The next day.
Marineford, Marine Headquarters.
A group of high-ranking officers were gathered in the conference room. However, they were completely in the dark as to why this emergency meeting had been called. One by one, they turned their gaze toward Sengoku, waiting for him to speak.
"Everyone is here. Let's begin!"
"First, I have an announcement for all of you: Crocodile... is dead!"
What? Crocodile is dead?
At that moment, nearly everyone in the room was stunned. Had one of the Four Emperors made a move?
"Just one hour ago, King Cobra of Alabasta personally called me to express his gratitude to the Marines."
"The reason for his gratitude is..."
"At the most critical moment for Alabasta, our Marines helped them identify the mastermind behind the kingdom's unrest and ultimately thwarted Crocodile's plan to steal the country."
The mastermind behind the unrest in Alabasta? Crocodile planned to steal a kingdom? And more importantly—the Marines were the ones who stopped it?
"Fleet Admiral, did the Marines intervene in the Alabasta crisis?" one officer asked.
"No!"
"Then..."
"According to Cobra, the one who acted was Sean!"
Sean... Sean Campbell?
"Fleet Admiral, isn't Rear Admiral Sean stationed in the East Blue?" Yamakaji asked with a slight frown. "Furthermore, based on what you just said, you were unaware of this operation?"
Taking troops into the Grand Line without being in his own jurisdiction and without orders was a serious matter. Moreover, intervening in a kingdom's internal strife without notifying Headquarters was a clear overstepping of authority. Most critically, he had directly killed one of the Warlords.
"Correct, I was indeed unaware!" Sengoku replied.
"Then, Fleet Admiral, Rear Admiral Sean is suspected of acting privately and exceeding his authority. He should be investigated and severely punished!" Yamakaji pressed.
"As for that, I have already questioned King Cobra about the details. Essentially, Sean did not violate Marine regulations."
"This... how is that possible?"
"Tsuru, why don't you explain the specifics?"
Hearing this, Tsuru nodded.
"Based on what we currently know, Sean set out to sea with approximately 170 recruits from the 16th Branch for practical combat training. As you all know, pirates have become rare in the East Blue these days, so he chose the Grand Line. While stopping at Alabasta for supplies, King Cobra requested his help in investigating the truth behind the turmoil in his kingdom."
"After an investigation, Sean discovered that all clues pointed toward a criminal organization called Baroque Works. Consequently, he made dismantling this organization the objective of his combat training exercise."
Hearing this, most of the officers nodded in understanding.
It was true that there was little point in conducting combat training in the East Blue now. If a warship sailed out, they might go a whole month without encountering a single pirate crew if they were unlucky. Thus, choosing the Grand Line as the location was understandable. After all, sailing to the other three seas would be even further and more troublesome than going to the Grand Line.
As for the chance encounter with Alabasta and the King's request for assistance, and subsequently designating Baroque Works as the training target—those issues were relatively minor.
However, how did it lead to Crocodile?
Filled with curiosity, everyone looked back at Tsuru.
"The initial stages of the operation against Baroque Works went very smoothly. They found significant evidence proving that it wasn't King Cobra using Dance Powder, but rather a frame-up by Baroque Works."
"Specifically, they had a member with the ability to change their appearance at will. Many of the atrocities attributed to King Cobra were actually committed by this person in disguise."
"But as the operation continued, they discovered that the boss of Baroque Works was actually Crocodile, and his ultimate goal was to seize the kingdom of Alabasta!"
"In the end, Crocodile died during his battle with Sean."
A pirate stealing a kingdom? Was that even possible?
Of course it was. Doflamingo was a living example of such a thing, and he remained a thorn in the side of many Marines. The idea that a pirate could suddenly transform into the king of a World Government Affiliated Nation was an absurdity they couldn't stomach.
Consequently, the Marines were extremely sensitive to the idea of pirates usurping nations. And now, Crocodile had tried the same?
"Staff Officer Tsuru, can it be confirmed that Crocodile intended to steal the kingdom?" Akainu asked from the side.
Currently, Aokiji had been sent to the G1 Branch in the New World for rotation, so Akainu had naturally returned to Headquarters.
"The materials sent by King Cobra include extensive documentation of Crocodile's plans. Our staff department has conducted a preliminary analysis. If Crocodile's plan had been executed, it would have taken at most two years to complete the takeover, and by then, there would have been no evidence linking him to the crime."
"This is the full plan sent by King Cobra. You may all take a look."
Shortly after, documents were distributed to everyone in the meeting. The core Marine generals began to read them seriously. Soon, their expressions grew grim.
First, Crocodile arrived in Alabasta, presenting himself as a saint to the public. He protected the country from pirates without asking for anything in return, eventually being hailed as the 'Hero of Alabasta.'
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, he used Dance Powder to cause a nationwide drought and spread rumors that King Cobra was the one responsible. Not stopping there, he used a Clone-Clone Fruit user to impersonate Cobra and commit numerous atrocities, gradually inciting the people's rage against their king.
Finally, he encouraged the formation of a rebel army within the kingdom, planting many of his own subordinates within their ranks.
As Tsuru had said, if these actions had continued, the people's anger toward the King would have reached a breaking point within two years. By then, the rebel army could have grown to a size of hundreds of thousands or even millions.
At that point, he could have used the rebels to overthrow the royal family and then appeared as a hero to 'save' the day, making it highly likely that he would successfully steal the kingdom.
"Hmph. A pirate is a pirate; they are nothing but trash on this ocean. If this man weren't already dead, I would have gone to Alabasta myself and twisted his head off!" Akainu roared, slamming the documents onto the table.
"Alright, you now know the details of the situation. I will arrange for people to verify these facts shortly," Sengoku stated.
"If the verification confirms that things happened as King Cobra described, then Sean's actions were acceptable, and he will not be punished."
Seeing that everyone had finished reading the files, Sengoku concluded the matter. The others nodded in agreement.
That was a fair point, provided the facts were verified and the truth actually aligned with that version of events.
"Fleet Admiral, setting Sean aside for a moment, Crocodile is still a Warlord. The World Government might..."
"No need to worry about that," Sengoku interrupted. "I've heard from King Cobra that he has already sent a formal letter of inquiry to the World Government. He has also informed the other Affiliated Nations of the full details of the incident. It is highly likely it will be headline news by tomorrow."
"I see!" Momonga nodded.
He had a decent relationship with Sean; after all, they had sparred several times while Sean was at Headquarters. Momonga had even been the one responsible for Sean's graduation exam. Hearing Sengoku's explanation, Momonga felt much more at ease.
By making the matter public and sharing every detail with every Affiliated Nation, Cobra was triggering a chain reaction. Once the other nations found out, they would start to panic. First it was Dressrosa, now it was Alabasta—would they be next? Some might even speculate that these Warlords seizing nations was actually sanctioned by the World Government.
Eventually, a massive coalition of Affiliated Nations would unite to pressure the World Government. Under such circumstances, the World Government could not possibly hold the Marines or Sean accountable just to protect Crocodile. If they did, what would the other nations think? That the government actually encouraged the theft of a kingdom?
In fact, to clear its own name, the World Government might even grant Sean an exceptional promotion. Sengoku had done exactly that before; to salvage the Marine's reputation, he had promoted Sean to Rear Admiral despite him not yet meeting the standard merit requirements. It was likely the World Government would follow suit this time, as it was the most effective way to handle the fallout.
"Fleet Admiral, Sean is exactly my type of soldier," Akainu suddenly spoke up. "It's a waste of talent to leave him in the East Blue. Why not transfer him to Headquarters to serve under me?"
Akainu truly thought highly of Sean, particularly his methods of handling things, which aligned perfectly with his own philosophy. To Akainu, the man was a rising star of the hawk faction.
However, Sengoku rejected the request without a second thought.
"No. Sean is still too young. Let him temper himself in the East Blue for another two years!"
Everyone present understood exactly why Sengoku refused to let Sean follow Akainu, though no one dared say it aloud. As for the excuse about his age? Absolute nonsense.
Still, this result was expected. Akainu didn't press the issue further. Sengoku was already seventy-five, nearly seventy-six. How many more years could he realistically remain Fleet Admiral?
Akainu wasn't in a rush. Once Sengoku stepped down and he took over, things would be different.
'''
While the Marine Headquarters were convening over the Crocodile incident, in Alubarna, Alabasta...
Deep within the royal tombs, Robin stood before a massive stone slab, intently reading everything carved upon its surface.