Five aged figures sat in a silence as deep and heavy as death.
On the screen before them, the last scene replayed.
Shanks… dead?
The man who carried the blood of the Celestial Dragons, just blown into nothingness by a single punch?
"Figarando Shanks…"
Saint Wochuli broke the silence first. "Dead."
"Didn't Garin say before that if Shanks survived, he'd have two sons?"
Saint Maz's voice was dry. "Now he has only one left…"
Silence fell.
"Everyone, that's not the point!"
Saint Nas Juro snapped his eyes open. "A pawn dead is a pawn dead!"
"The point is the Navy!"
His voice cut like a blade from its sheath, cold and sharp.
"Their strength has completely surpassed the World Government's control!"
"Sengoku actually announced before everyone that the Navy will internally discuss the next Fleet Admiral?"
"What does that do to the face of the World Government?!"
Silence descended once again in the struggle for power.
This violent machine, built by the World Government to maintain their rule…
When did it become so powerful, so defiant, so… ungovernable?
The fall of the Whitebeard Pirates was expected.
The destruction of the Red-Haired Pirates, and the strength displayed by Hawk, went far beyond what the World Government had anticipated!
The entire ocean's balance of power was now completely out of control!
"And… both Emperors wiped out by the Navy in a single day…"
Saint Piet's forehead veins bulged. "The New World… it's going to be total chaos!"
"That's not a problem."
"When the Emperors die, new pirates will rise to fill the power vacuum."
Saint Satan spoke slowly. "Chaos only breeds more chaos. In fact, it benefits our rule."
"But the real problem now is the Navy itself. It has become the greatest unknown factor!"
"I think the root cause lies with that kid, Renn Hawk."
Saint Nas Juro's fingers tapped rhythmically on the sheath of the original Onigiri. "And the G-3 Branch he commands."
"Every CP0 agent sent there has vanished without a trace."
"Apparently, they were dealt with!"
"We must find out what exactly is happening inside the Navy!"
"Have the Knights of the Gods accelerate their investigation!"
"Go to G-3 Branch and expose everything!"
The five exchanged glances, and an unspoken consensus passed between them.
The Navy's upheaval was inseparable from the G-3 Branch.
They sensed vaguely that this lion they had long controlled was beginning to shake off its chains, ready to strike its master.
They needed to trace the source of its power before…
They could castrate it completely!
"That's not enough."
Saint Wochuli's voice cut with absolute certainty. "No matter what gives the Navy its confidence, their bloated structure and constant military activity require massive funding."
"I suggest we immediately cut off all financial support!"
"And military supplies!"
Saint Piet added, "Starting today, cut off all material support to the Navy!"
"I want to see what Sengoku will do without ammo, without food, without medical supplies… how will he start this 'Great Navy Era'!"
The proposal eased the tension in the room immediately.
The five elders' faces regained that calm, commanding composure of those who control everything.
The World Government the true masters of this world!
The Navy was merely a tool.
A disobedient tool could be starved, beaten, or otherwise disciplined.
For eight hundred years, it had always worked this way.
This time would be no exception.
"Very well. Execute it."
"Send the orders!"
Through specially encrypted Den Den Mushis, the five elders' command spread rapidly to every corner of the World Government.
"Effective immediately, the World Government and all allied nations shall cease all funding and material support to the Navy!"
G-3 Branch.
A newly built, heavily fortified all-white building.
This was the Navy's new scientific fortress, a top-secret lab designed by Vegapunk himself.
In the sterile environment, only the faint hum of precise machinery broke the silence.
On the operating table in the center lay a towering figure.
Bartholomew Kuma.
Vegapunk, wearing protective goggles, focused with absolute intensity.
His tools were no longer cold wrenches and welding torches, but surgical scalpels and cell activators gleaming with a cold light.
Under his control, Kuma's mechanical components were carefully removed piece by piece.
In their place, life-support pods supplied organs perfectly recreated using cellular cultivation techniques warm, living, and human.
A miracle of reverse modification was underway.
The order came from Rear Admiral Hawk!
Through Rear Admiral Dain, the order was concise:
Kuma would serve Rear Admiral Hawk loyally for five more years.
After that, he would fully regain his human body and return to the South Blue to live peacefully with his daughter, Joelly Bonney.
All surgical costs would be personally covered by Rear Admiral Hawk.
After five years, Kuma would also receive a substantial retirement fund.
"Sigh… Rear Admiral Hawk…"
Vegapunk still remembered the flutter in his chest when he first heard the order from Dain.
This was more than a command.
It was a promise, a recognition, a return of the code name "Pacifist" to the living, breathing human being, Bartholomew Kuma.
A Navy leader like this…
How could anyone not give everything willingly?
Brrr-brrr~ Brrr-brrr~
The shrill ring of a Den Den Mushi shattered the lab's calm.
It was specially encrypted, known only to a handful of people.
Vegapunk set down his tools, removed his gloves, and approached the Den Den Mushi.
He picked up the receiver.
"Doctor, it's me."
A clear, calm female voice came from the other end.
It was Stussy, Vegapunk's spy embedded in CP0, the Queen of Joy Street.
"The situation has changed!"
Her tone left no room for delay or doubt.
"CP0's mission has shifted from simple reconnaissance to assisting the Knights of the Gods in investigating G-3 Branch."
"The Knights of the Gods have received orders from the Five Elders and are preparing to move."
Vegapunk's brow furrowed slightly.
The Knights of the Gods had been deployed!
The Five Elders were truly restless!
"I understand."
"I will immediately inform Navy Headquarters."
He paused, then added, "Stussy, prepare to pull back. Staying in CP0 is too dangerous."
Without hesitation, Vegapunk dialed another Den Den Mushi.
Brrr-brrr~
The call was answered almost instantly.
"It's Sengoku," said the calm, steady voice.
Vegapunk relayed Stussy's report verbatim.
A brief silence followed.
Then Sengoku's strong, authoritative voice rang out.
"I understand."
"Let them come!"