Sengoku took a deep breath, trying to keep his tone steady:
"Gorosei-sama, I have already sent people to try and contact Akainu, but so far, all transponder snails have gone unanswered."
"That's not what I want to hear, Sengoku!"
Saturn's tone was still furious:
"You must capture Akainu immediately, right now!"
"Public execution!"
"Let the whole world know the price of provoking the World Government!"
The air in the Fleet Admiral's office seemed to grow heavy for a moment.
Tsuru stood beside Sengoku, silent, her expression solemn.
Garp, who had just returned to Marineford, was sitting on the sofa, picking his nose and grinning.
Facing the Gorosei's demand, Sengoku could only say in a deep voice:
"Please calm your anger."
"The Marine will spare no effort to investigate this matter thoroughly and give the World Government an explanation!"
"Explanation?"
Saturn's voice was chillingly cold:
"It had better be!"
"Otherwise... the position of Fleet Admiral will have to be changed!"
Click!
Before Sengoku could respond, Saturn hung up the transponder snail.
Sengoku slumped into his office chair, scanning the Marine high-ranking officers before him, and said in a deep voice:
"You all heard it!"
"We must now decide on a plan to deal with Sakazuki's defection."
"A plan to deal with it?!"
Onigumo suddenly stood up, slamming his fist onto the conference table, making the teacups clatter:
"This makes no sense at all!"
He looked around at everyone present:
"Everyone here knows what kind of person Admiral Akainu is!"
"He hates pirates more than all of us! He always adheres to Absolute Justice!"
"How could he suddenly kill a Celestial Dragon and then defect?!"
"This is just the World Government's side of the story!"
Doberman crossed his arms and coldly echoed:
"Exactly! It's just one photo from Morgans; it doesn't prove anything."
"Perhaps they just encountered a powerful enemy and temporarily lost contact."
"In my opinion, we don't need to do anything! When Sakazuki finishes his business, he will naturally contact headquarters."
Although Garp disliked Sakazuki's way of doing things, he hated the Celestial Dragons even more.
Facing the news of a Celestial Dragon's death, he instead tried to smooth things over, laughing heartily:
"No matter what, what's the big deal about trying to contact him personally and ask about the situation?"
Yamakaji and Momonga nodded in agreement:
"I agree with Vice Admiral Garp's view; it's too early to draw conclusions now."
Sengoku rubbed his forehead, sighing helplessly:
"Do you think I don't want to do that?"
"The Gorosei have already given a death order!"
"No matter how we view this internally, the World Government's attitude is already very clear."
"Now is not the time to argue about misunderstandings or wait patiently; we must act immediately."
He looked at Onigumo and Doberman, his tone softening slightly:
"I understand your trust in Sakazuki, and this trust is not without reason."
The next second, his voice suddenly rose:
"But the current reality is that a Celestial Dragon is dead!"
"And Admiral Akainu is accused of being the killer and has disappeared, which poses an unprecedented challenge to the Marine's credibility with the World Government."
He paused for a moment, then ordered:
"Therefore, my decision is—"
"Immediately organize elite forces to enter the New World and search for Sakazuki's whereabouts with the highest priority."
"The primary goal is to find him, bring him back, and clarify everything face-to-face."
"This is both the opportunity he deserves and our Marine's explanation to the World Government."
Onigumo was about to say something when, at that moment, the office door was suddenly pushed open, and a messenger rushed in:
"Fleet Admiral! Fleet Admiral Sengoku! It's bad! There's news about Admiral Akainu!"
Everyone in the office was stunned; shouldn't news be a good thing?
The messenger gasped for breath:
"Fleet Admiral! You must see this! Admiral Akainu is broadcasting a speech to the entire world!"
Sengoku was shocked and quickly shouted:
"Brandnew! Quickly bring the visual den den mushi!"
Brandnew instantly appeared before everyone, pulling out a screen—
Sakazuki's figure appeared on the screen.
He stood in a dimly lit space, behind him rough rock walls, with only a few spotlights shining on his stern face.
Countless visual den den mushi were simultaneously transmitting his face and voice to every corner of the world.
Sakazuki's gaze was like a torch, directly facing the camera, his deep and powerful voice coming through the screen:
"Ladies and gentlemen! I am the former Marine Admiral—'Akainu' Sakazuki."
"Just yesterday, I personally executed a World Nobles—Saint Grocis."
As soon as these words were spoken, the people in the office were in an uproar, and the whole world was shaken:
"No way? Did Admiral Akainu really do it?"
"No... impossible! How could Admiral Akainu..."
"'Former' Marine Admiral, what does that mean?"
As everyone was discussing, Sakazuki's voice continued:
"The reason is none other than that on his flagship, which symbolizes 'divine authority,' I witnessed the most hideous scene I have ever seen in my life!"
Following this, he recounted the entire process from receiving the order to his angry outburst.
Akainu in the video clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking:
"This old man! A Marine Admiral!"
"Yet I was choked by 'authority'! Became an accomplice to pirates! Watched justice be so defiled with my own eyes!"
He let out a long breath, his voice becoming calm, yet it was like the silence before a volcanic eruption:
"They told me, this is the rule!"
"They told me, I must obey!"
"I cannot do it!!!"
Sakazuki's roar came like a volcanic eruption:
"When rules become a breeding ground for evil, when justice must bow to depravity, then these rules must be completely shattered!"
"The Marine is terminally ill! It is decaying along with the World Government, becoming an empty shell that needs to protect scum to maintain its existence!"
He threw a stack of documents onto the table:
"Look at the orders they gave me! Protect those trash! Protect... pirates!!!"
"How can the Marine be run well with this swarm of insects?!"
"Such an organization cannot bear the Absolute Justice in my heart!"
Sakazuki leaned his hands on the table, looking directly at the visual den den mushi in front of him:
"From today, the NEO Marine is officially established!"
"We will be independent of the World Government and the existing Marine system, led by this old man, and will use all means to eradicate every single pirate in this world!"
"This is not a request, but a declaration!"
"All Marine colleagues who still hold justice in their hearts and refuse to associate with such vile creatures!"
"All warriors who are angered by the filth and are willing to fight for the true purification of the world!"
"I, Sakazuki."
"In my capacity as the Fleet Admiral of the NEO Marine, I hereby invite all of you to join."
"Let us use our own hands to burn away and create a clean world!"
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