do you remember, three years ago when you came to inspect the Navy Recruit Camp, you happened to see Kuhe fighting someone? At that time, you said, 'Why does the Navy Recruit Camp even accept people with no future like him?' So I expelled him." Zephyr was very helpless.
" Isn't this what you meant, Sengoku?"
"Was it?"
Such a small matter.
He didn't remember it at all.
"Zephyr, even so, you shouldn't have expelled him. I remember Kuhe didn't enter the Navy Recruit Camp through Gion's connections, but paid his own way, right?" Chief of Staff Tsuru knew the most about Gion's family situation.
She knew Kuhe.
Everyone else thought he was a parasite clinging to Gion, but Chief of Staff Tsuru knew better.
Without Kuhe, it would have been difficult for Gion to achieve her current growth.
When Kuhe was four years old, his homeland was invaded by pirates and destroyed. The four-year-old child and the fourteen-year-old girl relied on each other to survive. Gion provided the strength, and Kuhe provided the brains. They supported each other to live; neither could have survived without the other.
...
...
"Yes." Zephyr nodded.
The members of the Marine Headquarters Navy Recruit Camp are all genius youths sought out from all over the world and the entire Navy.
But there are also those with connections.
And there are those who pay their own way, meaning they contribute a large amount of wealth to the Navy to gain entry.
Kuhe didn't want Gion to bear the reputation of getting him into the Navy Recruit Camp through connections, so he spent hundreds of millions of Berries to enter the Navy Recruit Camp.
He entered at a high cost.
"Those who pay their own way and those nobles, according to regulations, aren't even considered Marines. If their time isn't up, they can't be expelled. They paid money, but were expelled; anyone would be angry." Some Marines spoke a fair word.
More importantly,
Some Marines full of a sense of justice didn't believe that rescuing slaves was a crime.
Sengoku's face was as black as charcoal.
He didn't want to say anything more.
"Conceal his identity; he is a criminal. Pursue him with full force." Sengoku gave the order. Other matters were not important. Now the Five Elders had given a death order: at all costs.
Bring the main culprit Kuhe and the accomplice Tiger to justice, regardless of whether they are alive or dead.
"Sengoku, Gion, she?" Chief of Staff Tsuru's brows furrowed.
"Trust Gion. She is a Marine who upholds justice and will not be influenced by family ties. Besides, you also said that he and Gion are not biological siblings; they were just neighbors."