"Aside from Red-Haired Shanks…"
Fleet Admiral Sengoku's voice grew even hoarser, like sandpaper scraping together in the silent room.
"The Four Emperors have already turned!"
Those words struck every heart like a heavy hammer.
The top-tier monsters who had once ruled the seas and inspired awe in countless people had now thrown themselves into the arms of the Eternal Divine Kingdom one after another.
The shift in the situation had gone far beyond anything anyone could have imagined.
And that was not all.
Pirates who had once wandered the seas without a fixed base had also joined the Eternal Divine Kingdom without hesitation, all for the Devil Fruits they dreamed of obtaining.
Driven by profit, they abandoned their principles and bottom line, turning the North Blue—once a sea filled with hope and freedom—into the Eternal Divine Kingdom's backyard.
There, the Divine Kingdom's will ran unchecked, and any voice of resistance was crushed without mercy.
"The situation has become extremely serious!"
Deep worry and resolve showed in Sengoku's eyes.
He knew better than anyone that they had reached a critical point of survival.
"Tomorrow, we begin a World Military Draft!"
He gave the order decisively, his voice firm and powerful, as if trying to tear through the oppressive atmosphere.
"It is also time for the Admiral position to break free of the three-person limit."
This meant the Marines were about to undergo a massive adjustment and reform.
They would gather every force available, no matter the cost, to oppose the increasingly powerful Eternal Divine Kingdom and protect peace and justice upon the sea.
...
The next day.
Before dawn had truly broken, while the heavy night had not yet fully released its hold, only a faint trace of light appeared at the edge of the sky.
The world was still wrapped in silence. Only the occasional sound of wind and the distant waves gently striking the shore disturbed that brief peace.
At that moment, the sharp, distinctive cries of News Coos suddenly cut through the quiet sky like blades.
The birds were swift and strong, their feathers gleaming mysteriously beneath the hazy light.
Clutched tightly in their powerful talons were no ordinary newspapers.
This time, they carried eye-catching blood-red notices edged in gorgeous gold.
The golden borders reflected dazzling light even beneath the dim dawn, while the blood-red paper gave off a chilling aura that made the heart tighten.
As the News Coos arrived, the newspaper boys began their busy work.
They ran between harbors, their hoarse shouts rising one after another and echoing through every corner.
"Emergency extra! Historic Marine expansion!"
Their voices carried urgency and excitement, as though they meant to spread this explosive news to every corner of the world.
Then another shout followed.
"The Six-Admiral system officially begins!"
The string of announcements was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, stirring waves in every direction.
At the Sabaody Archipelago, the bustling coating docks also fell into a strange atmosphere.
The pirates who had just docked had been stretching lazily or laughing as they prepared to begin new adventures.
But the instant their eyes landed on the newspapers, the smiles froze on their faces, replaced by fear.
They widened their eyes and stared fixedly at the front page.
It was no longer a familiar bounty poster.
Instead, almost the entire page was occupied by a blood-red recruitment order.
The hot ink seemed to still carry the heat of fresh printing. In the morning fog, it gave off a sharp scent like rust.
Touching it even created the illusion that the ink might burn one's fingers.
Every word on that recruitment order seemed to carry a weight of a thousand pounds, pressing down until people could barely breathe.
Reading it carefully, one could clearly see the headline:
Special Expansion Order from Marine Headquarters!
The contents stated that the number of Admiral seats would officially increase to six, and the Marines would recruit top-class combatants from across the entire world.
Even more tempting was the generous treatment offered by this recruitment.
The news exploded among the pirates like a bomb.
The Marines were going to have six Admirals?!
...
Drum Kingdom.
At that moment, the kingdom was buried beneath a raging snowstorm, as if heaven and earth had been covered by a white curtain.
Drum Harbor, located near the edge of the kingdom, felt like an ice cellar.
The wet, freezing air pierced into people's bones like countless tiny needles, making them shiver uncontrollably.
On the dock, a group of exhausted workers stood silently.
The white breath they exhaled instantly turned into hazy mist in the freezing cold, only to quickly disperse into the frigid air.
They stood blankly before the mottled gray wall of the dock warehouse, their eyes filled with confusion and helplessness.
Nearby, Marine soldiers were busy at work.
The bayonets in their hands scraped back and forth against the wall as they tried to completely remove the remaining wanted posters.
With every motion, paste mixed with ice chips fell away in soft, brittle flakes, producing faint crisp sounds. It was the only accompaniment in this frozen world.
"Move faster!"
The Marine colonel's voice rang out sharply through the silence.
He wore an imposing uniform, and the white fog from his breath slowly froze into frost across his crimson cloak, forming an eerie picture.
His eyes were filled with urgency and severity as he urged them again.
"The entire island must be covered before noon!"
Old foreman Glaz stood nearby, his frostbitten fingers trembling nonstop from the cold.
He slowly raised his hand and pointed toward the wall, which had already been scraped rough.
Many terrifying photographs had once been posted there.
They were all vicious wanted criminals, such as "Bloodhand" Bain, whose hands seemed stained with endless blood, and "Bonecrusher" Jack, whose cruelty had made people tremble at the sound of his name.
Now, under the bayonets, those photos were gradually being torn apart.
The still-wet paste pulled long, transparent strings from the edges of the fragments, like a spiderweb struggling in its final moments, giving the scene an eerie, desolate feeling.
Smack!
A crisp sound broke the brief silence.
A brand-new recruitment poster was slapped heavily onto the damp wall.
A Marine soldier wearing thick gloves pressed his palm hard across the surface, carefully smoothing out the silhouettes of the Admirals.
On the poster, Kizaru's glowing fingertip seemed to contain endless power.