At Marine Headquarters — Marineford.
Wednesday was usually the day when senior Marine officers gathered for their regular strategic meetings.
Most general-rank officers stationed at Headquarters would attend the meeting in the large conference room.
However, these meetings weren't particularly critical. They were mostly used to summarize recent operations, convey strategic directions, and coordinate future plans.
This was the type of meeting Diermude attended most frequently.
Early in the morning, after washing up in his dormitory and finishing breakfast, Diermude headed toward the conference room inside the Fortress of Justice.
Over the past two years, Diermude's appearance hadn't changed much.
He still kept his short black hair, neat and practical.
His height had grown to about 1.9 meters.
In his previous world, that would have been considered very tall.
But in this world, it was fairly ordinary.
People like Kuzan easily stood over three meters tall. Standing beside them created quite a bit of pressure.
Diermude's physique had become much more muscular.
Not exaggerated—rather dense, compact, and well-proportioned.
He wore high military boots, durable black work-style trousers, and a simple white short-sleeve shirt.
Overall, his outfit looked quite casual.
As a general-rank officer, it was no longer necessary to wear standard Marine uniforms every day.
Most general officers preferred suits.
Diermude actually owned a black suit—a gift from Teacher Zephyr for his twentieth birthday—but he rarely wore it.
That said, although general officers didn't need to wear uniforms constantly, they were still required to wear the Justice Coat.
Thus, Diermude had the white cloak draped over his shoulders.
The word "Justice" was written boldly on the back, and the shoulder epaulettes displayed his Commodore rank.
As he walked along, many Marines saluted and greeted him.
Diermude responded kindly with nods.
Passing through several corridors inside the Fortress of Justice, he arrived at the conference room.
The door was open, indicating that not everyone had arrived yet.
He walked in naturally, already used to it.
But after entering, he was slightly surprised.
He knew everyone wouldn't be here yet—but the number present was far too small.
Only Sakazuki, Borsalino, Kuzan, Gion, and Chief Staff Officer Tsuru were there.
Zephyr never attended these routine meetings, so his absence was normal.
But Garp was missing, which was a little strange.
Since his aide Kuzan was present, that meant Garp should be at Headquarters.
Maybe he's on the way… Diermude guessed.
Admiral Sengoku also hadn't arrived yet—probably on the way as well.
But where were the others?
The remaining Vice Admirals, Rear Admirals, and Commodores of Marine Headquarters were nowhere to be seen.
"Come in already. Why are you standing at the door?" Sengoku's voice suddenly came from behind him.
Diermude snapped out of his thoughts and smiled.
"Yes, Admiral."
He entered and took his seat.
Soon afterward, Sengoku sat at the head of the table and glanced at everyone.
"Alright. Everyone's here. Let's begin today's agenda."
Diermude blinked in confusion.
Everyone's here?
There weren't even one-third of the usual attendees.
But when he looked around, everyone else seemed calm.
Apparently he was the only one who found it strange.
Noticing his confusion, Kuzan smiled.
"Didn't you hear the notification? Today's meeting is just for us."
"I never received any notification…" Diermude said helplessly.
Gion suddenly looked surprised.
"Wait… didn't I tell you the day before yesterday?"
Diermude rolled his eyes.
"No. You talked for two sentences and then left."
"Ah… maybe I forgot," Gion scratched her head awkwardly.
After a few casual exchanges, the misunderstanding was cleared up.
Sengoku smiled faintly and tapped the table.
"I called you here today because there are several matters we need to discuss."
"Tsuru, start with the situation in the New World."
Tsuru nodded.
"More than two years ago, the Flying Grand Fleet that was destroyed in the Edd War Sea has now been rebuilt by Shiki."
"Compared to its former strength, it's somewhat weaker."
"But without a doubt, Shiki is still one of the greatest threats the Marines face."
Back then, Shiki had escaped from the Edd War battle.
Now he had rebuilt his power.
This was common intelligence—no one was surprised.
Tsuru continued:
"Regarding the Poneglyphs, we can confirm that the Roger Pirates are indeed searching for them."
"The man named Kozuki Oden aboard their ship comes from the Kozuki family of Wano Country."
"We have reason to suspect that he may be able to read the ancient script."
Kozuki Oden had joined the Roger Pirates roughly six months to a year ago.
Previously, Marine intelligence recorded him as a member of the Whitebeard Pirates.
Later, it was said that the Whitebeard Pirates encountered the Roger Pirates on some island.
The two crews fought for several days and nights.
The result was unclear.
But afterward, Second Division Commander Kozuki Oden somehow ended up joining the Roger Pirates.
Marine intelligence indicated that Oden possessed extraordinary strength.
After his arrival, he filled the gap left when Douglas Bullet, the "Heir of the Demon," departed the crew.
The Roger Pirates became even more formidable.
The Marines had known about Roger's search for the Poneglyphs for quite some time.
In fact, they had been monitoring it since the Edd War incident.
Through their investigations, they had also learned something important.
The Roger Pirates were not attempting to revive Ancient Weapons.
Instead, they were using the Poneglyphs to search for a mysterious island that supposedly didn't exist.
Honestly, that was quite consistent with Roger's usual style.
Even though Sengoku felt concerned, he didn't truly believe the Roger Pirates intended to destroy the world.
Still—
The Navy followed a strict principle:
Better to eliminate a threat by mistake than to allow one to grow unchecked.
Over the past two years, the Marines had intensified efforts to capture the Roger Pirates.
Unfortunately, due to their unpredictable movements, they were extremely difficult to locate, and even harder to capture.
So far, the results had been minimal.
"Someone capable of reading the ancient script…" Sengoku murmured.
Then he looked around the room.
"You've probably heard already."
"Recently, some strange scholars have appeared across the seas."
"We don't know where they came from, but they seem obsessed with studying Poneglyphs and ancient texts."
"The World Government has issued new instructions."
"We must cooperate with Cipher Pol to investigate this matter thoroughly."
"These illegal scholars must be arrested as soon as possible."
"We must ensure that the Ancient Weapons are never revived."
At those words, a sharp light flashed in Diermude's eyes.
Ohara…
He immediately understood.
It was now 1498.
According to his memory, Ohara would be discovered by the Marines in 1502.
At that time, Admiral Sengoku would personally authorize a Buster Call, completely destroying the island known as the "Holy Land of Archaeology."
Thinking about the timeline, it made sense.
Before Ohara's destruction, scholars such as Nico Olvia had already spent several years traveling the seas searching for Poneglyphs.
They had also been pursued by Marines and Cipher Pol agents for years before finally being captured.
Diermude's feelings about Ohara were complicated.
From one perspective, there was no clear right or wrong.
It was simply a matter of different positions—and consequences brought upon themselves.
From the standpoint of the World Government, it was natural that they didn't want scholars uncovering the hidden history of the past.
If those secrets were exposed to the world, it could undermine their authority and cause massive chaos.
From the Marines' perspective, the greater concern was the Ancient Weapons.
These weapons were said to have the power to destroy the world.
If even the slightest sign of their revival appeared, it had to be eliminated immediately.
Otherwise the consequences would not be limited to a single island.
The entire world could suffer.
And if such power fell into the hands of an ambitious figure like Shiki, countless people would die.
That was why Sengoku would ultimately act ruthlessly.
Once it was confirmed that Ohara's scholars were deciphering Poneglyphs and possibly uncovering Ancient Weapons, he would immediately issue the Buster Call, wiping the island out.
From the scholars' perspective, their actions were also understandable.
Historians sought truth and preserved the voices of the past.
But their mistake was simple—
They lacked the strength to protect themselves.
Once knowledge of the Ancient Weapons leaked, even if the World Government didn't kill them, ambitious pirates certainly would.
Without power, they couldn't protect anything.
Either they would all be killed…
Or their research would lead to an even greater disaster.
Moreover, for eight hundred years, researching ancient texts had been explicitly forbidden by the World Government.
The scholars knowingly broke the law.
So in Diermude's view, their fate was ultimately self-inflicted.
The only real tragedy was the innocent civilians of Ohara, who would die alongside them.
And… perhaps Nico Robin.
After all, she had once been one of the protagonists of the story he knew.
He did feel some sympathy toward her.
But that sympathy was nowhere near enough for him to risk his career and future to save Ohara.
That would be absurd.
In Diermude's view, scholars who knowingly pursued the Poneglyphs despite understanding the risks were simply courting death.
Still—
Knowledge itself was innocent.
The Tree of Knowledge and Ohara's research should be preserved.
If possible, he would at least try to save those records.
That alone would be his contribution to civilization.
While he was thinking about this, Tsuru continued:
"I will instruct my subordinates to cooperate with the investigation."
"However, based on current intelligence, Kozuki Oden from the Roger Pirates does not appear to be connected to those scholars."
"We'll wait for further intelligence," Sengoku nodded.
At the moment, no one took those wandering s
cholars too seriously.
"Next agenda," Sengoku continued.
"This concerns Fleet Admiral Kong's inspection visit to the G-1 Marine Base in the New World…"
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read 60 chapter ahead on P@treon if you're interested:
patreon.com/Luna023