"Ahem!"
Kizaru cleared his throat. "Akainu, old friend, don't worry about things like the Marines' honor anymore."
"We lost the war—we lost whatever honor we had right then and there."
As soon as he spoke, Akainu's expression darkened.
After all, he'd borne no small part in that defeat.
Yet he couldn't argue—every word was true.
He could only sigh and fall silent.
"Aokiji, what's your take?" Sengoku called out.
If he let the others keep bickering like this, they'd be at each other's throats before long.
Aokiji thought for a moment. "We've agreed to this settlement conference, so we have to be prepared to make concessions."
"But pirates don't want all that much. Just territories, mostly."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
That was it—if the Marines had to pay reparations, the only thing they could give up was land.
"Though I don't think we need to be so anxious," Aokiji went on.
"At most, we'll just withdraw our bases from those areas…"
"In the grand scheme, the loss isn't all that great."
He deliberately downplayed the damage, and it put everyone at ease.
Even Akainu, the most hardline and bitter among them, felt a little better.
"There's still hope for us yet!" Sengoku declared, satisfied with Aokiji's words.
The heavy atmosphere in the room lifted.
But they seemed to have forgotten one thing—El.
El, who was ageless, immortal, overwhelmingly powerful, and ruled over countless lands…
One day, they would bitterly regret the decisions they were making now.
Just as spirits were rising, a man in a white suit and mask walked in.
Anyone else who dared enter like that would have been killed instantly—this was a room full of the strongest fighters in the world.
But when they saw him, every high-ranking Marine winced.
It was no ordinary man.
A member of CP0—the messenger of the Five Elders.
Whatever he had to say, it would be their orders.
There was no escaping it. The Summit War had been a disaster that shook the entire world; the Five Elders could never have remained unaware.
Without a word, the CP0 agent set down a large Den Den Mushi.
The face of one of the Five Elders appeared on its screen.
To everyone's surprise, he wasn't angry or scolding them at all.
Instead, he looked deeply troubled, as if recalling some painful memory.
The younger officers didn't know, but Sengoku and the others remembered clearly.
Years ago, El had broken into Mary Geoise and cut down three of the Five Elders.
It had left a scar that would never heal. Now, seeing what El had done in the Summit War, how could they not be terrified?
His voice was hoarse.
"The Summit War is lost… very well. I won't call you incompetent. You know what you did."
"As for the reparations… hold on to as much as you can. What we lose now, we can take back in time."
They all nodded.
"And one more thing."
He spoke gravely. "The world order has changed."
"After what happened, we know pirates cannot be trusted. Abolish the Seven Warlords of the Sea—every last one of them."
"From now on, it is the Marines alone who will stand."
"Recruit more men at once. Find every capable soul you can."
With that, he cut the transmission, weary and disheartened.
The Warlords' conduct in the war had shattered every last bit of faith the Marines had in them.
Mihawk had turned.
Gecko Moria was a traitor all along.
Crocodile had defected long ago.
Jinbe had joined El's side.
And Doflamingo—he'd simply run away.
Only Boa Hancock and Bartholomew Kuma remained.
The system of the Seven Warlords was finished. And with it, the world plunged into a new, chaotic era.
News flashed everywhere. Orders from Marine Headquarters flew out like snowflakes.
People stared at the headlines in shock.
"Abolish the Seven Warlords?!"
"Are the Marines mad? They're already stretched thin—why throw away their allies?!"
"The world will never be the same again!"
Crocodile smiled as he read the paper.
He felt nothing but luck.
He'd stepped down from his position long before this and joined El's crew.
Otherwise, in this war, he would have ended up on the losing side like all the rest.
And worse—once they were no longer useful, the Marines would have cast them aside.
"Look at this," he said, handing the paper to Jinbe. "Lucky I joined El's crew, wasn't I?"
Jinbe took it and read, then chuckled deeply. "Heh… to have found a worthy lord at such a crucial moment—fortune truly smiled on me."
Behind them, Mihawk said nothing, but he too felt fortunate.
He had always fought alone, with no crew or territory to call his own.
If he'd still been a Warlord today, the Marines would have hunted him down. It would have been a nightmare.
Thank goodness he had joined El.
Meanwhile, aboard the Kuja Pirates' grand, ancient ship, Boa Hancock frowned hard at the newspaper.
Her younger sister came up to her.
"Sister… we've been stripped of our title as Warlords!"
"I know," Hancock snapped, displeased.
"What are we going to do?" asked another sister, stepping closer.
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