In the hall of power deep within Pangaea Castle, the air was frozen like ice. Five candle flames flickered at the end of the long table, illuminating five deeply lined faces-the Five Elders, the symbols of the World Government's supreme authority, had gathered here. Before them, a projection Den Den Mushi cast a screen of light over the center of the table, displaying one horrific scene after another, repeatedly playing the final moments of the destruction of several major nations in the West Blue and several Marine Branches.
Bang! A withered palm slammed onto the mahogany tabletop inlaid with Beli, making the candle flames shake violently. Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro, the Warrior God of Finance, who wore two long strands of mustache, had a gaze as sharp as a blade behind his lenses. "Almost every nation in the West Blue has been conquered, and the Marine Branches there are on the verge of being overrun. Years of work, destroyed in an instant! Those invaders from Hua Country have no idea of their limits!"
On the screen, burning wreckage floated on the sea, and the flags of World Government Member States were swallowed by flames as they slowly sank into the murky water. A fleet flying black dragon-patterned flags was turning unhurriedly, its prows cleaving the waves and leaving devastation behind. On the flagship's deck, a figure in green robes with a long beard hanging over his chest could faintly be seen standing with a guandao in hand. His gaze flashed like lightning, as though piercing the projection across that vast distance to stare coldly at the Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
"Guan Yu..." Saint Marcus Mars, the Warrior God of the Environment, spoke in a low, hoarse voice. He rubbed the cane in his hand, his knuckles whitening with the force