The atmosphere across the harbor was so tense it felt almost tangible.
Sengoku stood tall above the plaza, his eyes burning with a rare surge of excitement. His chest rose and fell heavily as he struggled to keep his emotions under control.
Then he swept one arm forward.
"Immediately transfer the Revolutionary Army prisoners to the lowest level of Impel Down!"
His voice thundered across the harbor.
"Maximum security! I want every stage of the transfer handled without a single mistake!"
The order carried such force that the surrounding Marines instinctively straightened.
Sengoku then turned his attention toward Strawberry and the men who had escorted the prisoners back.
"Vice Admiral Strawberry and every Marine involved in this operation will receive full commendations!"
The declaration struck the already stirred-up crowd like another surge of adrenaline.
Of course, capturing several Revolutionary Army leaders could not erase the catastrophic losses the Marines had suffered against the Eternal Divine Kingdom.
Admirals had been lost.
Tens of thousands of elite soldiers were gone.
The crushing humiliation still hung over Marineford.
But Sabo was the Revolutionary Army's Chief of Staff—effectively its second-in-command—and several of the prisoners beside him were among the organization's highest-ranking commanders.
Capturing people of that caliber was unquestionably a severe blow to the Revolutionary Army.
At the very least, it gave the devastated Marines something they could call a victory.
More importantly, these prisoners would make extraordinarily valuable additions to the public execution scheduled seven days from now.
If the World Government wanted to restore its authority and frighten its enemies into submission, displaying some of the Revolutionary Army's most important figures on the execution platform would send a powerful message.
Dark clouds still covered Marineford.
But with the arrival of these prisoners, it seemed as though a narrow crack had finally opened in the suffocating gloom.
Then Strawberry spoke.
"Fleet Admiral…"
His voice immediately cut through the excitement.
Sengoku looked toward him.
Strawberry's expression was grim.
"They weren't captured by us."
Silence.
Strawberry drew in a breath.
"It was the God's Knights."
"They made their move."
The words hit the harbor like a bolt of lightning.
"What?"
The renewed excitement disappeared almost instantly.
All eyes turned toward Strawberry.
He stood beneath the questioning gazes of Sengoku and the assembled officers, then slowly shook his head.
"N-No… We didn't capture them."
There was no pride on his face.
No satisfaction at having completed some remarkable mission.
Only humiliation and unease.
He lifted one arm and pointed toward Sabo and the other heavily guarded prisoners.
"The God's Knights did."
His throat worked before he continued.
"We encountered them during our withdrawal."
Strawberry's expression darkened as the memory returned.
"They had already intercepted the Revolutionary Army's evacuation forces."
"And with completely overwhelming strength…"
He paused.
"…they crushed them."
The God's Knights had descended upon the Revolutionary Army like a natural disaster.
Silver-armored figures had appeared without warning, their presence cold and suffocating.
The revolutionaries escorting their senior leaders had already been exhausted from the evacuation and scattered fighting.
Against the God's Knights, they never stood a chance.
The battle had ended almost as quickly as it began.
Sabo.
Karasu.
Morley.
Betty.
And the others—
all subdued and bound in specially made Seastone restraints.
Then the God's Knights had encountered Strawberry's retreating Marine force.
They had barely even acknowledged the battered Marines.
There had been no praise.
No explanation.
No recognition of rank.
To them, the Marines might as well have been delivery workers waiting to receive a shipment.
One of the silver-armored knights had simply gestured toward the prisoners.
"Take them back to Marineford."
That was all.
Then they left.
Just as mysteriously as they had appeared.
No ceremony.
No discussion.
No concern over who would receive credit.
Only an order.
Strawberry lowered his arm.
"They didn't care who we were."
His voice was bitter.
"And they certainly didn't care whose 'achievement' this was."
A Marine captain who had also witnessed the exchange spoke up from nearby.
His voice was low and hoarse, and lingering fear remained clearly visible on his face.
"They looked at us like…"
He swallowed.
"…like we barely existed."
A thin layer of sweat covered his forehead.
"The prisoners were simply handed over to us."
"As if the God's Knights had finished dealing with something beneath their attention and expected us to clean up afterward."
The brief spark of pride that had spread through the harbor moments earlier began to fade.
Because now everyone understood.
This had not been a Marine victory.
Not really.
The Revolutionary Army's senior officers had been delivered into their hands by another force entirely—
one so powerful that even battered Marine veterans spoke of them with unease.
And suddenly, the appearance of the God's Knights felt far more important than the prisoners themselves.
...
The Vice Admirals' eyes dimmed as one of them murmured bitterly, "To them… maybe we really are nothing more than errand runners."
"We fight with everything we have. We risk our lives to capture enemies. We treat those missions as matters of honor…"
His voice grew increasingly hollow.
"But to the God's Knights, all of that is probably nothing more than trivial work beneath their notice."
The entire harbor fell silent.
The sea breeze continued to drift across Marineford, but it could do nothing to dispel the heavy chill settling over everyone.
The small spark of excitement that had appeared when Sabo and the Revolutionary Army commanders were brought in had now been replaced by something far colder.
An invisible pressure seemed to close in from every direction.
Everyone was beginning to understand.
The God's Knights had not acted because they wanted to help the Marines restore their reputation.
There was no kindness in this.
If anything, handing over the prisoners felt more like a condescending handout from above—
or perhaps an order that the Marines had no right to refuse.
What the World Government truly wanted was a public execution.
A spectacle that would reaffirm its authority.
And the Marines?
Within that carefully arranged performance, they were merely responsible for setting the stage and carrying out the script.
Important on the surface.
But ultimately, still pieces to be moved wherever their masters pleased.
Sengoku's expression turned hideous.
His eyes narrowed sharply, fury and disbelief mixing within them as his fists clenched tighter and tighter.
His knuckles turned white.
His fingernails dug deeply into his palms.
Beside him, Kuzan had completely lost his usual lazy demeanor.
His brows were tightly furrowed, his gaze cold and serious as he stared ahead, trying to understand what lay behind the God's Knights' sudden appearance.
Magellan reacted as well.
The poisonous haze lingering around him churned uneasily, twisting and rippling as though responding directly to the tension in his emotions.
The God's Knights.
They were the ultimate military force directly serving the Celestial Dragons.
Ordinarily, they remained hidden from public view like blades concealed in darkness.
Yet this time was different.
This had not been another secret ambush carried out somewhere beyond the world's sight.
This was the God's Knights making a large-scale move openly and unmistakably.
Their appearance itself was a declaration.
A declaration to the Marines—
and perhaps to the entire world.
No matter how much the Marines had lost…
no matter how badly they had been defeated…
before the so-called "gods" of this world, those setbacks were insignificant.
The Celestial Dragons still possessed power above them.
Power they believed absolute.
Power that stood at the summit of the world and looked down upon everything beneath it.
What should have been a "gift" capable of restoring Marine pride now felt like the exact opposite.
It was humiliation.
A cold slap across the face.
And an even heavier burden placed upon shoulders already close to breaking.
The pressure did not come solely from powerful enemies anymore.
It came from the terrifying realization that even their own fate might not truly belong to them.
Sabo slowly passed through the harbor under heavy guard.
The Seastone shackles around his wrists and ankles clanged with every step.
Yet despite his battered condition, his pace remained steady.
He lifted his head.
His face was scarred and exhausted, but the defiance in his eyes had not weakened.
With some effort, Sabo raised one shackled hand and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
Then he looked toward the grim-faced Marine commanders.
And smiled.
It was a cold, mocking smile.
There was no fear in it.
No desperation.
Only contempt.
Almost as though he were silently laughing at the irony before him.
The Marines had believed his capture would restore their honor.
Yet now even they knew the truth.
They had not defeated him.
They had merely been handed him by someone standing even higher above their heads.
Several officers' expressions darkened further.
The already complicated atmosphere at Marineford became even heavier.
Seven days from now, the public execution would take place.
And everyone understood that it would no longer be a simple execution.
It would be a confrontation involving prestige.
Power.
Belief.
And perhaps the future of the world itself.
Above everything else hung the cold gaze of the so-called "gods."
A gaze that seemed to pierce directly through the Marines and remind them exactly where they stood.
Then Strawberry spoke again.
"There's… one more thing they said."
His voice sounded painfully strained in the suffocating silence.
Every word seemed difficult to force out.
He slowly raised his head and met Sengoku's sharp, unsettled gaze.
Around them, the other senior officers fell completely still.
No one interrupted.
No one even seemed to breathe.
Strawberry swallowed.
Then prepared to repeat the final message left behind by the God's Knights.