Mutiny, Seizing the Marshal's Position

"You—" The Chief Judge had not expected Akira to come up with such an excuse and nearly coughed up blood in fury. Marshal Sengoku, seated beside him, merely shook his head silently, his gaze complicated as he looked at Akira standing in the defendant's dock.

The officers who had taken part in Akira's embezzlement and bribery all breathed sighs of relief, then looked up at him with grateful eyes.

Suppressing the anger in his heart, the Chief Judge said in a deep voice, "That amount is enough to send you through the Gate of Justice at Enies Lobby. Think carefully before you answer. If you cooperate with our investigation and reveal every officer involved in the embezzlement and bribery, we will consider reducing your sentence!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Akira answered decisively, "No one else was involved!"

"Good, good, good." The Chief Judge said "good" three times in succession, then picked up another document and said coldly, "Last year, you signed an order allowing your soldiers to collect three thousand tons of steak from the quartermaster. Don't tell me you ate all of that by yourself!"

"Yes!" Akira nodded again. "I have quite a large appetite."

The Chief Judge had not expected Akira to actually dare claim that he had eaten it all himself. He shot to his feet, his eyes nearly splitting with rage. "Akira, are you truly going to shoulder every charge alone? If this is the ending you want, then I'll grant it to you!"

"Guards, throw Akira into prison. Send him to Enies Lobby first thing tomorrow morning."

"Chief Judge!"

Hearing that the Chief Judge intended to send Akira to Enies Lobby, Marshal Sengoku, who had been seated at the side observing the proceedings, abruptly turned his head and said gravely, "This matter still requires further investigation. Do not rush to pass a final judgment!"

"Marshal Sengoku, this case is already very clear!"

The Chief Judge waved a hand. "If you were not resting with your eyes closed just now, then you should have heard everything. Akira has confessed to all of his crimes. The facts are crystal clear; there is no need for further investigation!"

After a brief pause, the Chief Judge suddenly picked up his gavel and slammed it down. "Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral Akira embezzled twenty billion Beli in public funds and bribed numerous Headquarters Officers. On behalf of the World Government Ministry of Justice, I hereby sentence Akira to death. He will be escorted to Enies Lobby for execution tomorrow!"

The instant the Chief Judge finished speaking, the entire courtroom erupted.

Immediately afterward, the Headquarters Officers seated on both sides of the hall rose to their feet almost at the same time. Apart from the two Admirals and two Admiral candidates seated in the front row of the jury section, many Vice Admirals seated behind them also stood, staring at the Chief Judge in disbelief.

"Chief Judge, you have no authority to sentence Vice Admiral Akira to death!"

"I confess! Since I began following Vice Admiral Akira, I have received a total of seventy million Beli from him!"

"Whoever dares take Lord Akira away will have to step over my corpse!"

"Lord Akira is a good man! If he hadn't given us double pay every year, we could never have held on until now. He embezzled it for our sake!"

As one officer after another stepped forward, the entire hall descended into chaos. Two officers even seized the opportunity to rush to the defendant's dock, intending to take Akira away!

"Good, good, good!"

Watching the officers suddenly explode into an uproar, all six of the Chief Judge's eyes narrowed at once. He shouted excitedly, "Vice Admiral Akira, do you see that? This is all evidence! Not only did you embezzle and accept bribes, you also formed a faction for personal gain. Now, even if Fleet Admiral Kong himself came, he couldn't save you!"

"Oh my, how frightening~"

At that moment, Admiral Borsalino, seated in the front row of the jury section, suddenly rose to his feet. An invisible, overwhelming pressure spread out from him, instantly silencing the chaotic hall.

Borsalino did not look up. Once the hall had quieted down, he leisurely raised his hand to glance at his wristwatch and said lazily, "Time's up. Work's over."

With that, Borsalino turned and left without the slightest hesitation.

Seeing this, Admiral Sakazuki also stood. After his sharp gaze swept across every officer present, he frowned slightly and said in a deep voice, "This is a court of law. Silence! Akira's embezzlement is a fact, and the chain of evidence is sufficient. This matter ends here. Whoever dares make trouble here, don't blame this old man for showing no mercy!"

After throwing out those words, Sakazuki did not linger either. He turned and quickly followed Borsalino out of the courtroom.

At the same time, Admiral candidate Kaki rose and glanced at Akira, who stood in the defendant's dock under the protection of several officers. Then, without a word, he turned and walked out.

With the two Admirals and one Admiral candidate leaving in succession, the Vice Admirals and Rear Admirals on the jury also rose and filed out in an orderly manner.

Before long, only Admiral candidate Gion remained in the jury section.

Gion did not leave. After everyone turned their eyes toward her, she slowly rose to her feet and said unhurriedly, "Chief Judge, it is true that Akira accepted bribes and worked with bounty hunters to earn bounties. We have no objections to you handling those matters according to the law. But you cannot casually pile on baseless charges! If Vice Admiral Akira formed a faction for personal gain, then I suppose I am one of his accomplices as well. After all, whenever I went out on missions these past years, it was Vice Admiral Akira who helped take care of my family."

At that, Gion glanced at Akira before sweeping her gaze over the officers who had rushed in front of him. "Please remain calm. Lord Marshal has not spoken. Unless the Holy Land issues a direct order, no one can sentence Vice Admiral Akira to death. I stake my entire future on that guarantee!"

"If anyone dares abuse their authority during this time to pin the charge of forming a faction for personal gain on Vice Admiral Akira, not only will I refuse to accept it—my sword will not accept it either!"

The disturbance subsided because the two Admirals left in succession, as well as because of Admiral candidate Gion's words.

Wary of Vice Admiral Gion's status and Marshal Sengoku's silence, the Chief Judge did not dare continue making reckless declarations. After ordering Akira thrown into prison pending further action, the trial against Akira quietly came to an end.

Toward evening.

Inside Marine Headquarters Prison, in the cell where Akira was held alone, Akira sat on the floor and looked around before shaking his head with a bitter smile.

He had anticipated what he would face next from the moment the Internal Affairs Investigation Unit began investigating him.

At the time, colleagues from Headquarters had contacted him, urging him to flee Marineford before the Internal Affairs Investigation Unit reached any conclusions. But he had not done so.

Because he knew very well that if he fled Headquarters, he would become a deserter and be wanted by the World Government with a bounty on his head.

More importantly, he had spent so many years building connections at Headquarters. He had believed that even if his embezzlement and bribery were uncovered, with the network he had cultivated over the years, at most he would be stripped of his Vice Admiral rank and imprisoned for a year or so.

Yet he had never imagined that Marshal Sengoku would not be presiding over this trial, and that the World Government would actually transfer the Chief Judge from Enies Lobby to Headquarters.

Of course, the moment he saw the Chief Judge with three heads—who was actually three people in disguise—he knew someone was out to get him! While he had spent these years spreading goodwill far and wide, he had also encroached upon the interests of many truly corrupt officers at Headquarters.

That meant he was no longer merely facing the loss of his Vice Admiral rank and a year or so in prison. Someone might truly use this opportunity to have him killed.

Clang~

Suddenly, the iron door of the cell was opened.

A line of seven or eight Marine Headquarters Colonels and Brigadier Generals then filed in.

"Lord Akira!"

"Vice Admiral Akira!"

The moment they arrived outside Akira's cell, seven or eight officers straightened up and saluted him.

Immediately afterward, the lead officer stepped forward in agitation and gripped the iron bars. "Lord Akira, I just learned that the reason the Holy Land sent Enies Lobby's Chief Judge here was because CP9 Chief Spandam had colluded with them in secret. Their goal is to have you killed."

"Spandam?" Akira's brow rose slightly.

He had thought it was Vice Admiral Onigumo, who had been at odds with him for years at Marine Headquarters, along with those officers who had never gotten any benefits from him. He had never expected it to be CP9 Chief Spandam!

Only upon suddenly hearing Spandam's name did he finally understand.

Although CP9 did not have many members, it was an intelligence organization directly under the World Government and stood on equal footing with the Marines.

Of course, that was not important. What mattered was that CP9 had always maintained close ties with the Marines. Many times, CP9 relied on the Marines' assistance to complete its missions. Over time, a chain of mutual interests gradually formed between them, especially in the buying and selling of official positions, where they worked very closely together.

Spandam was a man who would stop at nothing for promotion. Over the years, he had gained enormous benefits through cooperation with the Marines. But ever since Akira rose through the ranks and steadily gathered support, many officers at Marine Headquarters had stopped working with Spandam and instead joined Akira's side.

Faced with such a situation, Spandam naturally would not sit back and wait for death. He would definitely try every possible means to get rid of Akira.

Of course, Spandam was certainly not the only one involved. Quite a few officers from Marine Headquarters must have taken part as well.

"Lord Akira!"

Just as Akira fell silent, the officer gripping the iron bars suddenly raised his head, his expression fanatical. "They'll definitely try every means to pin all kinds of crimes on you and send you to Enies Lobby for execution. Rather than sit here and wait for death, why don't we strike first?"

"That's right! As long as Lord Akira gives the order, we brothers will charge through fire and water without hesitation!"

Hearing this, Akira slowly raised his head, his blazing gaze fixed on the officers standing outside the iron bars.

At the same time.

"Ding—"

A soft chime suddenly rang in his mind, followed by a series of notifications:

"Blessings return to those who bestow them, and love returns to those who give it!"

"Congratulations, Host. Your years of effort have finally been rewarded. The Selection System has been successfully activated!"

"Detected that all Marine soldiers and officers at Marine Headquarters who have received the Host's favor are sharpening their blades, preparing to rescue the Host from prison."

"You now have two choices!"

"1. Wait for your subordinates to break you out of prison. Successfully escaping will reward you with one escape battleship!"

"2. Launch a mutiny and seize the position of Marshal. If the mutiny succeeds, all abilities you have mastered will be raised to their highest level!"