Before Staircase Island on the Red Line.
Facing the Joker Pirates, who seemed pumped full of adrenaline, the Marines fought as they retreated, showing none of the life-or-death resolve they had displayed during the Summit War.
Their morale was already vastly different.
Over the past three years, the Marines had gone through a great deal.
First came the revelations Buggy had obtained from the Celestial Dragons after leaving the Red Line for the first time—the incident where one nation was wiped out every three years.
Within the Marines, the matter had spread like wildfire, dying down only to flare up again.
And nearly half of the Marines' current forces had been newly recruited through the World Military Draft. Their overall quality was naturally nowhere near that of the Veteran Soldiers from before.
Not to mention the later murder of the Celestial Dragons, Akainu's defection, the Egghead incident, the auction incident...
One matter after another. Looking only at the Marines' top Combat power, they still seemed passable, but outside the higher-ups, the thoughts of many Soldiers had changed.
The Celestial Dragons were not gods. When they were killed, they were no different from ordinary people.
The chaos created by the Joker Pirates was no worse than their order, after all. The end of the world was approaching.
"If historians ever study marine history, they'll probably regard the years you and I served as Fleet Admiral as an important turning point."
The temporary base the Marines had built on the island stood on a high slope of Staircase Island. The barracks resembled prefab structures, since time had been tight.
Aokiji had only just finished dealing with the aftermath of the previous war when he hurriedly began constructing defensive works for the Joker incident.
The fact that they had managed to build it