After Cipher Pol 0 withdrew, the Five Elders did not disperse.
Saint Saturn's gaze fell on another report on the table.
That report had come from spies in the Underworld.
After news of the two Emperors' defeat spread, the first thing to collapse in the New World was the underground order.
Kaido's weapons supply lines had been severed, and the intelligence network maintained by Big Mom had begun to unravel.
Black-market ports had lost their backers.
Smugglers no longer knew whom to pay.
Slave traders no longer dared to ship their goods openly.
Noble agents hurried to move their assets.
Arms dealers, information brokers, underground banks, and port middlemen all stirred like schools of fish smelling blood.
Everyone realized that a vacuum had appeared.
And a vacuum would not remain empty forever.
Several days earlier.
Deep within the Gold Palace on the Sabaody Archipelago.
In an enormous circular conference hall, golden light poured down from above.
The surrounding walls were inlaid with golden reliefs, while the polished floor was smooth enough to reflect people's shadows.
The long table was filled on both sides with the true giants of the Underworld.
The Queen of the Pleasure District, Stussy.
The Funeral King, Piekro.
The News King, Morgans.
The Warehouse King, Giberson.
The Shipping King, Umit.
The Loan Shark King, Du Feld.
Besides them, there were noble agents from various allied nations, representatives of black-market chambers of commerce, arms intermediaries, and port brokers.
These people were scattered across the world and had always gone their separate ways. There had never been any trust between them; many had even fought in secret and were mortal enemies.
Yet now, they all sat at the same long table.
Because the two Emperors had fallen, and the old rules had collapsed.
And the "Golden Emperor" had