Red Line, Mary Geoise.
World Government Assembly Hall.
The air was suffocatingly heavy, as if it could condense into droplets at any moment.
A CP0 member, dressed in white robes, knelt on one knee with his head bowed low. He didn't dare breathe.
He could feel murderous intent swirling in the room like a crashing tide—waves of fury that made the air itself hard to inhale.
On the massive white wall of the assembly hall, the global broadcast that had just shaken the world had ended.
The screen was frozen on the defiant, handsome face of the former Marine Vice Admiral.
"So you're saying... that ten Member Nations from the North Blue—including Germa 66—have sent the government a request to withdraw from the Member Nations?"
After a long silence, Saint Jaygarcia Saturn finally lifted his head.
Leaning on his ancient cane, he looked at the man before him with an emotionless expression and asked calmly.
His aged eyes were laced with dense, twisted blood vessels.
"S-Saint Saturn-sama, it's not a request..."
Sensing the danger in the Five Elders' tone, the CP0 agent swallowed hard, a bead of sweat sliding down his face.
He cursed himself silently. If he hadn't lost a round of rock-paper-scissors to his colleagues, this report would never have fallen on him.
Clenching his jaw, he forced himself to continue.
"The term used in the political document was... 'notification.'"
"Notification?"
Saturn paused.
He murmured the word as if he didn't quite understand it, his gaze drifting into a vacant daze.
In that moment, he felt something deeply unfamiliar—something he hadn't experienced in centuries.
The other Four Elders also stood stunned, unable to react immediately.
For as long as they could remember, they had ruled as the supreme power of the world—overseeing it from the highest throne of reverence and authority.
In all the eight hundred years of their reign, no one—no force, no nation—had ever dared to "notify" them.
Not once.
And now?
Ten low-ranking Member Nations—small, impoverished countries that had to bleed themselves dry just to afford the lowest tier of Heavenly Tribute—actually had the nerve to "notify" them?
"You're saying... those nations made up of insignificant, groveling insects dared speak to us as if they were our superiors?"
Saturn's voice was flat. Empty. Emotionless.
"No, it's not like that..."
Sweat streamed beneath the CP0 mask. His hands trembled uncontrollably as he tried to explain.
"They were probably coerced by Rogers Daren and the North Blue Fleet... That's the only reason. I-I believe these nations are still loyal—completely loyal—to the World Government."
"I see..."
Saturn's eyes narrowed slightly as understanding seemed to dawn.
"So what you're saying is... compared to us, those insects fear Rogers Daren more?"
"I—I don't know!"
The CP0 agent was nearly in tears. He slammed his head hard against the cold marble floor in desperation.
"How could someone like Rogers Daren—such a weak and lowly insect—possibly be compared to you—"
Shk!
A black, razor-sharp spider leg suddenly shot through his chest and burst from his back, sending blood spraying in all directions.
Boom!
A violent shockwave exploded outward, like raw Haki erupting into a roar.
The force shattered the CP0 agent's mask into fragments, reducing it to dust.
Suspended in the air, impaled on the spider leg, he choked on blood.
The Gyūki-form Saturn stared at him coldly and spoke in a low, calm voice.
"But clearly... they do fear Daren more, don't they?"
The CP0 agent struggled in vain, paralyzed under the gaze of Gyūki's monstrous eyes.
Blood gushed from his nose and mouth. His throat tried to form words, but all that came out were broken, meaningless sounds.
"Answer me."
Saturn's eyes flared, a flash of cold red light gleaming within them.
Bang!
The agent's head burst like an overripe melon. Red and white matter sprayed across the floor—some of it even splattered onto Saturn's emotionless, shadowed face.
The twitching body, now headless, slipped free from the black spider leg and crumpled to the floor.
"How interesting..."
Saturn looked down at the lifeless corpse on the floor and suddenly let out a breathy chuckle.
"Hehehe... Eight hundred years, and not once has anyone ever pushed us this far."
The other Five Elders said nothing.
But from the grim looks on their faces and the way their fists were clenched tightly at their sides, it was obvious—rage was boiling just beneath the surface.
Ever since they decided to "suppress" that Marine brat, disaster after disaster had followed.
And now, this unprecedented global broadcast had pushed them to their limit.
"It's time."
Topman Warcury suddenly spoke in a hoarse voice.
Everyone turned in surprise.
The Warrior God of Justice, known for his cunning, spoke solemnly,
"The situation has spiraled beyond what we anticipated... and though I hate to admit it, at least for now, we have no viable method to deal with Rogers Daren."
Saint Mars frowned.
"What if we strike directly at the North Blue?"
"Now that the secret sea route has been opened, and with God's Knights handling escort and supply, ensuring the Holy Land receives basic provisions shouldn't be an issue."
"If we move swiftly enough..."
"No."
Warcury shook his head.
"None of us can leave. The Holy Land is the foundation of the government. No matter what, we can't give Rogers Daren even the slightest opening."
"Don't forget—the North Blue Fleet isn't the only one capable of bypassing the G1 Branch's defenses and the Marine blockade to show up at the Holy Land's doorstep."
At those words, a flicker of dread flashed through the eyes of the other Five Elders.
The North Blue Fleet had Raichu, wielder of the Goro Goro no Mi.
The Revolutionary Army had Dragon, who possessed the Kaze Kaze no Mi, and that little Buccaneer brat who'd eaten the Nikyu Nikyu no Mi.
Then there were Kaidou and Big Mom, both likely to stir up trouble amid the chaos...
None of these threats were easy to deal with.
In the past, they'd acted separately. Alone, or even as isolated factions, none of them posed a real threat to the World Government.
But now, everything had changed.
That damned Rogers Daren had managed to pull Dragon into his camp.
And it seemed Kaidou and Big Mom also had some murky connection to him.
If the Five Elders really let their anger get the better of them and went to the North Blue, leaving Mary Geoise exposed—those lurking enemies might seize the opportunity they'd been waiting for...
"So we can't even rely on the God's Knights to lead the Holy Land Guard, nor can we send the Marines to the North Blue."
Saint Nusjuro said coldly.
Warcury nodded, his eyes sharp and gleaming.
"That brat paraded his fleet in front of the world precisely to achieve this outcome."
"The North Blue Fleet itself isn't that formidable—fifteen warships, even if outfitted with the latest tech and weaponry... at the end of the day, it's just a fleet."
"The real problem... is its deterrence."
"You never know when it'll strike. And that fear, that uncertainty... that's the North Blue Fleet's greatest weapon."
Warcury exhaled slowly.
"That kid is sharp. He understood this perfectly—that's why he made sure this was broadcast live across the world."
"He's not just trying to intimidate us...
He's intimidating the entire world."