"Sengoku!!!!!!!!!"
Marineford.
The island that holds the Navy Headquarters, the place that leads all Marines, and the name of the main base itself.
Right now, the Fleet Admiral Sengoku waited for news from the fight against the Black Cat Pirates, a battle that used all the top forces the headquarters could move. Then a man kicked open the door to his office and rushed inside.
"Is it true that a surprise attack was ordered on Kuro… on that pirate!?"
No Marine was allowed to act this way toward Sengoku, the Fleet Admiral of all Marines.
But no one stopped him.
"…It is true, Sir Kimrick Pinsher," Sengoku replied, his voice heavy.
"Impossible!!! What are the higher-ups thinking!?"
The reason no one stopped him was because this older-looking man was not a Marine, but a high-ranking government officer.
"Stop the mission, Sengoku!" Pinsher shouted, slamming his hand on the desk. "If this continues, that pirate will truly become an enemy of the World Government! That must not happen!!"
"We cannot overturn an order from the Government," Sengoku stated calmly. "…I do have my own thoughts on this. But thanks to the deal made the other day, we have already agreed—"
"Your thoughts!? Agreed!? No! You only understand one side of the situation!!"
Sengoku, who survived many deadly battlefields and rose through strength alone, kept his calm look, yet his presence was filled with pressure. Anyone with weak resolve would crumble just standing before him. But the officer did not flinch.
He too was a man who survived political fights full of plots and assassins.
"Sengoku, you saw Kuro as a Marine. But I saw that man as a government officer! I know how dangerous he is! We must not make him our enemy! And destroying his pirate crew, who are like his own family, is throwing away our gain and inviting danger!!"
"…That danger is exactly why the Government moved to remove them."
"And I am telling you that is the wrong move! Right now, that man still has a chain on him!!!"
Kimrick Pinsher had quietly become known inside Navy Headquarters.
Unlike Spandine, the secret head of CP9, Pinsher was publicly known—and among the people whose names could be shown openly, he was the official most trusted by "Kuro". This alone made him interesting to the officers.
Some said he must be extremely skilled if the "Black Cat" trusted him so much. Others said he was useless, a government man who relied on a pirate.
But all agreed on one thing—he was one of the few who understood the pirate called "Black Cat".
"I don't know him as a fighter! You Marines know that better! But I know everything else about him!" Pinsher pleaded.
Because of that, his words were not something they could ignore.
Like Spandine of CP9, and Admiral Kuzan, he was someone who got results by working with that man. That meant he knew the tricks of "Black Cat", a pirate the Government could not ignore.
"Listen, Sengoku. That man's true nature is not a pirate or a warrior! He's not even a merchant like people say he trained to be! His real core—he is a bureaucrat! A top-class one!!"
Seeing the desperate look on Pinsher's face, the surrounding Marines felt a bad feeling rising in their chests.
"He gathers information using his followers and networks, finds the problems, compares everything with what is happening on-site, and then makes the plans of those above him into something realistic and profitable! In that, he has talent far beyond normal men!"
Sengoku and the Marines remembered clearly the serious work of that boy in the Holy Land who handled negotiation between them and the Government, while also helping rebuild the place.
Even though he was still young—and a pirate—he organized the situation, assigned people, and led everything to a solution with amazing skill.
"That is why! Right now, when he must judge everything by himself as a sort of king, his own nature is acting like a perfect chain! You know better than anyone that he is not a threat, but a huge benefit!!"
"…Then, Sir Pinsher," Sengoku asked slowly. "What are you afraid will happen…?"
"It is obvious! If the mission succeeds in the worst way, and Kuro's group survives—he may carry hatred toward the Government and join another power!"
Even though he was almost enslaved, that pirate never showed hatred toward the Government. Instead, he wished to fight for world order. Revenge simply did not match him.
But… now that we have betrayed him so cruelly, it would not be strange. That… that is what we must accept.
In Sengoku's mind, he saw the Marines who were acting alongside Kuro.
He believed they were probably safe because of Kuro's nature, but he also knew he sent them with the resolve to cut them down if the worst happened.
Pinsher slammed the desk hard, growing more forceful.
"If we could crush them completely, it would be different! But there is no way an organization he built is that weak! If they gain hatred and join anti-government groups… if Kuro and his men join pirates like the leftover followers of Rocks! If he uses his full talent for them, no one will be able to stop that force!! No one!!!"
Ironically, the world's worst pirate, Rocks, whom they defeated on God Valley—an island now the center of a storm—had many terrifying pirates under him. Most of them later built great powers in the New World of the Grand Line.
And now—
—Kuro was isolated in that same sea.
"We must not let that pirate become a real enemy of the Government! His weakness is his kindness—he tries to end things with almost no loss to either side! And because a man like that is at the top, 'Silent Step' is such a useful presence!!"
Like he once did with that pirate, Pinsher grabbed Sengoku's shoulders.
But unlike back then, when he cried and begged, now his face was sharp and burning with fear as he faced the Fleet Admiral.
"Please, Sengoku! Come with me now and appeal directly to the Five Elders!!"
"But—"
"Sengoku! Is your duty only to protect the lives of Marines!? Is your job only to guard Navy soldiers!? No!!" Pinsher shook him. "Right now! We are at the edge where the greatest danger to the people may be born!"
Pinsher understood. This was the crucial moment.
"Right now! We are at the edge where the greatest danger to the people may be born!"
If someone who did not care about lives gained Kuro as a tool, and if Kuro helped them run their group, the blood spilled would never compare to this current pirate war.
"We may not be able to stop everything. But we may at least slow it down! Sengoku! We exist for the World Government! And therefore for the people! We must risk our lives for them!"
If the Fleet Admiral and the Vice-Head of Health Department appealed together, the situation might change.
"Please, Sengoku… die with me! If we don't act now—"
Pinsher's words suddenly stopped.
"…Sir Pinsher?" Sengoku called to him, confused, but the man did not move.
Sengoku called to him, confused, but he did not move.
Sengoku slowly touched his shoulder, remembering how Pinsher once pushed himself so hard begging for Kuro to stay with the Government that he collapsed.
At that same moment—
Pinsher coughed lightly, and blood dripped from his mouth.
"Sir Pinsher!!"
Sengoku caught him as he suddenly collapsed.
"C…curse… it… I was poisoned… Why… go this far… to stop that pirate… Five Elders…"
"Sir Pinsher, please don't speak… Someone! Bring a doctor!!"
The Marines, stunned at first, ran to call a doctor and prepare the medical room.
"Sengoku… please… the mission…"
Hearing that fading voice, Sengoku looked at his desk.
Papers were stacked on it.
It was the draft for the new deal between the Navy and the Government—the new order—decided after Kuro left.
Before he knew it, his right hand was gripping his coat.
He held it tight, forgetting it would wrinkle—and looked at the Marines rushing to save Pinsher.
"…!"
He clenched his teeth hard.
So hard his molars might crack—
"—————!!!!!!"
He squeezed his eyes shut and looked up.
Toward the unseen sky, hidden by the ceiling.
--
Patreon.com/AHumanMadeMOFO to read 30+ chapters ahead.