As the news spread across the seas,
atop the Red Line,
in Mary Geoise,
the Five Elders called an emergency meeting. The doors to the Room of Authority in Pangaea Castle were sealed, and members of God's Knights guarding them took control of every nearby passage.
In the center of the room, a newly delivered newspaper was slammed onto the table.
The bold black words on its front page were impossible to ignore.
[New World Purge War!]
"Bastard!"
One of the Five Elders looked grim.
"That Morgans will do anything to stir up trouble!"
He was condemning Morgans, but everyone present knew a newspaper was not what truly angered them.
It was the Marines.
From the meeting to the fleet's assembly and the public announcement of the operation, Marine Headquarters had never submitted a complete battle plan to the World Government.
By the time they heard about it, everything was already underway.
The dedicated Den Den Mushi on the table was promptly dialed.
Brrr, brrr—
Click.
At Marine Headquarters, inside the Fleet Admiral's Office,
Sengoku had barely picked up the receiver when the Den Den Mushi's face darkened, its brows knitting tightly together.
A question came through, thick with suppressed anger.
"Sengoku!"
"Who authorized the Marines to launch a military operation of this scale in the New World?"
"Why didn't you submit a complete plan to the World Government beforehand?"
"Dozens of fleets have set sail at once, with the Shichibukai and Adventure Groups joining the operation! Do you have any idea what provoking three Emperors of the Sea at the same time could lead to?"
The voice echoed through the office.
Sengoku did not answer. He looked up at Rock, who sat across from him.
Rock leaned back on the sofa, reading the first route reports sent in by