After receiving the World Government's orders, Sengoku was furious enough to feel his blood pressure rise.
He was unwilling to retreat, but his former superior, now serving as Fleet Admiral once again, directly took control of Marineford and forcefully ordered all Marine forces to withdraw from the New World. At the same time, the elite troops stationed throughout the Four Seas and Marine Headquarters were mobilized toward Mary Geoise.
The Marine branches across the Four Seas were already under enormous strain.
Over the past year alone, the Marines had participated in the Summit War, the Whole Cake Island War, the Egghead Incident, and the campaigns against the Beasts Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates. Every conflict required the deployment of tens of thousands, sometimes even hundreds of thousands, of soldiers.
Even with the vast resources of the Marines, the constant succession of large-scale wars had heavily weakened their elite forces.
Still, there was nothing Sengoku could do.
The World Government's authority stood above the Marines.
Among the Admirals, Ryokugyu and Shura remained completely loyal to the World Government. Although Fujitora clearly disliked the situation, even he lacked the power to oppose the orders directly.
At this critical moment, Garp suddenly submitted his resignation letter.
Without waiting for Sengoku's approval, he simply left Marine Headquarters and returned to Foosha Village in the East Blue.
Sengoku could only sigh helplessly.
After all, the Celestial Dragons were responsible for Luffy's death. Considering Garp's personality, the fact that he did not openly join Dragon and the Revolutionary Army was already restraint on his part.
There was no possibility that Garp would continue fighting for the Celestial Dragons.
In the end, Sengoku accepted the resignation.
Naturally, the matter was quickly reported to the Gorosei.
When they learned that Garp, one of the Marines' strongest combatants, had resigned, and that Sengoku had approved it, the five elders immediately erupted in anger and harshly reprimanded him.
Sengoku quietly endured the scolding.
After serving as Fleet Admiral for so many years, he had already grown accustomed to being blamed by the Gorosei.
In the end, he simply gave them a prepared explanation.
"Garp's health has severely deteriorated. He is bedridden and unable to continue serving. He returned to the East Blue to recover."
Hearing such an obvious excuse only made the Gorosei even angrier.
Did Sengoku really think Cipher Pol was useless?
Their intelligence network had already reported that Garp personally sailed away on his own ship without any signs of illness. It was obvious he no longer wished to serve the World Government.
Yet Sengoku still claimed he was bedridden.
To the Gorosei, it was no different from openly mocking them.
Even so, after venting their anger, they ultimately let the matter go.
Keeping Garp by force would only create an even bigger problem.
At present, both the Emperor Alliance and the Revolutionary Army had gathered their main forces in the New World.
For the World Government, this was actually the perfect opportunity to eliminate them all at once.
Unfortunately, the enemy's strength had already surpassed what the Marines alone could handle. If they launched a direct offensive now, the casualties would be catastrophic.
As a result, the Gorosei decided to wait.
Only by allowing the Emperor Alliance and the Revolutionary Army to attack Mary Geoise themselves could they lure Marco into Imu's reach.
As long as Marco was eliminated, the remaining forces would no longer pose a serious threat.
Of course, if Marco's side delayed their attack for too long, the World Government would eventually be forced to strike first.
The biggest issue was that they lacked confidence in killing the core leaders of the alliance.
As long as monsters like Marco, Dragon, and the others survived, even if every ordinary pirate under them was wiped out, it would only be a matter of time before they rebuilt their forces.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the Grand Line, an unusual gathering was taking place.
Pirates who normally had little connection with one another were now seated around the same table.
Six figures occupied the seats while their subordinates stood behind them silently.
The participants were Dracule Mihawk, Buggy the Clown, Trafalgar Law, Bartolomeo, Cavendish, and the former Warlord of the Sea, Sir Crocodile.
This meeting had been jointly organized by Mihawk, Crocodile, and Buggy.
Bartolomeo leaned back in his chair with a sinister grin.
"So this is a Warlord meeting? Not only the current Warlords, but even former ones like Crocodile showed up too. Hehahaha!"
Law's expression carried faint amusement.
"How ironic. All of you received the World Government's mandatory summons, yet instead of obeying, you came here."
Bartolomeo clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"That stupid summons is annoying as hell. I only became a Warlord recently, and they're already ordering me around nonstop. This title isn't even worth keeping."
Cavendish crossed his arms and looked toward Mihawk and the others.
"Buggy, since the three of you called this meeting, what exactly is the purpose?"
The moment everyone's attention landed on him, Buggy instantly broke into a cold sweat.
Truthfully, this entire gathering had been Crocodile's idea.
Because of his massive debts, Buggy had already mortgaged Buggy Delivery to Crocodile long ago. In reality, Crocodile was now the true power behind the company.
Not long ago, Crocodile had somehow reunited with Mihawk, and after discussing matters together, they decided to bring the other Warlords into their circle as well.
Crocodile slowly exhaled smoke from his cigar before speaking.
"You people should already understand the current situation."
"As pirates who survived this long and became Warlords, none of you are stupid enough to ignore what's happening."
Bartolomeo continued grinning carelessly.
"Crisis? What crisis? Things are going great for me right now."
Crocodile gave him a cold look, unsure whether the man was genuinely foolish or simply pretending.
Still, he decided to speak plainly.
"The Emperor Alliance and the Revolutionary Army have officially declared war against the World Government."
"The Marines and the World Government are mobilizing every force they have."
"In the near future, an unprecedented war will erupt."
"The Emperor Alliance and Revolutionary Army against the Marines and the World Government."
"The scale of this war will surpass every conflict of the past eight hundred years. It will decide the future structure of the entire world."
As he spoke, Crocodile's eyes swept across everyone present.
"And no matter who wins in the end, neither side will allow the Warlord system to continue existing."
He finally looked directly at Bartolomeo.
"Now do you understand?"