Eliminate the Impossible

The next day.

Batia Island, city hall conference room.

After a day of gathering intelligence and conducting investigations, the final meeting on the attack against the Celestial Dragons officially began.

Everyone took their seats.

The conference room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. The only sound was Sengoku flipping through the intelligence files.

Everyone else remained silent, waiting patiently.

A few minutes later, Sengoku closed the file and looked up, glancing around at everyone.

"Let's hear your opinions."

He rubbed his temples.

Everyone looked at one another, and in the end, Borsalino was the first to speak.

He said with a smile:

"I still hold the same view. Judging by the surveillance footage, this incident was most likely just an accident."

"The odds of a Sea King attack aren't particularly high, but it's not impossible, either."

Sengoku rolled his eyes at that and ignored the slacker's opinion, turning instead to the highest-ranking Marine officer in the North Blue.

"Darren, what's your opinion?"

Darren considered his words for a moment, then replied gravely:

"Admiral Sengoku, I agree with Rear Admiral Borsalino."

"There's a saying in my hometown: 'When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.'"

"In fact, there's no one in the North Blue powerful enough to destroy a World Government ship in an instant. We've also ruled out every other possible culprit... Given that, the only reasonable answer is indeed an attack by a Sea King."

Sengoku furrowed his brows.

Just then, Darren turned to Gion and her partner.

"Perhaps Rear Admiral Gion and Rear Admiral Gion's partner have a different opinion?"

At his words, Gion and her partner's hearts skipped a beat. Under Darren's calm gaze, they felt strangely uneasy.

"Do the two of you have a different opinion?"

Sengoku turned his gaze toward them as well.

"I..."

Gion's partner opened his mouth.

But the image of the little girl's father kneeling on the ground, weeping in despair and heartbreak, surfaced in his mind.

"I agree with Colonel Darren," Gion said suddenly, her voice icy.

Her hands were clenched so tightly that her knuckles had turned pale.

Gion's partner turned to stare at her, stunned and unable to react for a moment.

Sengoku noticed that Gion and her partner were acting strangely. He was puzzled, but soon understood, and sighed inwardly.

Watching helplessly as the civilians they were supposed to protect were seized by Celestial Dragons and turned into "slaves," unable to stop such an atrocity... For people who believed in justice, that must have been a heavy blow.

Sengoku shook his head.

So was the truth really what Borsalino had said after all?

Thinking this, he turned to Borsalino, who sat nearby, lost in his own thoughts. Sengoku's expression immediately grew strange.

He had a feeling something wasn't quite right, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Could it really have been... a Sea King?

Temporary office.

"So this is the result of your investigation, Sengoku?"

"...An attack by a Sea King?"

The CP0 agent, dressed in a white silk robe, sat across from Sengoku. His eyes were hollow beneath his strange mask as he stared at him, his voice icy.

"Are you sure this isn't a joke? The important figures won't accept this result."

Under the suspicious gaze of the CP0 agent, Sengoku felt uncomfortable all over and gave a light cough.

"Mm. Yes."

As if to emphasize that he could be trusted, he paused, then added:

"There's a saying in my hometown: 'When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.'"

CP0 said coldly, "Sengoku, do you think the important figures will accept this conclusion?"

Sengoku fell silent.

CP0 thought for a moment, then suddenly said:

"What about the little girl's father? I think he should be interrogated. He did have a motive, after all."

A surge of inexplicable anger rose in Sengoku's heart at those words. Gritting his teeth, he said:

"I don't believe there's anything wrong with that man. He's just a civilian."

He had already gone to see the little girl's father in secret.

His face was gaunt, his eyes vacant. He looked as though he had lost his soul, like a walking corpse.

He looked exactly like a middle-aged man who had lost his beloved daughter.

What was there to suspect?

As for his motive?

Of course the man had a motive!

Saint Childers had forcibly taken his daughter. If Saint Childers hadn't been a Celestial Dragon surrounded by layers of protection, that man would have torn him limb from limb at the first opportunity.

But CP0 remained unmoved and simply said coldly:

"This incident involves the Celestial Dragons. We can't be too careful."

"Sengoku... Don't forget, this is an order from the Government. As a Marine Admiral, you're supposed to obey without question."

"—I am following the Government's orders!" Sengoku cut him off bluntly.

He planted both hands on the desk and slowly rose from his chair. Leaning forward, he radiated an imposing aura as he looked down at the CP0 agent before him, his voice rough and hard.

"By your logic, everyone on Batia Island had a motive. Should we arrest every person on the island and torture them for answers!?"

"—If necessary," CP0 said coldly.

Sengoku looked at the CP0 agent before him, then suddenly laughed. The laugh sounded almost absurd.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that."

"The attack by a Sea King... That's the conclusion of my investigation. As for the man who lost his daughter, he's just a wretched man."

"Report it to the Five Elders."

CP0 looked at Sengoku, who stood before him, firm and unyielding, and fell silent for a moment.

"Very well."

Holy Land Mary Geoise.

World Government headquarters, a small Western-style building.

Steaming hot tea bubbled in the pot.

The Five Elders, the highest authority in the World Government, sat or stood with stern expressions. The atmosphere was oppressive.

"Honored lords, this is Sengoku's response."

CP0's hoarse voice came through the military Den Den Mushi.

"We understand. Continue to wait for further instructions."

The Blonde Five Elder spoke without expression.

"Yes, my lord."

The Den Den Mushi call ended.

"How absurd," Saint Damocles said with a sneer.

"Actually, it isn't impossible," the Blonde Five Elder said suddenly.

"I know it's possible, of course. But Saint Childers's family won't accept this result." Saint Damocles shook his head.

The other Five Elders fell silent.

As the Five Elders, they represented the interests of the Celestial Dragons. But if one Celestial Dragon who did nothing but eat and wait for death had died, so be it. They didn't really care.

What they cared about was quelling the anger of the Celestial Dragon families in Mary Geoise.

Saint Childers himself might have been useless, but his family held considerable influence in Mary Geoise.

The so-called search for the truth was, in the end, just a way to give them an explanation.

"Perhaps... we should broaden the scope of the investigation."

Saint Damocles spoke up suddenly.

At his words, the other Five Elders all furrowed their brows.

A cold glint flashed in Saint Damocles's aged eyes.

"I've lived through countless wars in my life, and they taught me one thing."

"...There's no such thing as an 'accident' in this world."

The other Five Elders raised their brows.

"What do you mean?"

Saint Damocles sneered.

"Although Sengoku's investigation results are absurd, at least one thing he said makes sense: 'When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.'"

"Since we've ruled out pirates and civilians, there's only one possibility left for who carried out the attack."

The other four were taken aback.

"Could it be..."

"...That's right. I suspect—though of course, it's only a possibility..."

Saint Damocles narrowed his eyes.

"Could the person who did it have been..."

He slowly uttered a word that made the other Five Elders' expressions shift.

"...The Marines?"