World Government Shaken

The next morning, Fleet Admiral O of the Marine Headquarters, who had rushed to the Holy Land Mary Geoise, met with one of the Five Elders—Saint Mendsbin.

Fleet Admiral O was sixty-nine years old, his hair mostly gray, and his stature rather short. At 1.6 meters, he lacked the imposing presence of an admiral or fleet admiral, but his face was hard and exuded great momentum. Even facing the highest authority of the World Government, he did not bow.

"Saint Mendsbin, why did the World Government cooperate with the infamous slave trader Yamauba? As Fleet Admiral of the Marines, I received no word of this at all!" he asked directly.

"Are you interrogating me?" Saint Mendsbin replied with a displeased expression. "Gaston Figo ruined the World Government's plan to ally with the Giant race, and I haven't yet held you accountable. Why did you let him board that warship?"

"Call that an alliance with the Giant race? That was shameless deception! The consequences are endless!" O said angrily.

Saint Mendsbin frowned at him.

O stiffened his neck and stared back.

After a long moment, Saint Mendsbin said, "Enough. The plan has already failed, and I don't want to waste words on failed matters. O, I called you here to inform you of two things."

"The slave trader Yamauba's Soul-Soul Fruit has many uses, but this time I'll give you some face and allow you to have her imprisoned in Impel Down."

O's expression eased slightly.

"But the seven Giants are out of the question. We cannot bear the risk of enraging the entire Giant race and causing the Giant Warrior Pirates to reorganize. I'll have them brought to the Holy Land for other arrangements!"

O frowned again. However, this matter fell within his tolerance. Since Saint Mendsbin had given him some face, he had to return the favor.

Facing the Five Elders, he, as Fleet Admiral, was ultimately in a weaker position.

He merely bargained: "Among the seven Giants, one named Kevin has a blood feud with the Worry Demon Geld Chuck that Figo captured this time. He joined the Giant Warrior Pirates late and has no Marine blood on his hands. I want to keep him and persuade him to become a Marine commander!"

Saint Mendsbin considered for a few seconds.

"Agreed."

"Second matter. The World Government has decided to separate Impel Down from the Marine Headquarters, strengthen Impel Down's forces, establish a new Director position, and make Impel Down the third institution directly under the government, after the Marine Headquarters and Judicial Island!"

Fleet Admiral O was stunned: "No!"

He wasn't worried about weakening Marine power, but said, "Making the underwater great prison a direct institution of the World Government—is that to select more suitable and powerful slaves for the Celestial Dragons?!"

"This is a notification, not a negotiation, O," Saint Mendsbin said. "You should have already received word of yesterday's attack on Saint Cassilia in Sabaody."

"As World Nobles, the safety of the Celestial Dragons must be better guaranteed—that's only natural. Impel Down's current strength is indeed insufficient to handle the increasing number of pirates within. That pirate who attacked Saint Cassilia was captured, yet couldn't be transferred to Impel Down due to concerns about insufficient prison security—isn't that a joke?"

That was true. O remained silent.

"In any case, this matter ends here. O, you may also recommend candidates for the Impel Down Director position. If none are suitable, the World Government will make the appointment," Saint Mendsbin ordered directly.

"...I understand." O knew that even if he argued further, it would be useless.

Not all Celestial Dragons were useless. All Celestial Dragons underwent selection and training as children. A small talented minority and the mainstream useless ones received completely different educations, with top-tier teachers in various fields providing one-on-one guidance. Upon adulthood, they occupied some important positions within the World Government.

And the Five Elders, the highest authority of the World Government, were the highest-ranked among the Celestial Dragons—the five best of each generation. Naturally, they worked to consolidate the Celestial Dragons' status.

The Celestial Dragons were supreme; only this point could never be broken. Its importance was entirely different from the slave trader Nun or the Giant race—there was no room for bargaining.

Every time a Celestial Dragon encountered a bold, reckless attacker, it stirred up trouble. If not for the Laughing Pirates being too strong and discovered early, yesterday's incident might not have passed so easily.

Knock knock knock.

Suddenly, the door to the meeting room was knocked. After Saint Mendsbin said to enter, a CP0 intelligence agent wearing a peculiar mask walked into the room and knelt on one knee.

"Lord Five Elders, Saint Cassilia's party, scheduled to return to the Holy Land this morning, has not yet arrived. The Golden Den Den Mushi that could contact Saint Cassilia's Silver Den Den Mushi has also lost function," he reported.

"What?!"

Saint Mendsbin frowned and stood up.

Fleet Admiral O, standing below, also changed expression. Saint Cassilia was in trouble again? If even the Golden Den Den Mushi had failed, then most likely...

"Forgive our negligence. We only discovered the Den Den Mushi's failure at four in the morning, and could only determine the approximate time of failure between midnight and four. We immediately dispatched CP1 armed forces by ship, but so far, no trace of Saint Cassilia's vessel has been found. It can be basically confirmed that Saint Cassilia's party has been killed!"

Saint Mendsbin's face darkened, and he said in a deep voice, "Any leads?"

The CP0 agent lowered his head: "None. We've contacted the stationed personnel in Sabaody and nearby islands. No suspicious vessel could have appeared on Saint Cassilia's mandatory route at that time, and Saint Cassilia's exact position shouldn't have been found.

Currently, we can only suspect that a Fish-Man followed Saint Cassilia's ship from Sabaody, or that a pirate with a flying Devil Fruit ability was responsible, or that a slave revolt on the ship caused self-destruction!"

"Slave revolt? Attacked by pirates during the day, then a slave revolt at night? If they were going to revolt, why not during the pirate attack?" Saint Mendsbin directly ruled out one possibility and snorted, "Investigate! O, return to headquarters immediately. The Marines will fully cooperate with CP0 in the investigation!"

O was unwilling to waste Marine time on a Celestial Dragon, but he couldn't refuse at this moment.

"Understood."

"Also." Saint Mendsbin hesitated for a moment, then added, "O, check if any Marine warships sailed without authorization last night. Also, compile the movements of all Marine soldiers with flying or similar Devil Fruit abilities from last night!"

O's eyes widened: "Saint Mendsbin, what are you implying?!"

Saint Mendsbin looked at him coldly and sat back down in his seat: "O, if you still want to be Fleet Admiral, follow orders!"

Just as the World Government was shaken by the mysterious death of a Celestial Dragon, the culprit Figo, who had gone home to sleep, knocked energetically on Vice Admiral Doug's door.

"Haha, Fitz, you're here. Come in, come in." Vice Admiral Doug's hearty laughter rang out again, showing none of yesterday's anger.

"...Teacher, I'm Figo."

"Ah, yes, yes, sorry." Vice Admiral Doug apologized readily. "Figo, I was a bit out of sorts yesterday. I didn't get to ask more about your situation. What are your plans from now on?

After being promoted to Vice Admiral, you can choose to stay at headquarters and lead a giant warship on irregular patrols through the Grand Line. Or you can choose one of the Four Seas and become the highest Marine guardian of that sea. Or you can go directly to the New World to guard a branch and fight those great pirates, capturing those villains!"

Each of the three has its pros and cons, but I believe that with your talent, no matter which you choose, you'll surely grow quickly and steadily! In ten years, or even less, you could become an admiral candidate, then an admiral, your name etched into Marine history!

This Humble One, Doug, has no doubt about that!"

The power of the Inspire-Inspire Fruit surged forth.

Figo smiled and said, "Teacher, you've got me feeling a bit fired up."

"So, which one do you choose?"

"I'm going back to Impel Down."

Doug froze. "...Huh?"