"Cyrik should already be on his way."
In the Fleet Admiral's conference room at Marine Headquarters, Admiral Sengoku, the acting Fleet Admiral, sat at the head of the table.
Tsuru, the Navy's Chief of Staff, was also present.
The previous Chief of Staff had retired, handing the position over to Tsuru some time ago.
Unlike promotions to Marine Admiral or Fleet Admiral,
a promotion to Chief of Staff required no grand ceremony or public announcement to the world.
For changes in the Navy High Command, Marine Headquarters now preferred to carry them out together.
The young monsters still needed time to grow, and the vacant Admiral positions prevented Sengoku from being promoted.
But Sengoku did not mind.
He lacked the title of Fleet Admiral, but held its authority in practice.
He did not mind waiting. The position was not going anywhere.
For now, Kong could still shoulder some of the pressure for him.
Once he truly became Fleet Admiral, he would have to bear many burdens alone.
Only someone in that position could understand just how immense the pressure was.
Things had only been relatively good recently.
They did not need to contend with the New World, and their efforts were focused mainly on the Four Seas, with ample military funding and support from the affiliated nations.
As for the current Fleet Admiral, "Steel Bone" Kong, he had been doing reasonably well for the first two years, but his physical condition had steadily declined over the past two.
Despite the tremendous vitality and regenerative power granted by his mythical zoan Devil Fruit,
the injuries Kong had suffered back then had simply been too severe.
He had lost an arm and a leg, his abdomen had been pierced through, and wounds had covered his entire body.
His depleted vitality and severely