At Marine Headquarters—Marineford—despite being shattered into an archipelago during the Battle of Marineford, the base had made some progress in reconstruction.
Until the relocation to the New World's G-1 base was complete, this remained the heart of the Marines.
At this moment, inside Fleet Admiral Sengoku's office, a group of Marine high-ranking officers had gathered.
It seemed they were discussing an important matter.
Kuzan lounged on the sofa, arms behind his head, his face expressionless. No one could tell what he was thinking.
Zephyr sat nearby, his left sleeve empty, his mechanical prosthetic removed and placed in the corner of the room.
It seemed he found it inconvenient for the moment.
Not that it bothered him, when he had nothing to do, he was content to toss the empty sleeve aside.
Unlike in another timeline, where he harbored great ambitions and sought to annihilate the New World, in this life, he was simply a retired Marine.
His only concern was his disciples.
Everything else? He left it to fate.
Sitting across from Zephyr, Tsuru sipped tea quietly.
Meanwhile, Garp stood by the window, a senbei in hand, munching away as he watched the Marines busy with reconstruction efforts.
Sengoku, having just finished processing a document, glanced at Garp in irritation and said, "Garp, don't you think it's a bit noisy?"
Garp chuckled. "Ahahaha, noisy? This bustling construction represents our Marines rising from the ashes! It's a good thing! As Fleet Admiral, you should be encouraging this, not complaining!"
Sengoku's face twitched slightly.
Then, his expression darkened as he snapped, "I'm not talking about them, I'm talking about you, you bastard! Why are you always eating?!"
The constant crunching of Garp's senbei was starting to get on his nerves.
Garp paused, looking at the senbei in his hand.
"I'm attempting a challenge," he said matter-of-factly. "I've been eating senbei continuously, this is the second day. If I last two more days—"
"Enough! I don't want to hear your nonsense, close the damn window!" Sengoku snapped impatiently.
Garp sighed, reached out, and shut the window.
Muttering under his breath, he added, "Wasn't it you complaining about the noise? Hypocrite."
Sengoku's expression darkened further.
For a moment, he seriously considered turning into the Golden Buddha and slapping Garp through the wall.
Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to calm down.
Grabbing his tea, he took a few sips to suppress his growing urge to strangle his old friend.
Garp, completely unfazed, plopped down next to Zephyr and handed him a senbei.
Zephyr took it without complaint, munching on it casually.
Sengoku's eyelid twitched again.
Before these two completely derailed the discussion, he decided to get straight to the point.
"This is a private meeting," he declared. "There's something important I need to discuss with all of you."
At these words, the room fell silent.
The atmosphere shifted.
Even Kuzan, who had been lounging lazily, sat up slightly.
"First, let's talk about the upcoming Reverie," Sengoku began.
"This summit of the 100 allied nations carries significant weight, and our workload will be much heavier than usual.
Additionally, Marine Headquarters has its own proposals to submit—such as the official relocation of Marineford—making this year's summit even more critical."
"At that time, all of you will be heading to Mariejois to participate."
Though Sengoku spoke as if it was routine procedure, everyone in the room understood there was more to it.
Sakazuki's eyes flickered.
Kuzan's expression shifted slightly.
Borsalino even put away his nail clippers.
It was clear that something else was at play.
Sengoku calmly observed their reactions before taking another sip of tea.
"I know you've all guessed it by now," he said, setting his cup down. "You're all high-ranking Marine officers, I can't keep secrets from you.
So, I'll be direct."
The tension in the room thickened.
"This Reverie is not as simple as it seems.
I'll be upfront with you—
His Highness Claudius intends to win this summit."
"I won't lie, I don't have much of a choice in this matter."
"Even if I claimed that I have no particular agreement or collaboration with His Highness, I doubt those at the top would trust me.
So, I've made my decision."
"As Fleet Admiral, I am officially taking Claudius' side."
"And naturally, as the leader of the Marines, I will rally Marine support to back him."
Now—
"It's time for you to make your choice."
The room fell into silence.
A moment later, Sengoku added, "Of course, no one is being forced into anything.
If you choose to stand with me and His Highness, I'll be relying on you during the summit.
If you'd rather remain neutral, that's fine too, just stay out of the way.
All I ask is that, after all these years as comrades, none of you work against me."
Sengoku's words barely settled before Garp casually raised his hand.
"I've had enough of those bastard Celestial Dragons.
Claudius is the only one among them I can tolerate.
If I have to choose, of course I'm siding with him.
Count me in," Garp said bluntly.
Zephyr chuckled, shaking his head.
"Everyone already knows Saint Claudius is my disciple," he said. "If anything happens, how could I, his teacher, just stand by?
Besides, Marineford is my home, I have no other choice but to support him."
With these two giants taking a stand, Sengoku felt a bit more confident.
He had suspected they were already aligned with Claudius behind the scenes, just as he himself had been drawn onto the so-called 'pirate ship' before realizing there was no way off.
But hearing them declare their stance outright still gave him some relief.
At the very least—he wasn't the only one caught in this mess.
Then, his gaze turned toward Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Kuzan.
Sakazuki wasted no time.
"After the war at Marineford, His Highness spoke to me personally."
"I agree with his vision of pushing into the New World and ending this Great Pirate Era."
"Moreover, among the entire World Government, he's the only one with the guts to fully support the expansion of Marine forces."
"Whether for personal or professional reasons, I will stand by him."
Kuzan watched quietly, licking the corner of his mouth.
'You say all that… but let's be real.
Claudius already promised you the next Fleet Admiral position, didn't he?'
'He's giving you full authority to lead the Marines exactly how you see fit.'
'Of course you'd support him.'
Though these were only Kuzan's internal thoughts, he still respected Sakazuki's convictions.
Even if they often disagreed, he knew Sakazuki wouldn't compromise his ideals for just a promotion.
***
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