A pebble

After hanging up, Lofan immediately notified Ain.

"Tell our people not to get worked up. We've only cut into someone else's big slice of the pie. I knew this was coming. We can also use this chance to let most people know that their tactics won't work on me."

Then he summoned a News Coo and tucked in some information about precautions to take.

Although there was almost no chance of Morgans and Doflamingo being exposed, the other side clearly wanted to catch him off guard. Even if nothing was wrong, they would probably try to find something.

Some things were easily overlooked under normal circumstances, but at a time like this, the concern was that the other side might stumble onto them by chance.

Lofan stared expressionlessly at the sea, considering how to respond.

He had originally thought they would, at most, throw plenty of obstacles in his way behind the scenes. He had not expected them to bring things out into the open. That gave him room to maneuver.

"Do they really not know what earned me my Admiral rank?"

Perhaps it was because the gentle image Lofan had always presented within the Marines had never inspired fear, instead making people feel thoroughly at ease.

But that also made even the Marines themselves unconsciously overlook one fact: Lofan had defeated Kaido of the Beasts in single combat.

That day, the words "decisive victory"

had echoed across the Grand Line for a long time, proclaiming the birth of a new top-tier powerhouse.

The Five Elders' order to investigate Lofan was known only among the upper ranks, and even the earliest notification had gone only to Kong and Sengoku.

Robin had happened to arrive at the right time and had learned of the order from Sengoku by chance.

But the Five Elders' move was certainly intended to put Lofan in his place. Even though he was now one of the Marines' strongest fighters, he was still far too junior.

Whether pirates or Marines,

they were all merely pawns to be used to preserve their rule. Lofan was currently on the board, so naturally he could not remain outside the game.

Winning this round required not only personal strength, but also showing the Five Elders that everything Lofan did was to better serve the World Government's rule.

It was to better enable the Marines to impose their might across the entire sea. That way, no matter what privileges the noble Celestial Dragons possessed, they would have to give way to that reality.

The Celestial Dragons, who styled themselves gods, were themselves merely a product of the need to preserve that rule. They could disregard the law and act without restrictions, but they absolutely could not threaten the World Government's rule.

That was a line that could never be crossed.

Because Lofan did not belong to this world, he could naturally step beyond the limitations of its people and trace the underlying threads.

He glanced at the template progress:

Unlock rate: 62%

Hōgyoku locked.

Since his last battle with Kaido, the template's progress had indeed been incredibly slow. It seemed that the higher his progress rose, the more negligible the gains from imitating Aizen each day became.

"Looks like I need to go make trouble for someone."

Lofan held the Sword of Damocles that was the Navy Misconduct Search Bureau, had a special combat unit aimed directly at the Four Emperors, and his arrangements on Punk Hazard were gradually getting on track.

Morgans's intelligence network was fairly stable. Although Caesar's research had made no obvious progress, it was proceeding slowly with Doflamingo's support.

It was time to make unlocking the Hōgyoku his top priority.

Taking out his Den Den Mushi, Lofan called Robin again and explained the various documents she needed to prepare in advance. Only then did he return inside the warship.

It was merely a matter of turning an investigation into a work report. He hoped the other side was not acting on a passing whim, or the knives he had prepared would go to waste.

Robin immediately recalled some of her people and hurried to prepare the documents according to Lofan's instructions.

The troops blockading the place were all Marines from headquarters. They had found the order baffling when they received it, and besides, who did not have thoughts of their own?

The order they had received was this: "Seal off the Navy Criminal Search Bureau until Cloud Gull Admiral returns."

Anyone with any sense could recognize the distinction, so why offend Cloud Gull Admiral, whose prestige was currently soaring, over an ambiguous order?

And so the Commodore in command very simply ignored what Robin and the others were doing.

In the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, three Celestial Dragons sat atop their respective slaves as they took a stroll. Behind them followed a group of beautiful slave maids whose eyes held no life.

"Saint Charlos, our losses this time were enormous. No matter what, we have to make that human trash Lofan hand over all the money he confiscated."

"Hmph! A mere Marine Admiral actually dared to interfere with the gods' income. We have to strip a layer of skin off him this time before I'll be satisfied!"

Even as he spoke, Saint Charlos still felt his anger had not been sufficiently vented. He drew a pistol from his bloated waist and fired several shots at random into the maids behind him.

None of the pitiful maids even dodged. Some were shot in the arm, and some fell to the ground, yet not a single one showed the slightest reaction.

"Ah, I'm already bored of playing with this trash. Once we get our money back this time, let's buy a new batch."

Then a CP0 agent dressed in a white suit appeared and led the maids away without a word, before arranging for people to wipe the blood off the road.

"Saint Charlos, why don't we make that trash Admiral serve as our target when the time comes?"

Saint Gemlova's suggestion caught the other two's interest.

"Let's hear it. How should we play with him?"

"How about making him stand still while we each take turns shooting at that ugly face of his?"

"Can we hurt him? Didn't they say he has some strange fruit power?"

"Put Seastone Handcuffs on him and forbid him from using Haki. We'll each fire a magazine into his face. If he survives, we can forgive his offense."

"That works."

"That works."

The three "gods" each described ways to punish Lofan, as though they already had him firmly in their grasp.

The Hall of Authority.

The Five Elders sat on green sofas and had just come to the arrangements for summoning Lofan to a hearing.

"From what we can see so far, everything he has done has been to develop the Marines, but there are indeed suspicious points."

"This complaint over his inspection of a Marine branch under Mary Geoise gives us a convenient opportunity to test Lofan's thinking."

"His actions have brought one of the Four Emperors' forces to the brink of collapse. That is not conducive to maintaining the balance of power at sea."

"Is there still no one who can fill Kaido's vacancy?"

"Shanks has sent a letter. As one of us, his unusual position has indeed helped stabilize the world's balance."

"Enough. We all know Lofan must have ambitions of his own, but do not let anyone from the family that filed the complaint into the Hall of Authority. Otherwise, none of us will have an easy time bringing this to a close."

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

Even though Lofan now held the rank of Admiral and was hailed as the greatest genius in Marine history, in the Five Elders' eyes, he did not even qualify as a light in history.

He was merely a pebble.

Watching Marineford headquarters draw ever closer, Lofan took off his Justice Coat. It was time to meet the final boss's gatekeepers.