Marine Headquarters, Fleet Admiral's Office
Rowen settled into the Fleet Admiral's imposing main seat with casual disregard, while a host of Marine generals took their places on either side of the massive table.
It was a sight none of them had quite processed, least of all Chaton, who kept contorting his face in a silent mix of confusion and annoyance.
Ignoring the fact that Akainu's expression had already darkened to a tar-like shade of black, Rowen decided to speak first.
"I'm here for two main things this time."
He held up a finger. "First, personnel reassignment."
"The positions of Assassination Force Chief Commander and Aircraft Force Chief Commander, the deployment authority and administration still technically belong to me. But I'm turning them in."
It wasn't that he truly didn't need them. Everyone, even within the World Government, knew the critical nature of military forces. That's why the intelligence organization Cipher Pol existed, reporting directly to the Government and operating outside the authority of even Kong, the Commander-in-Chief. No one ever had too many troops.
The real issue was his standing. Rowen was a Marine in name only now; officially, he was an outsider.
If he insisted on clinging to command over chunks of the Marine military, it would set a terrifying precedent for the bureaucrats. Human ambition was boundless; once power was gained, it was rarely yielded. If this situation dragged on, they might end up like the incompetent civil officials of the Song Dynasty, whose meddling crippled the military's effectiveness entirely.
Rowen was wise enough not to make that mistake.
When they realized he had come to relinquish his command, a visible wave of relief and excitement washed over the room. After all, the Assassination Force was no longer the small, pathetic unit it once was; it had blossomed into a major power center within the Marines, standing outside both the War and Peace Factions!
It was, in fact, now even larger than the old 'None of My Business' faction Garp used to lead. Given its specialized, covert nature, the Assassination Force wielded influence greater than ordinary divisions.
However, as quickly as their spirits lifted, their excitement deflated.
Precisely because the force was so crucial, it couldn't be handed to just any Vice Admiral. Only an Admiral-level officer, or higher, would be eligible to take command. It would have to be placed, like the Scientific Force under Kizaru's oversight, under someone of serious stature.
Akainu understood this perfectly. He didn't even bother to debate the Assassination Force and went straight to the other issue.
"I actually have an idea, regarding the Aircraft Force."
"Oh?" Rowen raised an eyebrow. "Let's hear it."
"The Aircraft Force was established after we retrieved the Ark blueprints from Sky Island. Initially, we had few units, but their mobility advantage quickly made them indispensable, necessitating the division's creation."
Rowen nodded. That's exactly how a newly graduated Rear Admiral like him had ended up in command in the first place. At the start, there were barely thirty flying ships, none of them armed with Plasma Cannons or other heavy weapons. To most generals, they were just air-worthy transport vessels.
Of course, the subsequent explosive development of the Aircraft Force quickly slapped those early doubters in the face. Now, every G-Series Marine branch in the Grand Line had tasted the benefits, and each one desperately wanted more aircraft assigned to their command.
"However," Akainu continued, "as the number of aircraft increased, along with the successive military upgrades, most of the command authority for stationed air units is no longer centralized with the Chief Commander."
"That's a serious problem," he stated flatly.
He wasn't wrong. If a base was suddenly attacked, would the local commanding officer really need to call headquarters and ask Rowen for deployment approval first?
Yet, that was effectively how the structure worked, Rowen was the Chief Commander. Other than receiving after-action reports, he was basically just a figurehead. The only real authority he still held was the right to issue emergency deployments.
Rowen immediately grasped Akainu's intent. Glancing at the eager Vice Admirals around the room, he said calmly,
"Understood. I'll leave the details to you all… I only have one condition, the division must remain combat-capable, especially the Aircraft Force. It is a strategic weapon, after all."
Akainu offered no verbal response, merely turning his head slightly toward the rest of the office.
In the next instant, every Vice Admiral rose to their feet, saluting and shouting in unison:
"We guarantee completion of the mission!"
This was it, their chance to establish and command their own Aircraft Force units.
"Don't get too excited just yet…"
Tsuru took a calm sip of tea. "We will be establishing a separate Aircraft Force Headquarters to supervise all air units. So those who aren't up to standard, behave yourselves."
A collective wince swept through the Vice Admirals. They knew the necessity of oversight for such a powerful force, but they couldn't help their pained expressions, comforting themselves internally as best they could.
It's fine. Look at those local officials, they're suffering worse now that the Independent Commission Against Corruption is cracking down on them.
Taking joy in others' misfortune was always the best way to ease one's own pain. With that thought, everyone's mood quickly stabilized. Ha ha ha, you're worse off than me!
Of course, this entire plan wasn't Akainu's spontaneous idea as he claimed; it was obviously something he had meticulously worked out with Tsuru beforehand.
Rowen didn't bother exposing him. Instead, he moved on.
"The second matter, is about the Poseidon."
At those words, the air in the office suddenly grew heavy, the atmosphere tightening instantly.
This was what Rowen liked about the Marines, they could joke and laugh when things were peaceful (well, most of them, Akainu excluded), but the moment a serious matter arose, everyone became sharp, disciplined, and utterly fearless. They were human, and efficient.
Completely unlike the backstabbing, two-faced bureaucrats in the Holy Land.
"Vice Admiral Momousagi's patrol fleet stationed in the Adrian Sea sent word, the Poseidon hasn't appeared again since then… I suspect she's planning something big. What do you all think?"
Kill the Poseidon first.
That was the agreement Rowen had reached with Imu. Whatever grievances or revenge that creature held, what did it matter to him? If she was the source of chaos on the seas, then she was his enemy.
He didn't care what she thought, he only cared what she did.
But there was a critical problem: the Poseidon was hiding deep within the Adrian Sea Trench. Forget about whether she could escape, just finding her was a nightmare.
"Maybe… we could try what Sky Island does," Chaton suggested softly. "We could transport Vearth there."
Ever since Pluton's reappearance, the basic information about the Poseidon was no longer a secret.
But that idea…
Akainu rubbed his temples. "Get out. Go stand by the door."
Chaton just sighed and followed the order.
The Adrian Sea Trench was rumored to be so deep that even Fish-Men couldn't reach the bottom. Scientists were only certain that undersea volcanoes existed down there.
Transporting Vearth? Filling the ocean with dirt, what a stroke of genius.
Even with Chaton gone, the silence in the office lingered. Even if they knew the Poseidon was plotting something, that kind of depth made them utterly powerless.
Rowen finally broke the tension.
"Someone reminded me of something earlier, and it gave me a… not-so-pleasant idea."
"Oh? What is it?" Tsuru asked, intrigued.
"Tell me… have any of you ever heard of Uranus?"
Bang!
The entire office froze. Every jaw dropped, every eye locked on Rowen at the head of the table.
He meant… to use Uranus against the Poseidon?!
"I can say this with full certainty, the rumors from a few years ago were true. The Holy Land did find Uranus, and they've already begun replicating it."
That had been a long time ago, back before Orrick's betrayal. When Rowen met Kuma in the South Blue, he'd learned about Uranus's existence.
A world-ending viral weapon, capable of annihilating islands as its unit of measurement.
Tsuru, Akainu, and the other veteran generals certainly knew of Uranus, at least enough to understand the terrifying nature of the weapon.
With furrowed brows, Tsuru asked, "How likely is it to succeed? And is its destructive power really sufficient?"
"The destructive power is more than sufficient," Rowen replied. "The Uranus virus is insoluble in water; it doesn't break down naturally. Once it takes root, nothing will grow there for the next two to three hundred years."
"As for how likely it is to succeed… that depends on luck, and on whether the Scientific Force can even deliver the canister that deep underwater."
"But to truly eliminate the Poseidon," Momousagi asked worriedly, "wouldn't we need to release it multiple times? If so, won't it…"
She didn't finish the sentence, but everyone knew what she meant. A viral weapon, the phrase itself sounded horrifying.
"That's why," Rowen sighed, "I said it was a not-so-pleasant idea."
"If the dosage is too high, and ocean currents spread the virus…" He looked at her and spoke each word deliberately…
"The entire sea could turn into a graveyard."
(End of Chapter)
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