Akainu: When Will We Attack the World Government

"Sakazuki? I thought you'd have a much stronger reaction to this," Kizaru said, looking at Akainu in surprise.

Akainu took a deep drag on his cigar, then removed it from his mouth.

He completely ignored Kizaru, instead fixing Zhu Mang with a burning gaze. "Gebinz, you want to overthrow the World Government?"

"Hmm?" Zhu Mang looked at Akainu and raised an eyebrow.

"And then? After overthrowing it, are you going to become the new king?" Akainu pressed.

"This again? I'm not interested in being king. Too much trouble," Zhu Mang said indifferently.

Back in the day, conquering a world and becoming its king might really have gotten his blood pumping.

But now, just thinking about that sort of scene made him feel like it would be a massive hassle.

There were so many races and countries in the One Piece World.

The hatred accumulated between races, the historical frictions between nations.

And the uneven levels of development across the various islands.

The wealth gap between royalty, nobles, and commoners.

And so on, and so forth.

If he really became king and took on that kind of responsibility...

Fuck!

He might as well die on the spot!

Wasn't it better to live free and easy on his own?

Besides, he had thoroughly come to understand something.

This world, bluntly put, was one where strength reigned supreme!

No, it could be said that every world was like this!

If you didn't have enough say, it was only because you weren't strong enough.

Just like right now.

If he weren't strong enough, would Sengoku, Garp, Aokiji, Akainu, and the other top Marines obediently stand here and talk to him?

He would probably have been punched to death the moment he said he wanted to overthrow the World Government!

And if he weren't strong enough, even with Whitebeard's last will, would Marco and the others have listened to him and fought their former comrades to the death?

Even if their ideals might have clashed in the past, it wouldn't have escalated to this point.

At most, they would have simply stopped associating with each other, like in the original story—when Marco led the remaining Whitebeard Pirates against the Blackbeard Pirates in the Payback War, the pirate crews that had fought at Marineford had basically not shown up. That proved the bond between them had mainly come from Whitebeard.

So, strength was justice!

Why become some world king?

He only needed to become stronger.

As long as he was strong enough, even if everyone found him an eyesore, there would be nothing they could do about him.

Once things here were settled, he planned to find a few people who could help him achieve that.

For example, Fujitora.

How about tying Fujitora to his back and using him as a Gravity Chamber?

Then there was Tyrant Kuma beside him.

His Paw-Paw Fruit could repel "fatigue" and "pain" from the body, allowing him to recover quickly after training to exhaustion in a high-gravity environment.

There was also a Revolutionary Army commander whose fruit was the Encouragement Fruit. By shouting, it could boost stamina and recovery speed over a wide area.

And then there was the little people princess Mansherry in Dressrosa. Her Heal-Heal Fruit could produce a kind of Healing Dandelion that restored injuries.

For now, that was all he could think of.

Perhaps after things here were over and the World Government had been overthrown, he could use the new government's power to look for more.

Surely they wouldn't refuse such a "small" request from him.

"Fine. Count me in. When are we going to Mary Geoise?" Akainu tossed his cigar to the ground and crushed it beneath his foot. There was even a hint of excitement on his usually composed face.

Sengoku:?

Garp:?

Tsuru:?

Aokiji, Kizaru, and the group of Marine vice admirals who had gathered around:?

Even Zhu Mang was thrown off by Akainu this time.

No, brother...

He remembered that in his previous life, most One Piece fans hadn't thought very highly of this Marine admiral.

Because his justice was too absolute. During the Ohara incident, merely suspecting that archaeologists had slipped aboard a refugee ship, he ordered the refugee ship sunk.

Later, during the Summit War, he killed the popular character Ace.

Because of this, most One Piece fans called him "Red Dog."

After all, it sounded cruder and more insulting than "Akainu."

His opinion of him had changed somewhat, probably because during the Dressrosa incident, after Akainu became the new Fleet Admiral and learned that the Five Elders and Doflamingo had joined forces to deceive the entire world with fake news, he went to Mary Geoise and angrily rebuked the Five Elders.

But none of that had happened yet!

If even he was like this, then there was no need to mention those hawkish vice admirals who regarded Akainu as their spiritual leader.

They had originally hoped Admiral Akainu could lead them in opposing Fleet Admiral Sengoku and gain some say in matters. Even if they rebelled against the World Government, they could not become pirates.

But now...

Damn it, the boss had taken the lead in surrendering. What were they supposed to do?

The expressions on the faces of the hawkish vice admirals were all blank with confusion.

"Heh!"

Watching the group stare at him dumbfoundedly as if they no longer recognized him, Akainu sneered.

"Those scum kill, burn, and throw their weight around on the Sabaody Archipelago. We have to clean up every mess they cause!"

"They even had people secretly infiltrate Fish-Man Island to capture mermaids for their amusement and abuse! How many Marine soldiers gave their lives because of that?"

"What do they take the Marines for?!"

"Once we get rid of these things, we'll rebuild the World Government. The Marines will control it, and we'll wipe out every evil force on the seas!!!"

Akainu's words carried an iron-blooded madness.

Using the military to control the world?

He really fucking dared to imagine it.

Still, in a world with supernatural powers, where one person could even stand against an entire nation, perhaps only overwhelming force could truly suppress everything.

But did the Marines have the power to pull that off?

Zhu Mang rolled his eyes, too lazy to bother with Akainu and his group of justice-crazed little fanboys.

"Hmph! Sengoku, Sakazuki! You traitors of the World Government actually dared to publicly declare such a rebellion!"

With a cold snort, five old men with white hair and beards, dressed in immaculate suits, walked out from inside Marineford.

"The Five Elders!! Why are you at Marineford!!!"

Time rewound to a minute or two earlier...

In an unnoticed corner.

Two furtive figures were rapidly fleeing toward the interior of Marineford.

"Hey, Koby, isn't it bad for us to run away like this?"

"Helmeppo, can't you see it yet? The Marines have all been hijacked by that Monkey-Tailed Man! He even made the Whitebeard Pirates kill each other. He's too evil! We have to escape quickly and report what happened here to higher-ups, so they know what's going on!"

"Oh? What exactly do you want to report?" A man in a white suit appeared in front of them.

"Who are you? A Marine?" Koby was shocked.

"No. I'm with the World Government, ordered to investigate the Fleet Admiral's treason and defection to the enemy."

"No, no, no! Fleet Admiral Sengoku was coerced! The real danger is that man with a monkey's tail!!!" Koby hurriedly shouted anxiously.

"I see. Then... the purge begins! Blueno, come out and get to work!"

"Yes!" A man with horn-like hair growing from his head stepped out, opened a door in the air, and on the other side stood five old men, along with rows of white-suited figures standing at attention!