A week and a half later
Galan was sitting on the rubble that was Marineford as hundreds of ships appeared in his view. All these warships docked on Marineford and countless Marines ran over in a daze looking at all the damage with wide eyes not able to comprehend how this could possibly happen!
Galan sat there with his elbows on his legs and fingers intertwined.
Kuzan was blown away looking at Marineford. Borsalino hovered high in the air and his frivolous expression disappeared as he shook, "What… What happened here!?" all he saw was a completely fractured island!
Don't mention rubble… Pieces of the island itself were missing!
Surging currents were dotted around the island in holes and there were canals to the ocean from fractured portions!
It was like hell on earth!
Garp looked at Galan and closed his eyes in pain. This bastard, when will it be enough?
Most of the Marines looked at Galan from behind the Admirals and Vice-Admirals, muttering "That's the Fleet Admiral! The guy who killed Whitebeard? Hahah! Doesn't that make him the Strongest Man in the World!?"
Galan stood up and everyone quieted down, he looked up and said "Come down." everyone was stunned and looked up to see a giant balloon coming down with WEJ written on it!
A giant bird man walked out with a ton of reporters and surrounded Galan, taking pictures and discussing loudly.
The Marines were stunned and Kuzan frowned, raising his hand coldly "Hey… our Fleet Admiral is still recovering!" the reporters felt a chill and shivered as Galan raised his hand, saying "I can still speak."
He looked at Morgan and said "Sit down when you're speaking to me, Morgan." Morgan was stunned and sat on the spot, pulling out a notepad saying "The Battle of Marineford has been named Summit War for the Peak strength of the world, what do you have to say about that?"
Galan looked at him expressionlessly, "Boring." Morgans wrote it down before asking a real question, "Some speculate that the Marines had, in fact, lost the war due to the casualties! Is there anything you can shine a light on?"
The Marines behind him all gave him unfriendly looks, this bastard doesn't know that he's surrounded right now!?
Morgans ignored them, he knew the way things worked, he would ask any question in the world, he didn't care at all!
Only big news thrilled him!
Galan's face was difficult to look at as he said softly, "I wouldn't say that the Marines lost the war… The Damage done to Whitebeard's Fleet was obvious enough… Whitebeard himself fell on this very island after giving his life for his fleet to escape…"
He paused and tears welled up in his eyes, his fists clenching so hard they started dripping blood, "However, this war wasn't won by the Marines!" the Marines and reporters were stunned. Galan closed his eyes, tears rolling down his cheeks, "49,723 Marines lost their lives during that war… How many families have been destroyed because of this?!"
He looked up and continued "I can name every single one of them! All of these bastards are great heroes! They put their lives on the line for Justice! Even burning their hearts to ashes just to fight evil! If anything, just one of these Martyrs losing their lives is a failure!"
Morgan and everyone else was stunned silly, staring at the emotional Galan in shock before writing down quickly and snapping pictures.
Garp looked at Galan and turned to the two boys next to him, whispering "You remember this, don't idolize the Fleet Admiral." Koby and Helmeppo were stunned, looking at Garp in confusion. Garp sighed and turned back, crossing his arms, "There's nothing to idolize. This poor piece of shit is the most unlucky bastard in the world…"
Morgans wrote on his notepad furiously, asking "And the Marines? What are they going to do now?" Galan wiped his eyes, and his look became firm, "What else? Carry the will of these Martyrs and continue protecting the innocent! To lay down your life for Justice is the most noble thing in the world! These Martyrs, while tragic and inspiring, are blessed! They died for Justice and will be immortalized! I can only hope their families are comforted by the fact that they died a Hero's death!"
He let out a breath and continued, "Here's a message you can put in your papers! Maybe you see the Marines as self righteous bastards looking for fame and fortune, maybe you want to be a hero to the people around you, maybe you even want the glory that comes with the uniform…"
He raised a fist and his tone became determined, "However! When you put on the white uniform and wear the name Marine on your body, you're not fighting for yourself anymore! The children behind you look at your back as the last defense against evil in this world! The men and women, old and young, are protected by the wall that is your body!"
He snorted from his nose, "So, do I want these young men to carry this burden, the answer is no! There are many beautiful people who have so much left to live for. But just because I don't want these brave men to dedicate their lives to Justice, it doesn't mean I can do it alone!"
He pointed out, saying "Look behind you. All these men and women have taken the mantle, the burden, of protecting the innocent! I can only hope that those who have Justice in their hearts will understand the responsibility of being a soldier of Justice. A true Marine is not fazed by the enemy that lies ahead, but forges on knowing that the only way evil will reach the innocent behind him is by trampling his corpse!"
Galan's eyes were sparkling and the Marines were wide eyed, their blood boiling! Morgan wrote down at the speed of light, his brain exploding with dopamine as Galan finished, "It's good to be afraid, but it's even better to swallow that very same fear and take a step forward! What Kaido? What BigMom? What Emperor? It's all bullshit!"
He raised a fight and shouted "If these scum want to fight, then I will wait for you! I'm not scared of evil! Whitebeard had the guts to come to Marineford and die at my feet, these two… hehe… What's there to be scared of when your enemy is a coward!"
The Marines felt every cell in their body screaming crazily, one Marine held his rifle in the air, shouting "YEAH! I'M NOT AFRAID!" then another and soon enough, all the Marines were clamoring and shouting like hungry beasts!
Garp looked at them and sighed to himself secretly, turning back to Galan as Koby said "Wow! Fleet Admiral is so cool!" Garp muttered "I'll take you to him later." Koby and Helmeppo cheered and Garp sighed, adding "I hope you can still cheer later…"
Morgans was thrilled and Galan added, "I hope you can release the news that the Marines are doing a Worldwide recruitment program. As much as it pains me, these heroes need to be replaced…" he sighed and held his forehead sadly.
Morgans' feathers ruffled as he laughed "No problem! Gahah! This is BIG NEWS!" before running off as the Ox bell rang 16 times!
Galan looked over and a Marine shouted "Fleet Admiral! Straw Hat Luffy rang the Ox bell!" Galan frowned and looked at the Marines before sighing, "Just a boy, leave him be. We have more important problems at the moment…"
He waved behind him and said "I don't know how much longer Marineford will hold itself together…" he closed his eyes and revealed "Marineford is sinking slowly." The Marines were shocked, this was much more important than Straw Hat Luffy!
Galan sighed and said "Everyone, please grab what you can, we'll just have to relocate to the G-1 base and rebuild a new Marineford." The Marines saluted through tears and shouted "Yes, SIR!"
Galan sighed and waved before walking to the Marine HQ building rubble, starting to gather things. The Marines grit their teeth and started cleaning, all of the Marines helped, even the Giants were moving things!
They were getting ready to move!
Galan returned to his home at night, Morgans and Luffy were long gone at this point.
That's precisely when Garp showed up!