Akainu Pledges His Allegiance!

Before his words had even faded, Sakazuki suddenly flashed in front of Menard.

The next second, he had Menard by the throat, holding him up above his head.

Before anyone present could react, Sakazuki quietly unleashed the power of his Logia Magma-Magma Fruit.

"Gah—!"

As Sakazuki's arm turned to magma, Menard, still caught by the throat, let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"Sakazuki, what are you doing?!"

Never imagining that Sakazuki would suddenly attack, Sengoku shot to his feet, his face aghast. "Put Menard down!"

"Crack!"

With a sharp snap, Menard's neck broke in Sakazuki's grip. Then Sakazuki flung him aside. Ignoring Sengoku's eyes blazing with fury, he swept his sharp, grim gaze over Akainu, Stainless, and the others, his voice cold with murderous intent. "From this moment on, anyone who shows disrespect to Akira will meet the same fate."

After a brief pause, Sakazuki turned his gaze to Sengoku. "This is where I stand, Marshal Sengoku. If you don't want to see Marineford buried under rivers of magma, sign your name on this document."

"Sakazuki, you—"

Sengoku glanced to the side at Menard, whose neck was broken and half-burned by magma, his eyes blazing with fury. "If you do this, you'll plunge the Marines into ruin. If the Holy Land learns what happened, they'll never acknowledge Akira's legitimacy. Countless Marines will bleed and die because of you, and their deaths will be in vain!"

"Marshal Sengoku, none of that matters anymore!"

Sakazuki gazed intently at Sengoku. "From the moment I saw my mother, I stopped caring about right and wrong."

With that, Sakazuki said no more. He turned and returned to Akira's side, his expression more resolute than ever.

He had once upheld Absolute Justice because he'd seen pirates slaughter his parents with his own eyes, because the seed of hatred buried in his heart since childhood had taken root and grown. But when he learned that his mother had come back from the dead and that Akira had cared for her devotedly for three years, the justice he'd clung to began to waver.

It wasn't because he'd lost faith in the Marines, nor because he'd lost faith in the World Government. It was because he felt guilty.

Whenever he thought of how his mother had still been alive when he buried her, he wanted to punch himself. He couldn't imagine how she had survived after clawing her way out of the earth. And he couldn't imagine what she'd endured all those years after he joined the Marines.

His mother had Alzheimer's and had forgotten his name, yet still remembered that his favorite foods were white rice and chili peppers. From that, he could tell that after surviving back then, she must have spent her time searching for him.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have remembered his favorite foods even as her Alzheimer's worsened.

He was grateful to Akira for reuniting him with his mother, for giving him the chance to make amends for the terrible mistake he'd nearly made as a child, and for caring for her so attentively over the past three years.

His mother had Alzheimer's, after all, and could forget Akira at any moment.

Under those circumstances, Akira could easily have sent her to the retirement home at Marine Headquarters, or hired a caretaker.

Most importantly, according to Momonga, Akira's original plan had been that if this operation succeeded, all would be well; but if it failed and he died, Momonga was to hand Sakazuki the investigation report. Akira had worried that if he died, no one would look after the elderly woman with Alzheimer's.

"So it really is over now..."

After watching Sakazuki take his place beside Akira, his expression unwavering, Sengoku silently sighed to himself. Borsalino still hadn't shown up, which made his position clear enough. And now Sakazuki, the Admiral who upheld Absolute Justice, had firmly sided with Akira. Even if Sengoku risked everything, he couldn't change the situation.

He still had one trump card in Garp, the Marine hero, and another Admiral, Kuzan. But Garp was on leave and had probably gone to the East Blue. By the time he returned, even someone as powerful as Garp couldn't stand against Sakazuki, Akira, and all the Marine Headquarters officers who'd switched sides.

As for Admiral Kuzan, Sengoku still held out no hope. Three days earlier, Kuzan had ridden off on his bicycle to wander some stretch of sea, and from what Sengoku knew of him, he wouldn't be back for ten days or half a month.

Even if Kuzan returned now, Akira's side—with Sakazuki joining them—would have nothing to fear in the current situation.

Of course, it was too soon to discuss the worst-case scenario.

Once Akira had taken complete control of the Marines, the Holy Land would most likely compromise. It might even appoint Akira as the new Marshal of Marine Headquarters. After all, a new Emperor of the Sea had emerged in the New World, while the Revolutionary Army had grown steadily over the years and now posed a serious threat to the World Government's rule. For the Holy Land to start a war with Akira at such a time would hardly be wise.

Besides, if the Revolutionary Army joined forces with the Marines under Akira's command, the Holy Land would find itself attacked from both sides.

Clearly, Akira had accounted for all of this.

Whether Sengoku signed or not wouldn't make much difference to Akira. If he refused, Akira could simply eliminate every Marine Headquarters soldier and officer who hadn't chosen a side. More than half—and likely far more—of the officers and soldiers had already pledged themselves to Akira.

After a brief silence, Sengoku slowly raised his head to look at Akira, his expression serious. "Akira, ever since you joined Marine Headquarters, how have Garp, Zephyr, and I treated you?"

Akira nodded. "Very well. Zephyr-sensei, especially—he had high hopes for me when I was at the officer training camp. As for Garp, although he always wanted to groom me as his successor, I don't really agree with his beliefs. To be precise, I disagree with the brand of justice upheld by the Marines, from top to bottom!"

"Because as I see it, so long as the Celestial Dragons loom over the World Government, the Marines can never have anything resembling true justice. That's why I want to use my own methods to free Marine justice from every shackle and constraint!"

Sengoku shook his head. "I'm not trying to argue with you. I just want to know: if we treated you well, why did you keep things from us?"

Akira smiled faintly. "Marshal Sengoku, I was planning a coup. How could I do that without keeping things secret?"

"No, no." Sengoku waved a hand, his gaze fixed on Akira. "I mean what Gion just mentioned: Imu. If you knew something the rest of us didn't, why didn't you tell me, Garp, or Zephyr? Why tell Gion instead?"

At that, Akira turned to look at Gion standing beside him, surprised. "You told them?"

Gion nodded.

Akira didn't blame her. He looked back at Sengoku and asked, "Do you believe everything Gion told you? About the Flower Chamber, about Imu's existence? I can assure you that even now, you don't believe her. You probably think I made the whole thing up to convince Gion and the others to join my rebellion!"

"If you don't believe it under the current circumstances, do you think you would have believed us if I'd told you before?"

Sengoku kept his eyes on Akira, as if trying to see through to his true thoughts. "So there really is a place called the Flower Chamber in the Holy Land? And a Lord Imu who wants to sit on the Void Throne?"

Akira waved a hand. "Marshal Sengoku, rather than stand here doubting, why not ask the Five Elders directly in the Holy Land, or go there and see for yourself? I know Imu lives in the Flower Chamber, but I don't know whether Imu is a man or a woman. If you survive long enough to see Imu's true face, remember to come back and tell me."

"But before that, you need to sign this document and make a statement at once, telling the officers and soldiers in hiding, waiting for a chance to turn the tables, to give up resisting."