Chapter 387: The Beginning of the Final War

Deep beneath the sea, Fish-Man Island.

Jinbe, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, carried a large amount of food toward the Marine base on Fish-Man Island.

Fish-Man Island Marine Branch Base.

Sengoku sat there eating snacks while watching the Marine Headquarters broadcast.

He had to admit it. Sakazuki had achieved things that previous Marine organizations had never accomplished and never even dared to imagine...

Knock, knock, knock.

While eating snacks, Sengoku spoke. "Come in."

Jinbe entered carrying the food. "Sengoku-san."

Sengoku smiled. "Oh, Jinbe. What brings you here?"

Jinbe shook his head. "Nothing important. I heard you were being transferred, so I came to visit."

The Marine soldiers stationed at Fish-Man Island had already begun packing their belongings. Such unusual activity naturally caught the attention of the Ryugu Kingdom citizens.

After asking around, Jinbe learned that Sengoku was apparently being transferred to the front lines, so he hurried over with gifts to visit him.

Sengoku nodded with a smile. "That’s right. That fellow Issho had a bit of a conflict with Sakazuki, so he was transferred back. From now on, he’ll temporarily guard Fish-Man Island until the war ends. But it should still take him some time to return here from Wano."

Jinbe was slightly stunned. "A conflict?"

He remembered that Issho had greatly admired the Fleet Admiral before and had eagerly wanted to meet him.

Sengoku softly sighed. "What do you think? Using hundreds of thousands of lives in exchange for destroying the forces of two Emperors, Knox and Shanks, and crushing the New World’s pirates... was it worth it?"

Jinbe opened his mouth but could not answer.

Fish-Man Island had also been affected by the destruction of the New World, and he had already learned some of the details from Sengoku.

From a rational standpoint, the destruction of two Emperors and the collapse of the New World’s pirate forces carried far greater value to the world than the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

But emotionally, from his own perspective, he could never give such an order.

And now he understood the conflict Sengoku had mentioned. It was a clash between Fleet Admiral Sakazuki’s ideals and Issho’s beliefs...

In the end, Jinbe could only say, "I can’t answer that... What about you, Sengoku-san?"

Sengoku froze slightly as though he had never seriously considered the question before. "Me...?"

Several seconds later, he let out a sigh. "I am inferior to him."

He too could never make a decision like Sakazuki’s. Perhaps in this world, only Sakazuki could carry out Justice so thoroughly...

Whoosh!

Two figures suddenly appeared inside the office.

Sengoku and Jinbe’s expressions immediately tightened, but they quickly realized they were familiar faces.

"Carlo. Issho. This is...?"

Sengoku’s expression suddenly changed.

That ability...

Carlo explained, "I am the user of the Warp-Warp Fruit, Inspector General Sengoku."

The corner of Sengoku’s mouth twitched slightly. "So the Devil Fruit recovery device was actually successful long ago, huh."

He knew the previous user of the Warp-Warp Fruit from the government. Back then, that very person had transported him and Sakazuki to the Marine branch at Sgri Sea.

Several years ago, after that man reached the end of his lifespan, he had been sent to Vegapunk in hopes of recovering the Devil Fruit ability.

But the attempt failed.

After that, the fruit completely vanished. Yet unexpectedly...

Carlo gave a nod. "That’s right. Everything was for today. We’ve already obtained the Four Emperors’ coordinates. The pirates’ end has arrived."

Sengoku slowly nodded while looking toward the communication screen connected to the Four Emperors. "Their coordinates, huh..."

Unlike those ignorant pirates, he understood quite a bit about technology due to being a former Fleet Admiral.

Tracking communications was relatively simple. And with Vegapunk’s support, locating them was probably not difficult either...

So when the New World was destroyed, Sakazuki had already planned this entire conversation as part of his scheme...

"I really am inferior to him..." Sengoku sighed again and repeated his earlier words.

Then he gestured toward Carlo. "Let’s go."

Carlo nodded and placed a hand on Sengoku.

Whoosh!

The two vanished from Fish-Man Island.

* * *

Inside the Fish-Man Island base office.

After the two disappeared, Issho directly removed the Justice coat from his shoulders and also took off his rank insignia.

Jinbe looked confused. "Issho-san, what are you...?"

Issho shook his head. "I’ve already decided to leave the Marines. Once this war ends, I will depart. Until then... I apologize for troubling you, Jinbe-san..."

His hand brushed across the coat and insignia. Although he greatly approved of the current Marines, he still could not continue staying.

Hundreds of thousands of lives...

Jinbe remained silent beside him.

He, Sengoku, and Issho all shared somewhat similar personalities. They could not agree with Sakazuki’s methods.

But there was also nothing they could do about it...

* * *

New World, New Marineford.

The four great pirates who carried the title of Emperor stared directly at Sakazuki.

No one spoke first. For a moment, complete silence filled the air.

Seeing that nobody spoke, Sakazuki slowly said, "What? Still haven’t thought of your final words?"

Knox’s somber voice rang out. "Final words? You should prepare those for yourself. Everything you’ve done will eventually become known to the entire world, Sakazuki... and when that day comes, your fate won’t end any better than ours..."

He had detonated the New World, destroyed dozens of islands, and caused countless deaths.

The number of people who died because of him far exceeded the total number killed by all four of them combined.

Such inhuman methods...

Even if nobody dared to criticize him while he was alive, once he died, his reputation would certainly become even worse than theirs...

Sakazuki showed no concern whatsoever. Instead, the corners of his lips slowly rose. "Oh? What exactly have I done?"

Knox’s crimson eyes burned with rage as he sneered. "You—"

Suddenly, he froze.

His expression twisted violently as he glared at Sakazuki before furiously opening his mouth again.

"...."

Yet not a single sound came out.

The other Emperors’ expressions also changed slightly.

None of their voices could be heard.

Clap, clap, clap...

Standing atop the execution platform, Sakazuki lightly applauded while chuckling. "Are you performing a silent play? Very good. If you hadn’t become pirates, you definitely would have made excellent clowns..."

As his words fell, the screens showing the Four Emperors were casually discarded like garbage.

It was as if Sakazuki had only intended to toy with them from the start and had never planned to give them any real opportunity to speak.

The broadcast immediately switched back to Sakazuki.

The faint smile disappeared from his face as he took a deep breath.

"Brave Marine soldiers! Do you want an all-out war?!"

A heaven-shaking roar of fanatic voices erupted.

"YES!!!"

Sakazuki’s voice thundered across heaven and earth.

"Do you want a complete and merciless war that will thoroughly cleanse this world?!"

The soldiers’ fanatical roars became even louder than before.

"YES!!!!!!"

Sakazuki’s voice echoed through every corner of the world.

"Then let it begin!

"Together, let us carry the hopes of the world! Carry the wishes of the people! Carry every suffering this world has endured over the past eight hundred years!!!

"And begin this final war!!! A war that leaves not a single one behind!!!

"WAR!!!

"In the name of justice, completely crush the greatest source of suffering in this world within the New World!!!

"FIGHT!!!

"Do not fear injury! Do not fear death! Even if your bodies are shattered to pieces, it will all be worth it!

"Those who come after us will remember everything we did today!!!

"Sever the darkness blocking our future and give this world a bright tomorrow!!!

"JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL!!!!!"

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