In the conference room, Sengoku was panting heavily, and his braided mustache stood up straight, clearly indicating that he was extremely agitated.
He was not only furious at his old comrade's betrayal, but also deeply distressed by what Zephyr had said.
Lies are not sharp blades; the truth is the real weapon.
His failure to withstand the pressure from the Five Elders and allow Whitebeard Jr.. to join the Shichibukai was indeed a dereliction of duty on his part as Fleet Admiral.
He also bears some responsibility for Zephyr's departure, and the departure of those high-ranking naval officers.
It's not Zephyr, nor is it the fault of those high-ranking officers.
If they hadn't been disillusioned with the Navy, these men would have been its most loyal force, willing to die for justice without mercy.
It's not even Luo Wen's fault; he only took Zephyr in.
No, we still have to blame this wretched guy.
"You spend all day focusing on naval personnel, don't you have anything else to do?"
Everyone in the Sengoku wanted to grab Luo Wen by the collar and ask him a good question.
He's really seen something amazing; Zephyr was only gone for less than two days and he was already being recruited by the Neo Marines.
That efficiency, that intelligence.
It's hard not to think that Luo Wen is keeping a close eye on the Navy 24/7 to achieve such efficiency.
It can only be said that it is indeed the World Government's greatest enemy. Not only is its military strength incredibly powerful, but it also has an outstanding ability to poach people.
Sengoku deeply felt that Luo Wen was a formidable enemy, perhaps even unbeatable.
Under the oppressive atmosphere of the Sengoku, the meeting room was completely silent. Everyone watched the Sengoku quietly, not daring to provoke him.
Finally, the crane spoke, "Sengoku, say a few words. This problem cannot be left unresolved."
"Um."
Sengoku recovered from his anger.
Anger solves nothing; he still faces a mountain of problems in reality.
"First of all, I want to apologize to all my naval colleagues and to all the officers and soldiers of the navy!"
Sengoku took a deep breath and bent over heavily.
These words and actions immediately changed the atmosphere of the entire conference room, and everyone looked at Sengoku as he spoke.
"It is because I have been an incompetent Fleet Admiral that some of my colleagues have become disheartened and left the navy."
"I apologize to everyone, not to seek your forgiveness, but to ask you to give the Navy another chance, to give this Navy, which you have served for more than ten or even several decades, another chance!"
"I will appeal to the Five Elders to abolish Whitebeard Jr.. and even the entire Shichibukai. If that fails, I might as well give up this Fleet Admiral!"
Sengoku spoke with conviction, clearly having made up his mind.
Violent suppression cannot solve the high turnover rate of naval officers.
Only by addressing the root cause of the problem and taking responsibility for this mistake can we succeed.
Only by playing the emotional card can we win back the naval officer's heart.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku!" *N
Everyone in the conference room was deeply moved and looked at Sengoku in shock.
They never expected that the Sengoku would have such courage, offering such a humble apology as Fleet Admiral.
He guarantees his rank as Fleet Admiral and stands on the same side as the entire navy; that's what Fleet Admiral should be!
Thinking about it carefully, this matter isn't entirely the fault of the Sengoku. Didn't all the bad things start with the Five Elders?
Suddenly, everyone was moved, and remembering their years of friendship in the navy, their resentment towards the previous incident lessened considerably.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, we support you!"
Some of the Dove Faction generals around Aokiji and the hawk Hawk Faction led by Onigumo expressed their opinions together.
Looking at everyone's expressions, Tsuru nodded secretly. Sengoku's approach was almost the limit, and the effect was outstanding.
"Alright, then I won't beat around the bush, I'll go find the Five Elders right now!"
The Sengoku knew that no matter how eloquent the words, they were useless without concrete actions.
Before going to see the Five Elders, he had one last preparation to make.
"Kizaru, immediately order the Marine Science Unit to block all Zephyr Transponder Snail belonging to Zephyr at Marine Headquarters!"
"Sengoku," he said through gritted teeth.
He couldn't let Zephyr undermine morale again, or another large number of people would leave.
"Received, Fleet Admiral Sengoku."
Kizaru said seriously.
"Meeting adjourned. Everyone go back to your own business."
After speaking, Sengoku left the meeting room and set off heavily for the Red Line.
In the meeting room, everyone left one by one, clearly preoccupied with their own thoughts.
The Momonga quickly returned to its dormitory and began packing its luggage.
His expression was complicated. If it weren't for Professor Zephyr's phone call, he might have stayed because of Sengoku's words.
Now, that's impossible.
He glanced longingly at the Marine Headquarters before heading towards the group from Hōshō who had recently left.
"Tsk, my supporters have gone to Luo Wen's side?"
Aokiji thought to himself, feeling frustrated.
Most of Zephyr's disciples were either Dove Faction or Dove Faction. That's right, even when Zephyr later hated pirates to the core, he did not incite his disciples to side with Akainu's radical faction.
In other words, the group that left were all those who supported Aokiji becoming Fleet Admiral.
With the addition of former Admiral candidate Gion and Zephyr who were abducted, Luo Wen has actually poached a third of the Dove Faction navy's strength!
This means that the gap between the doves who support him as Fleet Admiral Dove Faction and the Akainu as Fleet Admiral Hawk Faction narrowed. Furthermore, the large number of defectors could trigger a crisis of confidence within the World Government.
The position of Fleet Admiral was slipping further and further away from him.
Thinking this way, Aokiji understood the same feelings as Sengoku.
Akainu was not present at the meeting, but Hawk Faction, whose Akainu faction shared Dove Faction's will, was not relieved by the weakening of the Onigumo; he was just as distressed.
Even though the Dove Faction are still part of the navy, one-third of Dove Faction strength represents one-fifth of the overall navy's strength, and this deficiency is undeniably significant.
Even more terrifying is that these people didn't die; instead, they defected to Luo Wen, the World Government's most fearsome enemy!
With this shift in power, Luo Wen's influence has expanded to a superpower surpassing the Four Emperors' crews, making it even more difficult for the Navy to deal with him.
"Won't those two run away too?"
Onigumo thought of Sengoku and Aokiji and felt somewhat worried.
If Sengoku and Aokiji both run away, even if Admiral Akainu becomes Fleet Admiral, it's not something to be happy about.
Why doesn't Professor Zephyr call me?
Kizaru appeared grief-stricken, but inwardly he felt a pang of regret.
He was clearly unhappy about Whitebeard Jr.. joining the Shichibukai, and he was secretly seeing Zephyr off.
Teacher Zephyr invited so many people, but deliberately excluded him. That shows he's biased against him!
Although he is utterly loyal to the Navy, why don't you test his unwavering faith, Professor Zephyr?
If the salary is high enough and the benefits are good enough, there's a very small chance he might agree.
Could it be that Professor Zephyr, with his thick eyebrows and big eyes, took a kickback from the benefits that Luo Wen gave him?
Kizaru thought to himself.
On this day, many of the admirals at the Marine Headquarters seemed somewhat distracted.