Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
The crescent-shaped harbor, the mountain-like fortifications, the warships surrounding it, the soldiers standing solemnly with rifles in hand—all of it proclaimed the ideals of peace and order to the world.
Although the public execution of the Pirate King two years ago had made the Marines a laughingstock in many people's eyes, most ordinary people had only seen the fact that the Pirate King had been executed.
For that very reason, even as the situation across the seas grew increasingly dire and chaotic, the Marines' prestige reached an unprecedented peak. Many people even knew only of Marine Headquarters and not the World Government.
Of course, Longinus did not see that as a good thing. Perhaps the upper ranks of the Marines had never harbored any other intentions, but that did not mean the politicians of the World Government saw things the same way.
Looking at the Seagull Flag fluttering in the wind, Longinus did not feel the same yearning admiration as everyone else. Instead, he drew upon the future trajectory preserved in the memories of his otherworldly soul, analyzing the true nature of this era's chaos.
Although the World Government had many directly affiliated institutions, the only three core institutions it publicly acknowledged were Enies Lobby, Impel Down, and Marine Headquarters.
Yet Enies Lobby, one of those three great institutions, had been wiped out just because Spandam carelessly activated a Buster Call. An institution theoretically on the same level as Marine Headquarters had vanished just like that.
Likewise, Impel Down was one of the three great institutions. Its warden, Magellan, should theoretically have held a position equal to the Fleet Admiral's, yet after the Great Event, he had voluntarily gone to Sengoku to plead guilty and beg for death.
These matters clearly showed that among all the World