Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
Inside the conference hall, deploying troops was already a certainty.
But the two factions began arguing over how far they should go.
The Dove Faction believed they could fight, but only needed to put on a convincing show.
Otherwise, their facade would crumble, exposing Headquarters' weakness.
The pirates would go wild, and the consequences would be unimaginable.
The Hawk Faction believed they had to fight to the death.
If one battle hadn't hurt the pirates enough, they should give them another.
As long as they killed Golden Lion too, bringing down two great pirates in succession...
The pirates would surely fall into line.
Neither faction would budge.
Fleet Admiral Kong had a headache. Both sides made valid arguments.
A fight, or a fight to the death...
Just then, Fleet Admiral Kong's adjutant walked in.
He said something to Fleet Admiral Kong, whose eyes lit up.
Kong thought for a few seconds.
Bam!
He slapped the table.
"Enough! Quiet!"
"We'll deploy five warships this time to give Golden Lion a token warning."
"Sakazuki will lead them."
"Sakazuki, come outside with me."
With that, he walked out.
Sakazuki raised an eyebrow and followed him.
The two factions in the conference hall exchanged looks.
Sending five warships clearly meant making a token gesture to avoid exposing Headquarters' weakness.
But putting Sakazuki in charge... that...
Everyone knew Sakazuki would risk his life to kill pirates.
The Fleet Admiral's Office.
Sakazuki followed Fleet Admiral Kong inside.
He sat down on the sofa.
Fleet Admiral Kong said:
"Do you know why I arranged things this way?"
Sakazuki thought for a few seconds...
Then shook his head.
Fleet Admiral Kong grinned.
"Sengoku has been found. He's on his way back with Garp."
"I told them to stay out of sight."
"By the time you