Akainu was radical, but he was no fool.
Now that Aokiji had forced him to calm down, he had thought things through.
He immediately moved to sit down.
But his chair had already fallen apart.
A hawkish Vice Admiral hurriedly stood up and moved his own chair behind Akainu.
Akainu sat down without the slightest hesitation.
Then he pulled the brim of his cap lower and fell silent.
Seeing the most radical man in the room settle down, Sengoku breathed a genuine sigh of relief.
"In that case, we'll hold our positions.
In the meantime, everyone, conduct more patrols along the Grand Line and keep an eye on the pirates' movements."
"Yes, sir!" everyone answered.
Kizaru remained as carefree as ever, while Aokiji yawned, looking ready to fall asleep.
Akainu's face was dark, and his fists clenched again.
"Meeting adjourned!"
Chairs scraped against the floor one after another. Soon, only Sengoku, Zephyr, and Tsuru remained in the room.
Zephyr glanced at the doorway, then at Sengoku.
He drew a breath and asked in a low voice:
"Sengoku, if those pirates back then had also been powerful enough to destabilize the entire sea with a single move, would you have stopped me from taking revenge?"
Sengoku shuddered at those words and looked at Zephyr.
But faced with Zephyr's gaze, his lips moved without producing a word.
That reaction alone was answer enough.
Zephyr lowered his eyes, his expression dimming.
He knew that, for the seas, for the bigger picture, and for the vast majority of people, it would have been the right choice.
Unfortunately, it would not have been right for him.
Had things truly been as he described, perhaps he would ultimately have restrained his own selfish desires.
Perhaps he would not.
But Sengoku's reaction still hurt.
Before becoming Fleet