It was truly unprecedented for one of the Four Emperors to be this stifled.
"Are we really going to Marineford?"
"Of course we are. Why wouldn't we?"
Beckman smiled and shook his head, then turned to instruct the crew to prepare for departure.
Shanks was left alone on the deck. Holding a wineglass as he gazed at the distant horizon, a smile suddenly curled across his lips. "Mu Chen, Mu Chen... You're a Marine Admiral, yet you keep meddling in pirate affairs. If anyone finds out, let's see how you clean up this mess."
But then again, if Marineford really did break into war, perhaps fewer people would die with him there to mediate.
Shanks tipped back his head and drained the wine from his glass. He set it on the deck, and when he rose to his feet, his eyes had already regained their usual composure.
"Let's go. Time to join the fun at Marineford!"
He shouted to the crew, his voice carrying his usual hearty cheer.
Meanwhile, in an office on the top floor of the Marine Headquarters building in Marineford, the atmosphere was so heavy it seemed ready to drip with water.
Sengoku stood beside the enormous floor-to-ceiling window, clutching a newly delivered intelligence report. His knuckles had turned white from the force of his grip.
The report clearly stated that Whitebeard had joined forces with Kaido and Charlotte Linlin, and would attack Marineford during Ace's execution. This was obviously beyond Sengoku's expectations. He had thought that, at most, Whitebeard alone would come. Now there were three of them.
Outside the window, Marine soldiers drilled intensely while warships lay neatly docked in the harbor.
Yet before this report, those forces that normally struck terror into pirates seemed somewhat thin.
"This is madness! Utter madness!"
"Has that old