"Quick! Momonga, take a hundred elite Marines and ten Seraphim to G-5 Marine Branch immediately!"
"They're under attack by a large group of pirates, suspected to be orchestrated by Yonko, Kaido. The enemy also has numerous Seraphim with them!"
"Onigumo, I order you to take five Seraphim to Garse Island. A large number of civilians there are being assaulted by pirates..."
"Momousagi, you..."
"Pass down the orders—all Marine elites are to mobilize, led by various Vice Admirals..."
"All Marine branches are to enter Level 1 combat readiness!!"
One command after another was issued from the office of the Fleet Admiral.
Sengoku's Den Den Mushi rang continuously.
His expression grew increasingly grim.
Their worst fears had come true.
Countless counterfeit Seraphim had been mass-produced and deployed in battle.
Not only had many islands and bays fallen under pirate attacks, with countless civilians slaughtered—even major Marine branches had suffered counterattacks from pirates to varying degrees!
Not long ago, the Marines had struck fear into the hearts of pirates, dismantling numerous crews.
Now that the pirates had gained the strength to retaliate, they refused to let the Marines continue expanding.
For the greater scheme—and for revenge—pirates across the seas rampaged, pillaging and slaughtering while targeting Marine forces.
The entire Marine organization was suddenly stretched thin!
Even the previously invincible Warlord-tier Seraphim were meeting resistance... This left Sengoku and the others utterly grim-faced!
*****
Meanwhile... in Leon's private laboratory.
A golden light suddenly flashed and a peculiar pink door materialized in the space!
"Ahahaha, it's finally complete!" Leon's childish laughter rang out. His chubby little face beamed with delight.
"It's the Anywhere Door!"
His expression flickering with excitement, he eagerly stepped forward.
"Now for the test run! I'll start by visiting Fleet Admiral Sengoku's office—give them a nice surprise!"
With that, Leon turned the doorknob...
*****
"What do we do now? We've been trying to dismantle the Vinsmoke family!" Sengoku's brows knitted tightly as he sighed deeply.
"But nothing's worked!"
The Vinsmoke family had seemingly become the hope of pirates across the seas.
Whenever the Marines attempted to strike them down, they faced obstruction from countless forces simultaneously!
Or rather, whenever pirates saw the Marines launching a full-scale assault on the Vinsmokes, they would intensify their pillaging and slaughtering, or attack Marine branches outright, forcing the Marines to turn back and defend!
Moreover, after Kaido learned of the Vinsmoke family's backing from Big Mom, he joined forces to protect them—two Emperor crews shielding them together.
Even worse, the Vinsmoke family had established contact with the mad scientist Caesar.
With two top scientists collaborating, the counterfeit Seraphim's strength had now reached over 80% of the originals'!
If this continued, they might soon fully reverse-engineer the technology and produce Seraphim matching the originals.
The relentless stream of bad news left Sengoku and the others utterly exasperated.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, our Warlord-tier Seraphim can hardly achieve significant results now. The resistance is too fierce—they have Seraphim too, drastically diminishing our advantage..." Aokiji spoke with a grave expression.
"That's right. And with so many pirate crews, we simply can't afford to disperse our forces too thinly..." Kizaru sighed as well.
"Damn pirates! If only we had pushed harder earlier and wiped them all out!!!" Akainu gritted his teeth, his eyes burning with endless fury.
The actions of countless pirates were undeniably a slap in the face of the Marines!
How could Akainu possibly accept that?
So, during this time, Akainu had been the most active in battle.
And every time he took to the field, he left no survivors.
The number of pirate crews that had fallen to him in this period couldn't even be counted on two hands.
Yet, despite this, it still wasn't enough to turn the tide against the overwhelming number of pirate crews flooding in.
There was simply no way around it—there were just too many pirates!
"Sengoku, the only solution now is to accelerate the production of Admiral-level Seraphim." Vice Admiral Tsuru, who had been silent until now, spoke slowly.
And indeed, the truth was clear.
The Warlord-level Seraphim were nearly useless against the enemy's mass-produced counterfeit Seraphim.
Only the deployment of Admiral-level Seraphim could deliver truly effective strikes!
"Hmm… I suppose that's the only way!" Sengoku clenched his teeth.
He knew full well that mass-producing Admiral-level Seraphim would inevitably provoke the Yonko's—especially the Beast Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates.
The reason was simple: they would undoubtedly try to capture an Admiral-level Seraphim to study and clone for themselves.
By then, they too would possess Admiral-level Seraphim.
Even if they were knockoffs, slightly weaker in strength, the situation wouldn't be much different from now…
In other words, it wouldn't change the overall state of affairs—it would only provide temporary relief.
In fact, by then, the war could become even more brutal!
"There's no other choice… We have to do this." Sengoku nodded grimly.
Though he could already foresee the future consequences—this was merely a stopgap measure, a temporary solution—there were no alternatives left.
"Alright, then I'll go to the Five Elders immediately and request funding to mass-produce Admiral-level Seraphim!" Sengoku nodded solemnly, exhaling deeply as he slowly rose to his feet.
But suddenly...
The expressions of Sengoku and the others changed drastically!!
Because they realized that a pink door had somehow appeared in the office.
It seemed to have materialized instantly, so quickly that none of them had noticed it at first.
This was especially alarming because, aside from Vice Admiral Tsuru—whose combat ability was slightly weaker—everyone present was among the Marine's top-tier fighters.
Yet none of them had detected when or how this door had appeared?!
That was downright terrifying!
In an instant, Sengoku, Garp and the three Admirals all tensed as if facing a dire threat.
Their Haki surged and their Devil Fruit powers flared—Their gazes locked onto the door, ready to strike at any moment!
Then, the door creaked open.
Squeak—
Sengoku and the others stiffened, their vigilance skyrocketing.
But the next moment—A familiar, childish voice came from behind the pink door.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, brothers, old man Garp… don't be alarmed. It's just me…"
At those words, Sengoku and the others froze in stunned silence.
Soon, a small figure emerged, his face brimming with pride.
It was none other than Leon!
------------------------------
Read 15 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator