"Kairiki no Shinen (Groan of Sea Power)!"
Before Victor could recover from the impact of Conqueror's Haki, a loud shout once again challenged his eardrums.
The oscillations in the surrounding sea became more intense, as if a giant beast was continuously swallowing, and its bite was even stronger than before. All the unconscious pirates disappeared into the deep seabed.
Soon, a rich blood color appeared. The wwhirpool's destruction continued.
Kakakaka!!!
"Asshole Hai...ho...ho..."
Victor, who had regained his composure, was about to scold, but suddenly froze. He reflexively covered his throat with his hands. He tried desperately to stop the water from flowing in, but to no avail; he could only make hoarse sobs.
"Since you are in so much pain, I will send you and your ambition to hell!"
Swish!!!
A head with an unwilling expression rose into the sky. Clearly, he still had many moves he hadn't used yet.
Clang!!!
Sheathing his sword, Atlas flew towards the direction of the warship without looking back. A real man never looks at the explosion behind him.
Kakakaka——!
There was a tooth-aching friction sound, and the sea surface continued to stir, swallowing up all the wreckage and corpses, breaking them into pieces, and finally returning to calm. Just in time, the warship also came closer. Seamless and silky smooth.
"Just... gone?" Smoker was stunned. Looking at Atlas with a calm expression, he expected that the battle would end soon, but he didn't expect it to end so quickly.
"Okay, let's go back."
————
Headquarters, Marineford.
After a few days of rest, Atlas returned to Marine Headquarters with Smoker and the others. After all, he had killed several big pirates who had escaped from Impel Down one after another.
Returning to the headquarters to report on the work was also a matter of course. Moreover, this class of recruit camp students should be graduating soon. It was also time to add new blood to his ship.
Although he had heard last time that some manpower was lost in actual combat training, those who survived were all good seedlings. After a little training, they could basically go out into the world and take charge of their own missions.
At this time, the headquarters was full of busy figures. Since the Summit War, the mid-level Marine combat power had been a little stretched. The Five Elders did not agree to world conscription, so it was naturally difficult to allocate personnel, and there were also some difficulties in the development of Fleet Admiral Sengoku's work.
Fortunately, Marine's intimidating power had increased instead of decreasing. With the addition of new power, the number of pirates pouring into the New World had greatly reduced.
The pirates who could get through the level of Sabaody and go to the New World were either very powerful or had heaven-defying luck. They were all rather difficult characters anyway.
As soon as he settled in the port, a Marine came over and said that Sengoku was looking for him.
"This stinky old man really doesn't give me any time to rest," Atlas grumbled. He turned to Smoker and the others behind him and said, "You can wander around by yourself. Grus, go find your father."
"Okay! Brother Atlas," Smoker and Grus nodded.
The Marine led the way, and Atlas soon arrived at the door of Sengoku's office. The Marine straightened his collar, managed his expression, and was about to knock on the door to signal. A big hand was the first to stick to the door.
Boom--!!!
The whole building seemed to shake, and the originally solid wooden door leaned crookedly against the wall.
"Old man Sengoku, what do you want from me?" Atlas called out, entering the office. The Marine at the door was stunned and secretly guessed. It was rumored that Admiral Atlas had been unhappy for a long time. Marshal Sengoku's reaction seemed to confirm this.
"Kid!" Sengoku roared.
"Ah? Vice Admiral Tsuru is here too?" Atlas stepped across the threshold, ignoring Sengoku's anger, and greeted Vice Admiral Tsuru beside him.
Tsuru put down the tea cup in her hand, seeing the reckless Atlas, and smiled. "Sengoku will be enough with you and Garp for the rest of his life."
"Stop making fun of me, Vice Admiral Tsuru," Atlas replied, his mouth twitching. "I'm different from that old man Garp, don't slander me."
Hearing this, the anger in Sengoku's eyes grew stronger, and veins appeared on his forehead. But he took a deep breath, tried to calm down, and said to the shivering Marine at the door, "You can retreat now."
"Yes, Fleet Admial."
Atlas walked to Vice Admiral Tsuru and sat down calmly. "What's going on? Is there something important?"
"...You just came back to the headquarters. I have something to discuss with you." Sengoku gradually calmed down.
"What happened? After I came back to the headquarters, you called me here without even having a sip of hot tea," Atlas said, feeling a bit aggrieved.
Tsuru pushed an undrinkable cup of hot tea on her desk in front of Atlas at the right time.
Atlas: "..."
Sengoku looked more serious. "You should know about the incident where Zephyr took the recruit camp out and was attacked by a pirate some time ago, right?"
Atlas picked up the tea cup and drank it in one gulp. "I know. It was a guy who claims to be Whitebeard's son. Didn't Zephyr cut off one of his arms?"
Of course, he knew this. But he didn't expect that Zephyr, who had cured his wounds and asthma, was still as good as before.
While he was distracted taking care of a ship of people, he just cut off one of the opponent's arms. If he hadn't been too soft-hearted, a direct double kill would have been possible.
Sengoku rubbed his brows in annoyance. "The World Government has taken a fancy to him."
"What do you mean by 'the World Government is interested in him'?"
"Of course, that's what it means literally. The World Government has already sent a Shichibukai invitation to the other party," Tsuru said with a smile.
"Um?"
"Didn't he kill several Marines? Although his strength is good, doesn't the World Government consider the opinions of our Marines?"
Atlas was once again blindsided by the World Government's tricks. Weevil became famous by stepping on Marine's corpse, but at this juncture, the World Government wanted to make him a Shichibukai. Isn't this just like pressing Marine's face to the ground and rubbing it?
If he does become one, all pirates on the sea will know about how he became one then they may use to the method become Shichibukai.
"Yes, among them, Zephyr's opposition was the most fierce. After all, those recruits died in front of him," Sengoku said, looking troubled.
"But the World Government obviously doesn't want to give up. Since the Summit War, they've been looking for a new Shichibukai and finally found Weevil..."
"So what do you think?" Sengoku looked at Atlas with bright eyes.
Atlas was stunned. "In this kind of thing, of course, the first strike gains the advantage, and the last strike suffers."
"Oh?" Sengoku said.
"Do you have any information about him? Just find him and kill him. Even if the World Government asks about his crime, just pretend to be confused. Isn't it right for Marines to fight against pirates?"
"Okay! Then I'll leave this matter to you."
Atlas: "——?!!"
Are you two conspiring together to trick me?
"Didn't I tell you, this kid's intelligence is no worse than yours, Sengoku," Tsuru smiled. "Maybe after you retire, it would be a good choice to let this kid succeed you."
"No, Vice Admiral Tsuru, please don't paint a big picture for me. I will take care of this task."
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