Sakazuki opened his mouth. Those words had struck right at the heart of the matter; they really could not attend to both sides at once.
He Zhong gently waved his folding fan and chimed in, "Mu Chen is right. In my view, we should proceed in two steps first."
"The first step is to follow Fleet Admiral Sengoku's plan and reinforce the garrisons at two bases in the New World, keeping a close watch on the Whitebeard Pirates. The second step is to wait until we replenish our casualties, then join forces and move against those pirate factions causing the most trouble."
Garp chewed on a senbei cracker at the side and mumbled in agreement, "Mm-hm, good idea. Back when we wiped out the remnants of Rocks' forces..."
"Mm, that was how we did it step by step. If they don't cause trouble, we absolutely won't attack!"
Just when everyone thought the meeting was about to end, Sengoku suddenly cleared his throat. His gaze swept over everyone present as he said solemnly, "There is one last matter. Regarding my retirement and vacating the position of Fleet Admiral..." His words were like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, instantly throwing the hall into an uproar. Borsalino and Sakazuki in particular were stunned. "The Fleet Admiral is retiring? My, my, Fleet Admiral Sengoku is still so young. Why would he retire?"
In their view, if Fleet Admiral Sengoku retired now, who else could possibly be qualified to serve as Fleet Admiral?
It could only be someone chosen from among the three Admirals!
As for Mu Chen, hearing Sengoku say this was actually within his expectations. After all, wasn't that how it had played out in the original story?
According to the original plot, Sakazuki and Kuzan had fought for the position