Neither Sengoku nor Zephyr had sustained any major injuries, and the Roger Pirates and Shiki's crew weren't truly of one mind either. With Harald—their greatest threat—removed, both factions harbored mutual reservations while fighting alongside one another, preventing them from exerting their full strength.
Under these circumstances, though the Marines were left in a rather pathetic state, they ultimately managed to execute a complete retreat and safely departed from Elbaf.
Out at sea, the Marine warships steadily moved farther away from Elbaf.
Sengoku stood at the deck, his expression dark as he stared at the gigantic Treasure Tree Adam in the distance.
"You heard Harald's final words too, didn't you?" Zephyr asked in a heavy voice.
"I did..." Sengoku nodded slowly. "Back during the West Blue incident, I already felt something was wrong. Looking at it now... there's a terrifying power hidden within Mary Geoise."
Just as before, a strange force capable of forcibly controlling even someone as powerful as Harald was horrifying to every strong person on the seas, regardless of faction.
And Sengoku was no exception.
He carried the ambition of reforming the Marines and enforcing justice across the world.
Yet now he had discovered that deep within the Holy Land existed a dark power capable of twisting people's wills and turning them into obedient puppets.
How could he possibly not be worried?
What if one day that power targeted him too?
What would happen to the Marines then?
After a long silence, Zephyr spoke again.
"We deployed two Marine Admirals, yet the mission still failed. Harald was even... dealt with." His tone grew heavier. "This is going to be difficult to explain to the higher-ups."
Sengoku rubbed the Den Den Mushi in his hand for a moment before shaking his head.
"For now, we can only report everything truthfully and wait to see what they say."
As he spoke, he dialed the Den Den Mushi.
Who exactly stood above the Marines in Mary Geoise?
Naturally, it was the Warrior God of Science and Defense—the utterly loyal servant of the World Government and devoted follower of Imu-sama—
Saint Saturn.
...
Mary Geoise, Pangaea Castle, inside Saint Saturn's private office.
The old man sat quietly on the sofa with his eyes closed, casually playing with his Den Den Mushi.
It was obvious he had been waiting for a report.
Right then, the Den Den Mushi rang.
Saturn slowly opened his eyes and answered the call.
"Sengoku? How did things go?"
Sengoku took a deep breath before replying, "My deepest apologies, Saint Saturn... the mission failed."
At that moment, Saturn's emotions were extremely complicated.
On one hand, he truly had hoped Elbaf could be taken successfully. If that happened, the World Government's military strength would rise to unprecedented heights.
But deep inside, another part of him had secretly wished for the situation to spiral out of control...
Even to fail completely.
Because that would prove Imu-sama was not truly capable of controlling everything and bending the world entirely to his will.
And that thought alone gave Saturn a little more courage and confidence.
A long silence followed.
So long that cold sweat began dripping from Sengoku's forehead.
Only then did Saturn finally speak.
"Report everything you witnessed in Elbaf. Leave out nothing."
His voice remained calm.
There was no anger over the failed mission.
Nor any disappointment.
Only then did Sengoku quietly let out a breath of relief. He swallowed before continuing,
"Originally, everything was proceeding normally. Earlier today, we never saw King Harald. I assumed he was carrying out some secret mission for the Holy Knights. But around noon, Shiki led the Flying Pirates in an attack on Elbaf."
"Shortly afterward, King Harald appeared."
"But his condition was extremely strange. He seemed to possess some bizarre power that greatly enhanced his physical abilities. He even grew a pair of wings..."
"Furthermore, no matter how many times he was killed, he simply would not die..."
Sengoku paused for a moment after saying this, seemingly wanting to see whether Saint Saturn would offer some kind of explanation or reaction.
But unfortunately, after waiting for two seconds, he realized Saturn had no intention of responding.
So Sengoku buried those thoughts and continued his report.
"Soon after that, the Roger Pirates suddenly appeared. We suspect they had already been hiding in Elbaf for some time. Under the combined assault of Roger's crew and Shiki's forces, after an intense battle, Saint Valthior used his frost powers to freeze and seal Harald away..."
"Valthior's power sealed Harald?" A glint flashed through Saturn's eyes.
"Yes. Originally, he shouldn't have possessed that level of strength, but during the battle, Saint Valthior awakened his ability," Sengoku replied.
This time, Saturn said nothing.
Only after waiting briefly did Sengoku continue, "Under the pressure of Roger and Shiki joining forces, the Marines ultimately withdrew from Elbaf."
"I understand the situation now," Saturn finally said again.
He first responded calmly before issuing orders in a cold voice.
"From this moment onward, destroy every record related to this operation in Elbaf. Absolutely no information is allowed to leak out."
"Issue a highest-level confidentiality order to all Marines involved in this mission."
"And when submitting the report to Mary Geoise, erase all mention of the Roger Pirates. The complete responsibility for the Elbaf operation's failure will fall entirely upon Shiki."
"Raise Shiki's bounty to an appropriate level and classify his threat rating at the highest degree."
Sengoku did not understand why all traces of the Roger Pirates needed to be removed.
But he still chose to obey immediately.
"Yes. We will carry out your orders at once."
After a brief silence, Saturn continued, "The New World has been unstable lately. For the time being, do not return to Marine Headquarters. Remain in the New World for standby and recovery for half a year before returning."
Sengoku froze for a second.
The New World was unstable?
Ever since Shiki returned from West Blue, this had been the calmest period in years.
The great pirates had stopped fighting each other.
Charlotte Linlin and Kaido had both been captured.
And now Saturn was saying the New World was unstable?
Not only that, he was ordering two Marine Admirals not to return?
More importantly, there were no specific orders at all. Just "recover and remain on standby."
Sengoku suddenly had the strange feeling that Saturn was deliberately keeping them in the New World to avoid attention.
But avoid whose attention?
In that instant, the sharp-minded Sengoku thought of many possibilities.
He did not know of Imu's existence, so he assumed Saturn wanted to avoid direct questioning or contact from the other four Five Elders.
And when he thought back to Saturn's earlier order—to erase the Roger Pirates from the report—
Did that mean Saturn did not want the other Four Elders to know too much about this matter?
Were there divisions and cracks among the Five Elders themselves?
Was it related to that dark power?
Countless thoughts raced through Sengoku's mind, but none of them showed on his face.
"Yes," he replied immediately. "We will remain in the New World for recovery at once."
"Good," Saturn answered.
Then he hung up the Den Den Mushi.
Not long afterward, the fax machine in his office began printing Sengoku's written report.
The old man carefully reviewed the document. Only after confirming there were no issues did he pick up the report and head toward the Room of Authority.
By the time he pushed open the doors, a gloomy and furious expression had already appeared on his face, as though some catastrophic event had just occurred.
The other four Five Elders looked at him in surprise.
Saint Warcury was the first to speak. "Saturn, what happened for you to lose your composure like this?"
"I just received the Marine report," Saturn said heavily. "The Elbaf plan has completely failed. We've lost contact with Harald, and his whereabouts are unknown. It seems Shiki's invasion of Elbaf destroyed Imu-sama's entire plan..."
"At this point, we must immediately go to the Room of Flowers and beg forgiveness!"
The other four Five Elders were instantly stunned.
Saint Mars spoke in disbelief, "Shiki? Shiki managed to defeat Harald even after Harald received power from Imu-sama?"
You've got to be kidding.
Since when was Shiki that monstrous!?
Even though all four of them found it unbelievable, this was not the time to question it.
They needed to hurry and ask forgiveness immediately.
There was no time to waste.
Of course, deep down, the four elders' emotions were also extremely complicated.
Damn it, they had already suggested from the beginning that Harald should simply be brought under the World Government as the king of an affiliated nation.
Then they could slowly work on winning over the giant warriors step by step and eventually make them serve Mary Geoise.
But Imu-sama insisted on pulling all these dangerous schemes instead.
And now look what happened.
The entire plan had collapsed.
Even Harald himself had vanished.
This situation was so ridiculous they didn't even know how to comment on it anymore.
Still...
No matter what complaints they held inside, none of them would ever dare say Imu-sama was wrong.
Naturally, the fault had to belong to them—the servants who failed to carry out his will properly.
How could Imu-sama ever be mistaken?
Better to hurry and beg forgiveness now.
As long as they proactively took the blame onto themselves, things could still be discussed.
But if their attitude displeased Lord Imu and they ended up being forced to take the blame instead...
That would truly cost them their lives.
...
Read Advanced Chapters on : www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin
~ Every 100 PS = Bonus Chapter!
~ Push the Story forward with your [Power Stones]