The Golden Lion was a man who always kept his word. When he said he would flatten the Marine G5 Branch, he meant to do it today—not tomorrow.
Commanding the floating islands, the Golden Lion led a group of his men into the skies above the Marine G5 Branch.
Then he dropped an enormous floating island straight onto it.
That day, a vast shadow loomed over the Marine G5 Branch, as if a comet were about to hit the earth.
Rumble!!!
A tremendous explosion rang out, as though the end of the world had arrived!
The Flying Pirates attacked the G5 Branch, the Navy's bridgehead in the New World. Vice Admiral Hilton, the base commander, was killed, and the entire Marine G5 Base was reduced to rubble.
Not a single person survived—not even the civilians on the island!
When the news reached Marineford, it shook the entire Marine Headquarters.
Fleet Admiral Steel Bone Kong immediately summoned the Headquarters' senior officers for an emergency meeting. They gathered to discuss how to deal with the Golden Lion's Flying Pirates.
Admiral Sengoku, Garp the Hero, Staff Officer Tsuru, and all the other senior officers of Marine Headquarters were present.
The air in the meeting room was heavy, the atmosphere solemn.
Everyone felt as tense as a drawn string.
Each person sat stiffly, their face set. Even Garp, usually carefree and unpredictable, sat upright with his arms folded, completely serious.
The G5 Branch incident in the New World was too heinous.
The Golden Lion hadn't just killed every Marine and civilian at the G5 Branch. It was also a direct challenge from pirates to the Navy!
If the Navy didn't handle this properly, who would trust it in the future?
The reputation of Marine Headquarters would suffer a devastating blow.
The World Government's prestige would take a hit as well!
Just moments earlier, the Five Elders had contacted Steel Bone Kong and demanded that he deal with the incident in earnest. They had also told him that the World Government would assign CP0 to provide full support.
CP0, or Cipher Pol Aigis Zero, was the World Government's highest secret intelligence agency, directly under its command.
It also had elite intelligence agents in CP1 through CP9.
The Five Elders had taken a hard line, clearly furious about the G5 Branch incident.
The Golden Lion had to die. No discussion!
At Marine Headquarters, in the meeting room,
Steel Bone Kong sat at the head of the table. Sengoku, Garp, Tsuru, and the others sat in order on either side of him.
More than ninety percent of Marine Headquarters' elite officers had gathered there.
"I'm sure you've all heard what happened in the New World. There's a detailed report on each of your desks. Take a look."
Steel Bone Kong broke the silence, his expression grim.
At his words, everyone picked up the documents in front of them.
The photographs showed the devastation at the G5 Branch all too clearly. A floating island several times larger than the branch had fallen and smashed it straight into the sea.
The Marines on the island hadn't died charging into battle or fighting pirates. They'd been crushed alive beneath the floating island.
The civilians had no time to react. They sank beneath the sea along with their homes and the island.
The island that had held the G5 Branch in the New World was now covered by a new one. A massive floating island had settled over the site of the branch!
"The sea won't know peace until the Golden Lion is dead!"
"Damn pirates!"
"That's despicable! They didn't even spare the civilians!"
When Marines fought pirates, death was part of the risk.
But the civilians had been helpless—an entire island full of them!
The Marine officers clenched their fists until their knuckles cracked. They didn't need rousing speeches. Nothing made the case more forcefully than the devastation in those photographs.
They wanted to fly to the New World right then and capture every pirate in the Flying Pirates!
But they couldn't fly.
Could they reach the New World using only Geppo? Probably only a handful of people at Marine Headquarters could manage it.
They couldn't fly, but the Flying Pirates could.
There was no questioning the Golden Lion's strength. Worse, he was an Ability User of the Float-Float Fruit, capable of making islands and entire fleets float in the air.
That was how the Flying Pirates had earned their name.
That alone made it vastly more difficult for Marine Headquarters to wipe out the Golden Lion.
"Anyone with an idea, speak up. There's only one reason we're holding this meeting today! We're going to wipe out the Golden Lion!"
Steel Bone Kong slammed his fist into the table in front of him, smashing it to pieces as he shouted.
At that, everyone fell silent.
Admiral Sengoku, renowned as a brilliant strategist, wore a troubled frown. Staff Officer Tsuru was equally quiet.
Wipe out the Golden Lion?
If the Golden Lion were willing to fight head-on on land or at sea, they might have a chance.
But he was up in the sky.
The Marines weren't the only ones who could think. The Golden Lion wasn't stupid, either. Unless he'd lost his mind, why would he give up air superiority and come down to fight them at sea?
Why bother when he could just drop islands on them?
Besides his Float-Float Fruit, the Golden Lion himself was among the strongest in the entire sea.
His Haki and swordsmanship were both among the best in the world.
Even in a straight one-on-one fight, no one at Marine Headquarters could claim to be sure of beating him. Not even Garp the Hero at the peak of his strength!
"Why has everyone gone quiet?"
Steel Bone Kong's expression darkened further.
The meeting at Marine Headquarters about how to destroy the Golden Lion had little to do with Morito.
Morito returned to Marineford aboard Zephyr's flagship.
The two went to a secluded, uninhabited grove behind the Naval Academy.
Zephyr was giving Morito a private lesson in Haki.
Haki was a latent power possessed by all humans in the world of pirates. It was an innate ability.
Like "presence" or "intimidation," it existed as naturally as instinct.
But most people weren't aware of this power, and some went their entire lives without ever learning to use it.
There were three kinds of Haki.
Observation Haki, which let its user sense another person's presence.
Armament Haki, like an invisible suit of armor, which could also be turned into an offensive power and used to touch the true body of a Logia Ability User.
Conqueror's Haki, which let its user overwhelm or knock out enemies through sheer force of will.
Zephyr didn't possess Conqueror's Haki. He could only teach Morito Observation Haki and Armament Haki.
Armament Haki in particular.
The reason Zephyr was called Black Arm Zephyr was that his Armament Haki was so powerful. In battle, he coated his hands with it until his wrists turned black!
In a clearing in the grove, Zephyr and Morito stood a dozen or so paces apart.
Zephyr rolled his neck, his bones cracking. "Looks like I didn't get to test your true strength last time."
"This time, I'm going all out!"
Morito had defeated an enemy like Vulture without a scratch. Zephyr was confident that even if he used Armament Haki, he wouldn't kill Morito.
Besides, Morito had that spinning shell-like defense.
Vulture had escaped Zephyr three years ago, and Morito had taken him down. That meant Morito could escape Zephyr, too!
Flawless logic. He just had to beat the hell out of him!
Vmm!
Zephyr lowered his stance and coated both hands in Armament Haki. In an instant, his fists and wrists turned black!
Morito's eyelid twitched at the sight!
He was still just a kid!
Before you continue