Doberman and Onigumo, who still couldn't make sense of what had just happened, found themselves in a bind and didn't dare tell Lacroix what Sakazuki had said. They could only wait for further orders.
"Sakazuki already has the Gorosei's backing. If we follow his orders, we won't be blamed even if things go wrong in the end."
Onigumo grinned, his eyes sharp as he looked toward Lacroix, who was directing the marines at the port.
If they chose to side with Sakazuki, the first problem to solve would be Lacroix.
The giant-tribe marines had always been loyal supporters of Headquarters. Even bringing up Sakazuki and the Gorosei would not easily convince a one-track mind like Lacroix.
"Don't get reckless."
Vice Admiral Doberman's face flickered; openly disobeying Headquarters' orders still left room to remedy things later. But to lead a skirmish or to strike at their own people risked truly becoming a traitor to the Marines.
The last man who did something like that, Delocas, had almost been hunted to death by Kizaru and had to vanish and join CP0 in the end.
Doberman didn't think his own strength could be compared to that once-promising Delocas, and besides, Kizaru now was not the same rising naval prodigy he used to be.
The two of them together could defeat Lacroix without too much difficulty, but if Kizaru truly set his mind to eliminating them, even Doberman and Onigumo combined would be on a road to death.
"Relax. I'm not planning to move on him. Just trick Lacroix away — tell him Headquarters has new orders and that he must depart immediately to reinforce G-5."
Onigumo understood Doberman's concerns. Unlike the new generation of Marines and pirates, he and Doberman had witnessed Kizaru's rise firsthand.
Back when Rocks hadn't completely ruled the seas, Kizaru single-handedly carved out a reputation as a Marine monster on par with the naval hero Garp.
If he had a choice, Onigumo would rather face the likes of Kaido than test his strength against Kizaru. Against the former there's at least a chance to survive; against the latter, one can only pray for a better fate in the next life.
"Good idea. It's yours, then."
Doberman looked at Onigumo in mild surprise — he hadn't expected his usually arrogant colleague to come up with such a clever plan.
Most of the giant race marines were notoriously stubborn, but they were also equally well-known for another trait: being extremely gullible.
Of course, gullible didn't mean easy to fool — once they realized they'd been deceived, their wrath could make anyone who dared trick them regret it for life.
"I'll go then! But if Headquarters questions us later, you're taking the blame!"
Onigumo's mouth twitched. He'd been planning to let Doberman handle the lying part — after all, Doberman was the commander, and he was just the deputy. Yet somehow, that sly bastard managed to push the responsibility back onto him.
Still, it wasn't like Onigumo expected to deal with Lacroix again in the future. Those stubborn giants who only pledged loyalty to Marineford would most likely be branded as rebels by Mary Geoise soon enough. So, he didn't need to worry about Lacroix coming after him.
"Deal."
Doberman scratched his head — he was thinking the same thing. Even if things went south, they still had Sakazuki standing in front.
Knowing Kizaru's personality, he'd probably only hold Sakazuki accountable afterward. As for him, a humble Vice Admiral of Headquarters, there was no way he could bear the charge of disobeying direct orders.
After making their decision, the two split up to act. Doberman reported the G1 Base's situation to Sakazuki, while Onigumo went to see Lacroix, delivering the "new orders" supposedly from Headquarters.
The giant Vice Admiral Lacroix didn't doubt him in the slightest — without hesitation, he gathered his men and left G1 Base aboard his flagship.
No sooner had Lacroix's ship vanished beyond the horizon than Onigumo immediately ordered the marines to stop transporting supplies.
According to the earlier orders from Headquarters, G1 Base was supposed to pack up all their supplies and bring them along. But doing that would have severely hindered the fleet's combat capability.
However, Sakazuki's real goal was the G1 fleet itself — he never intended to relocate the entire base.
Meanwhile, as Sakazuki headed toward G1 Base, the allied nations surrounding Mary Geoise received a summoning order from the World Government.
They were commanded to lead their entire national armies to Mary Geoise within the given timeframe — failure to arrive on time, or to meet the required troop numbers, would result in being expelled from the ranks of member nations!
At that moment, news of the impending assault on Mary Geoise by the Cosmic Dark Matter Pirates hadn't yet spread completely. The kings didn't know what exactly was going on, but none of them dared to delay — all began mobilizing their forces toward Mary Geoise.
At the same time, the underworld released the highest bounty in history — a staggering 10 billion Berries for the head of Boros, captain of the Cosmic Dark Matter Pirates.
Major mercenary organizations were swiftly bought out by the deep pockets of the World Government. Even Judge, who had returned to the North Blue, received an offer so lucrative it nearly blinded him.
The commission was worth nearly ten times the standard pay for wartime mercenary work. Judge was tempted, but he remembered Kizaru's warning — and with great reluctance, he turned down the offer.
However, mercenary groups like Germa 66 were rare exceptions. Most other organizations, even at the cost of breaching existing contracts and abandoning ongoing wars, rushed to take the World Government's offer and head straight for Mary Geoise.
As the colossal "machine" that was the World Government began to move, the power it unleashed was enough to make the very seas tremble.
And just as the world was beginning to speculate on why the Government was suddenly taking such massive action, a shocking piece of news erupted across the globe —
Within a single day, hundreds of thousands of News Coo had delivered millions of newspapers to every corner of the world.
Countless people were stunned by the big headline on the World Economic News: although Boros had already declared his intention to overthrow the World Government when the Cosmic Dark Matter Pirates swallowed the Big Mom Pirates, slogans like that had been shouted by revolutionary groups countless times before.
Moreover, the World Government had been tamping down the coverage, so outside the New World relatively few people even knew about the Cosmic Dark Matter Pirates or Boros. This time, though, even the most ignorant reader, seeing the front-page photo of an endless pirate fleet, could tell the World Government was in serious trouble.
Morgans had been "thoughtful" enough to list the Cosmic Dark Matter Pirates' strength right in the headline. Ordinary people might not fully grasp what a "Yonko" is, but the figure—two hundred thousand pirates—was terrifyingly clear.
Many nations on the seas don't even have populations of two hundred thousand. A place like the Drum Kingdom, despite being a medical "power," is really just a cluster of villages with fewer than a hundred thousand people combined. Even the kings receiving mobilization orders from the World Government were having second thoughts: their armies could look disgracefully crushed by twenty thousand—no, two hundred thousand—pirates straight from the dangerous New World.
If their armies suffered heavy losses, those kings might not even be able to keep their thrones. And if they backed the World Government against the pirates, afterwards they themselves might become targets of the Cosmic Dark Matter Pirates—an outcome too awful to contemplate.
"Damn it! That bastard Morgans—he's a traitor!" Saint Mars slammed his cane down in fury, sounding both shocked and enraged. Historically, Morgans' World Economic News had maintained a tacit understanding with the World Government. Morgans sometimes printed stories that embarrassed the government, but mostly just harmless scandalous pieces. Over time the government relaxed its surveillance of Morgans—but who expected that, while the Five Elders were running themselves ragged, Morgans would deliver this "sudden strike"?
By the time the World Government realized the danger, Morgans' newsbirds had already distributed the papers worldwide. It was too late to suppress the bad news. Many mercenary organizations and bounty hunters, learning their prospective foe was the Cosmic Dark Matter Pirates, tore up their contracts with the World Government. The underworld's major players put up a front of strict neutrality.
Two Yonko, plus a "cosmic overlord" even stronger than a Yonko—that lineup could, to some degree, offset the World Government's eight centuries of terrifying prestige.
At least most summoned allied kingdoms were acting responsibly: apart from one unfortunate country that erupted into internal chaos, the rest gathered their forces in the time the World Government allowed.
"We can't wait any longer. Report to Imu-sama. Even if we are punished, we deserve it." Mars, with his long moustache, said in a heavy voice. The Elders had hoped that after winning the Holy Land defense they might plead their case to Imu and at least reduce their culpability. But the situation had clearly grown deeper and more dangerous: first it was the Navy's Fleet Admiral Kizaru, then CP0 Stussy in the New World, and now even Morgans had stabbed them in the back. Who knew how many enemies lurked in the shadows?
If this continued, it would eventually alarm Imu-sama. Better to come clean first; Imu might show mercy when it was time to recruit people for a desperate defense.
With a crash, the ill-tempered Topman Warcury Saint smashed his cup. His enormous moustache trembled with rage. "If I find out which bastard engineered all this, I'll tear him to pieces!"
Warcury's face twisted into a vicious snarl as he cursed furiously, yet he still couldn't guess the true identity of the mastermind.
After all, the idea that a newly appointed Fleet Admiral of the Marines had been plotting for decades, all for the sake of overthrowing the World Government—it sounded absurdly impossible.
Kizaru's decades-long act of being an idle, lazy slacker had been too convincing.
And with Marine Headquarters still seemingly taking only a passive stance—showing no sign of launching an assault on Mary Geoise—the illusion was enough to keep the Five Elders from realizing who their real enemy was.
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