New World, G-10 Base.
The political showdown at the decoration ceremony, watched by the entire world, had just drawn to a close.
Gern had not even had time to savor that victory before plunging into an even larger, more complicated workload.
Inside the office at G-10 Base, documents piled up like mountains, and the Den Den Mushi rang one after another.
Just as he had expected, taking Whitebeard's territory was only the beginning. The real challenge lay in absorbing it and securing his hold.
Conquering it alone was not enough. It also meant reassuring the subordinate kingdoms, controlling the sea routes, integrating resources,
and dealing with the inevitable infiltration and counterattacks from the other Four Emperors' forces.
On top of that, two more daunting responsibilities had now been added to his plate.
First and foremost was the construction of New Marineford.
Relocating Marine Headquarters to the New World and expanding and remodeling the existing G-2 Base
required astronomical sums of money, supplies, and manpower, along with complex defensive designs and renewed coordination with the surrounding powers. The scale of the project far exceeded rebuilding the old Marineford.
The second was the strategic adjustment of the first half of the Grand Line.
Although their strategic focus had shifted, they could hardly leave "Paradise" to its own devices.
Maintaining basic order in the first half and deterring the pirates itching to make a move without diverting their main forces from the New World,
while also preventing the World Government from using this as an excuse to interfere, required extraordinarily careful planning and personnel assignments.
In short, there was a mountain of work to do!
But Gern also displayed astonishing coordination and efficiency to match his terrifying strength.
Rather than wasting time getting bogged down in minor details, he went straight for the