The air inside the Marine Headquarters at Marineford was thick with unspoken tension. Even though the world relied on Den Den Mushi for long-distance communication, Fish-Man Island remained a logistical nightmare. Situated 10,000 meters beneath the sea, transmitting clear reports to the Marines and the World Government above was nearly impossible. Because of these technical hurdles, it wasn't until the Beasts Pirates had completely vanished from the depths that the news finally reached the surface.
In the Fleet Admiral's office, Sengoku sat behind a desk cluttered with reports. Though he had technically stepped down, he was still serving as the interim Fleet Admiral until a successor was officially established. He looked up at a messenger whose face was pale with urgency.
"What exactly happened down there?" Sengoku asked, his voice low and heavy with a grave authority.
The messenger stood at attention, his voice trembling slightly. "Sir, about an hour ago, two high-ranking members of the Beasts Pirates appeared on Fish-Man Island. It was Jack, one of the All-Stars, and Sasaki of the Tobi Roppo. They clashed with the Knight of the Sea, Jinbe, and Yamato. After a brief skirmish, they fled the scene."
Sengoku leaned forward, his eyes narrowing. "Do we know why they were there? Kaido doesn't send his top officers on a whim."
"According to our latest intelligence, sir, the Beasts Pirates have successfully stolen the Road Poneglyph from Fish-Man Island!"
"What!" Sengoku's eyes widened, and he stood up so abruptly his chair scraped loudly against the floor.
The significance of a Road Poneglyph was staggering. These stones were the keys to finding the legendary treasure, One Piece. For the Marines and the World Government, one of these falling into the hands of a Yonko like Kaido was a nightmare scenario. It shifted the global balance of power in a terrifying direction. However, as the realization sank in, Sengoku felt a cold wave of helplessness. There was nothing he could do at this very moment.
He took a deep breath, trying to suppress the unease gnawing at his gut. "I understand. You're dismissed."
The messenger blinked, surprised by the sudden dismissal, but he nodded quickly and left the room. Sengoku stayed behind for a few minutes, staring at the wall, but the silence only made his anxiety worse. He needed to see the situation for himself. He pushed open his office door and made his way through the sterile corridors of Marineford until he reached a dimly lit observation room.
The room was filled with flickering screens. Most of them were dead, showing nothing but grey static. Only a few still displayed grainy, distorted images. Tsuru, the Great Staff Officer, was there alongside Vice Admiral Onigumo. A group of specialized Marine technicians worked frantically at their consoles, trying to stabilize the feeds.
"Is there any progress?" Sengoku asked as he walked in.
Tsuru turned to him, her expression weary. She shook her head. "Admiral Sakazuki and Admiral Kuzan have been fighting for eight days and eight nights now. There is still no clear winner. The sheer intensity of their battle has destroyed most of the Den Den Mushi on Punk Hazard. We can't even see them anymore; the environment is too chaotic."
She noticed the dark shadow over Sengoku's face. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost. Did something happen outside?"
"Yes," Sengoku replied, sitting heavily beside her. He kept his eyes fixed on the static-filled screens. "Cipher Pol just sent word. The Beasts Pirates raided Fish-Man Island. They took the Road Poneglyph."
The room went silent. Tsuru's eyes sharpened with concern, and Onigumo's hand tightened on the hilt of his sword.
"They took the Poneglyph?" Onigumo muttered, his voice grim. "That is a disaster. But I thought Jinbe was there to protect the island?"
"He was," Sengoku said. "Yamato was there too. And yet, the stone was still taken."
"Did Kaido or King intervene personally?" Tsuru asked, her mind already racing through tactical possibilities.
"No. It was just Jack and Sasaki."
Tsuru looked genuinely startled. "Yamato and Jinbe couldn't stop those two? That shouldn't be possible."
"We all thought the same thing," Sengoku admitted. "But the reports say Jinbe couldn't even gain the upper hand against Sasaki. The fight ended in a stalemate before the pirates escaped with the prize."
Tsuru sighed, her gaze returning to the screens. "It seems the intelligence we got from X Drake was accurate. The strength of the Beasts Pirates is growing at a rate we never predicted. In our old files, Sasaki was ranked somewhere around Gecko Moria's level. If he can go toe-to-toe with Jinbe now, we have a serious problem."
"And look at our current situation," Sengoku added, gesturing to the dead monitors. "Kuzan and Sakazuki are tearing each other apart. They've given everything to this fight. Even when one of them finally wins, they'll be sidelined with injuries for a long time. We won't have the manpower to move against Kaido."
Tsuru placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't carry the whole world on your back, Sengoku. We have to trust the younger generation. Besides, the World Government won't sit idly by while a Yonko gets closer to the One Piece. They should be even more worried than we are."
"You're right. That's all we can do for now," Sengoku said, standing up. "Keep me posted if the situation on Punk Hazard changes."
"Go get some rest, Sengoku. You have enough on your plate," Tsuru said.
As Sengoku walked back to his office, he felt the weight of the era pressing down on him. The transition from the old world to the new was proving to be bloody and chaotic. "I just hope this ends today," he whispered to himself.
But his hope was short-lived. He had barely sat down at his desk when another messenger burst into the room, gasping for air.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku! Sir, it's a disaster!"
Sengoku's heart sank. He felt a familiar surge of unease, but at this point, he was almost numb to bad news. "Take a breath and speak. What is it now?"
"Our scouts in Paradise have spotted a ghost from the past," the messenger panted. "Byrnndi World, the 'World Destroyer,' has been found. He was one of the many who escaped Impel Down during the breakout. Reports say he's already building some kind of massive super cannon."
"Byrnndi World!" Sengoku's mind flashed back thirty years to when he was an Admiral. He knew exactly how dangerous that man was and what his intentions would be. "Damn it! Why now of all times?"
The timing couldn't be worse. The Marines were stretched thin. Sengoku and Garp were the only ones left at headquarters, but they were symbols of the old era and couldn't leave their posts easily. Sakazuki and Kuzan were still trying to kill each other on Punk Hazard. Admiral Kizaru had been dispatched to Egghead Island by the World Government to oversee the Seraphim project.
The Marines were essentially leaderless and lacked any high-level combatants to deal with a threat like World. Then, a thought struck Sengoku. A desperate, calculated move.
"Go! Issue a mandatory summons for the Seven Warlords of the Sea!" Sengoku ordered. "If we don't have enough Marines, we'll let those pirates handle the World Destroyer themselves."
The messenger looked surprised but quickly realized the logic. "Understood, sir! I'll send the notices immediately!"
As the messenger hurried out, Sengoku rubbed his temples, feeling as though he'd aged a decade in a single afternoon. He could swear more white hairs were appearing in his beard by the second. Between Kaido's growing power and Blackbeard's rising influence after the Level 6 breakout, the world was becoming a powder keg.
"What a massive headache," he groaned.
Two days passed in a blur of frantic reports and shifting tides. Far away in the New World, a massive ship bearing the mark of the Beasts Pirates docked at a port in Wano Country. Under the watchful eyes of high-ranking officers, hundreds of pirate lackeys worked in unison. They were moving a colossal, mountain-like stone—the stolen Road Poneglyph—slowly making its way toward the Flower Capital.
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