The darkness before dawn passed, and the sun rose as usual.
Marine Headquarters, Fleet Admiral's Office.
Kuzan ultimately chose to stay, standing shoulder to shoulder with Sakazuki and Borsalino.
As Akira had said, the situation at Marine Headquarters was now settled, and there weren't many choices left for him to make.
Of course, fear that Akira might kill him wasn't the real reason he stayed. After spending many years feeling lost over the many problems within the Marines, he wanted to see whether anything would change after Akira became Fleet Admiral.
More than that, he wanted to know where Akira would lead the Marines—the man in whom Teacher Zephyr had placed such high hopes, and whom so many officers at Headquarters supported.
Behind them, Gion, Momonga, Strawberry, Bastille, and several other Vice Admirals stood in a line, all looking toward Akira, seated at his desk.
"It's dawn~"
Akira looked up at the three Admirals and the assembled Vice Admirals, his expression calm. "The Holy Land will soon notice that it can't reach Headquarters. The Marines are now under our control, but the real struggle is only just beginning."
He paused, then looked toward the line of Vice Admirals behind the three Admirals. "Gion, take charge of the Communications Monitoring Room. Personally answer every call from the Holy Land. Also, have Ain and Binz come in!"
"Yes, sir."
Gion saluted, then turned and strode out.
Gion had barely left when Ain and Binz hurried into the office and stopped in front of Akira. They saluted in unison. "Lord Marshal!"
Akira looked up at them, his gaze gradually softening.
Three years ago, on his way back to Headquarters after taking down a pirate crew and rescuing the civilians—including Sakazuki's mother—he'd come across Ain, Binz, and Teacher Zephyr, whose right hand had been severed. They'd survived an attack on their training ship.
It was thanks to his arrival that the three of them had made it back to Headquarters safely.
Three years had passed, but Ain, Binz, and Teacher Zephyr still hadn't moved on from what had happened.
During those three years, whenever Akira had free time, he'd visit Teacher Zephyr for a couple of drinks. Naturally, he'd end up chatting with Ain and Binz, too. At first, Ain had been quiet and withdrawn. Consumed by hatred, she rarely joined the conversation.
Binz, on the other hand, was fairly optimistic. Whenever Akira visited Teacher Zephyr, Binz would come over on his own and often look for a chance to spar with him.
Perhaps it was Akira's dazzling charisma, or perhaps it was because they were all Teacher Zephyr's students. After seeing him use swordsmanship during his spars with Binz, Ain, who was also skilled with a sword, gradually emerged from the shadows. She and Binz began taking turns sparring with Akira.
Later, when Akira went away on missions, Ain and Binz helped care for the old man with dementia. They became friends with Akira—friends who didn't talk much, but understood each other well.
"Ain, effective immediately, you'll replace Menard as a new Headquarters Vice Admiral."
After studying the two of them for a moment, Akira picked up an appointment letter and handed it to Ain. "There's only one thing I need you to do next: select the finest officers from the officer training camp and go to sea to hunt down the culprits who attacked the training ship."
"Lord Marshal, I—"
Ain's eyes widened in surprise at Akira's sudden promotion. She stammered, "I've been at Headquarters for the past three years and haven't accomplished anything. I... I..."
Akira waved a hand. "That's why I'm giving you a chance to earn merit."
Then Akira turned to Binz. "Binz, I appoint you Ain's adjutant. Go to sea with her and carry out this mission. Once you return, I'll promote you to Headquarters Vice Admiral to replace Onigumo."
"Yes!" Binz stepped forward and saluted. "You have my loyalty!"
Akira nodded. "It's settled. You two may go."
Ain and Binz didn't dare linger. They glanced at the veteran Vice Admirals and Admirals standing nearby, then left with some trepidation.
After watching them leave the office, Akira immediately turned his attention to the three Admirals standing in the front row and got straight to the point. "Headquarters needs some restructuring. I've decided to establish three forces, each led by one of you."
"The force under Sakazuki will be renamed Akainu's Fleet, the force under Borsalino will be renamed Kizaru's Fleet, and the force under Kuzan will be renamed Kuzan's Fleet. Each force will be assigned six Headquarters Vice Admirals, and all officers at Vice Admiral rank and below will be organized into groups of three."
Before he'd even finished speaking, Akira picked up three documents and handed one to each Admiral. "These documents list the Vice Admirals and Rear Admirals under your command, along with a list of officers who are to be promoted. Don't question these promotions. They all contributed to last night's victory!"
Meanwhile,
At the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, in the Chamber of Power,
The Five Elders, the highest authority in the World Government, began another day's routine work.
In the bright, spacious hall of the Chamber of Power, Science Defense God Jaygarcia Saturn sat on one end of a sofa, listlessly staring at the Den Den Mushi on the coffee table in front of him.
Behind him, Financial God Nusjuro stood before a huge picture window, dressed in a Daoist robe and holding a katana. He watched the figures gathering in the Pangaea Plaza outside and yawned in boredom.
Agricultural God Shepherd Ju Peter sat in a suit, his expression serious, as if he were pondering some important matter. His eyes remained fixed on a newspaper in front of him.
Environmental God Marcus Mars walked over to an armchair with a cup of coffee and sat down. From time to time, he glanced at Agricultural God, who was reading the paper, and Science Defense God, who sat staring into space.
"Looks like I'm late."
Just then, a voice rang out abruptly, breaking the silence in the Chamber of Power.
A moment later, Legal God Topman Warcury, with a prominent birthmark on his forehead, pushed open the door, strode over to the long sofa in the middle, and sat down. He asked Saturn, who was staring listlessly at the Den Den Mushi, "Is there anything important we need to deal with today?"
Saturn shook his head, perplexed. "The Den Den Mushi hasn't rung once. None of the CP Organizations have sent us any intelligence, and it's been quiet at Marine Headquarters, too. Usually, by this time, we'd already have stacks of paperwork in front of us, and Marine Headquarters would be reporting to us over the Den Den Mushi."
At that, Topman smoothly changed the subject. "No word from the New World, either?"
It wasn't that he trusted Marine Headquarters completely. It simply didn't submit reports every day, and even when it did, they first went to the Commander-in-Chief of the World Government's Armed Forces. Only after the Commander-in-Chief reviewed them would they reach the Chamber of Power.
Saturn shook his head again. "Recently, only two major things have happened in the New World: the Elbaf incident, and Red-Haired Shanks rising to become one of the New World's Emperors of the Sea. But neither of those is our responsibility. The Knights of God are handling them."
Topman's eyes lit up. "I didn't realize Shanks had grown so powerful. He not only subdued Prince Loki of Elbaf, but also became a new Emperor of the Sea. If Figarland Garling approached him now, might he be able to bring Shanks over to our side?"
"Didn't Shanks return to the Holy Land and live there for a while?" Saturn looked up at Topman and sighed. "At the time, his twin brother Shamrock tried everything to persuade him to stay, but in the end, he still chose to leave."
With no important work to deal with, the Five Elders, the highest authorities in the world, started chatting like ordinary people, gossiping about one thing after another.
Before they knew it, they'd spent a fairly pleasant morning in the Chamber of Power.
Just as they were about to get up and head to the dining hall, the Den Den Mushi—which had been silent all morning—suddenly rang. A voice came through, seemingly disguised to sound somewhat androgynous. "Are the Five Elders there?"
The voice suddenly coming through the Den Den Mushi made the Five Elders' expressions change dramatically. They all stood up and turned toward it, bowing respectfully as they cried, "Lord Im!"
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