The assembly hall of Mary Geoise had never been so lively in eight hundred years.
An enormous dome soared overhead, carved with reliefs depicting every major event since the World Government's founding. Sunlight streamed through stained glass, casting dappled light and shadow across the floor.
The huge round tables were divided by the regions of the Four Seas and the Grand Line, with chairs arranged in arcs throughout the hall. Every seat held a representative from the corresponding affiliated nation-mostly the kings themselves, with a few royal family members or prime ministers sent in their place.
The air atop the Red Line was thin and cold, but at that moment, an indescribable heat permeated the hall.
It was not the heat of the air.
It was the heat in people's hearts.
Saint Garling sat beside the seat of honor-the secondary seat, where the meeting's moderator should originally have sat, though he had now yielded that role. A gilded document lay before him, the World Government's emblem printed on its cover. His expression was calm, betraying no emotion, and only occasionally did he lift his eyes to scan the kings whispering among themselves.
The seat of honor was empty.
That seat was reserved for that man.
Security for the hall was divided into two main layers.
Sakazuki guarded the outer layer.
He stood outside the assembly hall's main entrance in a crisp crimson suit, his arms folded and his gaze blazing. Every king entering the hall had to pass before him. Those rulers, usually so lofty, unconsciously slowed their steps before him and nodded slightly in greeting.
"Admiral Akainu."
"Thank you for your efforts, Mr. Sakazuki."
"With you here, we can rest easy."
Sakazuki merely nodded slightly, saying nothing. But inwardly, he did not dislike this feeling of being acknowledged.
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