Sophia knelt on one knee, one hand bracing herself against the ground and the other clutching her forehead. Her upper body swayed slightly. It was evident that although she had quickly awakened from her unconscious state, she hadn't fully recovered.
Still, this was shocking enough to leave Sieg stunned.
"How on earth did you do that?" he demanded. "I struck the back of your neck while you were completely defenseless. Even a Vice Admiral from Headquarters wouldn't have woken up this quickly."
He was right. While the vast majority of Vice Admirals were proficient in Haki or the Six Powers—using Tekkai or Armament Haki to effectively defend their vitals when necessary—being caught completely off guard was a different story. Even Sieg, with a Doriki of less than 500, would have been enough to instantly knock one unconscious.
Normally, such a blow would leave a person out for several minutes, or even longer depending on their physical constitution. But regardless, it was impossible for someone to wake up in less than ten seconds like Sophia had.
It defied all logic.
While Sieg was baffled, some of the people on the main viewing platform understood exactly what had happened. Those present—Akainu, Gion, Sean, and Lucci—were all at least at the level of an elite Headquarters Vice Admiral.
"That was an application of Life Return, wasn't it?" Akainu noted, pinpointing the key. "But under the effects of the Slow-Slow beam, how was she able to react?"
Even for him, it was a puzzle. How could Sophia react when her body was slowed a hundredfold?
She had poured her consciousness into her body, concentrating it at the back of her neck, forcing the muscles in that area to harden into a defense. Although the neck is one of the most fragile parts of the human body and she couldn't achieve a perfect defense, it was enough. By mitigating most of the force from Sieg's hand-chop, she was able to recover in record time.
"Admiral Sakazuki, Commodore Sieg was careless!" Sean intervened.
Akainu paused. He had just been thinking that Sophia was the careless one. Now Sean was claiming Sieg was the one at fault?
"The effects of the Slow-Slow Fruit are formidable, but they don't freeze Sophia entirely," Sean explained. "They simply make her body and senses a hundred times slower. Therefore, from Sophia's perspective, the moment the beam hit, Commodore Sieg suddenly appeared to be moving a hundred times faster."
"However, if you account for Sophia's own innate speed and reaction time—which are significantly faster than Sieg's—it's more accurate to say that in her eyes, Sieg became an enemy roughly 30 to 40 times faster than herself."
"Then, after using the Slow-Slow beam, Commodore Sieg leisurely strolled behind Sophia before striking. By doing so, he further reduced that speed multiplier. It's likely the difference dropped to only about ten times, which gave Sophia just enough time to react and use Life Return to protect her neck, reducing the damage."
"That is why I say Commodore Sieg was careless," Sean concluded. "If he hadn't strolled leisurely and had instead circled around and struck with maximum speed the instant the beam hit, the outcome would have been entirely different."
In short... his attempt to show off had backfired.
As Sean spoke, Akainu realized the logic held up. He immediately decided that once this session was over, he would give Sieg a proper "education." 'Why are you posing during a fight?'
While Akainu was dwelling on this, Sophia stood up in the training grounds, appearing fully recovered. She immediately unleashed a series of Rankyaku strikes. As Sieg dodged left and right, barely avoiding the attacks, Sophia blurred past him with incredible speed, appearing behind him and delivering a sharp hand-chop to his neck.
Mirroring the previous scene, Sieg's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
In terms of raw strength, the gap between the two was simply too wide.
Watching this, Sean couldn't help but mutter to himself, 'This woman really holds a grudge. Lucci's domestic standing is going to be in serious trouble...'
'''
After Sophia's challenge, Zoro stepped forward. He bypassed the pleasantries and asked directly who among them was a swordsman.
As it turned out, there actually was a swordsman among the Commodores under Akainu's command. Though he had only just entered the realm of a Master Swordsman and wasn't overwhelmingly powerful, he was still a formidable opponent for Zoro, who had just left the training camp with a Doriki just over 600 and had not yet reached the Master level himself.
The two clashed for a full hour. Although Zoro was on the defensive throughout the fight, his tenacity earned him Akainu's admiration. In the end, the match ended in a hard-fought draw.
Zoro knew the truth, however. Because the bout had a time limit and was merely a sparring match, he wouldn't have been able to defeat the man in a fight to the death. He resolved right then and there to double his daily training regimen starting today.
Following Zoro's match, the marines from the 16th Branch reached a conclusion: these Headquarters Commodores weren't nearly as strong as Lucci; in fact, many were significantly weaker.
Consequently, the "team challenge" era began.
If three people weren't enough, they sent in five. If five failed, they sent in ten!
Finally, after two defeats, the first instance of a group of ordinary marines fighting a Headquarters Commodore to a draw occurred. Then came the next match: twelve marines attacked simultaneously. After nearly an hour of fierce combat, the ordinary marines secured their first victory.
Akainu was absolutely floored.
Twelve ordinary marines had teamed up to defeat one of his own Commodores. It was beyond absurd.
However, the reality was staring him in the face. No matter how ridiculous it seemed, he had to accept it. He turned to Sean and asked about the actual strength levels of the marines in the 16th Branch.
After hearing Sean's answer, Akainu felt a headache coming on.
When Gion had previously reported, she only mentioned that the weakest formal marine under Sean was at 300 Doriki.
But what did Sean actually say?
The hundred marines he had brought from Headquarters now basically all possessed 600-700 Doriki and could proficiently use at least two of the Six Powers—and those were combat-ready proficiencies.
Then there was the first batch of recruits who graduated from the 16th Branch; they were mostly around 500 Doriki. Even the second batch, who had graduated not long ago, generally sat between 350 and 450.
As for those at 300...
There was only one person!
Well, Gion's report wasn't technically wrong. The worst 'was' at 300, right?
The overall strength of the 16th Branch was simply too high. While it wasn't yet at a level where a single branch could rival Headquarters, excluding Headquarters itself, the 16th Branch was now stronger than any other branch, including the G-series, save for G-1.
To place such a concentrated force in the East Blue... wasn't that a complete waste of combat power?
Waste... was a crime!
"Sean," Akainu asked, "what are your plans for the future?"
Inside the office, Akainu got straight to the point.
"Admiral Sakazuki, I plan to stay in the East Blue for another year!"
"Hmm? Why? No matter how you look at it, staying in the East Blue is a waste of your talent, isn't it?" Akainu frowned.
"Because I'm not ready yet!"
It was true. Currently, the combat power of the 16th Branch was enough to crush any pirate in the Four Seas, and they would have no problem even in the Grand Line.
"But my targets are those four individuals in the New World. Clearly, the current strength of the branch isn't enough to support what I intend to do, so I need more time!"
"Once I'm ready, I will apply to the Fleet Admiral to establish a new Marine G-series branch in the New World!"
Hearing this, the crease between Akainu's brows smoothed out.
So that was it. It wasn't that Sean wanted to slack off in the East Blue; he wanted to continue strengthening his forces to prepare for a war against the Four Emperors.
"In that case, I'll give you a hand."
"When I return, I will propose to the Fleet Admiral that the 16th Branch be promoted by one rank."
"After all... five hundred men is a bit too few, isn't it?"
Sean's eyes lit up.
The personnel limit for a second-class branch was five hundred, but a first-class branch could house one thousand. With another year, there was plenty of time to recruit five hundred more and train them up.
"Then I thank you, Admiral Sakazuki!"
"I... will be waiting for you in the New World. This wicked Great Pirate Era is long overdue to end!"
As Akainu spoke, the corner of his mouth curled up slightly.
Sean was genuinely surprised.
'Wait... you actually know how to smile?'
"Sean, back at Headquarters, I once proposed the public execution of Luffy to lure Shanks into a trap, allowing us to gather all the Marine's elites and attempt to eliminate one of the Four Emperors."
"Unfortunately, that proposal was vetoed by Fleet Admiral Sengoku. What is your take on it?"
After a moment of silence, Akainu suddenly brought up the matter from the previous meeting at Headquarters.
Sean's eyes widened.
'Akainu... you really are something!'
Publicly execute Luffy?
'Garp would probably punch him to death on the spot!'
In the original story, Garp had almost lost his temper and tried to take Akainu down just over Ace. Fortunately, he had kept enough sanity to let Sengoku hold him back.
If it were Luffy, would he even hesitate for a second before attacking?
Garp was essentially at the level of a Four Emperor, while Akainu was an Admiral. Did Akainu truly believe that an Admiral was equal to an Emperor?
"I believe it would be unwise!"
"And why is that? Do you also believe that the Marine cannot make a move against the Four Emperors?" Akainu frowned again.
He didn't care that Sengoku and the others had rejected him—that was expected. But for Sean, someone he viewed highly, to also disagree?
Had he misjudged the man?
"Admiral Sakazuki, I'm not saying the Marine cannot move against the Four Emperors, nor am I saying we couldn't defeat one. It is a matter of sequence."
"Shanks is connected to far too many people. Aside from his own Red-Hair Pirates, there are the remnants of Roger's crew—none of whom are easy to deal with."
"Furthermore, according to the intelligence I've gathered, Shanks seems to have significant ties to the Holy Land. He has visited the Five Elders alone on multiple occasions for secret discussions."
"The biggest problem is that a public execution of Luffy might even trigger a defection from old man Garp. And Admiral, don't forget who Luffy's father is."
"Therefore, using the public execution of Luffy to lure Red-Hair is an extremely dangerous gamble."
"One wrong move, and the Marine would be facing the Red-Hair Pirates, the Revolutionary Army, the survivors of the former Pirate King's crew, and... old man Garp!"
"Not to mention Kaido and Big Mom might decide to join the party."
"Given the Marine's current strength, Admiral, what do you think our chances of winning would be?"
Listening to Sean's explanation, Akainu realized the issues he had overlooked.
Indeed, even if they wanted to target Shanks, using Luffy's execution as bait was a mistake. Otherwise, the combined force of the Red-Hair Pirates, the Revolutionary Army, Roger's remnants, and a defecting Garp might actually be too much for the Marine to withstand.
And if Kaido or Big Mom intervened... it wouldn't be impossible for the Marine to be completely wiped out.
"Admiral Sakazuki, if we want to eliminate a Four Emperor's crew first, I actually have a better target."
"Who?"
"The Whitebeard Pirates!"
"Why the Whitebeard Pirates?" Akainu was confused.
Whitebeard was recognized by everyone as the strongest man on the sea. Logically, they should target the weakest one first. Even if it wasn't the Red-Hair Pirates, why would it be Whitebeard?
"First, while Whitebeard is incredibly strong, he is very old. I've heard he relies on an IV drip every day to sustain his body; his strength has likely dropped by thirty to forty percent compared to his prime."
"Second, attacking Whitebeard wouldn't draw out other powerhouse Emperors. Given Whitebeard's pride, he would never allow another Yonko or any other faction to interfere."
"Third, and most importantly, it's far too easy to set a trap for Whitebeard. We just need to capture one of his commanders. After all, to Whitebeard, nothing is more important than his 'sons,' right?"
"If that's not enough reason, I can add one more point: in terms of overall officer strength, the Whitebeard Pirates are actually the weakest of the bunch."
"Therefore, as long as we can suppress the top-tier strength of the Whitebeard crew, the rest are nothing to fear."
Akainu nodded. That was true.
The Whitebeard Pirates were called the strongest not because of the "sons," but because of Whitebeard himself. In a full-scale war, the Whitebeard crew was actually the easier target.
Especially with Sean involved—as long as they could tie down Whitebeard and the top-ranking Division Commanders, the 16th Branch alone could wipe out the Whitebeard Pirates' mid-to-low-level combatants in a very short time.
Moreover, moving against Whitebeard wouldn't trigger a series of uncontrollable consequences like targeting Shanks would.
"Your thinking is excellent. This has great reference value!"
'Of course it does,' Sean thought. 'Because in the original story, that's exactly what you did a year later!'
Given Whitebeard's personality, even without Ace, capturing any Division Commander would be enough to force him to take the bait. He was indeed the perfect target.