Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
Sengoku paced back and forth in his office, his face very ugly.
"I say, can you stop pacing in front of me? My eyes are getting dizzy watching you!"
Garp complained very dissatisfied.
Sengoku glared sharply at this heartless man, unwilling to pay attention to him. There was no point communicating with a man whose nerves were as thick as cables.
Currently in the Fleet Admiral's office, quite a few people had gathered.
The three Admirals had returned from Karakuri Island and had already reported the situation to Sengoku. This was one of the reasons why Sengoku's anxiety was increasing.
It seemed Imu's condition hadn't improved, but had become slightly more serious. However, not many people knew about this mission to the Naruto World, even Garp didn't know.
Akainu looked full of anger, striking the table with one fist, and whispered: "A bunch of bastards, how dare they rebel. I've said from the start, we should have found an opportunity to kill them all, then today's situation wouldn't have happened!"
Garp glanced at him cynically: "If you're so great, why didn't you go from the beginning?"
Akainu's face reddened. If it were someone else saying that, he would have already thrown a punch, but in front of this legendary Marine Hero, he really didn't dare.
In the past he might not have understood the difference between himself and Garp, there was even a bit of disrespect in his heart. But since the Gold List appeared, the difference in their strength had been displayed in clear numerical form.
Akainu, 32nd rank on the Gold List. Garp, 23rd rank on the Gold List.
The difference was clearly visible.
Initially Akainu dismissed this ranking, but since traveling to Konoha Village, he became self-aware. In short, if he was too arrogant, this old man who seemed brainless in front of him might be able to smash his head with one punch.
Kizaru pouted his lips: "Akainu, reduce your talk. The strength of those four people isn't something we can oppose right now. This time you must learn a lesson."
Akainu sneered: "You, the coward who fled, have no right to lecture me!"
Kizaru fell silent: "You yourself couldn't run, why blame me? Midway I met the mysterious existences ranked first and second on the Gold List. Although one of my arms was cut off, that's enough for me to be proud of! Whereas you, were imprisoned quite miserably, right?"
Akainu: "What do you mean? I did it for the Marines!"
Kizaru: "Didn't you want to run? It's just that you couldn't run!"
Akainu: "Nonsense! I did it for Justice!"
Kizaru: "You were imprisoned!"
Akainu: "The opponent was a top ten expert on the Gold List!"
Kizaru: "You were imprisoned!"
Akainu: "The opponent had many people and their strength was strong. You even already ran but still lost one arm, trash!"
Kizaru: "You were imprisoned!"
Akainu: "... Damn it, where's my sword?"
Garp kindly reminded from the side: "You use fists."
Sengoku's head was spinning hearing their commotion, he shouted: "All of you shut up! Kizaru, since when did you become this talkative?"
He really didn't understand, these three people clearly failed their mission again, but still had the face to quarrel here.
The office instantly became quiet.
Sengoku turned toward an old woman on the left and asked: "Have all those people come?"
Although already aged, the old woman still wore a large robe and had a heroic aura. She nodded: "Almost all have come."
This person was Vice Admiral Tsuru! User of the Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, Wash Wash Fruit (Washi Washi no Mi).
"Excellent."
Sengoku waved his hand: "Follow me to the conference room. Those people have arrived. They're all not easy people to deal with. In this crisis, we must pressure them!"
Aokiji was slightly worried: "Those people aren't easy to control. Aren't we afraid they'll betray us later?"
Sengoku sighed: "Now isn't the time to worry about that. Facing the Yonko alliance, plus the Revolutionary Army group lurking on the side, we need more high-level combat power. A little is better than none at all. As long as we can hold on, we don't hesitate to promise great benefits to stabilize them first."
[T/N: Four Emperors replaced with Yonko]
Everyone nodded and walked out together toward the conference room.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
At this moment, inside Marine Headquarters' large conference room.
Several people gathered together. They were the current Shichibukai:
The World's Strongest Swordsman, Dracule Hawk-Eye Mihawk.
User of the Paw Paw Fruit (Nikyu Nikyu no Mi), "Bartholomew Kuma the Tyrant".
User of the String String Fruit (Ito Ito no Mi), Donquixote Doflamingo.
User of the Shadow Shadow Fruit (Kage Kage no Mi), Gecko Moria.
User of the Love Love Fruit (Mero Mero no Mi), Pirate Empress Boa Hancock.
User of the Sand Sand Fruit (Suna Suna no Mi), Crocodile.
Fish-Man Race, Jinbei the Knight of the Sea.
The seven of them sat in their respective corners, seemingly no one liking each other.
These people were all arrogant. Their strength to sit in the Shichibukai position wasn't ordinary. Some of them even made the Gold List rankings, like Mihawk who was at 21st rank, higher than the three Admirals, making him the strongest among the Shichibukai. Here, even the most arrogant Doflamingo didn't want to provoke him.
Suddenly, the conference room door opened. Sengoku led a group of officers in with a friendly smile: "Everyone, sorry to have kept you waiting."
"Kekekeke—" Moria laughed strangely: "Sengoku, what time is it now, you can still smile?"
Doflamingo also chimed in cynically: "As far as I know, the four-party alliance is gathering. The time remaining for the Marines and World Government isn't much!"
"You talk too much!"
Sengoku's expression became cold. Behind him vaguely appeared the shadow of a giant golden Buddha, and tremendous pressure enveloped the entire conference room.
Sengoku, nicknamed The Resourceful General, under such great pressure, finally showed his fierce and dignified face. Everyone felt their breath catch.
Hancock was unaffected, she raised her chin arrogantly: "Sengoku, is this your way of negotiating?"
Jinbei also nodded: "Negotiation needs sincerity. We're not your subordinates, Sengoku!"
Sengoku immediately withdrew his pressure, smiling again and sitting down. Garp and the others also sat down one by one.
"You're right, negotiation must have negotiation etiquette. I was rude."
Sengoku smiled: "You surely already know the outline of this problem. Shirohige and the others have wild ambitions to attack Mary Geoise, wanting to destroy the Marines and World Government in one move. That's just a pipe dream!"
"I don't think necessarily!"
Crocodile glanced: "Shirohige, Red Hair, Kaido, Big Mom—who among them isn't in the top 20 of the Gold List? Their subordinates are also strong. Their combination isn't just one plus one equals two. Are you really confident you can hold them off?"
All the Shichibukai members stared at Sengoku.
Sengoku smiled thinly: "Are you underestimating the Marines and World Government too much? Just the Yonko alone, we don't consider them a threat at all!"
"In the current situation, this is no longer just a battle between Marines/World Government versus Pirates. The interference of two other worlds has put us on the edge. Even if the Yonko don't move this time, the World Government and Marines must consider future layouts. Even someone as strong as Lord Imu was seriously injured, the Gold List is truly frightening! The World Government's goal is a sea of stars, the entire Three Realms! Pirates are just jumping clowns!"