Inside the spacious conference room, the atmosphere was solemn and heavy.
Beneath their white coats of justice, high-ranking Marine officials, usually figures of immense power and renown across the seas, stood ready.
Representatives of the old era of the Marine, such as Vice Admiral Garp, Grand Inspector Sengoku, and Chief of Staff Tsuru, participated in this meeting.
Representatives of the new era of the Marine included the current Fleet Admiral Sakazuki, the three Admirals—Kizaru, Renji, and Fujitora—as well as Rob Lucci from CP, among others.
"I believe everyone is already clear on the operational objective: to acquire that Devil Fruit, the Mythical Zoan, Bird-Bird Fruit, Phoenix form. And to prevent the Paramecia-type Twinkle-Twinkle Fruit, once eaten by Diamond Jozu, a commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, from falling into the hands of other pirates."
"You are all aware of the news that the Four Emperors of the New World have begun to act. Not to mention these two Devil Fruits, even if the Flame-Flame fruit were to fall into a pirate crew of that caliber, it would be a huge disruption to the balance of power on the seas across the entire world."
Upon hearing this, all the officers' faces darkened.
"Then, I will now analyze the biggest opponents we will face."
"First is… Douglas Bullet, who became a new Pirate Emperor over a year ago, a former member of the Roger Pirates, known as the Demon Heir. He is a Clank-Clank Fruit ability user, with a bounty of 4,284,000,000 Berries."
"According to reliable intelligence, his flagship, the Bullet, has already departed the War Kingdom. Its destination is currently unknown. However, it is certain that Bullet himself is on this ship."
"And the actions of Kaido, the Governor-General of the Beasts Pirates…"
"Besides the above, we also need to pay attention to some major pirates who have been active in the past two years, such as the former warlord, now Captain Marshall D. Teach of the Blackbeard Pirates, a double ability user of the Dark-Dark Fruit and the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, whose potential is extremely astonishing. His bounty is 2,898,000,000 Berries."
"Former warlord, former President of Baroque Works, Crocodile, a Sand-Sand Fruit ability user, with a bounty of 1,874,000,000 Berries."
…
"For this operation, after extensive research and discussion, it has been tentatively decided that the personnel participating in the arena competition will be as follows: Admiral Seiryu!"
Everyone's gaze turned to Renji, their expressions varied.
Lucci looked at Renji, his curiosity about this man, who had twice defeated Luffy, whom he considered his arch-nemesis, reaching its peak.
If it weren't for the sheer number of people attending the meeting, he, as a former killing machine, would have directly launched a Roluogan at Renji.
"Also, Admiral Fujitora! Vice Admiral Aramaki, Vice Admiral Momonga, Vice Admiral Yamakaji, CP0 Rob Lucci… Captain Miguel!"
When the list of participants for the arena competition was fully read out, someone suddenly spoke.
"What if our personnel encounter each other prematurely?"
Lucci's sudden interjection highlighted the critical point of the plan.
Looking at the hesitant crowd, Lucci didn't care. He sneered, "For example, if Renji and I, unfortunately, are assigned to the same group, who should win?"
As his voice fell—
"Pfft..." Garp couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Seeing Garp's smile, Lucci's face turned cold. "Vice Admiral Garp, is this very funny?"
"Hey! Garp! That's too much. At least go outside to laugh, give the young man some face." Sengoku said with a smile.
"Haha, sorry, I couldn't hold it in for a moment. You all continue." Garp turned his head away, trying hard to suppress his laughter.
At this moment, Renji, who had remained silent, slowly raised his head, his deep, azure eyes looking at Lucci.
"Do you think… you can win?"
Facing Renji's question, Lucci said with a confident expression, "I will win."
Since his defeat by Luffy, he had undergone what could only be described as hellish training over the past two years. If he were to face the Luffy from back then now, he was confident that the Luffy from two years ago wouldn't last a single move against him.
Now, with his Devil Fruit awakened and his extremely strong Haki, Lucci believed that if he hadn't already joined CP0, he would be one of the current three Admirals, and Fujitora wouldn't even be in the picture.
Even against opponents like the Four Emperors, he had no fear.
"Hmph, it's still too early for you to win against my master." Miguel snorted.
Renji being provoked by this weakling who had lost at Luffy's hands was something he absolutely couldn't tolerate.
A mere wild leopard, daring to point fingers at his master?
Lucci, who was just looking for an excuse to act, revealed a cruel smile.
"A Captain, how dare you speak to a superior like that? Today, I will teach you the consequences of insubordination."
Swish!
Moving with blinding speed, Lucci's figure flattened like a sheet of paper and shot towards Miguel at an astonishing pace.
This scene caught the Vice Admirals present off guard. Lucci, as a genius rarely seen in the World Government for eight hundred years, displayed a speed that far exceeded theirs. Even a full-power Soru couldn't catch up to him.
However, the next second, the imagined scene of blood flowing did not occur.
Bang!
A dull collision echoed in the conference room, and the terrifying force of the impact created a gust of air that scattered documents all over the room.
To everyone's surprise, Miguel had actually blocked Lucci's surprise attack. His arm was wrapped in thick Armament Haki.
Kizaru had secretly tucked his nail clippers into his pocket, his eyes flashing. He could feel that Miguel's Armament Haki was nearing an advanced level.
Sengoku smiled with relief at this. "It seems our Marine truly has a wealth of talent nowadays."
Lucci, the protagonist of the incident, looked at Miguel with shock, unable to believe that Renji's follower could withstand his punch.
Although he hadn't used his full strength, this punch, if it had been directed at Luffy two years ago, would have been enough to bring him to his knees.
"Sir, didn't you eat?" Miguel grinned.
Hearing Miguel's mocking tone, a bloody ferocity surged in Lucci's eyes. The arm he was using to attack Miguel began to show patterns and grow beastly fur.
Just as Lucci was about to attack again, an invisible pressure, like a giant hammer from the heavens, descended with irresistible majesty, precisely striking the top of his head.
This aura… it was Conqueror's Haki!
Lucci was greatly alarmed.
Level. 5 Conqueror's Haki pressed down, and Renji's azure eyes flashed with divine light in the conference room.
He slowly opened his mouth and said, "Step back."