"Hey? Sengoku!? Are you Marines out of your minds!? We let the Marines take over Fish-Man Island, and this is how you take over!?"
"Oh, it's Saint Nasjuro." Sengoku glanced at the Den Den Mushi, a trace of impatience flashing in his eyes. "Do the Elders have any advice for my decision?"
"Advice?" Even that corpse-like face of Saint Nasjuro seemed to come alive with anger at Sengoku's tone. "We are ordering you!"
"Mm. I refuse." Sengoku's voice was dripping with indifference. "Your orders are something the Marines cannot carry out. If you want Fish-Man Island taken over, have the CP organizations do it."
With just one sentence, Sengoku left the Elders speechless.
Of course!
If CP could take over Fish-Man Island, would they even need the Marines?
But Sengoku's hardline stance had put the Elders in an awkward bind.
The reason was simple—right now, the Marines were essentially a one-man show under Sengoku.
The Sengoku of old had been absolutely loyal to the World Government, to the point of blind obedience, allowing them to control the Marines almost perfectly.
But now…
Sengoku seemed to have slipped free of their control.
And that was the deadliest problem.
Within the Marines… no one could replace Sengoku.
The three Logia Vice Admirals lacked authority, Zephyr had retired, and Garp was practically in lockstep with Sengoku!
Even if they brought Kong back to the front stage, he might not be as effective as Sengoku.
For the first time, the Elders realized that their once all-powerful authority…
Didn't seem to work on Sengoku anymore.
If it had been anyone else, and their authority couldn't suppress them, they could still use force.
But Sengoku…
A Marine Admiral in his prime—these few old bones might not even be able to take him down.
And there was no way they could escalate this to Imu-sama.
That would only make Imu-sama think they were incompetent.
And incompetent people… would have their eternal privilege of life taken away by Imu-sama.
"Anything else? Thanks to the World Government's 'brilliant decision,' I have quite a lot of urgent Fish-Man Island documents to deal with right now."
Without waiting for the Elders's reply, Sengoku hung up the Den Den Mushi.
At that moment, a deep, genuine sense of satisfaction welled up inside him.
He'd been fed up with those brainless old fossils in the World Government for a long time!
So this was how good it felt for Michael when he'd been cornering him and Garp!
Even the mood for processing paperwork felt much better.
The Elders's mood, however, was far from pleasant.
"Recently, the Marines… have gotten far too fond of acting on their own."
"From what the World Economic News is reporting, the ones behind this mess are Garp and that Rear Admiral named Michael."
"Michael? The same Marine who once burned a slave ship and saved Saint Charlos?"
"Garp is untouchable, so we'll have to move against him instead. Send CP0. At the very least, that Marine Rear Admiral must be taught the lesson he deserves."
"Agreed." "Agreed." "Agreed." "I agree as well… unanimous vote."
"Make sure CP0 handles it discreetly. If they can make it look like the Whitebeard Pirates were behind it, all the better."
...
Fish-Man Island.
After Michael, Whitebeard, and Queen Otohime pressed their seals on the cooperation treaty, the entire island plunged into a massive, chaotic purge.
And those fleeing were, of course, the Celestial Dragons, pirates, and… certain Marines who had lorded over Fish-Man Island.
"Shit! Boss! I think we're surrounded!"
"Damn it! Since when were Fish-Man Island's soldiers this ferocious? Weren't they all meek and docile before?"
"No, boss." The pirate lackey shook his head frantically. "They're not from Ryugu Palace!"
"Huh? Then who the hell's sticking their nose into this!?"
"I-It's the Marines and…"
"And what!? You running out of breath at a time like this!?"
"It's the Marines and the Whitebeard Pirates!"
"White—"
The pirate looked up to see his captain faint on the spot.
And scenes like this were unfolding in every corner of Fish-Man Island.
The Marines and the Whitebeard Pirates had officially begun their sweeping purge.
With the three sides cooperating, the efficiency was terrifying.
Anyone with even a hint of wrongdoing was immediately seized.
This was exactly what Michael had instructed.
They needed to establish authority.
Even if the World Economic News had told the world that the Marines, the Whitebeard Pirates, and Fish-Man Island were allied, there would still be those who thought it was all just a superficial show.
This display of power was for them.
To make it clear—there was no superficial show here, only a powerful, genuine alliance.
Plenty of members from major pirate crews in both the New World and Paradise were arrested without daring to utter a word.
The Marines might have trouble finding them—but the Whitebeard Pirates? They could find them with pinpoint accuracy.
Who would dare stick their necks out now?
You either gave respect to the Marines, or you gave respect to the Whitebeard Pirates.
And if you didn't?
If you didn't, you gave up your head.
This great purge lasted nearly a week, even more imposing than the infamous Sabaody Archipelago cleansing.
But Michael's expression only grew darker.
Because on Fish-Man Island, he had captured a total of 645 Marines.
Among them were 38 Marine officers, the highest-ranked being a Rear Admiral—the same rank as him.
After Jinbe's confirmation, this was the man who had first led a group to Ryugu Palace and acted with blatant disrespect toward the Ryugu Kingdom.
And what this group of Marines had done on Fish-Man Island…
Even the Whitebeard Pirates' crew members, hardened as they were, wore expressions of fury.
Michael had imagined the behavior of the Regional Justice faction before—treating non–World Government nations as less than human.
But…
"Murder, arson, rape, looting… is there anything you haven't done?"
All 645 Marines were herded to a large open space on the outskirts of Fish-Man Island.
There, the members of the Whitebeard Pirates were solemnly carving gravestones—one after another.
Everywhere you looked, the ground was filled with unmarked graves.
Michael and Garp counted them three times—168 graves in total.
That meant these Marines had murdered 168 Fish-Man Island civilians.
Michael's usual playful grin was long gone.
Two pairs of wings—one large, one small—twitched restlessly on his back.
"Hmph! They're not even a member of the World Government. To us, the people of Fish-Man Island aren't human." The leading Rear Admiral sneered. "Even if this goes to the World Government, I'd still say the same!"
The Regional Justice faction in the Marines were the nails the World Government had driven into the organization—loyal not to the Marines, but to the World Government and the Celestial Dragons.
But… none of that mattered anymore.
Michael smiled faintly at the words and rose to his feet.
"Too bad for you. I never planned on letting you leave."
He stepped forward, a pale blue flame blooming in his hand.
Unlike the Holy Light, this fire…
Was called 'Judgment.'
"You! What are you doing!?" The Rear Admiral broke into a sweat. "You can't touch us! The crime of killing fellow Marines—even lunatics like Sakazuki would think twice about that!"
"Sorry, but in the name of the SWORD Secret Special Force, I declare your crimes irrefutably proven."
"You are hereby expelled from the Marines!"
"You thought that just because Fish-Man Island was struck from the World Government's rolls, you could do whatever you wanted?"
"Now you've been struck from the rolls yourselves. You're no longer Marines… so tell me, for a capital crime like this, how many times do you think you should die?"
Michael chuckled, and the pale blue flame drifted from his hand.
It touched the filthy Marine uniforms—and in an instant, spread like wildfire, engulfing all 645 Marines.
In a heartbeat, they were reduced to nothingness.
In the faint distance, Michael could hear it…
The eternal wails of the guilty.
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