The Mary Geoise Holy Land, the Chamber of Power.
At that moment, nothing could be heard in the room except furious roars.
"What is going on? How could mere pirates be allowed to invade the Holy Land of Mary Geoise? What exactly have the Marines and CP been doing?"
"Why was no one informed that the Power Rocks were missing? Spandine, you fool, explain yourself!"
"To let the World Government suffer such a disgrace to its authority... Unforgivable. Absolutely unforgivable..."
Among the Five Elders, the one in a black suit, bald, with a birthmark on his head and a pair of mustaches, was angrily berating the three men before him.
The man at the front was naturally Sengoku, the Fleet Admiral. The other two were the CP0 commander in charge of protecting the Celestial Dragons, and Spandine, the commander of CP9.
After the Mary Geoise Holy Land was invaded by the pirate Fire Dragon Yemu, and after he declared war, these men were quickly summoned to the Chamber of Power.
At that moment, aside from Sengoku, who could still maintain some composure, the other two were visibly shaken. Spandine in particular was already trembling, because the Warship Island incident had been CP9's responsibility. He hurriedly explained,
"My apologies, Members of the Five Elders. It wasn't that I refused to report it. The surviving CP members responsible for the Warship Island incident told me that all the Power Rocks had been used up."
"Used up? Then where did Fire Dragon Yemu get his Power Rocks from...?"
Even now, the only thing on Spandine's mind was shifting the blame.
Of course he knew the truth behind the Power Rocks. The failure of the Warship Island incident had already put CP9 in a difficult position. If the loss of the Power Rocks had come to light as well, on top of the recent incident involving Roger's posthumous son, his position as CP9 commander would likely have been finished. So he pushed all responsibility onto his surviving subordinates and falsely reported that the Power Rocks had all been used up, with no loss having occurred.
After all, as the World Government's eyes and ears, as long as CP9 did not report the information to the Five Elders, the Five Elders would be no different from the blind and deaf. The matter could have been brushed aside. But who could have imagined that Fire Dragon Yemu would directly invade the Holy Land of Mary Geoise?
At that moment, another of the Five Elders, the one with a scar on the left side of his face and a head of white curly hair, turned to the CP0 commander and asked,
"What is the situation with the Celestial Dragons? Is three hours enough time to evacuate them?"
"Well..."
The CP0 commander could not keep a troubled look from appearing on his face.
"None of the lords are willing to evacuate..."
Although the CP0 commander did not say more, every member of the Five Elders understood.
The Elder with long, straight white hair and a long beard snorted coldly and spoke with obvious dissatisfaction.
"Hmph. It has not even been twenty years since God Valley. Have they forgotten so quickly?"
The Elder in a white robe, bald, wearing glasses, and holding Shodai Kitetsu, cast a cold glance at Sengoku where he stood.
"This is all because of the Marines' incompetence. That is why the situation has reached this point..."
Sengoku's expression visibly darkened, but he said nothing. He looked as though he were doing everything he could to endure it.
Instead, the Elder with golden hair and a golden beard looked at Sengoku and said,
"It is too late to talk about that now. The question is how we handle this situation."
Then he turned to Spandine of CP9 and asked,
"Do we know how Fire Dragon Yemu entered the Holy Land of Mary Geoise?"
The CP0 commander was only responsible for protecting the Celestial Dragons, while the security of the Holy Land of Mary Geoise was CP9's responsibility.
Fortunately, Spandine was not that foolish.
"We have already investigated it. Fire Dragon Yemu slipped in by disguising himself as a bodyguard of Philock VII, the king of the Kingdom of Flevance."
"Then why did you not find him during the inspection...? Or are you telling me that your CP agents cannot even recognize Fire Dragon Yemu's face?"
Spandine jumped in fright and hurriedly explained,
"That was the fault of the people below. Because they feared the contagious disease from the Kingdom of Flevance, the CP agents in charge of inspecting the guards did not check Philock VII's bodyguards."
"Fools..."
The rebuke rang out at once, leaving Spandine sitting on pins and needles, his legs going weak.
At that moment, the Elder with the birthmark on his forehead turned to Sengoku and said coldly,
"Sengoku, how do the Marines intend to handle this incident?"
With a grim expression, Sengoku gave his answer.
"We cannot handle it..."
Everyone present froze at his words, then erupted in anger.
"What do you mean, you cannot handle it?"
"Sengoku, do you understand what you are saying?"
"If you cannot handle this matter, then perhaps the position of Fleet Admiral should be handed to someone else..."
"Or are the Marines trying to use this opportunity to challenge the authority of the World Government as well...?"
Naturally, everything happening in the square had been transmitted to the Five Elders in real time. That included everything Yemu had said to Sengoku and the others.
Sengoku suppressed the rage rising from the depths of his heart and spoke.
"No... Fire Dragon Yemu has clearly come prepared this time. Whether it is the timing of his move, the Power Rocks, or the meteorite hanging above our heads, all of it poses an enormous threat to the Holy Land of Mary Geoise and the World Government. Even if Garp, Zephyr, and I joined forces, the most we could do against that massive celestial body would be to shatter it. Once its fragments fall, they would still cause devastating damage to the Holy Land of Mary Geoise and the surrounding area. More importantly, judging from what Yemu himself admitted, he has already mastered the power of Shiki's Fuwa Fuwa no Mi. Everyone here should understand how troublesome that fruit is. Even if the meteor above us were destroyed, he could still use his Devil Fruit power to destroy Mary Geoise, to say nothing of the royal families of the Fifty Kingdoms currently in his hands."
Sengoku's words immediately enraged the Five Elders.
"What do you mean by that, Sengoku? Are you saying the World Government should compromise with a mere pirate?"
"Of course that is not what I mean. But as things stand, we Marines truly have no way to deal with this."
Sengoku spoke calmly, yet for some reason, a sense of satisfaction welled up inside him.
That only made the Five Elders even angrier.
Just as another argument was about to break out, the blond Elder finally spoke.
"No matter what, the cost of Mary Geoise being destroyed is not something we can bear. It would deal a tremendous blow to the World Government's prestige. Between two evils, these slaves are the lesser problem."
"As long as Fire Dragon Yemu can be eliminated in the end, the impact can be reduced to a minimum, just like what happened with Rocks back then..."
"He wants war, does he? Then give him war. Let him understand the foundation the World Government has built over the past 800 years..."
"You may leave for now. In half an hour, we will give you our final answer..."