New Marine Headquarters, a base somewhere in the East Sea,
Aokiji wore the Fleet Admiral's coat. He seemed more imposing than he had as an Admiral.
"Intelligence says Charlotte Linlin has left the New World..."
"She seems to be heading for the first half of the Grand Line,"
"And the Big Mom Pirates have practically all set sail!"
Aokiji looked at the intelligence on the desk and rubbed his temples.
The workload of an Admiral and a Fleet Admiral was on completely different levels.
Generally speaking, an Admiral only had to mobilize at critical moments and crush the enemy with overwhelming force.
But the Fleet Admiral had to coordinate the entire Navy's forces and keep track of the state of the world.
For Aokiji, who had only just taken up the post, it was undeniably an enormous burden.
"What do you think, Fleet Admiral Sengoku?"
Aokiji looked toward Sengoku beside him.
Though Sengoku had stepped down as Fleet Admiral, he still needed to hand over his duties and teach Aokiji the finer points of the job.
"Hey."
"Don't call me Fleet Admiral."
"You're the Fleet Admiral now."
After stepping down from the position, Sengoku's hair had visibly turned gray, but he was in good spirits and seemed quite relaxed.
He finally understood why Garp was so carefree. Being a Vice Admiral, without the Navy's future and the fate of the whole world resting on his shoulders, was a wonderfully easy life.
It had been years since he'd enjoyed such a carefree stretch.
At that, Aokiji gave a faint, wry smile and nodded.
"That's true. I'm the Fleet Admiral now."
But Sengoku had no intention of leaving Aokiji to shoulder everything alone. He offered his opinion.
"I'd guess Charlotte Linlin's target..."
"Is probably..."
Sengoku didn't finish the sentence. Instead, he pointed