"Bastards!!!!"
A thunderous roar erupted from the top floor of Marine Headquarters in Marineford—the Fleet Admiral's office—shaking the windows of the entire building.
Inside, Fleet Admiral Kong—Steel Bone Kong—smashed his iron-cast fist onto the desk. The hardened mahogany surface immediately spiderwebbed with cracks.
"Someone tell me what the hell is going on?!"
Kong's face was livid. The mountain-like pressure rolling off him made the air in the room feel frozen. He paced like an enraged lion.
"Marine Headquarters' top forces were practically mobilized! A Buster Call executed by five vice admirals! And CP9 from the World Government on top of that! And what's the result?!"
Kong stopped dead, his shadow swallowing everyone present. "Almost all of Ohara's 'devils' escaped! CP9 was wiped out, including their commander Spandine! How am I supposed to answer to the Five Elders?!"
He slammed another file on the desk. "Tell me—what were the five vice admirals doing?!"
"When was the last time the Marines suffered a humiliation like this?!"
In the face of the Fleet Admiral's fury, the others reacted differently.
"Crunch… crunch…" On the sofa, Garp casually stuffed rice crackers into his mouth, the crisp sound obnoxiously loud in the dead-silent office.
He even picked his nose and spoke lazily. "Kong, aren't you getting a bit worked up?"
"Garp!!" Veins bulged on Kong's forehead.
"Eh, don't be so angry," Garp said, legs crossed, tone completely unconcerned. "If those scholars were really just studying history, then they're not exactly devils, are they? The World Government sure made a big deal out of nothing…"
"Garp, you bastard!!" Sengoku stood up first, face dark, roaring. "Is this the time for that kind of nonsense?! Are you openly questioning the World Government's decision?!"
"All right. Enough." Vice Admiral Tsuru finally spoke. She calmly slid forward several urgent West Blue reports that had just been consolidated.
Her tone was steady and sharp. "The primary reason this operation failed was the appearance of an unexpected enemy."
She pulled out the first report. "This is Kuzan's report. At Ohara, he encountered a mysterious man who called himself 'Clark.' In a direct clash… Kuzan was defeated overwhelmingly. His arm was even seriously injured by the man's slash."
Sengoku took the report, face ugly. "Kuzan… lost head-on?!"
"That's not all." Tsuru's expression grew more grave. "Based on on-site investigation, Spandine and CP9's elites were wiped out instantly by a single slash. The scene shows… no evidence of a second attacker. We infer that the one who injured Kuzan and the one who erased CP9 are the same person."
"A single monster with top-tier strength. If Kuzan wasn't a match, then among the vice admirals present, aside from Sakazuki, none of the others would have been either."
Sengoku picked up the thread. Even though Kuzan was still a vice admiral, his strength already far exceeded others at the same rank.
"And," Tsuru continued, "Sakazuki had already ordered the fleet to turn and pursue the escaping refugee ship at all costs."
"But the sea suddenly erupted into an extremely terrifying superstorm with no warning. The storm's intensity threatened even the warships' safety. Sakazuki was forced to abandon pursuit and watch the ship vanish into the storm."
"Pwahahahaha!"
Garp, who'd been crunching crackers the whole time, suddenly burst out laughing, spraying crumbs everywhere.
"Even that magma brat got slapped down, huh?" he cackled. "Looks like the heavens were on their side!"
A vein jumped at Sengoku's temple. He shot Garp a murderous glare, but didn't refute it.
"Finally," Tsuru said, lifting Rosinante's report, her tone turning oddly complicated, "according to Rosinante's testimony… he saw a mysterious man in the chaos. At the critical moment, Rosinante activated his [Calm-Calm Fruit], creating a silent zone to hide himself."
At that name, Sengoku's movement visibly froze. His eyes locked onto the document in Tsuru's hand.
"Even though he avoided death," Tsuru continued, "that mysterious man abducted Smoker and Rain."
"It's now highly likely that this 'mysterious man' is the same Clark who defeated Kuzan."
"Abducted?!" Sengoku's expression flashed—inside that complex storm of emotion, there was a split-second of… relief? Relief that Rosinante wasn't the one taken. But it was instantly swallowed by fury. "He dares abduct Marine soldiers openly?!"
Tsuru glanced at him and continued evenly. "Smoker is a rare Logia user. And Rain was one of the Elite Camp's most promising recruits—his potential is exceptional. This is a major loss to the Marines."
"Enough. I understand." Kong sat back down. The rage had cooled, replaced by a Fleet Admiral's icy decisiveness.
"The issue now is how we explain this to the Five Elders." He looked at the reports. "CP9 being wiped out is a scandal. Kuzan's defeat is even worse. We need a solution—something that will calm the upper level's anger."
Sengoku immediately grasped the implication. "You mean… we place the failure of the Buster Call, the total loss of CP9, and Kuzan's defeat—all on this 'Clark'?"
"Exactly. And that's the truth," Kong snorted.
"Immediately draft a bounty for Clark," Kong said, looking at Sengoku. "Defeating Kuzan, one-shotting CP9… that level of weight—"
Sengoku thought for a moment, then spoke slowly. "…Five hundred million. It has to start at five hundred million Berries."
"Good!" Kong slammed the decision down. "Five hundred million it is! I want every bounty hunter in the world chasing him until he can't take a single step!"
"The resolutions are as follows:
"One: classify 'Devil Clark' as the highest threat level. Issue a 500,000,000 Berry bounty—dead or alive."
"Two," he looked at Sengoku, "list the two interns, Smoker and Rain, as 'missing in action.' Do not provide further external explanation for now."
"Three: Ohara has been destroyed. The deterrence has been achieved. The Buster Call ends here."
Kong's gaze swept over everyone in the room.
"Meeting adjourned! I want Clark's bounty poster spread across the entire world as soon as possible!"
~~~
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