A few days later, Marine Headquarters—Marineford.
The number of warships anchored in the harbor had visibly increased. The expressions on the soldiers' faces were more solemn than usual, even carrying a faint, hard-to-hide tension.
Inside Headquarters' strategic conference room, the atmosphere was even heavier.
Around the long oval table sat the Navy's top-tier fighting power—nearly eighty percent of Marine Headquarters' elite combat strength gathered in one place. A mobilization on this scale was extremely rare in recent years.
The seat of honor naturally belonged to Fleet Admiral Sengoku. The bags under his eyes were noticeably darker, clearly showing the immense pressure he'd been under these past few days. Beside him sat the Navy's Chief of Staff, Vice Admiral Tsuru, her gaze deeper than usual.
And on both sides of the table sat three Marine admirals.
Beyond the three admirals, more than ten elite Marine Headquarters vice admirals were present as well—among them Vice Admiral Momonga and Vice Admiral Strawberry, their bodies wrapped in thick bandages. It was obvious they'd taken serious injuries a few days earlier at the Lulusia Kingdom's harbor.
All eyes were fixed on Sengoku, waiting for him to speak.
Sengoku drew a deep breath, sweeping his gaze across every commander present before he finally spoke.
"Everyone, I'm sure these past few days you've all seen—through one channel or another—the reports related to the Lulusia Kingdom."
The moment he said it, the room's air seemed to congeal.
"The sacrifice of Vice Admirals Stainless, Yamakaji, and Doberman is a tremendous loss to our Marines," Sengoku said, his voice low.
"They openly murdered Marine vice admirals, destroyed a government fleet, and threatened the safety of world nobles! That Ronan—and those rebels under him—have completely trampled the bottom line of order! They must be wiped out in the most thorough, most severe way possible!" Akainu's voice rang out immediately.
"Sakazuki, you're still as impatient as ever." Aokiji yawned. "We all know what the root of this conflict was. The 'Hunting Tournament' the World Government forced through. The Celestial Dragons' indiscriminate slaughter of civilians in a sovereign nation. Ronan's resistance was extreme, sure—but in a sense, it was an inevitable result of being driven into a corner."
"Kuzan! Are you defending rebels?" Akainu glared. "No matter the reason, killing Marines and attacking world nobles is absolute evil! Mercy toward evil is blasphemy against justice! Only total purging can guarantee stable order!"
"Absolute evil?" Aokiji shook his head. "Sakazuki, the definition of justice has never been black and white. If the Marines are nothing but the World Government's—more precisely, the Celestial Dragons'—butcher's blade, then what meaning does our so-called 'justice' have? What are we really protecting—order for the world, or privilege for a handful of people?"
Everyone listened in silence to the powder-keg exchange. Sengoku had no intention of letting them keep going.
"Enough. Both of you, stop."
His expression hardened.
"Before you returned, I received a direct order from the World Government's highest authority—the Gorosei…"
Every commander held their breath. Even Aokiji and Akainu sat up straighter.
"The order to Marine Headquarters," Sengoku said, enunciating each word, "is to immediately assemble all elite forces we can mobilize—led jointly by the three admirals—and proceed to the Lulusia Kingdom."
"Completely annihilate the Lulusia Kingdom and all resisting forces. Capture and kill the King of Lulusia, Ronan, and every one of his core members."
"This operation will not accept surrender. No mercy, no room left. The name 'Lulusia' is to be… erased from the map. Completely."
Those last words slammed into everyone's chest.
Even though Sengoku felt a trace of reluctance, when he thought of the three fallen vice admirals, he finally forced himself to harden his heart.
A wave of shocked murmurs burst through the room.
Even Akainu's perpetually unchanging face shifted slightly, brows locking tight.
Aokiji's brow knit deeply. He leaned back in his chair and said nothing, but the opposition in his eyes practically overflowed.
Kizaru, meanwhile, wore no expression at all. What he'd experienced at Lulusia left him with nothing to say.
Onigumo suddenly slammed a palm onto the table and roared, "It should've been like this from the start! Those arrogant rebels dared kill Stainless—I'll personally bring back Ronan's head!"
Bastille said in a low voice, "Upholding the World Government's authority and eliminating all evil is the duty of us Marines."
But some vice admirals couldn't hide their unease. The relatively mild-mannered Dalmatian opened his mouth as if to speak, only to swallow it back and turn it into a long sigh.
Tsuru chose that moment to speak.
"Everyone, anger and resolve are important, but we need calm more. Lulusia's population is small, but in the previous battle, a new Logia user—Enel—appeared. There's also Tesoro, who ate the Gold-Gold Fruit. And there's even Neferpitou, who is suspected of having eaten some kind of Devil Fruit. Enel and Neferpitou, in particular—their combat power would be extremely troublesome even for an admiral to deal with."
She continued evenly.
"On top of that, there's a group of clone soldiers. We've already confirmed their origins—genetic soldiers from the allied nation, the Germa Kingdom."
Tsuru looked toward Sengoku.
"Fleet Admiral, the Gorosei demanding we mobilize everything… is likely because they fear exactly this."
Sengoku nodded. Tsuru's analysis was precisely what worried him.
Not a single member of the God Knights who entered the Lulusia Kingdom had escaped. Sengoku also feared that this renewed attack on Lulusia would bring fresh, unpredictable changes.
The meeting ended quickly. Once everyone had filed out, only Sengoku and Tsuru remained in the conference room.
Sengoku sank back into the wide fleet admiral's chair, rubbing his aching brow. Tsuru walked to the window and looked down at the fleet below—still in frantic war preparations—her gaze growing more and more distant.
"That old bastard Garp," Sengoku broke the silence first, irritation in his voice. "This time he slipped away fast enough—refusing to come back, hiding in the New World. Says he's 'chasing pirates.' Hah. If you ask me, he just doesn't want to wade into this mess!"
Tsuru turned around to face him.
"He doesn't want to raise his hand against Lulusia. That King Ronan may act outrageously, but the way he cleans up pirates and shelters civilians—Garp approves of that. If you tell him to lead a fleet to destroy a country like that… he can't do it."
Sengoku fell silent for a moment, then let out a heavy sigh. How could he not understand? But as fleet admiral, he carried responsibilities he couldn't shrug off.
"It's not just Garp's attitude," Tsuru said, her tone sharpening as she sat across from him. "I'm worried about the real strength Lulusia has shown. Sengoku—I've carefully reviewed all the intelligence from the harbor clash."
She paused, then continued.
"Garling-sei led the God Knights, together with CP0 elites and Kizaru, plus five Marine vice admirals. That level of force is enough to overwhelm a major pirate crew's base in a short time."
"And yet at Lulusia's harbor… they suffered that kind of loss."
Tsuru's words landed like stones.
"What does that mean? It means Lulusia's high-end fighting power—in both number and depth—far exceeds our prior estimates."
"Besides Beth, Alicia, and Teresa, there's a Logia user, Enel, who easily pinned down three vice admirals. There's Neferpitou, suspected to have eaten a Zoan-type Devil Fruit. And Tesoro, who ate the Gold-Gold Fruit."
Each name Tsuru spoke made Sengoku's face grow heavier.
"My conservative estimate," Tsuru concluded, "is that Lulusia has at least five… top-tier combatants capable of directly restraining—possibly even resisting—to some extent, an admiral-level opponent."
"Five… admiral-level…" Sengoku repeated, his throat going dry.
Even if they weren't truly admiral-class, being able to tie up an admiral for a short time was already terrible news for the Marines.
"If that judgment is correct," Tsuru continued, "then even if we can ultimately take Lulusia, the price we pay will be unimaginable—catastrophic."
How could Sengoku not understand her worry? But as fleet admiral, he had to be responsible for the Marines' future.
"I understand, Tsuru," Sengoku finally said after a long while, his voice carrying a tired helplessness. "But this is a direct death-order from the Gorosei. There's no room for negotiation. Not only you—this time, even I must personally go to the front."
He raised his head. His eyes were bloodshot.
"The World Government needs an absolute victory to re-establish authority. Lulusia must be destroyed, no matter the cost."
"If that old man Garp would come back, with the two of us anchoring the operation, our odds would be much better. Losses might stay within something we can still accept. You know his strength."
At the mention of Garp, Tsuru also fell quiet for a moment.
That old soldier, who looked reckless on the surface, really was the Marines' stabilizing pillar. With him there, whether commanders or ordinary soldiers, everyone's heart steadied.
"Unfortunately," Tsuru said softly, "he's 'far away in the New World.'"
Then she shifted the topic to a second problem.
"And Sengoku, we have more trouble than just Lulusia."
She stood, pulled out a thick file from a cabinet, and placed it in front of him.
"This is the compiled emergency intelligence from the past week—reports from New World G-1, G-5, and every forward base, ever since we began pulling Marine commanders back."
Her tone grew heavier.
"Especially after recalling multiple elite vice admirals and two admirals, the Marines' strength in the New World has developed a clear vacuum."
Tsuru flipped open the file and pointed at the figures.
"Whitebeard's crew's subordinate pirate groups are吞—are expanding at an unprecedented speed. They're swallowing up islands and weaker forces that used to remain neutral. Their 'territory' is rapidly expanding, and we have no power to stop them."
(End of Chapter)
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