Mary Geoise, the Room of Authority.
Beyond the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows lay the area of the "Empty Throne," forever bathed in sacred light, but that light could not dispel the almost tangible heaviness that filled the room. Five figures sat around a polished black stone table. The air seemed frozen, and only the thick stack of intelligence documents spread across the table indicated that this meeting had lasted an entire night.
"We cannot wait any longer."
The Blond Five Elders spoke slowly, his voice echoing through the spacious room with cold resolve. His slender fingers tapped lightly against the table, each tap seeming to strike the drumbeat of the world's fate.
"The West Blue has become completely unified. Chen Yu's coronation, that ceremony of rewards... he is no longer building a pirate crew. He is creating an empire. One with a complete bureaucracy, a military organization, a legal code, and even a next generation already... a true empire."
"What is even more frightening is the composition of his forces." The sword-bearing Bald Five Elders picked up the thread, his gaze beneath his mask as sharp as a blade as he stared at the detailed assessment of the battle in the N-7 Sea Area. "Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, Lü Bu, Dian Wei, Chinjao... at least seven monsters with 'Admiral level' destructive power and mastery of rules. Ma Chao and Gan Ning have also reached that threshold. And that does not include Chen Yu himself..."
He paused, his voice sinking lower. "The man who captured Kaido alive."
The temperature in the room seemed to drop another few degrees. Captured Kaido alive. Those words struck everyone's hearts like a thousand-pound hammer. That was the "World's Strongest Creature," a monster who had challenged the Marines and the World Government single-handedly