Inside the Chamber of Power in the Holy Land Marijoa, a symbol of supreme authority, the Five Elders sat around an extravagantly luxurious long table, grimly discussing the tangled state of world affairs.
The atmosphere in the room was oppressive, like the deathly silence before a storm.
Suddenly, a CP0 agent appeared silently like a ghost. With a thud, he dropped to one knee, his voice trembling despite his efforts to hide it, and reported to the Five Elders, "Report... Punk Hazard... the Vegapunk Institute... was raided by Gol D. Allen and Monkey D. Dragon... all five 'brain' samples... have been lost..."
The words hit the room like a bombshell.
The blond old man's wineglass could not withstand his rage. With a crack, it shattered in his grip, and the expensive red wine flowed slowly down his fingers like blood, dripping onto the mirror-smooth floor and staining it dark red.
Veins throbbed at his temples, and his face turned ashen as pig iron. He roared, "All... all of them are gone?!"
The curly-haired old man was so furious that he slammed his palm down on the table. Under that tremendous force, the expensive solid-wood tabletop instantly filled with spiderweb-like cracks.
His eyes bulged as he bellowed, "Useless trash! What the hell were Kizaru and Aokiji doing?! Two Admirals couldn't even protect a research institute?!"
The long-bearded old man was so angry that his goatee stood straight up. He paced back and forth anxiously, muttering, "The Uranus Project... postponed indefinitely?! How are we supposed to explain this before Lord Imu emerges from seclusion?!"
The First Generation Kitetsu in the bald old man's hand seemed to sense its master's surging fury. It let out a low hum, and a layer of frost instantly formed over its sheath, as though it too were