[Marine Headquarters, Meeting Room]
Borsalino, with his signature sleazy smile, lazily swayed in,."Yo yo yo, everyone, how come you're all so punctual today~?"
He drew out his tone, casually greeting.
"Borsalino! The meeting is about to start. You're the only one missing, sit down now," Admiral Kong's deep voice carried a hint of dissatisfaction.
Today, he wasn't seated at the main seat symbolizing supreme authority, but instead on the right-hand side of it.
Sakazuki sat cold-faced opposite Kong, his expression extremely stern.
Below Admiral Kong sat Sengoku, Tsuru, Garp, Kuzan, and others. Their gazes toward Borsalino were filled with obvious displeasure.
That was understandable. Recently, Borsalino hadn't done anything proper. Aside from taking orders from Rosse, he had been in charge of monitoring them.
"Aiya ya, Admiral Kong is still so energetic, how scary~", Borsalino seemed not to notice the warning, still wearing a grinning face. He sauntered over to the seat beside Sakazuki and finally sat down slowly.
After sitting, his half-closed eyes slightly lifted, looking toward Rosse who was seated at the main position.
"Saint Rosse, is this meeting going to be chaired by you?", Only when facing Rosse did his usual laziness and mockery rarely retract, and his tone slightly turned serious.
"Today, I'm just auditing. Of course, the one chairing the meeting is Admiral Kong," Rosse smiled slightly, hands interlaced resting on the table, playfully observing the others present.
For today's meeting, all high-ranking officers at Marine Headquarters were attending.
In total, 1 Fleet Admiral, 2 Admirals, 15 Vice Admirals.
Among them, 1 Admiral and 7 Vice Admirals were not his people.
That proportion… was a bit high.
"Alright, the meeting officially begins now," Kong nodded toward Rosse, his gaze sweeping across the others, preparing to host the meeting as per routine.
Truth be told, he didn't particularly want to be involved in this matter.
It hadn't even been two years since the last one, and now they were launching another Buster Call, this time targeting the underwater Fish-Man Island.
This order… would be hard to carry out.
And from what he heard, there were internal disagreements within the World Government. That was also the reason Rosse appeared today.
As for the nature of those disagreements, Kong didn't know.
Rosse and Saint Saturn had hinted to him, suggesting he join their faction, but Kong hadn't responded yet.
The World Government didn't only consist of the Jaygarcia family.
If he were to continue in the Marine, of course Kong would be willing to pledge allegiance. But with the internal forces of the World Government being so complicated, he feared acting rashly would backfire.
That said, he also couldn't oppose Rosse. Maintaining good relations with the Jaygarcia was something he absolutely had to do.
"The World Government has issued an order to execute a Buster Call on Fish-Man Island," Kong said calmly, his gaze sweeping across everyone, waiting for discussion.
During the last Ohara incident, opinions among high-ranking officers in the Marine were already divided. It was understandable.
If the Buster Call was directed at pirates, everyone would be happy to go. But targeting innocent civilians and islands… others in the Marine would be much less willing.
"I object!", Sakazuki slammed the table, standing up first in objection, to the surprise of many.
"Sakazuki, why are you objecting?", Kuzan straightened up, staring at Sakazuki solemnly.
'Something isn't right.'
'Very wrong!'
Sakazuki was known for his iron-blooded stance, and Fish-Man Island wasn't exactly a good place.
With his personality, it was impossible for him to object.
"Fish-Man Island is a member nation, and there are many innocents there. It should not be subject to a Buster Call," Sakazuki said lightly.
"But this is an order from the World Government. There are villains there who killed government personnel," Kuzan said in a deep voice, his investigative gaze shifting between Sakazuki and Rosse.
According to the information they received, it wasn't that a Celestial Dragon had died on Fish-Man Island, but that a World Government official had been killed by Neptune. The government wanted revenge.
Kuzan also didn't want to carry out the Buster Call. But something about this was suspicious.
The World Government wanted to destroy Fish-Man Island, and yet a hawkish Admiral closely aligned with the Celestial Dragons was objecting? There was definitely something fishy going on.
Now that Sakazuki was about to ascend, the Marine had already become a mess.
Kuzan couldn't imagine how chaotic things would become in the future.
The only thing he could do now was to oppose everything Sakazuki stood for.
But to the other Vice Admirals, his behavior today seemed bizarre too.
Usually, Sakazuki, always shouting about killing, was now the first to oppose the Buster Call, saying the people of Fish-Man Island were innocent.
Kuzan, who always spoke of mercy and justice, was now supporting the Buster Call, calling the people of Fish-Man Island villains.
How did this world become so absurd?
"Kuzan, you're in the Marine. Remember, you represent justice. If you want to carry it out, then lead the team yourself," Sakazuki snorted coldly, standing at the moral high ground, openly criticizing.
Previously, it was always him being criticized by Kuzan. Now that he caught the opportunity, he wasn't going to spare him.
"I know my role. I also oppose the Buster Call, but I think there's something abnormal about this. Raising reasonable doubts is my right," Kuzan replied calmly.
Fish-Man Island was under the deep sea. Without thinking, it was obvious that Sakazuki and Borsalino weren't suited to go.
The best candidates for the task were him and Garp.
And Garp generally ignored such matters. In the end, it would definitely fall on him.
The last time he carried out a Buster Call had already made him doubt himself. This time, he didn't want to blindly walk into another one.
Especially with Sakazuki acting so strange today.
If this matter wasn't clarified, he'd rather resign from the Marine than go through with it.
"This matter does involve some secrets. But do you dare to listen?", Rosse suddenly spoke, looking at Kuzan with interest.
"Why wouldn't I dare?", Kuzan focused his gaze on Rosse, replying bluntly.
He was firm, but inside the meeting room, at least half of the Vice Admirals' faces changed.
If it was something even the Celestial Dragons deemed a secret, it definitely wasn't something they should know.
If they did find out, it might actually cause trouble.
"Those who are willing to listen, stay now. If you're not, leave now," Sakazuki glanced around the room at the various expressions, and stated frankly.
With his current status as Quasi-Fleet Admiral, he had the weight to say that. And his meaning was simple, he was in the know, and those who wanted to be on his side, stay.
"Uh…", Though many Vice Admirals were uneasy inside, since Sakazuki was here, they felt somewhat reassured.
But the Vice Admirals who didn't align with Sakazuki began to hesitate.
Some glanced at Kuzan, some at Sengoku, even some at Garp.
But seeing that none of them moved, even if they wanted to leave, they knew they couldn't walk out now.
If they left, they might be completely isolated within the Marine in the future.
"Since you're all willing to listen, I'll speak directly," Rosse smiled faintly, with no intention of hiding it, and directly stated what the World Government wanted to keep secret, "Among the nineteen Celestial Dragon families, the head of the Rosward family was killed a few days ago on Fish-Man Island, by the king of the member nation Ryugu Kingdom, Neptune."
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