Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
"What?!!"
"Are you sure, Rowen!"
Sengoku stood up in surprise from his position, causing Vice Admiral Tsuru, who was sorting through documents, to raise her eyebrows and inquire with her eyes.
"...Do you also think so, Mr. Vegapunk?"
"Alright, I got it!"
After a moment, Sengoku hung up the Den Den Mushi and solemnly said to Tsuru, "Emergency situation, notify Kizaru and Akainu, and have them come to the office for a meeting immediately!"
Tsuru's eyes narrowed slightly, knowing that something big had happened.
Shortly after, the two Admirals who had been stationed at the Headquarters hurried over upon hearing the news. After they sat down, Sengoku got straight to the point.
"[End Point] may be in danger, you two need to go immediately and oversee the defense work!"
"[End Point]?!!"
The calm gaze behind Kizaru's brown sunglasses twitched unnaturally as he looked at Sengoku. "Hey hey, Fleet Admiral, are you kidding me?"
"Although I really want to say, yes, this is a joke... but sorry!"
Sengoku shook his head bitterly, then gave the order, "Sakazuki, you go to the [PERIOD] island Marine base first. Dyna Stone is circulating on the Black Market, and we were completely unaware."
"Conduct a thorough investigation!"
"Root out all the worms, kill them if necessary, show no mercy!"
Because three of the Four Seas Independent Commission Against Corruption are from his faction, Akainu's reputation within the Marines has greatly increased, excluding the extreme views of Justice. Akainu is the epitome of integrity and fairness within the Marines, earning respect from others.
Although his popularity among soldiers still cannot be compared to Aokiji, who is calm and approachable without airs, his popularity is mostly due to fear of the regulatory agency.
But it also made Akainu proud for a long time and gave him more confidence in becoming Fleet Admiral and enforcing his own Justice.
"War Faction officers are symbols of integrity!"
This consensus already exists within the Marines, and it is also the glory upheld by War Faction officers.
As the leader of the War Faction officers, Akainu was not surprised to receive this quest.
The [PERIOD] island Marine base has the significant responsibility of mining and managing Dyna Stone, equivalent to a country's stationed force with nuclear warheads. The appearance of traitors among them has brought about consequences far beyond those of ordinary Marine scum.
Fully aware of the significance of this mission, Akainu nodded calmly. "Understood!"
"Borsalino, you're fast. If necessary, you can go alone and abandon a large force. I'll have nearby stationed forces cooperate with all your actions."
"Yes, sir!"
Since learning that Sengoku wasn't joking, Kizaru put away the perennially unchanged smirk on his face and saluted seriously, showing a somewhat competent demeanor.
But by nature, after saluting, he still pursed his lips and asked, "Why did this suddenly happen? Is it caused by pirates?"
"Um... well!"
Sengoku sighed ruefully. "Sort of!"
"Huh?"
Sort of...?
What kind of answer is that?
Is it or isn't it?
Kizaru was completely bewildered, feeling like a cat scratching its head.
But if he knew the truth, he would probably share the same sentiment as Sengoku.
Because a certain mischievous Marine and a certain bored Celestial Dragon's relationship led to a desperate pirate wanting to Destroy the World, this is something you can't entirely blame on that pirate.
...
Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
In the headquarters building of the World Government, in a room overlooking the world, where the clouds surged underfoot.
"It's been said that that brat is the next Garp, and look, trouble has come!"
The balding elder impatiently tapped the tabletop with the hilt of his knife, sounding somewhat complaining.
"Cough Cough, it's just a possibility, but not entirely certain, right?"
The Gorōsei (Five Elder Stars) dressed as a long-mustached steward looked a bit embarrassed.
The travel ban was his proposal, and he hinted to Sengoku that the establishment of the new G-5 would allow him to send Rowen to the New World to avoid the limelight. It was him.
Clearly, the intention was to give Rowen something to do and keep him out of trouble.
But the result...
During the travel ban, Rowen went to the Golden City and impressed the Gold Emperor, Gild Tesoro, making the monsters of the Underground World greatly fear him.
After the travel ban was lifted and he was sent to Impel Down, he caused chaos, making the Sea view him as a wicked demon.
And now, with Teach stirring up some pirate league, it was even worse!
That kid was like a disaster wherever he went! Even if he didn't cause trouble, trouble would find its way to him.
"Hmph, it's a good thing we didn't let him serve in the Holy Land, or else..."
The bald old man, for some reason, expressed his relief.
Not long ago, the long-mustached Gorōsei (Five Elder Stars) wanted Rowen to serve in Mary Geoise, but this plan fell through due to the opposition of Nebo Dragon Orrick.
And the reason he had such a bold idea was naturally because Orrick also wanted to keep Rowen under control and had proposed an even bolder suggestion...
In the end, the compromise was that Rowen had no idea he had set foot in the Gates Of Hell.
"Enough with the chatter, [end point] is of great importance. Even if it's just a possibility, we can't take it lightly..."
"Valid point!"
After some discussion, the long-mustached Gorōsei (Five Elder Stars) concluded.
"Sengoku has already dispatched Kizaru and Akainu to [end point] to fortify defenses, so safety shouldn't be a concern... And to disrupt [end point], without Dyna Stone, even Whitebeard would have a hard time."
"Notify the mongrels of the Underground World, if their claws stretch beyond their boundaries, they'll be chopped off. What do you all think?"
"Agreed."
"Seconded."
"Agreed."
Shua!
Seeing three agreements, the long-mustached Gorōsei (Five Elder Stars) quickly turned his head, staring at the old man with a white cylindrical perm, leaning on a cane.
The latter seemed oblivious, appearing frail and on the verge of death, as he spoke.
"I... agree."
---
Days later, New World, Punk Hazard.
"We've found Burgess..."
Vegapunk entered the office and placed an image of Den Den Mushi in front of Rowen. The latter frowned, his eyelids twitching. "Doesn't look good, does it?"
"That's right."
Vegapunk turned off the room's lights and turned on the Den Den Mushi.
POI!
The Den Den Mushi made a suspicious sound, and its two ugly and cute eyeballs emitted beams of light like light bulbs, projecting onto the wall in front.
There was only video and no sound, as the Den Den Mushi capable of withstanding high water pressure did not have a recording function. And looking at the deep and quiet ocean scene, whether it had a recording function didn't matter.
The camera seemed to be fixed on the back of some kind of shark. From this angle, the dorsal fin and the fish head could be seen. The black matte texture made this shark look very eerie, swimming swiftly and silently.
A foolish unknown seafish didn't even notice the approach of this predator. The shark opened its big mouth and swallowed it in one gulp.
The image Vegapunk brought was naturally edited, not to let Rowen watch the underwater adventure of a shark. Without waiting too long, as the footage progressed, a damaged and unrecognizable corpse appeared in the dim underwater.
The corpse was stuck on a half-broken coral reef, with a group of shuttle-shaped fish with sharp teeth tearing at it. As the shark approached, the group of fish sensed danger and scattered, abandoning their food.
That corpse was none other than "Champion" Burgess!
The five finger holes left on his right hand by Rowen were clearly visible. Perhaps due to years of exercise, even in death, this arm was extremely resilient and was not torn apart too much.
Except, there was no head.
"By analyzing the wounds on his neck, it is determined that he was struck by some heavy blow, causing the upper part of his neck to be shattered and killed."
Vegapunk pressed the pause button, freezing the frame on the moment when the black shark accelerated towards the corpse, then asked.
"Any findings?"
"Yes!"
Rowen rubbed his chin, his suppressed breath spreading throughout the room, making Vegapunk couldn't help but shiver.
"Teach isn't dead!"
That kind of wound, in that sea at that time, only he and Teach could do it!
(End of this chapter)
You can read ahead up to 90 chapters on my patreon and I've also activated (date to date) subscription model on my patreon https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395
As long as I reach 400 dollars on my Patreon, I will start posting 2 chapters per day of this novel.
I have also posted 2 new novels on My website and web novel. They are-
1. I am not Interested In Devil Fruit
2. Marvel Disassembler