Momonga Requests Reinforcements

Colonel Rolf beside him shuddered violently at those words, his face turning paper-white as cold sweat instantly soaked through his back.

He had only known that this group was terrifying, but he had never imagined they were this terrifying—Momonga, a veteran Vice Admiral from Headquarters, had openly admitted that their leader might be stronger than him?

He had actually considered sending patrols to investigate them. Thinking about it now, the fact that he was still alive was nothing short of unbelievably good luck.

Ignoring their shock, Momonga turned and walked over to the Encrypted Den Den Mushi. This pitch-black Den Den Mushi, bearing the Fleet Admiral's emblem of Marine Headquarters, was the highest-level encrypted communication line, available only to Vice Admirals and officers above that rank. It could connect directly to the Fleet Admiral's office at Marineford.

He pressed the dial button. The Den Den Mushi emitted a monotonous beeping sound, and only seconds later, the other side answered. Its face instantly shifted into Fleet Admiral Sengoku's signature stern expression, and a somewhat impatient voice came from within. "Momonga? I've already received your preliminary report. What exactly is happening in the West Blue? You'd better explain clearly what you mean by 'fifteen mysterious combatants, at minimum colonel level.'"

"Fleet Admiral, the situation is even worse than what I wrote in my report." Holding the Den Den Mushi's receiver, Momonga spoke steadily, but every word carried grave weight. He reported everything he had witnessed firsthand, along with his final assessment of their strength, without leaving out a single detail.

"There is no record of their emblem or power system in any of Headquarters' intelligence archives. It is as if they appeared out of nowhere in the West Blue.

"They are entrenched in the Core Missing Sea Area and have silently erased nearly a hundred vessels, including two of our patrol ships. Their counter-reconnaissance capabilities are extremely strong; they have left no traces anywhere in the surrounding waters."

Sengoku fell silent on the other end of the line. Only his heavy breathing came through the receiver, clearly showing that this information had shocked him as well.

More than ten seconds passed before Sengoku spoke again. The impatience had completely vanished from his voice, leaving only bone-deep gravity. "Your assessment is that their leader may be stronger than you?"

"Yes." Momonga answered without the slightest hesitation. "The captain of one patrol squad already possesses the strength of a newly promoted Vice Admiral. The leader behind them can only be stronger.

"I am currently leading two main battle ships. I have no confidence in rashly advancing into their core stronghold. If we fall into their encirclement, the consequences will be unimaginable.

"I request that Headquarters immediately retrieve all intelligence on hidden forces in the West Blue and armed forces of non-member nations. Focus on investigating the Red-and-White Fan Emblem and any clues related to Feihong eyes with tomoe patterns. At the same time, I request reinforcements of at least two Headquarters Vice Admirals and their corresponding elite fleets."

"I understand." Sengoku's voice was as heavy as iron. "Synchronize the encrypted intelligence with the Headquarters Intelligence Department immediately. I will have them investigate with all their strength.

"Keep your fleet on standby where you are and maintain the highest alert. Under no circumstances are you to engage them head-on without authorization. Determine the location of their base and their patterns of movement. Reinforcements will arrive in the West Blue within three days."

"Understood, Fleet Admiral."

After hanging up, the Encrypted Den Den Mushi closed its eyes again and returned to its motionless state.

Momonga turned around and walked to the bridge's floor-to-ceiling window, looking into the depths of the black sea, toward the direction in which the Uchiha group had vanished.

The sea wind drove waves against the ship's hull, making the heavy steel vessel tremble faintly. Yet the hand gripping his sword hilt remained utterly steady.

He knew very well that once this intelligence reached Headquarters, it would certainly cause an enormous uproar at Marineford.

But he knew even more clearly that his assessment contained no exaggeration whatsoever.

Hidden in the depths of this seemingly tranquil West Blue was definitely not some ordinary pirate crew, but a terrifying force capable of shaking the balance of the entire sea.

The only thing he could do now was remain here, keep his eyes fixed on these waters, and wait for the reinforcements to arrive.

Marineford, Fleet Admiral's Office at Marine Headquarters.

The predawn sea wind carried a salty, damp scent through the fortress's rows of cannon ports and battered the tightly shut floor-to-ceiling windows of the office.

The entire Marine Headquarters had fallen asleep. Only this office at the highest point of the fortress remained painfully bright, stretching Sengoku's shadow long and heavy.

He sat behind a broad ebony desk, the collar of his crisp Fleet Admiral's uniform slightly open. A few strands of his normally immaculate white hair had been mussed by his repeated rubbing of his brow.

He held the encrypted intelligence Momonga had just sent back, its edges already crumpled from his tight grip. Every word on the paper was like a heavy piece of cold iron, pressing down on his chest until it felt hard to breathe.

The desk was spread with supporting documents, from the combat evaluations of those fifteen mysterious individuals to their strange methods of operation, the Red-and-White Fan Emblem behind them, and Momonga's final handwritten assessment. Every sentence carried an unfamiliarity that sent chills through his body.

He had served in the Marines his entire life, climbing from an ordinary marine to Fleet Admiral. He had dealt with the Four Emperors for decades and knew the Seven Warlords of the Sea inside out. Even the Revolutionary Army lurking in the shadows had a complete intelligence trail.

Yet this time, as he stared at phrases such as "Feihong pupils with tomoe patterns," "blocked naval artillery with seawater controlled barehanded," and "walked upon the waves without the aura of a Devil Fruit," he searched through every scrap of intelligence in his mind and found not the slightest match.

This was a mysterious force that had completely, utterly, never appeared on these seas before.

Sengoku set down the intelligence in his hand, his fingertips striking hard against the combat assessment section on the desk as his brows twisted into a deep furrow.

In terms of overall size alone, this force naturally fell far short of the Four Emperors' pirate crews entrenched in the New World—those behemoths could assemble dozens of fighters with bounties exceeding a hundred million just by pulling out any one division.

But Momonga's report stated it clearly: during a routine patrol, they had dispatched one newly promoted Vice Admiral Level combatant, eight Rear Admiral Level combatants, and six Colonel Level combatants. That kind of terrifying concentration of power was already no weaker than the core lineup of any current Seven Warlords of the Sea.

What weighed even more heavily on him was their bizarre ability.

It was not Geppo from the Marine Six Powers, nor did they possess the distinctive aura fluctuations of Devil Fruit users, yet they could stand firmly on the sea and move at high speed. Without any unnecessary preparatory movements, they could casually raise massive waves to block naval artillery fire—control seawater.

Those four words were like an ice-tempered needle, striking precisely at the Marines' greatest weakness.