Admiral Sengoku, who had been on duty outside, returned to Marineford.
Inside the Intelligence Department's Chief of Staff office, Sengoku pushed the door open and stormed in. His eyes were bloodshot from days and nights without proper rest, and his condition looked very bad.
Zephyr, an Admiral just like him, had lost his entire family inside Marine Headquarters.
How could Sengoku not be shaken by that?
If something like this could happen to Zephyr, who could guarantee that it would not happen to him as well?
In the past two years, Sengoku had even thought that since he was getting older, perhaps he should set aside a little attention from justice and consider starting a family.
But after learning about this matter, he had already made up his mind on the way back to Marineford.
He would never allow himself to become someone with that kind of weakness.
Zephyr's tragedy was right in front of him.
No one knew whether this incident was the reason Sengoku never married in the future, but everyone believed there was a connection.
"Tsuru!" Sengoku called out as he looked at Chief of Staff Tsuru, who was leaning over the desk with her back slightly bent.
Chief of Staff Tsuru raised her head. Her eyes also carried a tired look. Before Sengoku could speak, she shook her head.
"What does that mean? You found nothing?!" Sengoku gritted his teeth and said, "What about the Marines in charge of security checks at the port? What about the person who approved that ship's entry papers? Who signed them? Who was on duty and let them through? Where did they get the map of the residential area? Who gave them the address of Zephyr's home? If we want to investigate, there are so many places to start…"
"Yes, just as you said, if we want to investigate, there are many places to start, and no matter where we begin, there should be some sign. But…" Tsuru paused as she looked at Sengoku, then said weakly, "But there is no trace at all. Old Sea Dog's group arrived at Marineford three weeks ago and had been held in Headquarters' prison. According to the records, they should have been sent to Impel Down on a prison ship two weeks ago, and the records show that they were indeed taken away. However, after that prison ship passed through the Gates of Justice, it was suddenly attacked by a Sea King and vanished without a trace. We thought Old Sea Dog and his pirates had all gone down with the ship, but who would have thought they never boarded it, and never left Marineford at all? During these three weeks, every Marine connected to them, everyone who handled this matter, from ordinary soldiers to a Commodore, was sent out on outside missions, and now none of them can be contacted…"
There were traitors inside the Marines. That much was beyond doubt.
And all of those traitors had disappeared. At least, the traitors tied to this matter had disappeared. Three weeks was more than enough time. Before the incident happened, they had enough chances to leave Marineford through all kinds of methods and excuses.
Perhaps they had thought that after doing this, they would leave, take their reward, and live a rich and comfortable life.
However, the reason Chief of Staff Tsuru had not followed those clues across the sea to search for the missing Marines was because she understood very clearly, and was very sure, that those people were already dead.
For something this serious, how could the people behind it leave witnesses alive?
The masterminds behind this even dared to target a Marine Admiral. Would they lack the will to silence a few traitors?
Perhaps in the eyes of those traitors, they had only released a group of ordinary pirates. It was not a major matter, so they had not stayed alert. Maybe even at the moment of their deaths, they would never have imagined that their actions had caused Admiral Zephyr's whole family to be killed.
"The method is too ruthless and too clean…" Sengoku took a deep breath after hearing this. "Leaving no trace at all is almost the same as telling us openly…"
Having no evidence and no trail was also a kind of arrogance.
On this sea, who could do something like this?
Who could kill an Admiral's entire family inside Marine Headquarters, then make sure the Marines could not find even the smallest trace afterward?
Wasn't the answer already obvious?
"Cipher Pol…" Tsuru nodded and said, "No matter how you look at it, this has CP written all over it… maybe even those vicious bastards from CP-0. But who gave the order behind the scenes?"
"Those people in Mary Geoise do not want to see Zephyr rise… is that it?" Sengoku clenched his fist as he spoke.
It was true that he wanted to become Fleet Admiral. From the day Sengoku joined the Marines, he had been working toward that goal. He had never hidden that, and many of the higher-ups in the Marines knew Admiral Sengoku wanted the position. There was nothing wrong with that.
A Marine who did not want to become Fleet Admiral was not a proper Marine. Since he had already reached the rank of Admiral, what was wrong with looking toward the Fleet Admiral's seat?
There was nothing wrong with it at all.
Sengoku also knew that, in the fight for that position, Zephyr was his strongest rival. Judging by the current situation, he most likely could not beat Zephyr.
As said before, Zephyr had gone from Petty Officer to Admiral in ten years, which was enough to prove that this era was his peak inside the Marines.
But even though Sengoku knew he might not be able to beat Zephyr, he had never once thought of using such a low method to win.
By now, Sengoku was already certain that Zephyr could no longer keep walking the path toward becoming Fleet Admiral. Yet there was no joy in his heart at all. Instead, he only felt deep grief.
They were not pirates. Pirates did not care about proof or rules. For them, strength was reason, and if someone refused to accept it, they would simply fight.
They were Marines. They were an organization under the World Government. They needed to care about proof, rules, and appearances, because if even the greatest armed force on the sea no longer cared about these things, then who were they protecting?
They would instantly turn from justice into pure evil.
So even though everyone could see that this was CP's work, and even though Mary Geoise was very likely supporting it from the shadows, they had no proof.
Without proof, they could not make a move.
They first had to prove that CP had done it before they could strike back properly, but right now, they could not even do that much.
For the Marines, how was this not another humiliation?
"His reputation is too strong… There are factions inside the Marines too, but if Zephyr sits in that position ten or twenty years from now, then all those factions may unite in an instant. At that time, the whole of Marineford will have only one voice, and that will frighten those big figures," Tsuru said softly.
Of course there were factions inside the Marines. Even though Sengoku and Garp were very close, they did not belong to the same belief or faction. In many meetings, Sengoku often argued with Garp until both sides were red in the face.
That was what factions were. Hawks, doves, neutral groups, people from different seas, officers from Paradise, officers from the New World, supporters of the World Government, and Marines who placed justice first. Whether it was about beliefs or background, as long as there was a suitable reason, a faction could form.
For an organization as large as the Marines, it would be strange if such groups did not exist.
As long as those factions existed, the Marines could never fully unite.
And now, on this sea, there was a man who might unite all these factions in the future.
That man was Zephyr.
So the great figures who had seen that sign could no longer sit still.
"When will Zephyr return?" Sengoku did not continue that topic and instead asked about this matter.
"He is already on his way back. He should arrive in a week," Chief of Staff Tsuru said softly.
"What face do we even have to meet him with… He will surely be completely disappointed in the Marines, and that is exactly the result those people want," Sengoku said helplessly.
Killing was only the first step.
Breaking his heart was the real goal.
Just killing Zephyr's family would not fully erase his heroic spirit.
What they truly wanted was to make Zephyr lose all faith in the Marines. An Admiral's entire family had been killed in the very heart of justice, yet the mighty Marines were unable to seek justice for him. That alone was enough to let Zephyr see what kind of swamp the Marines truly were.
At the same time, in the Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
The chief of CP walked unsteadily toward Pangaea Castle.
Just before stepping through the castle gates, the white-haired old man stopped and turned his gaze toward Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
A moment later, a cruel smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"This is not enough. We still have to make the Marines step on the lives of Zephyr's family to gain rank and power. Only then will this matter truly be over…"
Once it reached that point, there would be no way back.
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