Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
Several days had passed since Sengoku was promoted to Fleet Admiral.
Not only had the vacancies for Admirals been filled, but even the Vice Admirals who would become famous in later generations had all been promoted from Rear Admiral.
The soldiers who had been reunited after a long time once again set sail, gradually returning to all parts of the world to carry out missions.
...
Fleet Admiral's Office.
Crunch, crunch~ Crunch, crunch~
Sengoku was seriously correcting documents.
But the bulging veins on his fingers revealed that he was far from calm inside...
Crunch, crunch~ Crunch, crunch~
Bang—
Sengoku suddenly snapped the pen in his hand and slammed it on the table:
"Enough! Garp!!!"
"Get out and eat somewhere else!!!"
Crunch, crunch~ Crunch, crunch~
Garp kept chewing on his rice crackers, speaking indistinctly while laughing loudly:
"Hahahaha, don't be so petty, Sengoku!"
"It's not like I always eat here."
"I've got nothing else to do anyway."
The veins on Sengoku's forehead throbbed violently...
The crunching in his ears seemed even louder now...
He shot up to his feet!
The desk and chairs all shook as he strode toward the sofa, glaring death at Garp.
Whoosh—
A sharp sound split the air.
A bag of rice crackers suddenly appeared in Sengoku's hand. Garp froze, looking at his own hand.
Suddenly, Sengoku tilted his head back and poured the entire bag into his own mouth.
Only then did Garp react:
"Ah!!! You sneaky bastard!"
"Damn it!!!"
...
Borsalino's Office.
Dressed in a brand-new yellow-striped suit, Borsalino slouched in his chair with his feet up on the desk:
"How relaxing~"
"Another peaceful day~"
He picked up the teacup on the desk and took a sip, feeling like he had no real goal at the moment...
Just then—
Bzzz—Bzzz—Bzzz—Bzzz—
The harsh alarm resounded throughout Marineford.
Borsalino sighed helplessly:
"Seriously..."
He couldn't help but mutter...
Then he strolled leisurely toward the Fleet Admiral's Office.
...
Elsewhere, in a room filled with cold air, Kuzan lifted his eye mask and stood up.
He, too, headed for the Fleet Admiral's Office.
...
Fleet Admiral's Office.
Back at his desk correcting documents, Sengoku frowned slightly:
"Pirates again, huh..."
"Which bastard is it this time?"
Garp, who had been napping on the sofa, suddenly woke up:
"Eh? What?"
He looked around, saw nothing, and promptly went back to sleep.
Just then, urgent footsteps approached.
"Come in."
A soldier at the door heard the command and immediately pushed the door open.
"Report, Fleet Admiral Sengoku."
"One of the Three Emperors of the New World, Kaido, is heading rapidly toward the remnants of the Roger Pirates."
"Specifically, the location of Red-Haired Shanks."
"Please give your orders."
Sengoku leaned on his hands, thinking:
"Red-Hair, huh..."
One was a remnant of the Rocks Pirates, the other a remnant of the Roger Pirates. What are these two trying to do by meeting...
The soldier stood silently, awaiting orders.
Borsalino strolled in casually:
"Owah~"
"So it involves one of the Three Emperors, huh~"
"No wonder the alarm was triggered~"
But as soon as he spoke, a bad feeling washed over him. He stopped mid-step, suddenly thinking of turning back...
Sengoku smiled:
"Perfect timing, Borsalino..."
...
New World, Punk Hazard.
A massive battleship slowly sailed into the harbor.
Enel sat on the railing, yawning:
"Ha~"
He stretched, then pointed at the kid dozing off against Rosinante.
Zap—
A tiny spark, like static electricity, struck Law on the head.
Law woke up instantly, rubbing his forehead furiously:
"Ah! That hurts!"
"You damn thunder freak!!!"
Enel grinned widely:
"We're here, kid."
"Time to take you to your teacher."
He bent down, extended his long arm, and grabbed Law by the collar.
Law suddenly had a bad feeling...
"You bastard aaaaahhh—"
His voice grew fainter and fainter as the two figures vanished into the sky...
Rosinante sighed helplessly:
"Born to clash, those two..."
He shook his head and called toward the cabin:
"Admiral Sakazuki, I'm heading over as well!"
Then he stepped forward and shot off in their direction.
...
Inside the cabin.
On Sakazuki's desk lay a massive map.
Most of the islands in the New World were marked black for pirates, while the Grand Line was blue for the Marines.
But the largest portion was in red, spreading from the edges of the Four Seas toward the entrance to the Grand Line. Mixed in were many small blue circles marking Marine branches.
Karol smacked his lips:
"Looking at it like this, the Revolutionary Army's power really is ridiculously strong."
"It's all clear at a glance."
A full third of the map was theirs.
Sakazuki chuckled lightly:
"Just bubbles. One touch and they pop."
"Dragon already preparing to declare war."
Compared to before, when they had only infiltrated a few member nations, now quite a few countries were marked in red.
Karol sighed slightly:
"Yeah, their growth has been too fast."
"No wonder the World Government's panicking. They've stopped fishing for clues and gone straight to capturing Revolutionary Army cadres."
"Who would've thought that in just a year or two, their infiltration would spread so fast."
"Exponential growth."
Sakazuki sneered:
"Because those people in the Holy Land are too used to being above it all."
"They never bother to think from the perspective of ordinary people."
"They panic, but can't figure out why."
"In the end, they blame it all on that damned... Roger."
Karol looked a bit surprised:
"No smart people in the World Government?"
Sakazuki shook his head:
"There are plenty. But no one dares speak."
"Suggest cutting the Heavenly Tribute because people are joining the Revolutionary Army?"
"That's suicide."
"And with the World Government standing for eight hundred years, countless powerful enemies have been wiped out."
"A mere Revolutionary Army causing real chaos?"
"Just a bunch of rebels."
"No one believes the government will fall to them."
"That's their mindset."
He shrugged:
"Mm... I don't believe it either."
"Their ideals are fine, but reality is cruel."
"They just don't have the strength."
"Not enough top-tier fighters."
"They only have him to show off, but that's it."
"Back on Gagao Island, he wanted to rescue Ivankov but didn't even dare approach me."
"Afraid of being recognized."
"Let them keep going until they crash and burn."
"Then I'll point them to another path."
Karol smiled bitterly:
"Another path won't work either."
The government's technology was centuries ahead of the world. Even if they sparked an industrial revolution, the Revolutionary Army would never get past the Grand Line...
Sakazuki said darkly:
"But they have the numbers..."
"With sheer manpower and new tech, they could crush 99% of the world's countries."
"Not everyone wants to pick up a weapon and fight."
"Most people prefer to stay uninvolved."
"If the country falls, so what? I'm still me. No real impact. And with the Revolutionary Army's ideals, maybe life will even get better."
"But... they're expanding too fast."
Unlike in the original history, where they were only just starting to gain momentum, this time, thanks to Sakazuki's interference at the beginning, he handed them a complete system. Now the Revolutionary Army was already a giant.
Flimsy, maybe. But massive.
So massive that it was impossible to tell who was truly loyal anymore.
"Corruption is inevitable..."
"In the end... do you think Dragon will start purging them himself?"
Orphans, handpicked since childhood, trained and brainwashed for years, sent to the Four Seas branches—and in just a few years, a third were already corrupted...
An organization not even ten years old, growing explosively, had now become the world's largest force in terms of sheer numbers...
Karol heard Sakazuki's question and felt a headache coming on:
"He might, right?"
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The fanfic is Finished on p@treon/tambeerg. 414 chapters in total