Marine Headquarters, Marineford, the Fleet Admiral's Office.
Sengoku sat behind his broad desk, tightly gripping an encrypted document that had just arrived from the World Government.
His face was dark, his chest rising and falling slightly as he struggled to contain his anger.
The contents of the document had chilled him to the core.
Portgas D. Ace had already been locked in Impel Down for an entire week!
Only now had the World Government informed him, and rather than consulting him, they had delivered what amounted to an order.
[Ace will be publicly executed, and the execution must be carried out by the Marines!]
Worst of all, the justification was so high-minded that Sengoku could not immediately find firm grounds to object.
In the document's identity field, Ace was no longer listed as the adopted grandson of Garp the Hero. Instead, the glaring words read:
"Gol D. Ace, the sole blood descendant of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger."
Having the Marines execute the Pirate King's blood descendant before the entire world certainly sounded "perfectly justified," and would be enough to strike fear across the seas.
But...
Sengoku knew better than anyone what lay behind this!
Ace was Whitebeard's Second Division Commander. Roger's son possessed phenomenal talent and all three types of Haki.
The current First Division Commander, Marco, was not suited to leading the Whitebeard Pirates.
So, plainly, Whitebeard had realized he was growing old.
He therefore intended to groom Ace to take over the Whitebeard Pirates, with Marco, a veteran and trusted adviser, helping him through the transition.
(This was Sengoku's own speculation, though it was certainly possible.)
But now, the World Government was holding the Marines' feet to the fire!
They wanted the Marines to bear the full fury of the "World's Strongest Man," Whitebeard, Edward Newgate!!