Chapter 595: The Situation of the Marines
Regarding Aokiji's thoughts, Sengoku neither agreed nor disagreed, offering no opinion at all.
Being in the high position of Fleet Admiral, how could Sengoku not see these things? How could he not have thought of them? The abolition of the Seven Warlords system that Aokiji mentioned—Sengoku had certainly considered it in his mind before. But he felt that while the idea was good, Aokiji might be acting too hastily...
The drawbacks of the Seven Warlords were obvious. Not everyone was like Hawk-Eye Mihawk, who operated alone without building a faction. They were pirates, and powerful ones at that. You couldn't expect them to develop themselves while abiding by the law. This inevitably led to many dark sides emerging. To win over these Warlords, the World Government and the Marines had to turn a blind eye to such situations... unless things truly reached a point of public outrage, they generally chose to selectively ignore it.
So Sengoku understood very well that the Marines' so-called name of justice was sometimes just a slogan. This was also why he had been unable to refute Ian's questioning back then.
However, if they truly wanted to abolish the Seven Warlords system, it would be very difficult. First of all, even if the number of Warlords was already insufficient, once their status was revoked, it would mean that several powerful pirates would suddenly appear in the world. As the Marines who "uphold justice," how would they deal with these new enemies?
They couldn't just bury their heads in the sand and pretend not to see it, could they? But if they sent troops to suppress them, what if they suffered massive casualties?
Most importantly, the Seven Warlords served as a banner—a banner of amnesty! The sea was so vast that pirates could never be completely killed or wiped out. But as long as this banner of amnesty existed, there was a way for pirates to surrender and accept governance...
Sengoku had always favored Aokiji to succeed him. He also understood that Aokiji couldn't be unaware of the resistance involved. The reason he brought it up in front of Sengoku was just an idea. He would likely proceed slowly, step by step, eliminating these obstacles to realize this plan.
So Sengoku felt it was inconvenient to express any opinion now. He was a man about to retire and shouldn't voice too many opinions on these matters.
However, he still subtly reminded Aokiji: "Make sure it's feasible before you act!"
Aokiji nodded, indicating he understood. After Aokiji left, Sengoku lay back in his chair, pondering other issues.
He hoped Aokiji would succeed him. With Aokiji's personality, he could provide a better buffer for the increasingly radical Marines and make the organization more humane.
But Sengoku understood that Aokiji's ascension faced a huge obstacle—Akainu!
The Five Elders, the supreme leaders of the World Government, had always favored Akainu. They had hinted more than once in front of Sengoku that they hoped Admiral Sakazuki would take over the next Fleet Admiral position. Akainu's concept of absolute justice not only had a market within the Marines but was also appreciated by the Five Elders. They wanted to see someone loyal to the organization in power.
However, Sengoku was worried about this. After the defeat in the war against the Whitebeard Pirates, Sengoku could sense a restless mentality spreading within the Marines.
There was a very abnormal phenomenon in the Marines now. Many believed that if it hadn't been for the intrusion of the Seven Warlords' Black Dragon Ian, Kaido, Red-Haired Shanks, and others, the Marines could have won the war. So even after retreating, they still didn't feel they had lost. Instead, they were eager to restore the Marines' dignity.
The long-held belief that the Marines were invincible was now starting to have side effects. They dared not face defeat but instead acted as if they were escaping. Many people longed for the Marines to undergo reform, but they thought the Marines should expand again, strengthen their forces again... Restlessness, radicalism—these emotions were quietly spreading within the Marines. If Akainu became Fleet Admiral under these circumstances, it could lead to an even greater disaster!
Sengoku had a premonition that if Akainu took power, he might lead the Marines into an abyss of eternal damnation...
Because both his hands were crippled, Akainu had undergone emergency surgery as soon as he returned. So he wasn't at Marine Headquarters now but had gone to the Marine Science Unit. Since he was a Devil Fruit user, Akainu couldn't have mechanical Seastone arms installed like Zephyr. However, Dr. Vegapunk's success with the Pacifista project had accumulated a lot of cyborg technology for the Marine Science Unit, which might allow Akainu to recover.
Sengoku didn't know how long this would take—maybe a month, maybe two. But for Sengoku, it was an excellent opportunity. While Akainu was away from Marine Headquarters, he could push the World Government's choice as quickly as possible, allowing Aokiji to complete the transfer of the Fleet Admiral position!
Yes, due to various concerns, Sengoku decided to finalize the succession of the Fleet Admiral position before Akainu returned!
Besides this, there was also the matter of the Blackbeard Pirates. Their sneak attack on Mary Geoise during the Marine war had already enraged the World Government and the Celestial Dragons.
The fears they had harbored had finally come true... After Ian killed the heir of the Musgard family, they had been worried that such actions would inspire others to follow suit, leading to continuous attacks on the World Nobles. Now, this situation had indeed happened again!
When facing Ian, due to concerns about the identity chip, the Celestial Dragons and the World Government had ultimately chosen to compromise, paying ten billion Berries and offering a Warlord position to successfully retrieve the Musgard family's identity chip.
But this time, the Blackbeard Pirates' killing of three Celestial Dragons was even more heinous than Ian's incident!
Because after the previous incident, security at Mary Geoise had been significantly increased. Yet Blackbeard had managed to enter Mary Geoise by using his status as a Warlord!
This was a huge oversight. So now, the enraged World Government and Celestial Dragons not only immediately revoked Blackbeard Teach's Warlord status but also explicitly stipulated that no Warlord could approach Mary Geoise under any pretext!
Moreover, because the Blackbeard Pirates hadn't obtained any leverage over the Celestial Dragons this time, the World Government had no scruples left. They strictly ordered the Marines to destroy the Blackbeard Pirates at any cost, while also deploying their intelligence agents across the New World to track down the Blackbeard Pirates' whereabouts.
This order gave Sengoku a major headache. Having been defeated in the war against the Whitebeard Pirates, the Marines, who already had a weak presence in the New World, would now have to shrink their forces again. Under these circumstances, hunting down the Blackbeard Pirates in the New World was very difficult. Moreover, dealing with the Blackbeard Pirates would likely require at least two Marine Admirals to set out, and the Marines were also short-handed.
So Sengoku even considered setting aside his prejudices and cooperating with the Whitebeard Pirates. He knew that after this incident, the Whitebeard Pirates would be hunting Blackbeard Teach relentlessly in the New World. If he could use Marine intelligence to exchange with the Whitebeard Pirates, he might be able to use their hands to carry out the World Government and Celestial Dragons' order.
Over the next two weeks, Sengoku was busy communicating with the World Government. The Five Elders were very dissatisfied with Aokiji taking over as Fleet Admiral, but unfortunately, Akainu was undergoing surgery, and the Five Elders didn't know if he could recover. In the end, after Sengoku's strenuous arguments, the Five Elders reluctantly agreed to let Aokiji "temporarily" take over as Fleet Admiral.
Thus, in the second week after the Battle of New Edd War, the first major news broke: Fleet Admiral Sengoku retired, relinquishing his position, and Marine Admiral Aokiji succeeded him, becoming the new Fleet Admiral of the Marines.
When the News Coos carried newspapers spreading this news across the world, Ian had just returned to the sky island of Gray Terminal with his Dragon Hunter Pirates and was preparing to set out.
The moment he saw the news, Ian's brow furrowed.
"What's wrong?" Robin asked softly as she brought him tea.
"I don't know why, but I feel like Sengoku and Aokiji made a bad move..." Ian said, frowning.
"It is indeed a bad move!" Crocodile sneered from the side. "Sengoku might want to push Aokiji into power, but he forgot one thing—Akainu is not someone who willingly stays under another's thumb! Just wait, the Marines might have some interesting drama coming..."