East Blue, Marine Base Loguetown.
Captain Smoker, a Marine Headquarters Colonel who had only recently taken up his post as Loguetown's highest-ranking officer, stared at the mountain of paperwork piled before him, his brow furrowed into a deep frown.
As a Marine Headquarters Colonel and a Logia user with the Smoke-Smoke Fruit, he was already deeply unhappy about being transferred to the East Blue to command a base. Seeing the mess left behind by his predecessor made his mood even worse.
"Captain Smoker... a confidential dispatch from Headquarters!"
Just then, the office door suddenly swung open. A girl who looked about seventeen or eighteen hurried inside, clutching a confidential document, and rushed over to the desk.
"A confidential dispatch from Headquarters?" Smoker blinked, then took the document and tore it open.
Seeing this, the girl hurriedly turned her head away.
"Tashigi? What are you doing?" Smoker looked up at her and said sternly, "You're my adjutant. Are you telling me to deal with all this paperwork?"
"Huh?" The girl named Tashigi blinked, slow to react, her expression adorably blank. "It's a confidential document. I... I can't read it."
"I didn't mean the one in my hand!" Smoker's forehead was covered in metaphorical black lines as he pointed at the mountain of paperwork before him. "You have half an hour to find the useful documents!"
With that, Smoker said no more and began reading the confidential dispatch he had just received.
After reading only the first few paragraphs, Smoker sprang to his feet and stared at the document in disbelief. "Marshal Sengoku is unwell, and Vice Admiral Akira is temporarily assuming the authority of Fleet Admiral?"
"Reporting in!"
Before Smoker could react, a shout suddenly came from outside. A messenger rushed into the office in great haste and stammered, "We just received word that Captain Rat of the 16th Branch was executed on the spot by the newly appointed colonel! The reason was that he colluded with pirates and oppressed the people! And... and there's been a change of command at the 153rd Branch too. The officer now serving as its colonel is named Morgan."
At this, Smoker whipped around and fixed the messenger with a piercing stare. "What's the name of the newly appointed colonel at the 16th Branch?"
"I think... I think it was Stock. He was sent there by Headquarters!"
"Damn it!" Hearing Stock's name, Smoker couldn't help swearing. "I know Stock. He's one of Akira's trusted men. And that Morgan at the 153rd Branch is one of Akira's men too!"
After a brief pause, he set down the document in his hand and said gravely, "Something huge has happened at Headquarters! Marshal Sengoku didn't send this confidential dispatch of his own accord. Headquarters has probably already fallen into Akira's hands! If I'm right, while I was receiving this dispatch, personnel changes were taking place at bases across the Four Blues and the Grand Line. They're all Akira's most trusted subordinates!"
"What... what do you mean?" Tashigi was still a beat slow, her face bewildered. "Isn't Akira a Vice Admiral? How could he temporarily take over Marshal Sengoku's authority as Fleet Admiral?"
Smoker looked up at Tashigi and dropped a bombshell. "A coup! Akira must have launched a coup and seized the position of Fleet Admiral by force."
"Huh?" Smoker's sudden remark nearly made Tashigi's glasses slip off her nose. She hurriedly pushed them back into place, then stared at him with a bewildered expression. "How could that be? Vice Admiral Akira is a good person! I've heard so many stories about him. He's helped many officers and soldiers at Headquarters who were struggling to support their families!"
Smoker slammed his fist down on the desk. "That was how he won people over!"
"Buru buru~"
Suddenly, the Den Den Mushi on the desk began to ring.
Before Smoker could react, a deep, powerful voice came through the Den Den Mushi. "Is Captain Smoker there? This is the office of the Fleet Admiral of the Armed Forces at the Holy Land. Lord Kong has an order for you!"
Hearing this, Smoker didn't dare delay. He immediately stood at attention and respectfully called out, "Lord Kong."
"Smoker, thank goodness! It's Kong!"
Kong's voice came through the Den Den Mushi, sounding somewhat anxious. "I'll keep this brief. Headquarters has completely lost contact with the Holy Land. It must have fallen entirely into Akira's hands. It's not just Headquarters—many bases in the East Blue aren't answering their Den Den Mushi either. If nothing unexpected has happened, those bases have all been seized by Akira's trusted men! Your job now is to contact as many of the branch bases that haven't yet been taken over as possible and stabilize the situation in the East Blue!"
Before Smoker could answer, the call quietly ended.
Tashigi's mind was buzzing. She had clearly been completely overwhelmed by the sudden turn of events. "Captain Smoker, how... how could this happen? Why would Vice Admiral Akira launch a coup?"
Smoker said nothing. He simply stared at the Den Den Mushi, now silent.
Until then, he had only been guessing. But after hearing Lord Kong call personally, his suspicions had become reality.
But that wasn't what mattered.
What mattered was that he couldn't understand how Akira, a mere Vice Admiral, had managed to pull off something this huge—seizing firm control of Marine Headquarters and cutting off all contact with the Holy Land!
After all, Marine Headquarters had not only Marshal Sengoku stationed there, but also the Three Admirals, its greatest fighting force, as well as numerous Vice Admirals. Even if Akira had won many people over in recent years, Headquarters couldn't have fallen into his hands so quickly if the Three Admirals hadn't defected.
Not only was it impossible, but Akira might even have been killed by the Three Admirals!
And yet the fact remained: Marine Headquarters had fallen into Akira's hands in a single night, and Marshal Sengoku had even signed a document allowing him to temporarily assume the authority of Fleet Admiral.
"Tashigi, Headquarters has already lost the advantage!"
After thinking it over calmly, Smoker slumped into his chair, looking somewhat dejected. "For Akira to take control of Headquarters this quickly, at least two of the Three Admirals must have defected and backed him. And Vice Admiral Gion has been close to Akira for years. Many Vice Admirals under her are sure to have taken part in this coup too!"
Tashigi was completely lost. "I... what should we do?"
Smoker lifted his head slightly and looked out the window, his expression complicated. "Akira sent Stock to take out Captain Rat and made Morgan colonel of the 153rd Branch, but the Loguetown base remains peaceful... Clearly, our new Fleet Admiral is giving me a chance to choose!"
Tashigi was still bewildered. She repeated, "Captain Smoker, what should we do?"
"Wait!"
As though he had made a major decision, Smoker seemed to spring back to life in an instant. His expression firmed. "If Akira launched this coup for his own selfish ends, I'll stake the Navy's justice on fighting him to the end! If he continues to uphold the Navy's justice after taking command, I'll stay in Loguetown and do my duty. I'm not interested in power struggles, and I don't want to get involved."
Just as Smoker had guessed,
at the same time he received the document,
more than half of the former base commanders at bases throughout the West Blue, North Blue, and South Blue were swiftly replaced,
and a top-down purge within the Navy began.
Before you continue