The Grand Line, the port of an island under blockade.
The smoke had yet to clear. Enel idly toyed with the arcs of electricity dancing over his fingertips, a dozen or so charred bodies of CP Agents strewn at his feet.
"What boring little ants," he said with a yawn. "Even their screams all sound the same."
Gern stood at the edge of the dock, the sea breeze lifting his cloak with the word "Justice" emblazoned on it.
Behind him, Marine soldiers escorted women and children back to town. Everyone who passed him unconsciously cast him a look of awe.
"Reporting!" A communications soldier hurried over and lowered his voice. "Vice Admiral Gern, we just received an urgent message from headquarters. Admiral Sengoku requests that you..."
"Ignore it," Gern interrupted, lightly tapping the hilt of the Black Blade: Eight Desolations. "Proceed with the original plan."
Marineford, Marine Headquarters, the Fleet Admiral's Office.
Kong stood before the window with his back to Sengoku, gazing through the glass at Marineford's harbor.
"Fleet Admiral Kong," Sengoku said angrily. "Sending Gern on this mission was a mistake from the start."
"And more importantly, he actually hung up on me! Thirty whole times!"
Having said his piece, Sengoku angrily dropped onto the sofa, his brows tightly furrowed.
"Fleet Admiral Kong, you know perfectly well that with Gern's temperament, he would never follow the World Government's orders.
Sending him on a mission like this will only deepen the rift between him and the World Government!"
"A rift? Heh." Fleet Admiral Kong suddenly turned, his gaze sharp as he sneered.
"From the moment the World Government rejected the proposal to make Gern an Admiral, peaceful coexistence between them was already impossible!"
Sengoku froze.
"Sengoku." Kong walked to the desk and tapped his fingers heavily against its