The ship sailed quietly across the calm belt.
One week had passed since the promotion orders arrived. Soren spent most of the voyage on deck or in the small cabin assigned to him. The crew was a standard Marine warship carrying cargo from East Blue to the Marine HQ. When the last trace of the Sema Archipelago finally vanished behind the horizon, he went below, sat at the narrow desk, and opened the diary.
[Day fifty-two.]
[Finally I am on the way to Marineford. I guess this is an end to a chapter.
[I've been turning the same thoughts over since the orders came.]
[Originally I had planned to stay low and build my strength quietly on Sema. After all this is the era that Roger and his crew bet on. This is supposed to host the greatest war in the history of the Pirate World that will finally close the chapter from 800 years ago. I have no choice but to prepare for that eventual clash and I had planned to do so quietly.]
[The promotion ends that plan. I'm now tied to the Marines now whether I like it or not. Vice Admiral Tsuru's attendant. That title alone will put me in the spotlight.
[It's not entirely bad. Even if the Marines are hopeless against the real power structure above them, the resources and the pressure at Headquarters will force faster growth. I'll take that much.]
[As for actually helping the Marine corps… I see no hope whatsoever. The institution is pointed in the wrong direction and most of the people inside it don't even know the full map.]
[Most marines still believe the justice of the World Government. With the power they hold, the world would have long been peaceful if they wanted it to.]
[The difference in information is worse. Most officers, even most of the admirals are operating half-blind. They don't know the true strength sitting above them. The God's Knights led by Figarland Garling, those five geezers handling everything else and finally Imu himself. Add the covenent on top of that and there is no force that can contend directly to the World Government.]
[Garp and Sengoku know pieces of it because of the God Valley Incident. The rest of the high command is completely clueless. They argue about justice and Absolute Justice and Efficient Justice while the people who actually own the board barely notice the conversation.]
[Even if I was hired as an administrative executives, there is nothing I can do about the current situation. I may be able to help with some systems like the one on Sema but other than that my hands are completely tied. After all, If I say the pirates are the secondary enemy, my head will be lopped off faster than I can complete my sentence.]
[Right now I can only wait and grow until the chosen crew sets sail. I need at least Admiral tier strength to begin the true preparation for the marines anyway.]
[Untill then I'll just do the same as I've always done. Stay down and grow.]
Soren closed the diary, extinguished the lamp, and lay down on the bunk. The ship's engines hummed through the hull.
In Marineford, Gion sat in her office after the evening reports were finished. The diary updated while the lamp was still lit. She read the new entry straight through without pausing.
When she reached the lines about the admirals operating half-blind and the Marines being helpless against the true core of the World Government, she set the book down for a moment and pressed her fingers against her temple.
"God's Knights. Five Elders. Imu again. This time there is a new term. Covenent? What does that even mean?," her tone was perplexed. "With the power they hold, the world would have long been peaceful if they wanted it to?."
She picked the diary up again, reread the section on Imu and the covenant, then the part about Garp and Sengoku knowing pieces because of God Valley. Her jaw tightened. She closed the book, locked it away, and pulled a blank sheet of paper toward herself. For several minutes she simply sat with the pen in her hand, not writing, before she finally put it down again and extinguished the lamp.
Bogard received the same update in the small quarters near Garp's office. He read slowly. At the mention of God Valley his eyes lifted from the page for a second.
He finished the entry and sat in silence, turning the information over with the same steady attention he gave everything else. The description of Garp and Sengoku carrying knowledge the rest of the high command lacked lined up with too many old habits. He remembered the way Garp sometimes went quiet in meetings. The way certain topics were never allowed to reach the open floor. The way both men treated the World Government's higher structure with a caution that most officers mistook for simple discipline.
Bogard closed the diary and placed it in the drawer.
In the Fleet Admiral's office, Sengoku sat alone with the plain leather-bound book open under the lamp. The diary had appeared on his desk days earlier with no explanation and no sender. He had already read the earlier entries. This one he read twice, more carefully the second time.
When he reached the claims about the God's Knights, Imu, the covenant, and the Marines being structurally helpless, his pipe sat forgotten in the ashtray. He leaned back in the chair and stared at the page.
"Ashen D. Soren. A twenty five year old kid with this much knowledge and caution."
"Final war that closes the chapter of 800 years. Roger's bet. Chosen crew. Marines helplessness. Time-Time fruit? What else does he know?