While Lin Yuan and the others were sailing toward Cocoyasi Village in the East Blue, Marine Headquarters convened a meeting of its senior officers.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku looked exceptionally grim. The Five Elders had just reprimanded him again, ordering him to capture the culprit behind the rampage in Mary Geoise as soon as possible.
Sengoku had also learned what had happened, and the deaths of three Celestial Dragons had shocked him in particular.
When Borsalino returned, his clothes had been torn all over, and his shoulder had been burned. Sengoku hadn't been the only one shocked; Sakazuki and the others had been astonished as well.
Ever since Borsalino's promotion to Vice Admiral, he had never been injured. After a battle, even his clothes were hardly ever dirty.
What on earth had he been through this time to end up in such a sorry state?
Borsalino had gone for treatment first, so Sengoku hadn't questioned him closely. But now the Five Elders had put the Marines directly in charge of the incident in Mary Geoise, and he had no choice but to take it seriously.
No one spoke in the vast conference room until...
"Ooh, it's so quiet. Were you all waiting for me? How scary."
When Borsalino appeared with a bandage wrapped around his shoulder, everyone sucked in a breath.
Even Sakazuki and Kuzan's expressions changed as they studied Borsalino closely.
When had they ever seen him injured? Even for the two of them, leaving Borsalino in such a sorry state wouldn't have been easy.
Whenever they fought him in the past, Borsalino's terrifying speed had often left them helpless, and every fight had ended in a draw.
"I never thought I'd see the day you got hurt. Now I'm interested in the person who did it."
Sakazuki casually lit a cigar. Seeing this, the other Vice Admirals followed suit, and white smoke soon rose through the conference room.
"Mm, he was quite a formidable fellow. He even escaped from me without a scratch. How scary."
As Borsalino spoke, he walked to his seat and casually helped himself to one of Sakazuki's cigars, making Sakazuki's mouth twitch.
Those were a special supply for Admirals, and he didn't have many left.
"Ah, I haven't smoked in a long time. I'll make an exception today."
Borsalino sniffed the cigar he had swiped from Sakazuki, rubbed his fingers together to light it instantly, then put it in his mouth and took a deep drag.
"Phew..."
Through the combined efforts of the Admirals and Vice Admirals, the entire conference room slowly filled with smoke.
"Ahem, now that everyone is here, let's begin the meeting."
Sengoku swept his gaze over the room. Everyone was present except Garp, who had run back to the East Blue.
"Everyone, there was a slave revolt in Mary Geoise. The World Government has handed the matter over to the Marines, so we're under considerable pressure!"
"Borsalino, tell everyone what you encountered in Mary Geoise."
Fleet Admiral Sengoku looked at Borsalino. He wasn't the only one; nearly everyone turned to Borsalino, their eyes occasionally drifting to his injured shoulder.
This was only the second time Borsalino had received such attention. The first had been when he was promoted to Marine Admiral, but his feelings on the two occasions were complete opposites.
"Phew, how scary!"
Borsalino breathed out a cloud of smoke and readily uttered his catchphrase. Sengoku's eye twitched when he heard it.
Still, he knew Borsalino really had been injured this time, so he couldn't very well scold him again.
Fortunately, Borsalino only made that one remark before continuing.
"Actually, I didn't see any slave revolt. By the time I reached the Red Line, I saw some of the people who'd been captured fighting the guards of those pieces of trash."
"Ahem... Borsalino, get to the point!"
Borsalino gave Sengoku a look of disdain →_→ before continuing.
"Another group had already reached the edge of the Red Line, right by the sightseeing current."
"There were quite a few Fish-Men among the people who'd been captured, which gave them a chance to escape. Uh, I also saw quite a few children among them."
"Ahem..."
"I know, Fleet Admiral Sengoku. Get to the point, right?"
Sengoku's face darkened, and he glared fiercely at Borsalino.
"In my condition at the time, it wasn't as if I couldn't have stopped them, but I ran into someone."
"That fellow was much weaker than me, but he taught me a lesson!"
At that, everyone perked up. The important part had arrived. They too wanted to know just who could have injured Admiral Borsalino.
"When I was about to stop them, that person actually stepped right in front of the guards and unleashed terrifying Conqueror's Haki, defeating two or three thousand people in one move."
In fact, there had only been around a thousand pursuing CP guards. Borsalino had exaggerated a little; he had his pride to consider, after all.
"What? He awakened Conqueror's Haki and wiped out three thousand of Mary Geoise's guards in one move?"
Everyone began discussing it, marveling at the man's strength. Borsalino's lips curled upward, quite pleased with their reaction.
Everyone here was a Vice Admiral or stronger. If even they were shocked, it made sense that he had suffered some injuries.
"Ahem, quiet..."
Sengoku called out, and everyone fell silent.
"Borsalino, go on."
"Uh, where was I?"
"Conqueror's Haki. That fellow wiped out three thousand people in one move."
Sengoku was getting a little irritated, and his voice grew louder.
"Oh, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, how scary!"
Borsalino made the remark, but when he saw that Fleet Admiral Sengoku was about to lose his temper, he hurriedly continued.
"To stop him from killing the guards, I fought him. He was very strong, but he hadn't reached the level of an Admiral."
"Oh? You were injured by someone weaker than you?!"
Sakazuki couldn't help asking. He couldn't quite accept that someone from his own generation who could fight him to a draw had been injured by someone weaker than them.
"Phew... yes. He was very strong, a top-tier swordsman, and he possessed all Three Types of Haki."
"If that were all, I wouldn't have been injured. But I still let my guard down. He might also be an ability user; he could breathe red flames from his mouth."
"Bang..."
Just as Borsalino was about to continue, a loud noise rang out in the enormous conference room. Everyone hurriedly looked over.
Kuzan, who had been half asleep and indifferent to everything, had suddenly stood up, knocking the chair behind him onto the floor.
"What did you say? He breathed fire?! Borsalino, what did he look like?"
Kuzan's reaction surprised everyone. They didn't know why he was asking.
Seeing the somewhat gloomy look in his eyes, Borsalino was puzzled.
"Uh, he was wearing a cloak at first, so I didn't get a good look!"
"With your strength, you still couldn't see his face?"
"Uh, I could have, but after his cloak was pulled away, he had a mask on too!"
Everyone was rather speechless. What kind of person, faced with a Marine Admiral, would think about wearing a mask instead of escaping?
Kuzan's expression stiffened for a moment too. He stared intently at Borsalino's face, seemingly trying to tell whether he was speaking the truth.
"Kuzan, I'm telling the truth!"
"You just said he could breathe red flames?"
"That's right. And not only could he breathe fire, he could also let out a roar that shook his opponent's mind. That was the move that got me."
"Even though I was injured, I could still have captured or killed him, but he was far too crafty."
"As soon as I was injured, that kid fled without hesitation. I thought he was an ability user, but to my surprise, he rushed straight toward the sea current without hesitation."
"Then something even more surprising happened. When I tried to attack him, he froze the entire sea current over."
"At the time, I thought you'd shown up, Kuzan. I was caught off guard, and he escaped."
Feeling a little unsettled under Kuzan's gaze, Borsalino went ahead and recounted what had happened.
A flicker of hesitation crossed Kuzan's eyes as he thought of the young man from before.
"Kuzan, sit down first. Do you know this person?"
Kuzan froze for a moment, then returned to his listless state.
"Oh, no. I must have been mistaken."
Kuzan sat down again, though his hand involuntarily reached for the Mandala at his waist.
"Damn, why is everyone so scary today?"