Marine Headquarters, Marineford — Fleet Admiral's Office
Sengoku had only just begun to feel his opinion of Gern improve.
A few days earlier, Gern's "cooperation" during the Corazon operation in the North Blue had slightly softened Sengoku's view of him. His mood had even lightened a little.
But that fragile sense of relief didn't last even half a day.
It was completely obliterated by the frantic, ear-splitting shriek of an emergency Den Den Mushi.
The Den Den Mushi mimicked the face of Sengoku's own subordinate—an officer he had personally stationed at G-10 Base to monitor and coordinate operations—now pale with terror, eyes wide and unfocused.
"F–Fleet Admiral Sengoku!! Something terrible has happened!! The New World—Yakeluo Kingdom!!"
The voice on the other end trembled violently, soaked in raw fear.
"Th–the God's Knights have appeared! They… they clashed with Rear Admiral Enel!!
T–two Divine Knights!! Within G-10's sphere of influence… they launched a surprise attack on Rear Admiral Enel!!"
The news struck Sengoku like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.
All the color drained from his face in an instant. The hand gripping the Den Den Mushi began to shake uncontrollably, his pupils contracting sharply in a way they hadn't in decades.
"W–what did you say?!" Sengoku's voice cracked, pitching unnaturally high. "Has it been confirmed?! What's Enel's status?! What about Yakeluo Kingdom?!"
"It's confirmed!! The combat… the combat fluctuations were utterly terrifying! And then… then the entire Yakeluo Kingdom… completely… completely vanished!!
Rear Admiral Enel… his fate is unknown!! G-10 has entered full emergency status!!"
The shout on the other end bordered on a breakdown.
Clatter.
The Den Den Mushi slipped from Sengoku's hand and hit the floor.
He didn't even notice.
For the first time in his career, the Fleet Admiral—the Marine Corps' famed strategist—lost his composure in front of his subordinates. He collapsed backward into the wide Fleet Admiral's chair, his face carved with disbelief and… deep, suffocating fear.
He knew.
He knew better than anyone what kind of consequences this incident would unleash.
That man…
That man who commanded the power of natural calamities…
He would never tolerate something like this.
"G–guards!!" Sengoku snapped back to himself, practically roaring toward the door."Immediately!! Get Borsalino here!! Right now!!!"
Minutes later, the office door creaked open.
A man in a yellow pinstripe suit strolled in at an unhurried pace, his expression as lazily detached as ever.
"Yee~ Fleet Admiral, calling me over this urgently… sounds like trouble aga—"
His words died halfway.
He had seen Sengoku's face.
Paper-white. Rigid. Stripped of all composure.
Hearing no greeting, Sengoku spoke at once—fast, clipped, brutally efficient—relaying everything that had happened in Yakeluo Kingdom.
By the time Sengoku finished, the man known as Kizaru no longer looked half-asleep.
For once, a grave, heavy expression sat on his face. He even pushed up his tinted glasses without realizing it.
"Hey, hey, hey…" Kizaru muttered, his usual drawn-out tone gone."You're kidding, right?"
"This isn't something you joke about, Fleet Admiral Sengoku… this is going to blow up into something catastrophic."
He spoke with absolute certainty.
"That kid, Gern… there's no way he lets this go.
The way he protects his people—especially that original core group of his—is beyond reason."
"I know!" Sengoku slammed his hands on the desk as he shot to his feet, his body trembling with fury and urgency."Of course I know!!
That's why we have to stabilize the situation now! Gern is still in the North Blue!
Even if he moves at maximum speed, circling back to the New World from the Four Seas will take at least a month and a half—maybe close to two months!
That's the only buffer we have!"
At that point, Sengoku's rage finally boiled over. He could no longer contain it, cursing violently into the empty air.
"Damn it!! Those idiots in the World Government!!
A bunch of privilege-soaked, brain-rotted degenerates!!
Do they have any idea how much deterrent power G-10 represents in the New World?!
Do they have any idea what kind of madman Gern is?!"
"Or is it because he's been relatively 'quiet' these past few years, staying put at G-10, that they forgot?!
Forgot what happened back then—right there in Marineford Plaza?!
When Figarland Garling Saint was beaten half to death like a stray dog!!
When the Five Elders were forced to sit down and negotiate because of him?!"
"How dare they?!
How dare they go straight for his people—and with a two-on-one ambush, no less?!"
After the outburst, Sengoku forced himself to calm down.
This wasn't the time to vent.
He turned sharply to Kizaru, his tone more serious and urgent than ever before.
"Borsalino! Leave immediately!
Use your maximum speed and head to G-10 Base! Confirm Enel's condition!
At the same time, stabilize the situation there—absolutely do not let them act on their own!
Especially not before Gern returns!"
"No problem," Kizaru replied, fully aware of the gravity now, nodding without hesitation."But Fleet Admiral… I won't be able to stop Gern."
Before the last word even faded, golden light began to radiate from his body.
"I'm not expecting you to," Sengoku snapped.
In the next instant, Kizaru dissolved into a beam of golden light and vanished from the office.
The room fell silent.
Sengoku stood alone in the vast Fleet Admiral's office, drawing several deep breaths as if steeling himself.
From the deepest drawer of his desk, he took out a well-maintained, specially secured Den Den Mushi.
He hesitated.
Only briefly.
Then he dialed a number he hadn't contacted in a very long time.
The call rang for a long while before connecting.
A voice answered—aged, yet still resonant and powerful.
"Sengoku? What warrants the use of this line?"
"Commander-in-Chief Kong…" Sengoku's voice carried a rare trace of exhaustion as he once again recounted everything that had happened in Yakeluo Kingdom.
On the other end, the former Fleet Admiral—now the Supreme Commander of the World Government's armed forces, Steel Bone Kong—fell into prolonged silence.
After a long time, a deep sigh came through the Den Den Mushi.
That sigh was heavy with helplessness… and grim foresight.
"Sengoku…" Kong said in a low voice."This time… you won't be able to stop him."
"Pray…""Pray that no one at G-10 has told Gern yet."
Click.
The call ended.
Sengoku stood alone in the empty office, a bone-deep chill crawling up from his feet to the crown of his head.
His first instinct was to head to Mary Geoise—but then he pictured that group of high-and-mighty, brain-dead World Nobles.
The kind who wouldn't feel fear unless a blade was pressed against their throats—who would instead continue their idiotic, self-absorbed maneuvering.
Going there would accomplish nothing.
Worse, he'd probably end up as the scapegoat for their "noble micro-management."
As an exceptional strategist, Sengoku made his decision immediately.
He turned—
And went to find Zephyr and Garp.