I Am Honkai

"...The Holy Land Mary Geoise is under threat, and the Five Elders are urging us to recall the Navy's main forces from the New World."

"The great pirates of the New World are stirring, particularly Blackbeard Marshall D. Teach and Kaido of the Beasts. Their crews are causing the biggest waves—it seems they want to exploit this chaos for their own gains."

Seated at the head of the meeting room table, puffing on a cigar, Admiral Akainu (Sakazuki) spoke in a deep, measured tone. His Marine cap sat low, shadowing his eyes.

To Sakazuki, withdrawing the Navy's main forces from the New World headquarters (formerly G1 Branch) to reinforce the Red Line and the first half of the Grand Line?

Tch, what a headache.

The great pirates in the New World still needed to be suppressed. The Navy had no spare forces to redeploy in short order. Troop movements required funding, supplies needed time to be mobilized...

In other words, Five Elders, is this karma?

You want me to reinforce you?

Sure, beg me! And perhaps throw in a little extra funding for the effort—doesn't that sound fair?

Well, maybe that's not exactly the right sentiment, but Sakazuki and the other Marine officers present all had similar thoughts brewing in their minds.

"...."

"Hmm~"

Breaking the suffocating silence, Kizaru (Borsalino), seated in the first seat to Sakazuki's right, spoke up languidly.

Since Admiral Aokiji (Kuzan) lost his bid for Fleet Admiral to Sakazuki, he had left the Marines entirely.

Of the two admirals promoted after the World Military Draft, Green Bull (Aramaki) was stationed at Mary Geoise and unavailable, while Fujitora (Issho) lacked the seniority to hold sway here. That left Borsalino as the only one qualified to follow Sakazuki's lead in the discussion.

"The rebels... is that the name the World Government gave them? Wow~ Truly terrifying," Borsalino said.

Dressed in his yellow-and-white striped suit, a purple tie, and a green shirt, Borsalino lounged back in his chair, sunglasses reflecting the room's light. He sipped tea, as relaxed as a man in his own living room.

Unlike the petty scuffles with pirates or the Revolutionaries' minor skirmishes, this conflict was shaking the foundations of the world. The Ninth Astartes Legion, under Sanguinius, had one goal—replacing the World Government's rule entirely.

Their actions were crystal clear: destroy the old order, establish a new one, unite the majority, and crush the few. They were cutting the World Government's authority off at its roots.

"Appearing suddenly all over the world, and within a single night, crippling a regime built over centuries... the Five Elders must be truly desperate, sending the CP0 to prod us along."

Borsalino's gaze flicked toward the CP0 agents standing by the door, dressed in white suits with their distinctive masks.

Despite his usual wily smirk, there was a glint of seriousness in his eyes.

After all, judging by the rebel forces' momentum, if this continued, the World Government really could collapse.

If that happened, who would pay his salary? Where would his pension come from? Who would guarantee his retirement benefits?

These were, in Borsalino's view, serious concerns.

"Admiral Borsalino, please mind your words. This is a direct order from the World Government, the will of the Five Elders, the decree of the descendants of the gods."

Though the World Government's grip on power seemed increasingly tenuous, the CP0 agents maintained their usual imperiousness. Their tone was firm, unwilling to cede an inch, not even to a Navy Admiral.

"Wow~ CP0. So scary!"

Borsalino exaggeratedly raised his hands in mock surrender, but his words dripped with sarcasm, his insincerity obvious.

"Borsali—"

"Enough!"

Thud—!

"Quit your bickering!"

Sakazuki slammed a magma-infused fist onto the table. The paper files near him ignited, sending smoke curling into the air and signaling his rising temper.

With effort, Sakazuki reined himself in, the molten magma retracting as he raised his head to glare at the CP0 agents.

"This isn't Mary Geoise. No one here cares for your flattery! Save it!"

"If we withdraw the Navy, who will defend the New World? Should we just hand it over to the pirates?"

"Fleet Admiral Sakazuki, the Holy Land Mary Geoise is under threat from the rebels. The Five Elders command the Navy's main forces to return immediately. If necessary, the New World can be temporarily abandoned."

The CP0 leader refused to answer Sakazuki's question, instead reiterating their directive, emphasizing the phrase 'Five Elders' command' with biting emphasis.

"Hmph. Let's set that aside for now. You've come from Mary Geoise—surely you've engaged with the rebels. What's their situation? Give me a detailed report."

Sakazuki snorted dismissively, his tone unyielding.

Truthfully, Sakazuki was more concerned with eradicating all pirates than propping up the World Government's rule.

His past actions as Fleet Admiral bore this out: relocating the Navy Headquarters from the relatively safe first half of the Grand Line to the perilous New World was a calculated move.

Sakazuki aimed to stand on the frontlines against the pirate menace, bringing them to justice with his own hands.

It was almost as though Sakazuki embodied the motto: "Let the emperor guard the borders."

To him, the World Government was little more than a funding source. And CP0? Their sycophantic loyalty to the Celestial Dragons, their arrogance and disdain for the Navy—they irritated him to no end.

"...."

Sakazuki's firm tone left the CP0 agents visibly shaken, their arms trembling. Beneath their masks, their expressions must have been livid.

But this wasn't Mary Geoise. Here, the Navy held the upper hand, and CP0's forces had been severely weakened by the Ninth Legion's relentless onslaught. Even their Celestial Dragon masters were hanging by a thread.

For once, CP0 was the one begging the Navy for help, not the other way around. And Sakazuki was more than happy to assert his authority.

Fate's irony was not lost on anyone present: before Sakazuki moved the Navy Headquarters to the New World, the seas had been relatively calm. The moment he became Fleet Admiral and relocated his forces, the entire world exploded into chaos.

The timing was so uncanny it almost seemed deliberate.

One could imagine the Five Elders' exasperation, wondering if Sakazuki was some kind of saboteur. How else to explain such perfect misfortune?

"Fleet Admiral, this is the last signal transmitted from the Navy garrison on Sabaody Archipelago."

As the tension reached its peak, Vice Admiral Brannew, a man with green, curly hair, thick lips, and sunglasses, broke the silence. He pointed to the screen at the center of the room, speaking loudly.

On display was a side-profile image of an Astartes officer leading his squad into battle.

Though the photo didn't capture the officer's face, the golden Imperial Aquila and the Blood Angels' winged blood droplet emblem were unmistakable.

"IX? Sequence number nine...?"

"So that means there are at least eight other units like them..."

"Their weapons are highly advanced, far superior to our standard-issue flintlocks and cannons."

"Their tactics and discipline rival our most elite Marines. With discipline like that, they're clearly not pirates—they're soldiers."

...

The conference room erupted into hushed discussion.

Borsalino, as always, lounged in his chair, sipping tea nonchalantly. What he was thinking, no one could tell behind his tinted glasses.

Fujitora (Issho) seemed to want to contribute but hesitated. As a blind man, he couldn't perceive the screen or its imagery, and after some thought, he swallowed his words.

"Although I hate to admit it, the rebels' weapons are indeed far superior to ours. Even the newly-deployed humanoid weapons, the 'Pacifistas,' are completely outmatched."

The leader of the CP0 delegation spoke stiffly, his words clipped.

"What's most notable are the warriors clad in crimson heavy armor. They form the rebels' most elite corps—immensely powerful fighters equipped with bizarrely advanced armor and weapons."

"Fleet Admiral Sakazuki, I urge you to deploy reinforcements without delay."

The Astartes warriors, while perhaps not on par with the very strongest individuals in the Grand Line, were more than sufficient for their tasks.

Even a fresh Astartes recruit, newly inducted and barely acclimated to their body modifications, could be described as overwhelming when compared to Marine officers ranked Lieutenant or even Commander.

Armed with their signature power armor and devastatingly advanced weapons, every Astartes soldier became a high-efficiency killing machine.

To inflict meaningful damage on an Astartes, the Marines would need to deploy at least a Vice Admiral-level combatant.

And even then, unless the Astartes warrior's body was utterly obliterated or their death confirmed, the presence of their highly skilled battlefield medics meant that most injured Astartes could be brought back to fighting condition in remarkably short order.

"No. As a commander, I'm responsible for the lives of my soldiers. Explain these weapons in detail."

Sakazuki pointed at the screen, which displayed the varied arsenal of the Astartes soldiers: "Chainsaws? Greatswords? Large-caliber rapid-fire firearms? Laser and radiation-based weapons?"

The images shifted, showing the Blood Angels in action, indiscriminately cutting down Marines, pirates, and CP agents alike.

"Are those rounds... rocket-propelled? They accelerate mid-flight and explode? That's not a bullet—that's a cannon shell! Our soldiers' weapons don't even compare! This isn't war—it's a slaughter!"

Vice Admiral Momonga's brow furrowed deeply as he studied the battlefield images. The technological disparity was staggering, and the potential casualty numbers in such a conflict would be unimaginable.

This time, even the usually cold-blooded Vice Admiral Onigumo refrained from speaking out against Momonga's so-called 'cowardice.'

Though Onigumo was infamous for his ruthless nature and willingness to sacrifice his own men to accomplish a mission, he was no fool. Sacrifices were acceptable only if the exchange ratio made strategic sense.

In a battle where weapons and technology decided the outcome, the sheer disadvantage faced by the rank-and-file Marine soldiers was painfully clear. Even someone as ruthless as Onigumo found the potential losses hard to stomach.

Listening to the CP0 agents endlessly harp on about technological disparities and military differences, Sakazuki's irritation mounted.

He cast a sidelong glance at the images of the Imperial forces on the screen—unstoppable, disciplined, and radiating unshakable morale. Even in mere recordings, they exuded an aura that made Sakazuki's brows furrow.

"Is that all the intelligence you've gathered? Their origins, troop numbers, commanding officers, their supreme leader—did you not uncover anything else during your engagements with them?"

"Gulp—"

CP0's leader swallowed hard before stammering a response.

"Their origins remain unknown. We estimate their forces to number in the millions. As for their officers and ranks, we're still investigating... their uniforms and heavy armor are highly uniform, making it difficult to discern their hierarchy."

At this, Sakazuki's frustration boiled over.

"'Unknown,' 'estimated,' 'unclear'—you know nothing! What kind of useless organization are you CP0 clowns?!"

Bang!

Sakazuki shot to his feet, slamming a magma-infused fist onto the table.

"If CP0 is filled with such incompetent fools wasting our budget, it would be better to disband you outright! Now get out!"

The tension in the room froze solid. The CP0 delegation bristled, their aura turning icy and menacing. Their leader began to stammer, "Fleet Admiral Sa—"

Suddenly, Pop!

A bizarre sound echoed through the meeting room, as if a bubble had burst.

Everyone, from the Navy Admirals to the CP0 agents, turned in unison to stare at the corner of the room.

There, two elderly men sat with arms crossed, their heads nodding as if in sync. Both had bubbles of snot dangling from their noses, which had just burst with an audible pop.

The culprits? None other than Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp and former Fleet Admiral Sengoku, now retired and serving as the Navy's Chief Inspector.

While Sengoku had once been the epitome of seriousness during his tenure as Fleet Admiral, his retirement had seemingly brought out a latent mischievous streak, making him almost indistinguishable from Garp in behavior.

CP0 agents: "...."

Marine officers: "...."

"Admiral... er, Chief Inspector Sengoku?" a nervous Marine guard ventured cautiously.

"Huh? Is it lunchtime already?"

The two elderly men blinked awake in unison, mumbling drowsily before locking eyes with each other and bursting into uproarious laughter.

For a moment, the room was silent in disbelief. No one dared reprimand them—except for Sakazuki.

Bang!

"Shut up, you two geriatrics! Keep your mouths closed, or so help me—!"

The table before Sakazuki disintegrated as his magma-infused fist smashed through it. His anger flared like an erupting volcano as he glared at the two old-timers.

"Heh heh. Tough job being Fleet Admiral, huh, Sakazuki?" Sengoku taunted, stretching lazily and smirking.

"And whose fault do you think that is?! Get out of here!"

After shouting at them and waiting for the Marines to replace the table, Sakazuki slumped back into his seat, exhaling heavily.

In that moment, he felt an inkling of the frustration Sengoku must have endured while dealing with Garp in the past.

Calming himself, Sakazuki pulled a pamphlet from his pocket. Emblazoned with the symbol of the double-headed eagle, it bore a chilling proclamation:

"The rebels vow to annihilate all pirates and criminals, establish the Empire's order, and bathe the world in the God-Emperor's (Aka: Divine Empress) light."

"Hmph... how amusing. The God-Emperor versus the descendants of the creators of the world—who's the real deal? Guess we'll find out. Let's see how the Five Elders and the so-called Celestial Dragons handle this."

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