Two months passed in the blink of an eye, and the world underwent new changes.
After Sengoku had Marineford repaired, he began preparing for his own resignation.
During this time, Raleigh had effectively already begun exercising the authority of Fleet Admiral.
With a single transfer order, Kuzan was sent to the New World.
He would lead twelve thousand Marine soldiers there to construct the new Marine Headquarters.
Sakazuki, following the strategic plan that had been decided, arrived ahead of time at a Marine base near Reverse Mountain.
Meanwhile, Headquarters was continuously drawing elite soldiers, weapons, and equipment from the Grand Line and sending them to the front.
The Revolutionary Army in the Four Blues seemed to have special channels through which they obtained information from the Grand Line.
They began contracting their forces.
After taking over small countries and islands with no strategic value, they handed them to the rebellious civilians to manage and withdrew.
Most of their forces were deployed by Dragon at the edges of the world, sealing off passage between the Four Blues and the Grand Line.
On deserted islands where there were no inhabitants at all, modern factories completely different in style from the Four Blues began rising one after another.
Using these overlooked locations, Dragon began manufacturing weapons and production tools on a large scale.
With weapons, he overthrew corrupt noble regimes.
With production tools, he liberated civilians who no longer had chains hanging over their heads.
Large numbers of young, able-bodied workers who should have gone out to sea and become pirates were instead absorbed into the Revolutionary Army's reserve forces.
Dragon remained in the Sorbet Kingdom, filled with confidence in the Revolutionary Army's development.
At the Marine branch on the Sabaody Archipelago, Bullet sat viciously on the base commander's sofa, casually tossing a coin in his hand.
With a flick of his finger, the coin shot straight through the thick wall, leaving behind a clean, transparent hole.
"So," he said, "how much longer until everyone is gathered?"
Bullet's expression was unfriendly as he stared at the deferential Marine Vice Admiral standing before him, Nick Adrien.
Nick Adrien wiped away cold sweat and said, "It will be ready immediately, Lord Bullet. I have already notified everyone. We are only waiting for the last group on duty to arrive."
Although he held the rank of Vice Admiral, Nick Adrien knew very well how hollow that rank truly was. If not for the importance of the Sabaody Archipelago, he would never have been promoted to this position.
With rank but no real combat strength, he could only serve Barrett respectfully.
"Hm?"
"No need to wait any longer."
"I can sense that they are already here."
A cold smile hung on Bullet's face.
His Observation Haki had long since covered the entire base, so the moment the final group of soldiers stepped through the gates, he had known.
At that moment, the sound of the assembly horn rang throughout the base.
Countless soldiers surged in from every corner, swiftly lining up on the parade ground.
Holding the roster of the Marine soldiers stationed on Sabaody, Bullet followed Nick Adrien to the podium at the center of the grounds.
The enormous parade ground was now packed with Marine soldiers.
Heads filled the space, one after another, and none of them knew why everyone had suddenly been called together.
Many were guessing that Sabaody was about to send men to the Four Blues to fight the Revolutionary Army.
"Silence!"
"We invite Lord Bullet to speak in Admiral Raleigh's place!"
After saying that, Nick Adrien decisively gave up his position and respectfully yielded the center of the platform to Barrett.
Bullet stood in the middle with the roster in hand and said in a steady voice, "Now, we begin roll call."
As voices answered one after another, the Marine soldiers of Sabaody were quickly called through.
Just when everyone was still confused, Bullet closed the roster and slipped it into his coat.
A twisted grin appeared on his face.
"By Admiral Raleigh's order, every corrupt Marine in the Sabaody Archipelago is to be purged."
The moment he finished speaking, before Vice Admiral Nick Adrien beside him could react, Bullet swung a fist at his head.
In shock, Nick Adrien only managed to raise his arm to block.
Crack!
Splurt!
With lightning speed, Bullet's punch shattered both Nick Adrien's arm and his skull.
Among the Marine soldiers below, some were frozen in fear by the sight, while others trembled violently.
Most of them, however, were too far away to understand what had just happened.
Then Bullet, still wearing that savage grin, released his Conqueror's Haki at full force and charged into the crowd of Marine soldiers like an unstoppable humanoid beast.
Wails and screams rang out without end.
That day, every civilian in the Sabaody Archipelago looked toward the Marine base in terror, because above it loomed the image of a ferocious beast formed from bloodlust.
...
One hour later, Bullet walked out of the Marine base with his face covered in blood.
Enel stood at the gate.
After glancing inside, he complained, "Bullet-san, why did you not let me handle these Marine scum? With the way you dealt with them, cleaning up alone will take three days."
Bullet split his mouth into a wide grin and laughed.
"It has been a long time since I slaughtered like that. Lord Raleigh specially approved this one so I could vent."
"There will be plenty of chances for you to show off later, kid."
Enel unwillingly began directing the Marine soldiers to clean the inside of the base. Corpses were laid out one after another, then burned in an orderly manner.
...
At Marineford, inside the already-repaired Fleet Admiral's office, Raleigh sat in the chair that now belonged to him.
Sengoku, meanwhile, worked at a small desk to the side.
A large amount of work and many secrets came from Sengoku's mouth, and Raleigh committed them all to memory.
The Marines had been suppressing pirates for so long that their forces had become scattered all over the world.
Many of these matters were irreplaceable records.
Some of them could not even be written down on paper and could only be passed orally from one generation of Fleet Admiral to the next.
At that moment, a knock sounded from outside the door.
Raleigh lifted his head and glanced over.
"Come in."
An intelligence officer entered the Fleet Admiral's office with a briefing in hand. His gaze toward Sengoku seemed somewhat uneasy.
Sengoku sensed that this secret was perhaps something they did not want him to know, yet he also felt that it had something to do with him.
So he spoke directly, "If there is something to report, say it."
Only after Raleigh nodded did the intelligence officer hand the document to Raleigh.
Sengoku also leaned over to see what was written on it.
[The Marine soldiers of the Sabaody branch, along with Vice Admiral Nick Adrien, were all slaughtered last night by Barrett, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.]
[Vice Admiral Enel has temporarily assumed control of the Sabaody Archipelago with soldiers gathered from across the Grand Line.]
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