Marinford – Bang!
The door to a Navy hospital ward was violently flung open.
Marshal Sengoku strode in.
His sharp gaze swept across the room—and immediately fell on two figures.
Admirals Akainu and Aokiji.
Two of the Navy's strongest pillars, now lying battered and bandaged on separate beds. Their faces were pale, their bodies covered in blood-soaked wrappings.
Sengoku's brows tightened. "Are you two all right?"
He didn't waste time with pleasantries. As the former fleet admiral, his first concern was their condition.
"Aaah… la la la… I'm not dying anytime soon, I think," Aokiji muttered lazily, reclining with both hands behind his head, as if the wounds weren't even his.
"I'm fine, Sengoku-san," Akainu said, voice stiff but proud. Despite everything, a hint of satisfaction flashed in his eyes—Sengoku hadn't come to scold or assign blame.
Sengoku let out a slow breath. "Good. That's good…"
But the worry didn't leave his eyes. He turned to the nearby military doctor. "Status?"
The doctor gave a quick salute. "Both are stable. Full recovery is expected, sir."
Only then did Sengoku finally relax and pull a chair between their beds.
"Now," he said, lowering himself with a heavy sigh, "explain."
"What happened out there? Who managed to leave two admirals half-dead and barely able to make it back to Marineford?"
Aokiji looked toward the ceiling, then let out a dry chuckle. "Embarrassing, but... pirates have evolved. The new generation is terrifying."
That sentence alone said everything.
Sengoku's eyes narrowed. "Ragnar…"
"Had it not been for our engagement with Kaido…" Akainu growled, his fists clenching over the sheets, "...G-1 Base would still be in our hands."
Sengoku's eyes snapped to him. "You're telling me… it took two admirals, and even then, you couldn't subdue him?"
Akainu grunted, not expecting his offhand remark to trigger such a sharp reaction.
Aokiji raised a bottle of sherry and took a sip, indifferent. "Sengoku-san… maybe you should start thinking bigger."
Sengoku's eyes widened. "Two admirals just to fight him…?"
"That's about the size of it," Aokiji shrugged, as if he hadn't just shaken the very foundation of Marine doctrine.
Sengoku stood up so fast his chair scraped across the floor.
"…Another Roger? Or Rocks D. Xebec?" he muttered, eyes distant.
"That's impossible, isn't it?" a voice interjected.
Smoke curled into the air.
Smoker stood behind Sengoku, two cigars clenched in his mouth, his face taut with disbelief. "Wasn't it said—no one alive can defeat two admirals working together?"
Sengoku didn't respond.
Because what Smoker said was true… but only in theory.
And it wasn't referring to Akainu and Aokiji.
That invincible combination—was Sengoku and Garp.
Of course, he wouldn't say that out loud. Not here. Not now.
"…Smoker," Aokiji's voice dropped cold. "You don't need to be in this room."
"This is a high-level discussion," Akainu added sharply. "Not for marines beneath admiral rank."
Smoker's eyes narrowed. "Did I say something wrong?"
Smoker, completely unaware that a single sentence had offended all three Admirals, stood frozen in place.
He was confused.
He could understand Akainu reacting poorly—after all, Akainu wasn't on his side.
But why even Aokiji—his direct superior—had driven him out, he couldn't comprehend.
"You go out first, Smoker," Sengoku finally broke the awkward silence, dismissing him with a wave.
"Damn it… I'm going to be demoted again," Smoker muttered bitterly as he left, face darkened with frustration.
He didn't care much for titles or positions—but to get kicked out while visiting a patient, and likely face a demotion for it, was naturally infuriating.
As Smoker stepped out and the door shut behind him, silence once again fell over the large hospital ward.
Bulu bulu bulu—
A long moment passed.
Just as Sengoku was about to speak and ask about the situation, the Den Den Mushi in his breast pocket began to ring.
"Hello, Sengoku speaking."
"…Go ahead."
"…What?"
At first, Sengoku remained calm, but as Tsuru—on the other end of the line—began to report what had unfolded in the New World, his expression rapidly shifted from composed to horrified.
"Ragnar has proclaimed himself Emperor."
"The Four Emperors era is over—the New World has entered the age of the Five Emperors."
"The Five Emperors have gone to war."
"Yasopp is dead."
"Red-Haired Shanks was defeated by the True Lord Ragnar."
"The world's strongest man lost in a direct clash against the True Lord."
"Marco infiltrated the Palace of Death's rear—only to be defeated and captured by Ragnar."
One earth-shattering report after another spilled from the Den Den Mushi—each more shocking than the last.
Not just Sengoku—even Aokiji and Akainu, still recovering in their beds, were stunned into silence. Then, despite their injuries, they both sat up straight.
Clearly—
None of them had expected that while they had been defeated and forced to retreat back to Marineford, the entire New World had changed.
And at the center of this storm…
Was a single name.
Ragnar.
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