Chapter 381: Tremors in Marineford! The Collapsing Balance and Highest Level Alert
Former G-1 Branch, New Marine Headquarters, Fleet Admiral's office.
Fleet Admiral Sakazuki sat upright behind his massive desk.
His brow was furrowed as he pored over confidential documents regarding abnormal movements of pirates in the New World, his eyes filled with murderous intent and irritation.
The situation in the New World had become increasingly chaotic recently, and the movements of the Four Emperors gave this iron-blooded Fleet Admiral a massive headache.
Just then, the golden Den Den Mushi with the highest security clearance in the corner of his desk suddenly emitted a rapid "Brrr-brrr" calling sound.
Sakazuki's expression tightened, and he quickly reached out to pick up the receiver.
The moment the Den Den Mushi connected, the snail's face immediately simulated the pallid, paper-white visage of the intelligence Vice Admiral responsible for surveillance at the front line:
"Fleet Admiral Sakazuki!"
"A major incident... The sky has fallen!"
"The main force of the Totto Land Fleet... has been defeated near Zou!"
Hearing this, Sakazuki was visibly stunned for a moment.
A flash of undisguised astonishment crossed his usually calm and cold face.
He slammed the table and stood up, shouting the question:
"What did you say?! That monster Charlotte Linlin was defeated?"
"Who did it?! Was it Kaido of the Beasts or Whitebeard?!"
In Sakazuki's subconscious, only the other Emperors of the Sea of the same level could possibly annihilate the main fleet of one of the Four Emperors.
However, the voice on the other end of the Den Den Mushi carried a near-delirious despair:
"No... neither of them! It was Straw Hat and 'Crimson Lotus Victor'!"
"The Four Emperor was beaten into the deep sea by the two of them working together, and her current status is unknown! The Totto Land Fleet has been almost completely wiped out!"
"Bastard!"
Sakazuki stood up abruptly, unleashing a roar like a volcanic eruption at the Den Den Mushi:
"What kind of joke are you playing?!
"How could a Four Emperor be defeated by those two brats who haven't been at sea for more than a few years?!
"Do you know the price of falsely reporting military intelligence of this level?!"
Facing the Fleet Admiral's fury, which was enough to melt someone through the phone, the intelligence Vice Admiral could no longer hold back, screaming with a sobbing voice as he recounted everything he had seen:
"It's true! Fleet Admiral!"
"This is what I saw with my own eyes through the telescope! There is not a single word of falsehood!"
"The Four Emperor Charlotte Linlin really was defeated head-on by the Straw Hat! The remnants of the Totto Land Fleet are fleeing frantically like stray dogs!"
"Fleet Admiral, are you still listening?! The Four Emperor has been defeated! The sky of the New World is about to change!"
Listening to the Vice Admiral's screaming, which didn't sound fake at all, Sakazuki's chest heaved violently several times.
Then, with a gloomy face, he slammed the Den Den Mushi receiver down.
"Clack!"
The office fell into dead silence again.
Sakazuki turned around and strode to the spacious floor-to-ceiling window.
He looked down at the Marine soldiers training on the playground below, his face so gloomy it seemed like it could drip water.
In his mind, he involuntarily recalled the tragic Marineford War from two years ago.
Sakazuki clenched his fists tightly, magma rolling between his fingers.
His heart was filled with endless regret and annoyance:
Damn it! Had he known this would happen, back then on the ice of Marineford, even at the cost of the most painful price, he should have ignored everything and slaughtered that Straw Hat and Tatsuya on the spot!
Releasing the tiger back to the mountains had finally brewed a disaster capable of subverting the world!
Sakazuki turned around and roared at the adjutant standing guard outside the door:
"Immediately summon all high-ranking officers currently at the headquarters for me!"
"Tell them to drop everything in their hands and gather at the highest conference room immediately! Not a second of delay is allowed!"
"Yes! Fleet Admiral!" The adjutant, terrified by this terrifying aura, trembled all over, saluted, and ran away frantically.
Accompanied by Sakazuki's roar, the Level 1 alert alarm, representing the highest Marine crisis response level, instantly resounded throughout the Marineford fortress.
All officers above the rank of Vice Admiral, whether they were guiding new recruits on the training ground or processing documents in their offices,
hearing this special alert representing world-class turmoil, immediately dropped everything in their hands and rushed to the highest conference room on the top floor of the fortress at top speed.
The door to the highest conference room was pushed open heavily.
Marine Chief of Staff Tsuru walked in with steady steps and sat down in her seat without a word.
Former Fleet Admiral Sengoku also walked in quickly. Although he habitually held a bag of senbei in his hand, he completely lacked his usual leisurely mood for snacking at this moment.
Immediately after, Admiral "Kizaru" Borsalino, Admiral "Aokiji" Kuzan, and other generals representing the Marines' highest combat power arrived one after another.
In the conference room filled with high-ranking officers, every single one of them was a big shot who shook the sea.
But at this moment, the air in the entire conference room seemed to have frozen.
Not long after everyone took their seats, the door to the conference room was pushed open again.
Sakazuki strode into the conference room.
He came to the front of the long table, placed his hands on the table, and swept his tiger-like eyes across the room.
Without any superfluous words, he turned directly and ordered the communications soldier beside him:
"Immediately project the top-secret image data that the forward reconnaissance ship died trying to send back onto the big screen."
"Yes!"
The communications soldier operated the projector, sweating profusely.
With a "beep," the huge screen at the end of the conference room lit up instantly.
The footage began to play. Although it was a bit shaky due to the long distance, the shocking scene was still clearly visible.
First to greet the eyes of the Marine top brass was Tatsuya's complete Susanoo, standing hundreds of meters tall.
Looking at the energy giant wearing a tengu mask on the screen, looking at the huge Chakra wings that could cover the sky and sun after spreading out.
And the terrifying giant sword in its hand that could cut through a Four Emperor's main warship with a casual wave, a synchronized gasp of air instantly erupted in the entire conference room.
Kizaru, sitting in his chair, pushed up the yellow sunglasses on the bridge of his nose.
"Oh my, oh my... this is truly exaggerated to the extreme.
"I have been sailing on the sea for so many years, this is the first time I have seen such a monster."
"What kind of unknown Devil Fruit does that man called Tatsuya possess?"
"This kind of body size and destructive power that transcends common sense is just like a god of destruction from ancient mythology~"
However, the shock on the screen was far more than that.
The footage continued to play.
When everyone in the conference room saw Tatsuya put his hands together, casually creating a pitch-black sphere that generated terrifying suction, sealing the surrounding warships, seawater, and the violent Big Mom together into a huge rock sphere in mid-air.
When they saw Luffy, wrapped in dark red Conqueror's Haki black lightning, transform into a giant Boundman, and punch Big Mom, who had broken free from the seal, into the deep, cold seabed like a meteor.
Even Tsuru, who had experienced countless storms, couldn't help but support herself on the table and stand up abruptly.
The entire conference room was so quiet that a pin drop could be heard; the officers' eyes were filled with horror.
A dignified monster, one of the monsters recognized as invincible, who had suppressed the New World for who knows how many years.
A true Emperor of the Sea, was actually defeated head-on by these two young pirates?!
Tsuru took a deep breath, calming the rolling emotions in her heart.
She looked around at her silent colleagues and announced a cruel fact to the whole room in an extremely heavy tone:
"Everyone, do not hold any more wishful thinking."
"The balance of power, which has been maintained for I don't know how many years, has completely broken today."
Tsuru pointed to the fleeing Totto Land Fleet on the screen: "The elite of the Big Mom Pirates have all fallen, and the commander's life or death is unknown."
"The fragile scales of the New World have completely tilted."
"The sea that follows will welcome an unprecedented, terrifying storm."
Sengoku, who had been silent, picked up a thick intelligence file in front of him.
His eyes were fixed on the close-up of Tatsuya's purple eyes emitting a faint light on the screen.
"Tsuru is right."
Sengoku opened one of the pages of the file and pointed out seriously.
"What is even more terrifying is this man named Tatsuya."
"He has not only displayed various astonishing attribute attacks and summoned energy giants."
"He can even control gravity and repulsion, absorb energy without contact, and release that kind of black flame that can burn even fire to nothingness."
Sengoku slammed the file on the table: "These diverse, mutually independent heaven-defying abilities do not conform to the rules of any single Devil Fruit at all."
"He is simply an anomaly that cannot be measured by common sense."
"Fleet Admiral, we must modify the bounty immediately."
"Raise Tatsuya directly to the same level as the Four Emperors!"
Hearing Sengoku's analysis, the anger in Sakazuki's chest surged again.
He slammed his fist heavily against the wall behind him, with a "boom," hot magma erupted, melting a large hole in the hard wall bricks.
"Not only that! We must take action immediately!"
Sakazuki gritted his teeth: "Order the intelligence department to cut off all external communications in that sea area at any cost!"
"Send out all warships to intercept the News Coo! Absolutely do not let the news that the Straw Hat defeated the Four Emperor spread!"
"Once this news is published, those restless new pirates will definitely go crazy, thereby triggering a great pirate riot again!"
However, before Sakazuki's words fell.
The heavy door of the highest conference room was suddenly pushed open by a panicked communications lieutenant colonel.
He was clutching a newspaper tightly in his hand.
"Fleet Admiral Sakazuki... it's too late! Please look at this!!"
The communications lieutenant colonel's lips trembled as he held the newspaper high, displaying it to all the Marine top brass.
On the front page headline of the newspaper, the large words in bold scarlet font, occupying half the page, severely stung everyone's eyes present.
"The Rampage of a New Era! The Monster Pirate Crew that Defeated Charlotte Linlin, the 'Fifth Emperor' Shockingly Ascends to the Top!"
The accompanying picture was a high-definition capture of Luffy swinging the King Kong Gun to knock Big Mom into the deep sea.
In the highest conference room of Marineford, a deathly silence fell instantly.
All the Marine top brass looked at the glaring headline, and an indescribable chill rose in their hearts.
They knew that the world that had barely maintained order had collapsed.
A completely runaway, rampant era had already arrived.
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