Chaos took over Mary Geoise even before any official announcement spread. With every new barge climbing the Red Line Elevator, more Tenryuubito disembarked complaining, demanding, ordering, as if the world itself were committing a crime by not bowing quickly enough. The Marine escort advanced with discipline, but the group of nobles moved like a noisy storm, pushing, shouting, cracking whips of arrogance through the air.
"I demand explanations! Why were we called back so early? I was enjoying myself!" The Tenryuubito with the golden mask raised his arm as if expecting the sky to answer him.
"This is outrageous! I want to know which incompetent ordered this!" Another noble surged forward, stumbling over his own cloak, but never letting his tone drop.
"You Marine insects should be carrying us, not making us walk!" The third Tenryuubito pointed at the soldiers. "I will have all of you executed if you keep this pace!"
The escort kept formation. No soldier answered. The order was clear: absolute silence.
That only encouraged the nobles.
"Look at me when I speak! It is an insult to ignore me!"
"If this trip does not improve right now, I will have your families punished!"
"I want new slaves! And faster!"
The noise grew as the procession climbed the internal stairways leading to the upper gates. Some Tenryuubito struck the ground with canes, others shoved their own personal guards. One even threatened to shoot a Marine for "walking crooked."
"You are all useless! All of you!"
The Marines held firm.
Until the collective sound of arrogance was cut by steady footsteps echoing from the upper corridor.
Figarland Shamrock stopped at the top of the stairs.
He did not move beyond that.
He did not widen his stance.
He did not speak at once.
He simply observed.
The Tenryuubito did not notice him at first. They kept yelling over one another like birds fighting for space. Some even complained about the lighting, the wind, the temperature. Everything should have been adjusted for their comfort.
Only when two CP0 members appeared behind Shamrock did the nobles realize someone occupied the center of the corridor.
"You there! Clear the way! We have arrived!" one Tenryuubito said, striking his cane on the ground.
Shamrock did not answer.
Another noble pointed at him.
"Who allowed a guard to stand like that? Move! Can't you see you are blocking our passage?"
Silence.
"Hey! I am talking to you!"
Shamrock lifted his chin a few millimeters. That was the only movement so far. His eyes examined the nobles long enough for discomfort to begin spreading among them, even as they tried to mask it with insults.
"Enough." The word came out low, almost without intent to be heard.
But it echoed.
And struck exactly where it needed to.
Shamrock activated Haoshoku.
There was no explosion.
No wind.
No visible distortion of space.
The change happened almost imperceptibly, as if the air around him had been compressed for a microscopic instant. The atmosphere seemed to gain an artificial weight, narrow and directed, creating a silent pressure that advanced like a straight invisible line.
The effect struck only the chosen targets.
The Tenryuubito felt the impact before they understood it. Their bodies lost support unevenly. Some collapsed forward as their legs gave out without resistance. Others toppled backward awkwardly, like dolls without joints. Some twisted sideways, falling in disconnected motions, unable to grasp what had happened.
None of them made a sound.
None of them had time to react.
Consciousness was ripped from their bodies with surgical precision.
The personal guards standing inches away remained firm, unaware of any change in body or mind. Distance did not matter. The attack had been shaped exclusively to ignore them.
The CP0 agents watched without moving a muscle. Their eyes widened only at the physical strangeness of the scene. Dozens of bodies dressed in noble attire collapsing at once, as if switched off by a single command. None of them felt even the slightest spiritual pressure.
The Marines kept formation intact. The soldiers stayed aligned, boots marking the same precise spacing, as if nothing had happened. The absence of direct impact on them made what they had just witnessed perfectly clear. An extremely selective, calculated, absolute technique.
The corridor, moments earlier filled with shouting and arrogance, became a silent field where the only visible movement was the slow fall of dust shaken loose as bodies hit the ground.
Shamrock did not need to move to reinforce what he had done.
The precision of the collective collapse spoke for itself.
The nobles lay in absolute silence, finally useful for the first time.
Shamrock stepped down one stair.
"They will not speak anymore." He glanced at the bodies without interest. "Better this way."
The CP0 members approached, waiting for instructions. The Marines, still aligned, waited without moving a muscle.
Shamrock adjusted his glove.
"From this moment on, I assume full command of order in Mary Geoise."
His voice did not need to rise. It was a statement, not a dispute.
"Any attempt at interference will be treated as direct insubordination."
One of the CP0 agents inclined his head.
"Shamrock-sama, should we declare a state of alert?"
"This is already a state of alert." He continued walking. "The difference is that now there is someone competent to manage it."
The words carried no venom. They were simple observation.
Shamrock stopped before one of the fallen Tenryuubito and nudged the body aside with the tip of his boot, only to clear the path. There was no added disrespect in the gesture. It was merely logic of movement. Something on the floor was in the way.
He turned to the Marines.
"You."
The entire division straightened.
"Collect all the bodies."
The soldiers waited for the continuation. Shamrock gave it.
"Send each noble back to their respective family."
One of the captains opened his mouth to ask whether they should keep them under protection or special observation. Shamrock cut him off before he found the courage.
"They will be of no use here. Return them."
The captain nodded quickly.
Then Shamrock added, without transition:
"Organize the upper wings. No Tenryuubito is to remain in common areas. The internal situation requires total separation."
CP0 recorded the order.
The Marines moved.
The last remnants of arrogance vanished from the corridor as soldiers began collecting the bodies like luggage. It was the first time in history that someone touched a Tenryuubito without fear of punishment, not because they had lost social value, but because the structure above them was already rotten and barely standing.
The CP0 agents formed two lines behind Shamrock, awaiting further instructions. He scanned the formation.
"Mary Geoise is vulnerable." The words came cold. "The central pillars have collapsed. The next few hours will decide whether this place continues to exist or is swept away like filth accumulated over centuries."
CP0 remained motionless.
Shamrock concluded:
"Remove civilians from the immediate surroundings. Reinforce internal barriers. No one enters. No one leaves."
One agent asked:
"And the rest of the World Government?"
Shamrock answered without turning his head.
"If they want to survive, they will come to me."
It was the first time he made the new hierarchy of that place clear.
The silence that followed was not heavy with tension, but with reorganization. It was the invisible sound of a political castle collapsing and trying to stand again on improvised foundations.
Shamrock watched soldiers carrying away the unconscious Tenryuubito. There was not a single reaction of pity, concern, or irritation. They were simply useless pieces that now needed to be removed from the board so the real players could take their place.
He turned to one of the Marine captains.
"When you finish, return to the west gate. The next order will be given there."
"Yes, sir!"
Shamrock turned halfway around and walked back toward the upper corridor with measured steps.
The new order began there.
And for the first time since the creation of the World Government, the Tenryuubito were no longer at the top.
They were merely an obstacle removed from the path.
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