Even though they had considered this possibility before, now that the news had been confirmed, no one could calmly accept it.
"He really dared to do it," Vice Admiral Tsuru sighed, her voice full of helplessness.
Her gaze swept across everyone's faces, and she felt a quiet weight settle in her heart.
The people gathered here were already the strongest forces the Marines could assemble. Even so, Tsuru held no hope that all of them working together could defeat Cyrus.
A powerful man whose actions no one could restrain was simply a disaster.
For the Marines, and for the World Government as well.
"We can't allow him to keep growing," Akainu said, a cigar clenched between his teeth.
"It would already be difficult to deal with him now, but he's still young. As time passes, he'll only become stronger and harder to handle."
The people present had different attitudes toward Cyrus, but on this point, they all agreed with Akainu.
"That's true. When I first fought him, I could still feel where his strength stood. Compared to now, the gap is enormous. He's growing too fast."
Aokiji nodded lightly, his expression grave.
"Well, everyone's making good points," Kizaru said, reminding them in his usual tone, "but who exactly is supposed to deal with him? Don't forget, back on Sabaody, even with Sakazuki and me fighting together, we couldn't threaten him."
"This time, the World Government gave no reaction at all?"
Garp's mouth was stuffed full of senbei, making his words a little muffled, but everyone understood what he meant.
That's right.
So many Celestial Dragons had been killed or wounded this time. Was the World Government really not going to react?
"Same as last time."
Sengoku shook his head.
The "last time" he referred to was naturally the Mary Geoise incident.
"The World Government can't do much more than this either."
Vice Admiral Tsuru shook her head as well.
Seeing everyone turn toward her, she continued with a serious expression. "It isn't that they don't want to do something. It's that they can't. Before Cyrus appeared, anyone who harmed a Celestial Dragon would be met with the harshest retaliation."
"But now?"
Everyone froze.
"Everyone, reports have already started coming in. Many Celestial Dragons who were active outside the Holy Land have been attacked recently, and those attacks have nothing to do with Cyrus."
Behind Tsuru, Momousagi spoke.
"So those rumors were true."
Garp looked thoughtful when he heard that.
He had heard some of the same reports before, but he had not confirmed whether they were real.
After all, if someone attacked a Celestial Dragon, an Admiral was supposed to be deployed to settle the matter.
But now, judging from the expressions on Akainu, Aokiji, and Kizaru's faces, none of the three had been sent out because of it.
Garp thought for a moment.
"So the World Government is hiding this?"
Hearing him say that, Tsuru nodded.
"Exactly. After the Mary Geoise incident, we already made a prediction. Since Cyrus attacked the Celestial Dragons, suffered no retaliation, and instead became famous across the sea, attacks against Celestial Dragons would no longer remain taboo."
"In other words, for all sorts of reasons, attacking a Celestial Dragon is no longer something people consider impossible."
When her voice fell, the office went completely silent.
Not even a pin dropping would have gone unnoticed.
Everyone fell into heavy thought, their expressions grave. Even their breathing seemed to grow quieter.
After a long while, Garp looked toward Sengoku.
"Back at Impel Down, this old man had a brief exchange with Cyrus. It was only a test, but I could still sense his strength. I don't have much confidence in fighting him."
By saying this, Garp was essentially telling Sengoku that he was not particularly willing to fight Cyrus.
If they truly clashed, there was a high chance he would lose badly.
"Mm. I understand."
Sengoku did not have any other thoughts about it and simply nodded.
It was not only Garp. The others were the same.
Before fighting someone like Cyrus, one had to be prepared to lose their life.
"However, this matter is not without benefits." Tsuru spoke again.
She glanced toward the office door, then turned back.
"The person behind the scenes who had been interfering with Marine management was killed by Cyrus this time. The infiltration of the Marines should decrease quite a bit after this."
Hearing Tsuru bring this up, everyone's expressions changed in different ways.
Although they were all high-ranking Marines, each person here still had their own thoughts.
"Sengoku, the World Government will probably issue more orders later, but you need to judge those orders carefully. Or rather, handle them with caution."
Tsuru gave the reminder.
Although the news had been suppressed this time and the sea had not erupted into large-scale conflict, she did not believe the World Government would have no reaction at all.
As an extension of the World Government's authority, the Marines would definitely have to act afterward.
But even Tsuru could not guess what the World Government would do.
Sengoku had just nodded when the Den Den Mushi in front of him rang.
His eyes narrowed, and he raised a hand to stop everyone from speaking.
Not many people could contact him directly.
The Den Den Mushi connected, and Kong's voice came through.
"Sengoku."
"Commander-in-Chief Kong."
Sengoku answered with a grave expression.
"Gather the Marines and enter the New World. This time, aside from the forces that cannot be moved without permission, every other Marine force is to assemble."
Kong's voice came from the Den Den Mushi, and everyone held their breath.
Gather the Marines and head to the New World.
Had the World Government finally decided to start a war?
"Commander-in-Chief Kong, what is the target this time?"
Sengoku did not directly agree. Instead, he asked for the details of the order.
"Wano Country."
Kong gave an answer none of them had expected.
Wano Country?
Everyone here naturally knew of that closed-off nation.
After all, aside from Seastone that had been painstakingly extracted from seawater, almost all the Seastone circulating across the sea came from Wano.
However, Wano had been occupied by Kaido.
Gathering the Marines and heading to Wano—did that mean they intended to take action against Kaido?
But as Sengoku thought of that, his expression shifted.
Not long ago, he had received some information from the New World, including news from Wano.
It seemed something had happened there.
Vice Admiral Tsuru also frowned and looked toward Sengoku.
She had received similar information before, but the Marines' attention had been focused on the conflict with the Hunter Guild at the time, so she had not paid much attention to it.
But now that Kong had specifically brought it up, there was clearly something they did not know.
"After the Marines enter the New World this time, do not clash with Cyrus's group. Avoid him and head to Wano Country first. Something has happened inside Wano. Demons capable of infecting and assimilating others have appeared there, and even Kaido has transformed into one."
Kong spoke again, but the content made everyone present exchange looks.
"Are we supposed to stop those demons?"
Sengoku thought for a moment before asking.
"No. The Marines' objective this time is to monitor them, then release these things and give them clear island targets."
However, Kong's summarized order made Sengoku and the others' expressions change drastically.
Sengoku looked toward Tsuru.
Tsuru shook her head slightly, then moved her lips without making a sound.
But Sengoku understood.
"Understood."
Sengoku withdrew his gaze and replied to Kong.
"Move quickly. This time, you will personally lead the forces. Aside from those who must remain behind, everyone else will go, including Garp."
Garp was eating senbei when he unexpectedly heard Kong call him out by name.
Just as he was about to speak, Sengoku raised a hand to stop him.
"Understood, Commander-in-Chief Kong. I will handle this as quickly as possible."
"Mm. Be as fast as possible."
Kong reminded him again, then hung up the Den Den Mushi.
"Tsuru, what were you saying just now?"
"An ability user. That situation was caused by an ability user."
Tsuru looked at the people around her before saying what she was thinking.
Then she explained what had happened previously in Dressrosa.
Tsuru, who had been watching Doflamingo closely, knew very clearly about Cyrus landing on Dressrosa.
She also knew that Cyrus had once fought members of God's Knights there.
Naturally, she knew about God's Knights, and now she also knew some of their members.
"You're saying what happened in Wano was deliberately caused by the World Government?"
Sengoku immediately understood what Tsuru meant.
"In truth, as long as we investigate Wano's current situation, we can basically confirm it."
Tsuru gave the reminder.
Sengoku nodded when he heard that and immediately had people investigate the recent news from Wano.
Soon, the information was delivered to him.
But after seeing what had been collected, Sengoku's expression turned grave.
No, it was extremely ugly.
"Anyone can be infected and turned into a demon."
Sengoku had now basically guessed why Kong—or rather, the World Government—had ordered the Marines to assemble.
They wanted to pave the way for these infected people. Perhaps the Marines becoming infected was also something the World Government wanted to see.
They had gone insane.
Sengoku could easily imagine what kind of horrifying result would occur once something like that happened.
But could creating a massive army of demons really oppose Cyrus?
For a powerhouse like him, it did not matter how many weaklings came at him.
So were these things meant to oppose the Hunter Guild?
Once Cyrus became a lone man with no one beside him, even if his personal strength was terrifying, the destruction he caused would become something they could endure?
"What do we do now?"
The three Admirals had been watching from the side.
After listening to Sengoku and Tsuru's conversation, they more or less understood the situation.
Seeing Sengoku fall into thought, Kizaru opened his mouth and asked.
"Since it's an order, we prepare to carry it out. However, the branch bases cannot relax, and the confrontation with the Hunter Guild cannot be neglected either."
Everyone had just accepted the order when Garp suddenly spoke again.
"What about that bastard Kaido?"
The moment he said this, Sengoku and Tsuru exchanged looks.
That's right.
What was Kaido's current situation?
Wano was his territory.
Even if he had been infected and turned into a demon, that guy could not have disappeared into thin air.
He was also a huge problem.
…
"He still hasn't returned?"
After hanging up the Den Den Mushi, Cyrus's expression was relaxed.
Using the Door-Door Fruit's ability, Cyrus had crossed Paradise from Little Garden in a short time, then arrived in the New World and returned to Candy Island in Totto Land.
As for his ship, the Rose Hunter, it was still on its way back.
"It's about time I got moving again." Cyrus muttered softly to himself.
He would not let go of the Devil Fruit abilities inside the great undersea prison.
However, since he had only just handed people over and received a large sum of money, it would be a little shameless to head there directly now.
He would wait.
When the Hunter Exam was about to begin, he could go harvest a batch.
At that point, they could be used as prizes.
Still, the scale was getting bigger and bigger.
With this many prizes, the number of people taking the exam naturally had to be even larger.
Buru buru!
The Den Den Mushi rang.
Cyrus glanced at it, casually answered, and the birdman's voice rang out, sounding rather excited.
"You're back on Candy Island? What did you do at Mary Geoise this time?"
Morgans's excited voice came through.
"Aren't your sources supposed to be sharp? Didn't you find out yourself?"
Cyrus smiled as he spoke.
"No. The people I planted in Mary Geoise haven't sent out any information. I can't even contact them."
Morgans immediately answered.
"I didn't do anything major. I just killed some Celestial Dragons." Cyrus said it casually.
"As expected! I knew you would do that. How many this time? More than last time?"
Morgans became even more excited, and it could be seen clearly from the Den Den Mushi's expression.
"Well, probably about the same."
Cyrus thought for a moment before answering.
"As expected of you. Can I release the news?" Morgans asked.
Naturally, he wanted to spread this news, but he still had to ask Cyrus's opinion.
"Do whatever you want. Right, what about Kaido?" Cyrus spoke casually, then suddenly remembered the information he had previously asked Morgans to investigate.
"There is news. Quite a lot, actually. That guy has attacked many islands, and after Kaido attacked them, strange things appeared on those islands."
"Mad people, or rather demons, right?"
Cyrus's voice lowered slightly.
"Mm. The same things as in Wano. These things are spreading. If they aren't stopped, it will become a huge disaster."
Cyrus nodded lightly.
He agreed with Morgans on that.
"Where is Kaido now?" Cyrus asked.
"I can only give you a rough location. He leaves after attacking an island, and every time he appears, he doesn't stay for long."
Morgans sounded noticeably helpless.
Kaido of the Beasts could transform into a giant dragon. His mobility was extremely high.
"Tell me the location. A rough one is enough. We can't let that guy keep running around the New World unchecked."
"Got it."
Hearing that Cyrus was clearly going to take action personally, Morgans immediately responded, then told Cyrus Kaido's recent movements and his approximate current location.
"That's all for now."
Cyrus's gaze shifted. After saying this to the Den Den Mushi, he hung up.
The next moment, Cyrus's figure turned into a mass of flames and vanished completely.
In a corner of Candy Island, a middle-aged man who had just come ashore suddenly turned his head.
Flames appeared out of thin air, and Cyrus's figure condensed into form.
"You really dared to come."
Cyrus looked at the man before him, whose face had become much younger, and spoke in a calm tone.
"I also want to see just how strong the person standing at the top of the sea in this era truly is."
Although he was surprised to have been discovered the moment he arrived, the man showed no fear at all.