"So you have come, Sengoku?"
"Yes."
Sengoku took a deep breath as he faced the five figures before him solemnly.
Marcus Mars, Jaygarcia Saturn, Topman Warcury, Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro, and Shepherd Ju Peter.
Those were the members of the Five Elders, the group of five who were known as the real leaders of this world, even above the World Noble, who was known as the creator of this world.
While the World Nobles were arrogant and did what they wished on the world, in front of the five of them, they became as docile as a puppy.
Even Sengoku, who was known as the leader of all the Marines, could only succumb and be docile before the five of them, yet as a strong man, it was impossible for him to be like those weaklings, and he also had his own pride.
Still, even so, he couldn't raise his head, especially when he hadn't solved the problem caused by the death of Kizaru or found the killers of one of the admirals of the Marines.
"Have you found the killers, Sengoku?"
"....." Sengoku.
"How useless. You should be more ruthless and destroy the Saoboady Archipelago."
"If that happens, the loss is too great. Saobody is different from Ohara, after all."
"But even so, the reputation of the World Government is damaged because of this."
"It's already too late for us to destroy the Saobody, especially when this killer or those killers have run away."
"Then, should we do nothing?"
All of them talked on their own, ignoring Sengoku, who was the leader of the Marines. Still, the death of Kizaru might not be a bad thing for them, they thought, especially since Sengoku had gotten ahead of himself or was arrogant after all of the achievements that he had gained.
Yes, the loss of the admiral was great, yet there were many people in this world.
Unlike an animal that could go extinct, a human would continue to breed, and it was impossible for it to become extinct.
In this world, there were many people who could replace Kizaru's role!
Yes, the reputation of the Marines and the World Government might be slightly damaged due to the death of Kizaru, yet this also made the Marines become more obedient as this single mistake made Sengoku unable to lift his head.
After all, under whose order did Kizaru go to the Saobody Archipelago?
It was Sengoku!
"So, Sengoku, have you found this killer?"
While Sengoku felt heavy, he shook his head and said, "Not yet—"
"HOW USELESS!"
Before Sengoku could say his excuse, Topman roared, showing his dissatisfaction toward Sengoku.
"I..."
Still, Sengoku said, "We'll do our best to catch this killer! We won't let this person or group go! We will hunt them down!"
"That's what you should do. That's your job, right? So, have you discovered any single clues? There should be a lot of Den Den Muschi on the Saobadody Archipelago, right?"
Under those questions, Sengoku could only remain silent as there was nothing.
Yes, nothing!
The trace, video, records, or whatever, nothing was discovered, and what they knew was that Kizaru had passed away like that; besides that, Sengoku knew nothing.
"I am sorry. We haven't been able to discover anything."
The Five Elders were in silence for a moment.
"It seems this killer might have planned to kill Kizaru for a while."
"No, it might not be Kizaru. It might be any admiral in the Marines."
"Well, whatever, but have you thought of a way to recover our reputation, Sengoku?"
Clearly, among the Five Elders, no one cared much about the death of Kizaru since what was important was to recover the confidence of people toward the Marines and the World Government.
After all, after this accident, many pirates started their attacks on the countries that were affiliated with the World Government, and many of them started to become annoying in their minds.
Still facing this question, Sengoku took a deep breath and said, "I have been thinking of erasing one pirate group among the Four Emperors."
"Oh?" 5x
Their expressions quickly changed, and they thought that Sengoku was as bold as ever.
"Do you have the confidence to attack the Four Emperors?"
"We do." Sengoku nodded. "I have been thinking of attacking the Big Mom, considering her position and all."
"Let's not make a hasty decision since if you lose, the reputation of the World Government and Marines will be further reduced."
"We won't lose!"
"The most important thing is to search for Kizaru's replacement." Nusjuro looked at Sengoku and asked, "Have you found candidates?"
Frankly, what the Five Elders wished for was a balance since they knew well that pirates couldn't be eliminated.
Yes, the number of pirates might increase due to Gol D. Roger, but it was still within the tolerance of the World Government, especially since it wasn't them who were attacked.
Still facing this question, Sengoku nodded. "I have been thinking about choosing either Gion or Tokikake."
"Hmm... do you think that they have the power to replace Kizaru?"
"That's..."
Sengoku knew that while Gion and Tokikae were good, they were weaker than Kizaru.
Kizaru was on another level, after all, especially after he had eaten the Pika Pika no Mi, and because of that, no one expected that he would be killed.
"We have been thinking of starting a World Conscription."
"World Conscription?!" Sengoku was startled. "But that's..."
Unfair, he thought, especially to choose a civilian who had never been in the Marines to suddenly become an admiral, especially when those he had chosen as candidates had been working hard for so long.
"What's important is the power. If they are weak, then they are useless as a deterrent. Or rather, if they are strong enough, we won't say anything."
Sengoku couldn't say anything, but he thought for a while, thinking of a solution to this problem since he knew that many wouldn't accept how someone outside could suddenly be chosen as an admiral, like how the World Government would give a legal pirate permission known as a Shichibukai.
"...then, what about a competition?"
"Competitions?"
"Yes." Sengoku nodded and said, "We will hold a competition and even broadcast it to the world, and the winner of this competition will become the admiral. If that's the case, no one will complain since this person has shown his power in front of everyone, and the world will also understand the power of the new admiral."
"Hmmm...." 5x
The Five Elders fell into a deep silence, thinking that Sengoku's idea wasn't bad.
"That's not a bad idea."
"We can raise the confidence of the countries affiliated with the World Government this way."
"The strongest is the admiral."
"It might take time, but the result will outweigh all the disadvantages."
"Then?" Sengoku sighed in relief when he heard their answers.
"Can you be responsible for all of this, then, Sengoku?"
"Yes, please leave everything to me!"
"Yes, there will be no more mistakes."
"Yes."
Sengoku nodded and finally gave a chance to those Vice Admirals to fight off the positions of the admirals, but then again, whether they could get the position of the admirals was something that they had to fight off, and even if the position of the admiral was taken by an outsider, it didn't matter since as the Five Elders had said before, only the strong got everything.
This was the conversation that Sengoku had with the Five Elders a few days ago, and soon, this announcement would be known to the world.
Nevertheless, Masa, who got the blueprint of the ancient weapon, Pluto, understood what kind of a weapon this ship was.
"Hmm...."