"Ahem, I believe many of you are no strangers to this old man, right? I am Kong, former Fleet Admiral, now Commander-in-Chief of the World Government!"
Kong's resonant voice echoed across the entire plaza.
Countless Marines looked solemnly toward Kong, saluting with their eyes. Even Garp, who was usually laughing and joking, was rarely serious.
Although Garp's status in the hearts of many Marines now surpassed Kong's, he still maintained high respect for this old man who had toiled his whole life for the cause of Marine Justice.
"I believe most of you participated in the war not long ago, didn't you?"
"Under Sengoku's leadership, the Marines annihilated the so-called Emperor of the Sea of the New World—the Whitebeard Pirates—at Marineford. The World's Strongest Man was knocked off his horse by a young Marine!!"
Kong's gaze was sharp as he slowly swept over the dark mass of people in the plaza, looking at those young faces. Finally, his gaze fixed on Sengoku, and his deep voice rang out again:
"On this day, the pirates finally remembered the fear of being dominated by the Marines!!"
"And these results were achieved by every Marine present fighting bloody battles. The Marines will not mistreat any hero who risks their life for the cause of Justice!! Now! Everyone, bow your heads!!"
"Observe three minutes of silence for all colleagues who sacrificed their lives!!"
Kong's voice gradually became impassioned.
As soon as he finished speaking, all Marines silently lowered their heads. A sorrowful atmosphere permeated the entire parade ground.
Even the usually nonchalant Aokiji and Kizaru looked serious, standing up with everyone else and lowering their gazes.
—Soon, three minutes passed.
The heavy atmosphere finally dissipated slightly. The high-ranking Marines in the front row sat down heavily, and those who usually crossed their legs did so again.
"While mourning the dead, we must not forget to reward the living. Now—"
"According to the appointment document issued by the World Government, Marine Admiral Sengoku is officially promoted to Fleet Admiral of Marine Headquarters, commanding the entire Marine force!!"
Clap, clap, clap, clap—!!!
Warm applause rang out. Under the eager gazes of all the Marines, Sengoku walked lightly to the rostrum and exchanged a look with Kong.
He then naturally took the microphone:
"Gentlemen, nowadays on the sea, pirates are rising in swarms, the situation is deteriorating, and countless civilians are displaced, living in precariousness, constantly facing threats from pirates!!"
"The Marines rise to the occasion, shouldering the Justice behind us and constantly confronting the pirates. I believe you are all like me: even if our flesh and blood block the rolling wheels of the era, even if we are crushed to pieces, we will still move forward!!"
"You! These young faces are the future hope of the Marines, the dawn of Justice!!"
"Now, let us march into the new era, completely bury the so-called Great Pirate Era, and create an era of Justice that belongs solely to the Marines!!!"
Sengoku paused, then his voice suddenly rose:
"Let us shout for Justice!! Justice! Justice! Justice will prevail!!"
"Justice! Justice! Justice will prevail!!"
The Marines below looked excited, their voices neat and high-pitched, rumbling like thunder, resounding through the entire Marineford!!
"Very good—"
Sengoku nodded with satisfaction. He pressed his hands down toward the void, and the thunderous howling gradually subsided as gazes focused on him once again.
"Now, the official investiture ceremony begins!!"
As Fleet Admiral, the investiture of Admirals was naturally carried out by him personally.
From the moment he officially stepped onto the rostrum, Kong's imprint on the Marines was completely replaced by his.
"Appointed by the World Government, the rank of Admiral is now conferred upon Borsalino, Sakazuki, Kuzan, and Kanos Atlas!!"
"Issho is appointed Admiral Candidate, code name [Fujitora]; Vice Admiral Gion is appointed Admiral Candidate, code name [Momousagi]; Vice Admiral Tokikake is appointed Admiral Candidate, code name [Chaton]!!!"
"Additionally, Onigumo, Strawberry, Momonga, Doberman... are promoted to Headquarters Vice Admiral!!"
"..."
A string of names was read out. Basically, most Marines received varying degrees of promotion, and a relaxed atmosphere gradually spread.
After all, who wouldn't be happy about getting a promotion?
Grand Line, an unknown sea area.
A strangely shaped ship was anchored at sea. The ship was painted primarily in cool tones. The bow was shaped like an unfinished cannon muzzle. The hull was huge, different from ordinary sailing ships; it looked somewhat like a miniature island.
"Harororororo!! Gayram? When will this ship be finished? I can't wait to let the World Government and the Marines witness its power!!"
A tall man wearing an old helmet with a broken horn and sporting a green beard let out a burst of strange laughter.
Broken teeth were exposed to the air. His open chest was wrapped with a thick iron chain, his eyes were fierce, and he wore two large gold chains around his neck.
"It will be ready soon. For more than twenty years, I have always believed that you would be resurrected!"
A man with a red bulbous nose, carrying a giant iron hammer on his back, pulled up a slipping shoulder strap and smiled with narrowed eyes.
"We believed it too!!"
An old woman wearing reading glasses stood behind them, scrambling to claim credit from the helmeted man:
"Sebastian and I suffered a lot for the materials for this ship!! We won't let you take all the credit, Gayram!!"
"That's right!!"
The blue-black Fish-Man named Sebastian stood with his hands behind his back, echoing coldly.
"What?"
Gayram turned around and glared at the old woman.
"Harororororo!! Stop arguing. I am very grateful to you. This is the ship we wanted to build more than twenty years ago, and now it is finally about to be realized. However—"
"I still want to know the fastest specific time for completion!!"
Having said that, the helmeted man's gaze suddenly became even fiercer.
"I can no longer suppress the flames of revenge in my heart!!"
"This giant cannon, if combined with my Fruit ability, can magnify the cannonballs 100 times. By then..."
"Even the World Government and Mary Geoise will be annihilated in an instant!!!"
"No problem. We have collected all the materials recently. We can finish the cannon first. In a few months at most, it will be able to fully reveal its fangs on the sea!!"
"By then, both the Marines and the World Government will be awed by its terrifying power!!!"
Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
Fleet Admiral's Office.
Sengoku sat solemnly behind his desk. Above his head hung a plaque with flamboyant calligraphy—[Reigning Justice]!!
This was originally Sengoku's office; only the name had changed.
Promoted from Admiral's Office to Fleet Admiral's Office.
At this moment.
The current four Headquarters Admirals—[Kizaru] Borsalino, [Akainu] Sakazuki, [Aokiji] Kuzan, and [White Roar] Atlas—were gathered here, listening quietly to Sengoku's arrangements.
"Sakazuki and Kuzan will continue to guard the New World. After all, Kaido and Big Mom are two major threats; you must keep a close eye on their movements at all times."
"As for guarding Mary Geoise near Headquarters, originally, because of Borsalino's speed, he could travel quickly between Mary Geoise and Marineford, so the Celestial Dragons wanted him there."
"However—"
Sengoku shifted his gaze from Kizaru to Atlas and said with a smile:
"Some Celestial Dragons saw the battle not long ago and are clamoring for you, Atlas, to go. They say that only you, the World's Strongest Man, can give them enough sense of security."
"Huh?"
Atlas raised an eyebrow, straightened up slightly, and looked directly at Sengoku:
"You want me to go to Mary Geoise? If a Celestial Dragon accidentally drops dead then, I assume I won't be held accountable?"
"..."
Hearing Atlas's reckless words, Akainu and the other two couldn't help but look sideways.
Even the laziest Kizaru couldn't help but look a bit serious, giving the calm-faced Atlas a "so scary" look.
Is this brat threatening the Celestial Dragons, explicitly or implicitly?
It seems he really has a lot of dissatisfaction with the World Nobles.
"Atlas..."
Akainu couldn't help but speak up.
"I know your personality, so I rejected them outright. Compared to you, Borsalino is more suitable for this job."
Sengoku waved his hand to interrupt Akainu, explaining in a deep voice.
Sengoku was well aware of Atlas's thoughts and naturally wouldn't force him to oppose the Marines. Especially for scum like the Celestial Dragons, it really wasn't worth it.
"Phew~~ That's good!"
Hearing this, Atlas pretended to pat his chest in fear.
"However..."
Sengoku changed the subject, looking at Atlas helplessly. "In the future, when you talk about the Celestial Dragons, can you be a little more restrained? Don't learn from Garp all day long!"
Bang—!!!
"Hahahaha! Sengoku, you guy, I heard you badmouthing me, right?"
Before the person was seen, Garp's signature laughter came in.
"Hey! Can you knock first next time!! Garp!!"
Then, under Sengoku's glare, Garp picked his ear, pretending not to hear the other's roar.
"Sengoku, where have you hidden your senbei? Hand them all over quickly!!"
"Didn't you already set off for the New World? Why did you turn back suddenly?"
Sengoku suddenly thought of something, stood up abruptly, and shouted at Garp.
"Well, this old man had indeed walked to the port, but someone suddenly told me that the brat Luffy got beaten up, hahahaha!!!"
Garp laughed loudly, as if the one beaten up wasn't his grandson.
It was no wonder.
Someone who dared to throw Luffy into the deep mountains and forests to keep company with wild beasts when he was just a few years old, pushing a small child to desperation time and again—it was definitely "wolf-style" parenting.
How could such a person come back for revenge just because his grandson got beaten up?
Hmm, mostly he came back to watch the fun, to see how badly Luffy was beaten.
Atlas guessed in his heart.
"Oh? Which guy can handle your grandson?"
Sengoku was slightly surprised.
He had seen that brat Luffy. Not only had he eaten the Devil Fruit Atlas snatched from CP, but he also possessed extremely high combat talent.
To find a peer capable of defeating him in the entire school, presumably only his two older brothers could do it, right?
"Um, not exactly a peer. It's... it's that boy who has been living at Tsuru's house."
Garp scratched his head, struggling to say the boy's name, but racking his brains, he couldn't remember it.
"Drake?"
Sengoku understood.
No wonder. Although that little guy was malnourished when Tsuru first brought him back—looking like a thirteen-year-old despite being twenty—
After two years of recuperation, the advantage of being an adult immediately became apparent.
Dealing with that brat Luffy was naturally a piece of cake.
"Hahahaha! Seems... seems that's the name."
"So why don't you hurry to the New World now?!"
Sengoku's face darkened abruptly, and he directly issued an eviction order to Garp, lest the senbei he had hidden with great difficulty be ravaged by this guy again.
"Isn't it because I want to go with Atlas? After all, that ability of his is very convenient. It saves me from passing through Mary Geoise; who knows when I might have bad luck and run into that kind of trash!"
Garp picked his nose nonchalantly and said lightly.
"..."
Atlas looked at Garp's actions expressionlessly.
He didn't care about anything else; he only cared about whether the finger Garp just used to pick his ear was the same one.
"...Don't count on him. I have other mission arrangements for him here."
Sengoku mercilessly shattered Garp's dream.
"Hahahaha, alright then. This old man will go ahead first!"
Hearing this, Garp felt he had no reason to stay here anymore and turned back directly.
"Hey! Close the door for me."
Bang—!!!
"Alright, next..."
Click—!!!
The office door opened again, interrupting Sengoku's speech directly. A white head poked in, grinning at Sengoku:
"By the way, you haven't given me the senbei you promised just now!!"
"..."
Sengoku didn't say a word.
When did he ever promise to give this guy senbei?!!
However, looking at this guy's posture, he wouldn't let it go today without giving up some of his stash.
Thinking of this, Sengoku reached directly for the cape behind him, and a bulging bag of senbei was thrown directly at Garp's head.
Slap—!!
Catching it easily, Garp closed the door heavily and left with satisfaction.
"Phew~ Finally gone."
Seeing that annoying guy Garp leave, Sengoku finally turned his gaze back to Atlas and the other three.
"Atlas."
Sengoku's face became serious. He took out a golden Den Den Mushi from the drawer next to him and placed it squarely in front of the four.
"Since you have become an Admiral, you naturally receive the authority you should have."