This new laboratory was the most secure location in the world.
Only the highest echelons of the Marines could enter, and even then, only with the explicit permission of both the Five Elders and the Fleet Admiral.
"It's done, Dr. Leon," Sengoku said, his voice heavy. "The traitors who participated in the attack on your old lab... the Marines have dealt with all of them."
A trace of coldness flashed in his eyes.
He would never forgive those who had dared to betray the Marines, especially when they had targeted the one man who represented their only hope.
"Very well, Fleet Admiral," Leon replied, all business. "I need some specific equipment moved here, along with a staff of dozens. Then, our new plan can begin."
Sengoku nodded and followed Leon to a huge LCD screen displaying a panorama of the new, sprawling laboratory.
It was divided into four distinct areas.
Leon gestured to the deepest, most secure room.
Inside, various strange instruments surrounded a massive petri dish.
Three grotesque, oversized heads, not quite alive but not dead either, were connected to the dish by thick pipes, breathing heavily.
Sengoku's eyes widened in shock.
He'd seen reports, but seeing them this clearly...
"Are these your latest research results, Doctor?"
"Yes," Leon said, his voice laced with a strange pride. "These are the products of infinitely proliferating 'growth' cells. You could say they are half-living things."
Sengoku was taken aback.
This was a field of research the Marines had never been able to breach.
The Seraphim were advanced, but they were ultimately just machines.
This... this was something else entirely.
He had the unsettling feeling that the massive head in the middle had just glanced at him. It made his skin crawl.
Leon, noticing nothing, calmly took out a reagent vial and handed it to him.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, this is a semi-finished product. But I believe it will be enough to boost our morale."
Sengoku looked at the vial, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.
A semi-finished product?
He believed in Leon's genius—that genius had saved them time and time again—but could something incomplete truly be effective?
"You might as well try it, Fleet Admiral," Leon said, sensing his hesitation. "If it doesn't work, we'll just consider it a failed data collection."
Sengoku sighed.
He knew the Marines were out of options.
At this critical juncture, they had no choice but to place their absolute trust in this boy.
He pocketed the reagent and left the lab.
As soon as he was gone, Leon collapsed into an armchair, a wave of profound fatigue hitting him.
The high-intensity research, the non-stop work... it had consumed nearly all of his energy.
....
Meanwhile, in the Marine headquarters, a grim meeting was underway.
"Everyone," Admiral Aokiji said, his voice devoid of its usual laziness.
"You all know why you're here, so I won't beat around the bush. We are facing an extremely serious situation. In the recent engagements, the Marines have lost nearly six thousand Seraphim. Six thousands. Our local fleets have been devastated by the pirates' new power."
The words hung in the air, heavy and suffocating.
The assembled Vice Admirals, all hardened veterans, were seething with a mixture of anger and powerlessness.
"Damn those pirates! They're so rampant!"
"Forty Seraphim formations... forty! A huge part of our military strength is just... gone! What is left of our honor?!"
"Impossible! We will not sit here and do nothing!"
"SHUT UP!" Admiral Akainu roared, his voice like grinding stone.
"Now is not the time for quarreling! Have you all forgotten what's really at stake here?" His expression was thunderous.
"Admiral, this loss is unbearable!"
"I know that!" Akainu bit back, his words practically torn from his throat.
"But we do not have the ability to counter-attack! Don't you all understand that simple truth?!"
He was furious, but he was also helpless.
The loss was staggering.
The Marines now possessed just over 10,000 Seraphim in total.
To lose nearly 4,000 in a single year, along with the cities and territories those pirates had captured in the chaos, was a catastrophic blow.
The battle-loss ratio was unsustainable.
They were being bled dry.
The battle-loss ratio had fallen to a disastrous two-to-one.
For every two pirates they managed to kill, they were losing one priceless Seraphim.
"We will bear this loss," Admiral Akainu said, his voice a low growl in the tense command center.
"But it doesn't mean we will do nothing. We will pull back our forces. All damage Seraphim are to be sent to the rear for immediate repair. Marine's main force has retreated to Mariejois. Let them come. The forces surrounding the Holy Land are stronger than they have ever been. They will not break this iron wall."
Admiral Aokiji, leaning back in his chair, let out a frosty breath.
"Sakazuki, are you really so certain it will work this time?"
"I am," Akainu replied, his voice absolute.
Just as Aokiji was about to respond, the entire command center was rocked by a violent explosion.
Red alarm lights flooded the room, and a deafening siren began to blare.
"What happened?!" Akainu roared.
The doors to the room were thrown open, and a Marine scout, his face pale and slick with cold sweat, scrambled inside.
"Admirals! It's an enemy attack! The... the main pirate fleet! They're coming straight for Mariejois!"
A dead silence fell over the room.
"How close are they?" Akainu demanded, his voice dangerously calm.
"They're... they're already at the coastline, sir!" the scout stammered, his body trembling.
"Their speed is unbelievable! And... and they've done something to our communications! All Den Den Mushi lines have been cut!"
The high-ranking officers looked at each other, their faces filled with shock.
An enemy attack. Here. Now.
Akainu's fist slammed into the solid wood conference table, cracking it down the middle.
The sheer arrogance!
To launch a frontal assault on the Marine stronghold.
This meant the pirates were supremely confident in their newfound power.
"They're not just harassing us," he snarled. "They're here to end it."
He stood, his coat of justice settling on his shoulders.
"I will not slack off. I am going to the front line to fulfill my duty."
Without another word, he strode from the room.
After he left, the remaining generals exchanged anxious glances.
"What do we do now? Are we just supposed to wait?"
"That's right! The enemy is at our gates! We should be ready!"
Kizaru, who had been sitting quietly, suddenly stood up.
"I'll leave the rest to you all," he said, his voice losing its usual lazy drawl. "I'm going to the lab to find Sengoku-san and Leon. The front line needs you."
In a flash of yellow light, he was gone.
Aokiji then rose, his expression grim.
"The rest of you, with me. We're heading to the Seraphim factory. We need every last unit on that wall, now. This battle concerns the future of the entire world. If we cannot hold this line, the Marines are finished."