"Claist, the Five Elders have completely suppressed the matter involving the Celestial Dragons."
Kong's voice was hoarse and weary.
"But the news of your defeat has already spread across the world."
Bang—!
He slammed his palm down on the conference table. Cracks instantly spread across its solid wood surface like a spiderweb.
His anger finally erupted.
"Claist! You can't escape blame for this! You couldn't even capture or kill one brat!"
"And you failed to rescue the other two Celestial Dragons—what on earth were you doing?!"
Kong's eyes were bloodshot as he glared at Claist.
He wasn't truly blaming Claist.
He knew that if he had faced Luo Tian, the man who could severely wound an Admiral, the outcome might not have been any better.
But he needed to vent.
He needed to take out on Claist the anger he'd felt toward the Five Elders.
Claist calmly endured the Fleet Admiral's fury without offering any excuses.
Once Kong's roars had subsided, he finally spoke in a measured voice:
"Fleet Admiral, I'm willing to take full responsibility for everything that went wrong during this operation."
"However, Luo Tian, the man I fought, was far stronger than we expected.
His swordsmanship, Devil Fruit ability, and Haki mastery had all reached the level of an Admiral. His strange and unpredictable Devil Fruit ability was especially troublesome."
Spatial Jump, Shinra Tensei, and the technique that fused Ryuo with Conqueror's Haki.
Each of those abilities alone was enough to place a powerful fighter among the strongest in the world, yet Luo Tian had mastered them all.
"After Luo Tian began using his abilities, Vice Admiral Tsuru was the first to suffer serious injuries. Then Zephyr, Garp, and the others were restrained one after another. And now even I..."
Claist didn't finish his sentence, but everyone