Just half an hour later, officers of Rear Admiral rank and above stationed at Marineford gathered in the conference room for an emergency meeting.
At present, the vast majority of officers were unaware of the reason for convening this emergency meeting. Before it began, everyone engaged in discussion.
"Ah... I'm so tired. Why do we have to have a meeting as soon as we return to headquarters?" Kaji yawned, somewhat annoyed.
Gion rested her chin on her hand, her gaze unfocused, lost in thought: "Indeed, there have been far too many emergency meetings lately. Just in the past few months, we've had four or five, far exceeding the total for an entire year in the past. The seas are becoming increasingly turbulent. Ever since Shadow Garden appeared out of nowhere, unprecedented major incidents keep erupting one after another. Sister Tsuru, when do you think these seas will become stable again?"
Tsuru raised her hand and gently stroked Gion's hair, a gentle smile spreading across her lips. "Don't worry. No matter how great the storm, it will subside one day. These seas will eventually return to peace."
After everyone whispered and discussed for a while, Sengoku finally arrived, and the meeting officially began.
Sengoku took out a projection Den Den Mushi and placed it on the table. A grim scene of a devastated port appeared before everyone's eyes.
"The reason for today's emergency meeting is that not long ago, Shadow Garden committed another lawless crime!" He took a deep breath, clenched his fist, veins bulging at his temples. "While the warship transporting the Celestial Gold was docked at Drum Island, he ambushed the escort unit, seized all the Celestial Gold, and even stole two important Devil Fruits!"
As these words fell, the entire conference room fell into silence, broken only by the sound of heavy breathing.
A moment later, the pent-up emotions in the room erupted. Everyone asked in disbelief:
"How is that possible? How dare Shadow Garden do such a thing?"
"They actually dared to plunder the Celestial Gold. Do they truly intend to go to war with the World Government?"
"My God, even the Revolutionary Army isn't as insane as them!"
The noisy environment made it impossible for Tsuru to think. She frowned and reprimanded, "Quiet! What kind of state is this chaos?"
Vice Admiral Tsuru's prestige within the Marines was on par with Garp and Sengoku. After her single reprimand, the conference room instantly fell silent.
Tsuru took in Sengoku's deeply furrowed brow, her own heart growing even more troubled. She knew that if it were merely the Celestial Gold being stolen, Sengoku would not have looked this way.
Thus, she asked in a grave tone, "Fleet Admiral Sengoku, what did the World Government say?"
Sengoku sighed, knowing that Tsuru had guessed it.
This matter could not be concealed, nor could it possibly be kept secret.
He slammed his palm heavily on the table, his expression grim, his voice filled with indignation:
"The Gorosei have forbidden us from increasing Tanuki's bounty and have ordered us to find Tanuki and invite him to become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. As for that Celestial Gold... consider it a reward gifted to Shadow Garden. Furthermore... furthermore, they mentioned that next year's military budget will be reduced by 5% to make up for the loss of the Celestial Gold."
"This is absolutely impossible!" Onigumo, who was close to Doberman, stood up. "Doberman and the king of the Drum Kingdom were killed by Tanuki, and he even stole billions in Celestial Gold. How can we let him go and even invite him to become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea?"
Stroben nodded in agreement. "I also firmly oppose this. This is a sign of weakness toward the Shadow Garden. Justice is absolute and must never bow its head. If we truly do this, it will be a severe blow to the prestige of justice!"
Several other vice admirals also stood up one by one, voicing their firm opposition. Fleet Admiral Sengoku's gaze swept over them, noticing they were all Akainu's subordinates.
Of course, Akainu, who believed in absolute justice, would never allow such a "weak" thing to happen!
However, could the Marines change the decision of the Gorosei?
To the World Government, the Marines were merely a convenient tool, and tools did not need their own will!
All talk of justice was just empty words. Only loyalty to the World Government was absolute!
Sengoku shook his head and spoke with difficulty. "We cannot refuse. Moreover, Tanuki is an extremely troublesome existence for us.
He possesses strength surpassing that of an ordinary vice admiral, and his elusive spatial abilities make him even more difficult to deal with.
Even Kizaru couldn't capture him, let alone anyone else.
If Tanuki were pushed to desperation and resorted to assassination without restraint, it would cause immense losses to the World Government.
The current decision is the best choice under these unavoidable circumstances!"
Those who had just voiced their opposition fell silent.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku's words were the truth. They were powerless against Tanuki. Increasing his bounty further would bring no benefit to the World Government. Instead, inviting Tanuki to join the Seven Warlords of the Sea and binding him in an unconventional way was the best option.
But it was so frustrating!
Whether it was Akainu, who firmly believed in absolute justice, Aokiji, who believed in lazy justice, or even Kizaru, who believed in ambiguous justice—they all shared the same thought at this moment.
This kind of justice was not the justice they wanted!
But what could they do? Until they found a way to locate Tanuki, they could only use this method to delay.
It was only at this moment, including the three admirals, that they realized with shock—unbeknownst to them, the Shadow Garden had already become an immovable behemoth!
Not long after, with the release of the next issue of the World News, the entire sea boiled over once again.
The great pirate Tanuki, with a bounty of 390 million Berries, after hijacking the Celestial Gold, was not met with full retaliation from the World Government. Instead, he was invited to join the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
Everyone knew what this meant: the Marines had bowed their heads!
This discovery greatly boosted Tanuki's prestige, and for a time, the number of imitators of the Shadow Garden on the sea increased significantly.
More importantly, Tanuki had become a legend—a living legend!
...
Near the waters of the G-2 Branch.
On the Orange Ship.
Ivan lay lazily on a cushion, with Tashigi sitting on him, applying sunscreen oil.
Taking the cola handed to him by Nami, Ivan took a big gulp and opened the system panel to summarize the gains from this operation.
Over ten billion Berries were stored on a small island, and with the Flying Thunder God, he could access them at any time.
In addition, during this operation, he killed a Devil Fruit Ability User, obtained two Devil Fruits, and used them for draws, receiving three rewards.
[Congratulations, you have obtained the Template: Kurosaki Ichigo!]
[Template: Kurosaki Ichigo (Approval Rating: 1%)]
[Congratulations, you have obtained the skill: Getsuga Tenshō!]
[Getsuga Tenshō: Compresses a slash to form a crescent-shaped, high-density Flying Slash!]
Getsuga Tenshō is not as flashy as the accompanying techniques of Water Breathing; it is very simple but possesses extreme numerical power.
When Ivan first obtained Getsuga Tenshō, he used it once and discovered that the power of his Flying Slash increased by a full thirty percent!
In addition to the [Kurosaki Ichigo] Template, Ivan also obtained two other templates.