Following the Vice Admiral into a New War!

Meanwhile.

Marine Headquarters Armory.

As a barrage of gunfire rang out over Marineford, the soldiers guarding the armory were jolted awake and rushed to the entrance at once.

But the moment they reached the doors, a crowd surged toward them.

Then a hail of bullets whistled through the air, swiftly wiping out the soldiers inside the armory entrance.

"Damn it!"

Inside the armory, several officers who had been drinking and making merry sprang to their feet at the piercing gunshots and rushed outside.

But they were too late.

The moment they burst through the door, the armory entrance exploded open.

In the next instant, a Rear Admiral in a Rear Admiral's coat charged toward them at astonishing speed.

"Gentlemen, I'm taking control of the armory!"

Before the officers could react, the Rear Admiral tossed a document at them and said coldly, "You have two choices. Either follow Akira into a new war, or die!"

Amid the piercing alarms, a force of more than a thousand men surged like a tide into the Marine Headquarters Building.

Though it was already the dead of night, plenty of staff were still on duty inside the building.

Before the force that had just charged into the main hall could spread out, the patrol soldiers on the night shift raised their guns. The man at their head, wearing a Marine Headquarters colonel's coat, immediately barked, "Whose men are you? How dare you break into the Headquarters Building! I order you to—"

Before the colonel could finish, a figure flashed toward him like a phantom.

The next second—

"Finger Pistol!"

At the cold voice, the colonel's body stiffened. He looked down at the hand that had pierced his chest, his face filled with disbelief.

Before he could react, a volley of gunfire rang out, killing the duty soldiers behind him in an instant.

"You—"

The piercing gunshots jolted the colonel back to his senses. Ignoring the stabbing pain in his chest from the Finger Pistol, he clenched his teeth and looked up. When he recognized the attacker, he cried out in disbelief, "Vice Admiral Hound..."

The man who had killed the colonel was Vice Admiral Hound, a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral with disheveled hair and pointed glasses. He was a Zoan Dog-Dog Fruit user, with the hound form.

"Sorry!"

Hound's expressionless face remained calm as he said, "I didn't kill you out of any personal grudge. Rest in peace, Colonel!"

With that, Hound withdrew his hand, swiftly drew his gun, and pulled the trigger at the colonel's forehead.

At the same time, soldiers carrying buckets of water and all kinds of cleaning supplies filed in. After the colonel and the other staff on duty were dragged away, they quickly scrubbed the floor clean and laid down a red carpet.

Vice Admiral Hound didn't stop. He strode toward the elevator.

At every floor the elevator passed, fierce gunfire, shouts, and angry reprimands erupted.

Vice Admiral Hound remained unmoved. With a cold expression, he stood in the elevator as it took him straight to the top floor.

When he stepped out, the soldiers who had arrived ahead of him were already lined up neatly on both sides of the corridor.

Without hesitation, Vice Admiral Hound strode down the corridor to an office door.

Inside stood Admiral Borsalino, his Admiral's coat draped over his shoulders.

Borsalino stood with his back to the door, gazing slightly upward at the plaque on the wall bearing the words "Ambiguous Justice." He seemed not to hear the gunfire outside, standing utterly still.

"Admiral Borsalino!"

At the doorway, Vice Admiral Hound raised his hand in salute, then strode into the office and stopped behind Borsalino. Standing at attention, he said, "Akira has a message for you."

"How frightening~"

Borsalino pushed up his glasses and turned to look at Vice Admiral Hound standing rigidly before him, as well as the soldiers standing guard outside. In his usual lazy manner, he said, "I knew Akira wouldn't just sit back and do nothing, but I didn't expect him to make such a scene."

After a brief pause, Borsalino raised his wrist and glanced at the Den Den Mushi strapped there. He said casually, "Go on, let me hear how he plans to convince me not to interfere."

"Akira says that if he fails, he'll take full responsibility for all the crimes. If he succeeds, he won't keep the glory to himself!"

"Akira also says that all these years, he's always repaid kindness and never refused a request. If Admiral Borsalino doesn't interfere, he'll be doing Akira a great favor!"

"That's not enough~" Borsalino shook his head. "A verbal promise like that won't persuade an Admiral to stand down. Even if you ultimately fail, I'll still be held responsible as an Admiral!"

Vice Admiral Hound seemed to have expected Borsalino to say that. He immediately took a document from inside his coat and held it out to him.

Borsalino stared at it for a moment, then his expression changed drastically as he read its contents.

"Impressive~"

After reading the document, Borsalino spoke with rare seriousness. "So Akira wasn't acting on impulse. He'd already made all the arrangements in secret—and even dug up my background in such detail."

After a brief pause, Borsalino lowered his head and glared down at Hound, a hint of murderous intent in his voice. "How many people know what's in this document?"

Hound shook his head. "Akira said that if Admiral Borsalino finds the seal on this document has been broken, he can kill me and every soldier here!"

At that, the murderous intent in Borsalino's eyes gradually faded. He said calmly, "As expected of Akira. I'll do as he wishes and stay out of this."

"Splash—"

The moment Borsalino finished speaking, two young officers rushed into the office and drenched him with the two buckets of seawater they were carrying.

"Forgive us, Admiral Borsalino!"

Hound quickly pulled out a pair of Seastone Handcuffs and locked them around Borsalino's wrists. "We're doing this so you can explain yourself to the Holy Land if we fail! Besides, if we fail, the contents of that document will be sealed away forever when we're executed!"

As he spoke, Hound took the document from Borsalino's hand and burned it in front of him.

Drenched to the skin and drained of strength by the Seastone Handcuffs, Borsalino slumped to the floor, looking so comical that it was hard not to laugh.

But Hound didn't dare laugh.

They'd gotten Borsalino to cooperate not because they were strong. It was the document Akira had given Hound that had convinced Borsalino to go along with them. Otherwise, there was no way the people present—or the officers and soldiers involved in this mutiny—could have defeated Borsalino.

After all, Borsalino was an Admiral, one of the Marine Headquarters' highest combat powers, and a top-tier fighter who had developed the power of the Logia Goro Goro no Mi to its utmost limit.