Akainu quickly convened a meeting and relayed the Five Elders’ orders. From this point onward, the Marines’ primary focus would shift from pirates to the Revolutionary Army.
"The Revolutionary Army has launched large-scale attacks against member nations, seriously undermining the stability of the world. They are now a greater threat than the two Four Emperor pirate crews combined. At the very least, those pirates would never dare attack ten World Government member nations all at once."
With a stern expression, Akainu tried to impress upon the others the seriousness of the situation.
"Shift our focus from pirates to the Revolutionary Army? Forgive me, but I cannot understand that. Instead of hunting down pirates who murder, loot, and pillage, we’re going after the Revolutionary Army?" Fujitora spoke up.
"Compared to scattered pirate crews, isn’t a Revolutionary Army with influence all across the world far more ambitious and capable of causing greater destruction?" Akainu retorted.
"What kind of destruction can a pirate crew cause? At most, they loot a village or a town. But the Revolutionary Army attacked ten member nations in one go. That’s ten entire countries!"
"But they didn’t harm the civilians. They only punished certain nobles who committed countless crimes," Fujitora replied firmly.
Others might fear Akainu, but Fujitora certainly didn’t.
"That’s irrelevant. The fact is, the Revolutionary Army now poses a greater threat than the Four Emperors, making them the Marines’ primary target," Akainu shook his head and said.
They hadn’t harmed civilians? So what?
Did he not know about the Revolutionary Army? Of course Akainu did.
But whether civilians had been harmed was never what concerned him.
What he cared about was the stability of the entire world.
In Akainu’s eyes, Fujitora was being shortsighted.
What if the Revolutionary Army hadn’t harmed civilians?
If they plunged the world into chaos and wars erupted everywhere, wouldn’t even more civilians suffer in the end?
If allowing the people of those ten countries to suffer could preserve the world’s stability, Akainu would choose that option without hesitation.
"If I remember correctly, during the operation against the Revolutionary Army in Dressrosa, you encountered the White Devil, yet you failed to arrest him."
Akainu suddenly brought up an old matter.
"The White Devil was exceptionally powerful. I couldn’t capture him alone."
Fujitora wasn’t foolish enough to admit he hadn’t fought seriously.
"The White Devil is indeed difficult to deal with."
Kizaru spoke up with his usual sly grin.
"So now we’re blaming every failed mission on the enemy? Does that mean whenever you meet someone stronger than yourself, you’ll simply abandon your mission?" Akainu refused to let Fujitora off the hook.
"I never said that," Fujitora replied calmly.
"But that’s exactly what your attitude suggests," Akainu answered.
The tension between the two grew heavier and heavier until the entire meeting room fell silent.
An argument between an Admiral and the Fleet Admiral was not something anyone dared interrupt.
To the Vice Admirals present, however, this wasn’t particularly surprising.
Their sense of justice had come into conflict, just as it once had between Aokiji and Akainu.
Back then, everyone had been fighting pirates together, so they at least shared a common enemy.
Now, however, Akainu wanted to focus on the Revolutionary Army, while Fujitora believed pirates should remain the primary target.
Naturally, conflict arose.
Akainu had earned the position of Fleet Admiral by defeating Aokiji.
There was no way he would yield to a newly appointed Admiral.
Likewise, Fujitora was a man of principles.
He had no intention of abandoning them.
"Since Fleet Admiral Akainu seems so concerned about the White Devil, why not deal with him personally?"
Nagasawa smiled as he spoke.
If Akainu and Fujitora were arguing, he would naturally support Fujitora.
Not only was Fujitora his friend, he was now also a fellow revolutionary.
Akainu was neither.
"As Fleet Admiral, I have more important responsibilities."
Akainu answered with a stern face.
However, after Nagasawa openly supported Fujitora, Akainu stopped pressing the issue and continued the meeting as normal.
Although Akainu had a fiery temper, he also knew he couldn’t afford to provoke both current Admirals at the same time.
Especially when one of them alone possessed combat power equal to an entire Four Emperor pirate crew.
Otherwise, if Nagasawa and Fujitora both refused to work, who would handle everything?
Kizaru?
Akainu didn’t think that would end well.
It wasn’t because Kizaru lacked strength.
Rather, Kizaru belonged to the type who simply coasted through his duties and rarely gave his full effort.
Take Nagasawa, for example.
Even though the two of them didn’t get along, Nagasawa never slacked off when it came to work.
He had single-handedly defeated the Beasts Pirates, then personally led the Marines in swiftly eliminating the BIG MOM Pirates.
After the meeting ended, Fujitora and Nagasawa stood together on the rooftop, letting the sea breeze wash over them.
"’Justice’ coats? Sometimes they really do feel ironic."
Fujitora sighed.
"Well, being a Marine is just a profession. It would be stranger if every single Marine were a great hero with a genuine sense of justice."
Nagasawa chuckled.
"Expecting anything from Akainu was a mistake from the beginning. What he protects is the World Government’s version of justice. Whoever threatens the World Government’s rule becomes his enemy."
"How are things progressing on your side? The World Government is extremely wary of us now. We need to make our move before they do and seize the initiative," Nagasawa asked.
Nagasawa had no intention of sitting around waiting for the World Government to act.
If the World Government wanted to use the Marines to eliminate the Revolutionary Army, then he would simply seize Marine Headquarters first.
He wanted to see what other methods the World Government would have left afterward.
By now, Nagasawa had already developed a considerable revolutionary force within the Marines.
Among his direct subordinates, aside from Ryokugyu—who wasn’t suitable—he had successfully recruited nearly all of them.
Those people, in turn, had begun recruiting others they knew.
Now there were revolutionaries scattered throughout every rank of the Marines.
What pleased Nagasawa the most was successfully bringing Zephyr into the Revolutionary Army.
He had helped Zephyr realize that under the World Government, the Marines could never become true heroes.
If the Marines were ever to become heroes, they would have to become the Revolutionary Army’s Marines.
Nagasawa could only say that the World Government had given him tremendous assistance.
After deliberately investigating, he had obtained a list of candidates for the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
The late Edward Weevil, whom Nagasawa had previously killed, had been on that list.
The defeat at the Summit War had greatly diminished the Marines’ deterrence, while several Seven Warlord positions had become vacant.
To stabilize the situation, the World Government naturally wanted to fill those vacancies and strengthen its own forces.
However, before the World Government could even approach Edward Weevil, Nagasawa had already cut him down.
When Zephyr saw that list, he was so furious he couldn’t even speak.
The man who had murdered his students and seriously injured him had almost become an ally of the Marines?
Zephyr was utterly disheartened.
Had Edward Weevil not already been killed before his eyes, he might have completely lost himself on the spot.
At that moment, Nagasawa thoroughly explained the Revolutionary Army’s ideals to Zephyr.
Only then did Zephyr finally understand how his own sense of justice could truly be realized.
"Kaji’s side is settled. However, he wants to speak with you personally," Fujitora said.
The Kaji he mentioned was the Admiral candidate "Chaton."
After joining the Revolutionary Army, Fujitora had also tried recruiting his close friend.
Chaton shared the same sense of justice as Fujitora and possessed considerable strength.
Naturally, Fujitora had made him his highest-priority target.
"That’s no problem."
Nagasawa smiled and nodded.
Gaining another Admiral candidate wouldn’t change the overall direction of events, but it was certainly good news.
Since the World Government was so eager to eliminate the Revolutionary Army, he intended to strike them with a devastating blow.
It was time for those old men in the World Government to realize...
The times had changed.
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