Cyrus's overwhelming strength had shaken the faith of many Marine officers.
Sengoku knew it. Tsuru knew it. Everyone else understood it too.
Cyrus had appeared like an enormous mountain blocking the Marines' path, overturning the balance of the entire sea in an incredibly short time.
He was someone who had changed the course of the era.
Sengoku glanced toward Garp, who looked unusually distracted. Garp did not meet his gaze, seemingly lost in thought.
"We'll deal with the problem in front of us first. Wano is in terrible condition, but there must still be many people inside who haven't been affected. We need to find them and evacuate them as quickly as possible. Tsuru, I'll leave that to you."
Sengoku deliberately changed the subject, clearly unwilling to continue discussing Cyrus.
The others took the hint.
They filed out to carry out their orders, with even Kizaru, Akainu, and Kuzan rising from their seats.
"Understood."
Tsuru nodded. She gave Garp a brief glance before leaving as well, having noticed his distraction but choosing not to question it.
Before long, only Garp and Sengoku remained in the room.
Under Sengoku's steady gaze, Garp finally came back to himself and looked over.
"What happened in Wano is exactly what we suspected. It's the same as what happened in that place."
His expression had turned solemn, his voice unusually low.
"I know what you're trying to say."
Sengoku frowned, though there was a trace of weariness in his tone.
For a moment, he found himself missing the days when he, Garp, and Tsuru had been young Marines together.
Back then, they had known far less about the world.
All they had wanted was to capture pirates who harmed innocent people and do their part to keep the seas peaceful.
"Things like this don't happen often. It really was that thing's doing. Rocks was also…"
Garp clicked his tongue, unable to hide his irritation.
"God Valley happened a long time ago."
Sengoku meant to slap the desk and warn Garp to watch what he said, but his hand slowed before it landed, touching the surface almost gently.
"Sengoku, you know damn well that isn't what I'm talking about!"
Garp glared straight at him, though even he could not see through Sengoku's thoughts.
"The Marines cannot break away from the World Government's control. You know that. The World Government has grown suspicious of us lately, which is why they've started making moves."
Sengoku felt a headache coming on.
Being Fleet Admiral carried too many pressures at once.
There were the duties of the Marines, the World Government's orders, and the things he personally believed were right.
"You're usually smart, Sengoku, so why are you acting like an idiot now?" Garp said. "The fact that the World Government feels the need to act means it doesn't have complete control over the Marines. That gives us an opportunity.
Cyrus has forced them to focus most of their attention on him. Maybe that gives the Marines a chance too."
Garp rose from his seat and turned toward the door.
"When the time comes, perhaps the Marines can finally do what we truly believe is right."
Sengoku's breathing stopped for a moment.
Then he slowly exhaled.
"We handle the immediate problem first. If Cyrus really comes, I'll still need you."
He leaned back in his chair, his voice subdued.
"Keep an eye on those people," Garp said as he headed for the door. "They already tried to provoke a conflict at Impel Down. They're clearly planning to…"
He left the sentence unfinished as he walked out.
Sengoku understood what he meant.
At Impel Down, the World Government's people had tried to attack Cyrus's companions.
If they had succeeded, Cyrus and the Marines would inevitably have been dragged into open conflict.
Fortunately, things had not reached the worst possible outcome.
"So the Marines really are nothing more than a tool." Sengoku spoke so quietly that the words were barely audible.
He understood that, in the World Government's eyes, making Cyrus disappear would justify any price.
They would sacrifice the entire Marine organization, even half the world, without hesitation.
Cyrus had become far more dangerous than anyone who had ever tried to threaten the World Government's rule.
As long as he vanished, the World Government could easily impose order on the world again.
They could even build another Marine force from scratch.
Sengoku's lips twisted bitterly.
He pushed himself up from the desk, then turned toward the banner hanging on the wall behind him.
…
The Marines who had come to Wano were elite forces, and with so many powerful officers among them, they moved quickly.
But the country had already collapsed from within. The situation was even worse than they had feared.
Those infected by the demonic power had not lost their intelligence. Instead, their darkest impulses had grown so powerful that they now controlled their actions.
An intelligent monster was far more dangerous than a mindless one.
The infected deliberately hunted down those who remained normal, which meant more than eighty percent of Wano's population could no longer truly be called human.
And that corrupting power continued to spread outward at a terrifying rate.
According to the World Government's orders, the Marines were not supposed to stop it.
Some people, however, had no intention of obeying that part of the mission.
Kuzan stood on a frozen sea, staring at a ship sealed completely inside the ice.
The vessel had been trying to leave Wano.
Now the entire ship was frozen solid, along with the snarling creatures aboard it, many of whom had already developed inhuman features.
A golden flash gathered beside Kuzan.
Kizaru appeared with both hands in the pockets of his yellow-striped suit, his brown-tinted glasses hiding his eyes.
"Oh, Kuzan. This doesn't seem to match our orders."
"These things will become a disaster if they're allowed to escape," Kuzan replied, showing no concern that Kizaru had caught him. "Once they spread across the sea, controlling them will be nearly impossible."
"That may be true, but you're taking too long."
Kizaru muttered the complaint as he pulled his right hand from his pocket.
He pointed one finger toward the frozen ship, and a beam of golden light shot from its tip.
The ship shattered instantly, scattering into countless glittering fragments of ice.
"Oh?"
Kizaru frowned, sounding genuinely surprised.
As a longtime colleague, he knew Kuzan's strength well.
Yet the control Kuzan had just shown over his ice was clearly better than before.
"Are you helping or not?" Kuzan asked instead of explaining.
Kizaru looked at the field of ice crystals left behind by his beam, then nodded.
"Why not? It might be good to stretch my legs before that man arrives."
Kuzan gave a small nod.
"Then we need to move quickly. We don't have time to waste. Containing all of them won't be easy, and some have already gone too far for me to reach.
"I'll leave those to you, Admiral Kizaru."
"You're very good at ordering people around, Admiral Kuzan."
After making his complaint, Kizaru transformed into light and shot into the sky.
Kuzan returned to his own work the moment he left.
Many within the Marine force knew exactly what the two Admirals were doing, but no one openly discussed it.
Even Akainu, who normally enforced the World Government's orders more strictly than anyone, chose not to question them.
Boom!
Magma erupted in the center of Wano's Flower Capital.
Standing atop a ruined building with a cigar between his teeth, Akainu stared grimly at the scene before him.
Compared with only a short time ago, the Flower Capital now looked like a city dragged straight out of hell.
Countless battles had already taken place here, leaving the once-prosperous city almost unrecognizable before Akainu even arrived.
The people who had once lived here could no longer be called people.
The capital had become a nest of monsters.
As they swarmed toward him, Akainu bent his legs and leapt into the air. He drew back his right arm, his fist transforming entirely into magma.
Boom!
Countless streams of molten rock rained down from above.
Similar scenes were unfolding throughout Wano.
The methods were not always as brutal or decisive as Akainu's, but the results were much the same.
A blade flashed, severing the heads of the demonic creatures closing in from every direction.
Gion kept her sword drawn as she watched the headless bodies continue twitching on the ground, her expression grave.
"These things are incredibly dangerous. If they spread beyond Wano, the entire world will be at risk."
Seeing that she had stopped attacking, Tokikake quickly spoke up.
"We should search inside. This looks like a mine, and I can sense people still alive in there."
Gion ignored him and turned toward the female Marines behind her.
"Go inside and find them."
"These things still aren't dead."
Tokikake approached one of the headless bodies and turned it over with a hand coated in Armament Haki.
"They've only been stopped for the moment. But these creatures…"
After giving her order, Gion stepped forward and used her foot to roll another body over, frowning deeply.
"They can still use the abilities they had before," Tokikake finished for her.
It would have been bad enough if the infection only turned people into mindless monsters.
But if they kept their intelligence and all their former skills, they became far more dangerous.
Gion swung again. This time, a dense storm of slashes flew from her blade and tore the creatures into pieces.
Only then did their bodies finally stop moving.
"At least that works."
Gion gave a slight nod.
"Move quickly. We don't have much time."
They had only three days left, and she did not believe Cyrus had been making an empty threat.
Three days from now, this island—and the country built upon it—might cease to exist entirely.
"That man…"
Tokikake rose from where he had been crouching beside the remains.
"He really has become impossible to deal with."
Gion did not answer.
There was no point since everyone already knew it.
…
While the Marines moved as quickly as they could, Cyrus had begun his own operation.
Flames flashed across an island inhabited by tens of thousands of people.
In an instant, the entire island vanished as though it had never existed.
The flames gathered high above the sea, taking the shape of Cyrus's body.
He stared down without expression at the empty water below, where only clouds of steam remained.
"This isn't going to work."
Cyrus shook his head slightly.
To solve the problem completely, he still had to deal with Imu herself.
These people were ultimately nothing more than spare vessels Imu had prepared. If he eliminated the source, the vessels would no longer matter.
There were simply too many of them. Trying to clear them all out would require slaughtering his way across the entire sea.
The amount of time it would take was bad enough.
Even as he was now, Cyrus was not certain he could continue doing something like this indefinitely.
"Could I seal her?"
He rubbed his chin, considering how to counter Imu's power.
Simply killing Imu's current body was meaningless. She could transfer into someone else with apparent ease.
Of course, the ability had to possess some kind of limitation.
The real question was how to prevent Imu from using it.
If Cyrus could do that, killing her would not be difficult.
"Sealing her would be difficult, but what about isolating her?"
Cyrus suddenly paused as an idea surfaced in his mind.
He had considered something similar before, but the thought had been vague at the time.
Now that he examined it carefully, it seemed entirely possible.
With that in mind, Cyrus took out his Den Den Mushi.
"Chairman."
Crocodile's voice came through.
The Den Den Mushi had copied the heavy bags beneath Crocodile's eyes so perfectly that Cyrus's mouth twitched.
Perhaps he really was working the sand crocodile a little too hard.
"How is the investigation into those unusual islands I mentioned?"
The thought of giving Crocodile a break crossed his mind, but only briefly. Rest was out of the question.
"What unusual…? Oh, those."
Crocodile sounded confused for a second before remembering.
"We've received some reports, but the situation is strange."
Cyrus's eyes immediately brightened.
"Go on."
"There have been quite a few incidents resembling what you described. The problem is that these islands seem to appear only at specific times or under unusual conditions.
Usually, the first person to discover one claims to have landed there. But when anyone returns to search for it, the island has vanished as though it never existed."
"Mm."
Cyrus made a quiet sound to show he was listening.
"I sent people to every location mentioned in the reports. None of them found an island, but the stories don't seem fabricated. Apparently, incidents like these aren't even particularly rare."
The unusual subject had clearly caught Crocodile's interest, and he sounded slightly more awake as he continued his report.
"Assign more people and keep investigating."
Cyrus handed him yet another task.
"Chairman, nearly all our available manpower is already working on the Hunter Exam. Spreading the news across the entire sea and screening suitable applicants both require a huge number of people."
Crocodile sounded genuinely troubled.
"That's for you to figure out."
"…"
The Den Den Mushi fell silent.
"Understood," Crocodile finally answered after a long pause. "However, the Guild has been infiltrated by a large number of spies. I can confirm that many of them belong to the World Government."
"That's fine. As long as they don't cause trouble, leave them alone for now. Put them to work—or better yet, assign this investigation to them."
A hint of interest appeared in Cyrus's expression as he gave the order.