"Admiral, we're about to enter the Calm Belt and should reach the East Blue in about a day!"
"Understood. Order the fleet to prepare for possible encounters with Sea Kings. Not every ship has the protection of seastone hulls."
"Yes, Admiral!"
The lieutenant saluted and immediately rushed off to relay the orders.
Indeed, even within the Navy, only a few ships were equipped with seastone at their hulls. The material was rare, expensive, and usually unnecessary—most ships never had to cross the Calm Belt in the first place.
Soon, over a dozen warships in the fleet simultaneously lowered their sails. The vessels capable of navigating through the Calm Belt deployed auxiliary propulsion systems from their flanks. The remaining ships opened rows of windows on either side, from which massive mechanical oars extended outward.
On the decks, rows of sailors stood ready—some manning the cannons, prepared to fire at a moment's notice, others on alert with rifles in hand.
A few minutes later, the fleet entered the Calm Belt.
"Admiral," said Onigumo, standing slightly behind Akainu on the deck of a massive warship. "If you ask me, we should've headed straight to the Kingdom of Arkado and captured Dragon before he escapes."
"Once the Suppression Fleet arrives, he'll probably be long gone."
"We're the only ones in a position to block him from entering the East Blue ahead of time."
Akainu shook his head slightly, but Onigumo clearly remained dissatisfied with headquarters' plan.
"But with just these few ships, trying to block the entire boundary between the East Blue and the Calm Belt is unrealistic—it's over 2,000 nautical miles! Not to mention we're also being asked to split forces and cover Reverse Mountain."
Think about that—each ship would be responsible for patrolling about 200 nautical miles. More importantly, if the ships were actually spread out like that, only Akainu's vessel could stand a chance of stopping the Revolutionary Army. The rest? No chance, especially not against someone like Dragon.
Back when Dragon was still with the Navy, he was already among the strongest of the Vice-Admirals—practically at Admiral level.
Now? After years of leading the Revolutionary Army?
Onigumo and the others had clashed with them more than once. Even an Admiral would struggle to win in a one-on-one against Dragon today.
To Onigumo, this plan from headquarters made no sense—and it even felt like a deliberate attempt to set up the hawkish faction for failure.
After all, if Dragon escaped, it would be the Advance Fleet who'd take the blame.
And who made up this Advance Fleet?
One hawkish Admiral, five hawkish Vice-Admirals, and a slew of hawkish Rear Admirals and commanders—essentially Akainu's entire faction, freshly rotated back from the New World as part of G1 Branch.
Truth be told, Akainu himself was equally frustrated with Sengoku's plan. He even suspected Sengoku of deliberately leaving a backdoor open for Dragon's escape.
But there was no evidence of that...
"Enough," Akainu said. "Orders are orders. We carry them out."
"But Admiral—"
"Quiet... wait."
Suddenly, Akainu sensed something.
He abruptly turned to his front-left, eyes narrowing sharply.
Small black dots were appearing on the horizon—heading straight toward the fleet.
"What the...?"
He recognized them instantly.
He'd seen these before—back at Punk Hazard. Back then, they'd been used to target Kaido.
But this time... they were coming for him.
These were powerful enough to wound even Kaido. Akainu couldn't afford to underestimate them.
"It's Jun Lin..."
"Alert the fleet! Prepare for battle! Not a single one of those projectiles is allowed to land!"
"One hit is enough to destroy a warship!"
Onigumo sucked in a cold breath.
"Just one can take out a full-sized warship? What kind of monster are we dealing with?"
He immediately relayed the Admiral's orders. The entire fleet shifted into interception mode.
Akainu leapt into the air using Moonwalk, rising high above the ships.
Then he pulled back his right arm and roared:
"Great Eruption!"
His arm turned into magma, expanding into a massive lava fist—so large it dwarfed even the battleships below.
He hurled the molten fist directly at the incoming projectiles.
BOOM BOOM BOOM...
One by one, the missiles were intercepted and exploded mid-air—still hundreds of meters from the fleet, doing no damage.
However...
Seven of them slipped past his attack, flying at high speed toward the ships from his flank.
Akainu didn't have time to stop them himself. It was now up to the Vice-Admirals onboard.
But just as the missiles neared the fleet—they suddenly changed direction.
They veered off, splitting left and right, and exploded several hundred meters away from the outer edges of the formation.
"What the hell...? Are they warning us not to go any farther?"
Akainu clenched his fist in anger.
Just then, his Den Den Mushi rang.
Buru buru buru...
"This is Akainu."
"Senior Sakazuki, long time no see. It's me—Luo Lan."
"Luo Lan...?"
Akainu was stunned. Of course he remembered Luo Lan. But why was this man calling now?
"More importantly," Luo Lan continued, "you're probably more familiar with my other identity."
"I'm the Marshal of Jun Lin. The leader you all refer to as the Supreme Commander."
Luo Lan made no effort to hide his identity now. Jun Lin was about to step fully into the light, after all.
Besides, revealing the truth would help the coming conversation. If he didn't say who he was now, Akainu might hang up before he got a word in.
"What...? You're saying you're Jun Lin's leader?"
Akainu's eyes widened.
He'd never once linked Luo Lan to Jun Lin before.
"Senior Sakazuki," Luo Lan said calmly, "didn't I save your life not too long ago? Consider this me asking you to return the favor."
"What do you want?"
Akainu took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
"Have the Advance Fleet withdraw from the Calm Belt and return to the Grand Line."
"Luo Lan, do you even know what you're doing?"
"I do. I'm preventing the slaughter of innocent civilians."
That word—"civilians"—made Akainu freeze for a moment.
They were supposed to be suppressing rebels. Everyone knew most of those people were just ordinary citizens—but no one said it out loud. As long as they were labeled "rebels," it was easier to act without guilt.
But now, Luo Lan had torn that veil wide open with a single sentence.
"Senior Sakazuki, tell Sengoku this for me."
"I'll handle the Revolutionary Army. If you must intervene, do it from outside the Calm Belt to catch any that slip through."
"And one more thing—don't even think about breaking through the Calm Belt into the East Blue."
"Your understanding of Jun Lin is only the tip of the iceberg."
"I came from HQ myself. I don't want to hurt fellow Marines—but don't force my hand."
"Because that Suppression Fleet of yours... won't be enough."
Holding the Den Den Mushi in his hand, listening to Luo Lan's words, Akainu stood there in stunned silence.
Was he... being threatened?
Or was Luo Lan just warning him?