World Government — Commander-in-Chief's Office.
Steel-Bone Kong sat behind his desk, listening to his aide's report as his expression grew increasingly grim.
The World Conference, by definition, was a summit convened by the World Government—the ruler of the seas—bringing together all member nations to discuss global affairs. Only the World Government possessed the authority to hold such a gathering.
And yet now, the Ninja Guild was hosting a "World Conference" of its own at the Sabaody Archipelago.
That was nothing short of a slap in the face to the World Government.
But what truly enraged Steel-Bone Kong wasn't that fact alone. After all, the World Government and the Ninja Guild had long been enemies.
What truly made his blood boil was the scale of participation.
This so-called conference at Sabaody had drawn representatives from a full fifty nations—among them Alabasta and Fish-Man Island!
There were only a little over a hundred nations affiliated with the World Government in total, and now nearly one-third of them had openly turned their backs on it!
And that wasn't all.
Numerous pirate forces had also attended, including former Warlords of the Sea such as Boa Hancock and Jinbe the Knight of the Sea, as well as two of the Four Emperors—Whitebeard and Red-Haired Shanks.
On top of that, reports confirmed that the leader of the Revolutionary Army, Monkey D. Dragon, had personally arrived at Sabaody.
In contrast, pirates with only moderate notoriety—people like Eustass Kid—were reduced to nothing more than background noise at this gathering.
With so many major powers converging on Sabaody in a single day, it would be a lie to say the World Government wasn't panicking.
Otherwise, Steel-Bone Kong would never have ordered forces to intercept the ships heading for the conference.
Yet without exception, every interception attempt had failed.
The Ninja Guild's elites crushed them all—including three Marine Admirals.
Especially Akainu.
That man hadn't won a single engagement. This time, he'd failed again, unable to stop Alabasta's fleet.
Steel-Bone Kong was so furious he nearly exploded. He even began to suspect whether Akainu might secretly be a mole planted by the Ninja Guild!
In reality, Akainu himself was beyond frustrated.
This time, he'd encountered Kisame Hoshigaki, a master of Water Release, along with Uchiha Shisui. Ever since Shisui arrived in this world, his strength had grown at an astonishing pace—far surpassing what he'd possessed in life.
Moreover, naval combat placed Akainu at a severe disadvantage. Being suppressed under those conditions was, admittedly, not surprising.
Even so, Akainu knew full well that he had fallen even further under the World Government's suspicion.
Yet there was nothing he could do about it.
What was he supposed to do—attack the Ninja Guild himself to prove his loyalty? That would be nothing more than a suicide mission.
Putting Akainu aside, Steel-Bone Kong forced himself to focus on the crisis at hand.
The Ninja Guild hosting a World Conference would have an enormous impact on global order. It would only encourage more nations to question the World Government's authority and strength.
If one of the Four Emperors had dared to hold such a conference, the World Government would have dispatched its forces without hesitation to suppress it.
But the Ninja Guild was different.
Sending troops now would only mean sending them to their deaths.
The Ninja Guild had already grown far beyond the World Government's ability to control.
In the end, Steel-Bone Kong still couldn't come to any effective decision. He desperately wanted to meet with the Five Elders and dump this impossible problem onto their shoulders.
But for the past several days, the Five Elders had completely vanished. He couldn't contact them at all.
Even so, Kong had his suspicions—the injuries those men had suffered last time must have been severe, and they were likely in seclusion, recovering.
Just as Steel-Bone Kong was growing increasingly restless, he suddenly felt a tremor emanating from deep within the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.
He couldn't help but turn to look in that direction.
That area was forbidden to all except the Five Elders themselves—even Steel-Bone Kong was not permitted to approach it.
At that moment, a tall figure appeared there.
His features were obscured, but he was clearly male. The aura radiating from his body was so overwhelming that the surrounding trees bent under its pressure.
The man gazed forward.
There, a massive door was slowly opening, releasing an equally terrifying presence.
Soon after, several figures hurried to the scene—it was the Five Elders, who had been in seclusion for nearly a hundred days.
They immediately bowed deeply to the towering figure and spoke in unison:
"Lord Im!"
They then turned their gaze toward the gate ahead, excitement spreading uncontrollably across their faces.
The immense door continued to tremble for a long time before finally opening completely.
In that instant, the surroundings fell utterly silent.
The next moment—
A terrifying pressure swept out from within the gate.
The expressions of the Five Elders changed drastically. Unable to withstand the force, they collapsed to their knees, groaning under the weight.
Yet none of them dared show the slightest hint of resistance.
They knew all too well what kind of existence lay beyond that door.
Im was not forced to kneel by the pressure. Instead, he bowed respectfully toward the gate and called out in a loud voice:
"Im welcomes the awakening of the King!"
The Five Elders dared not delay and immediately shouted as well:
"We welcome the awakening of the King!"
Their voices faded, and once more, silence reigned.
Only the slightly ragged breathing of the Five Elders could be heard.
After a long while, a voice finally emerged from within the gate—deep and ancient, as though carried from a distant era:
"Has it… already been eight hundred years?"
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T/N:
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