The enormous Marine Headquarters suddenly fell deathly silent.
Everyone’s heart felt as though it were being squeezed by an invisible hand.
Under the gazes of everyone around him, even Sengoku found himself uncertain about what to do.
Then the tightly closed doors beside them suddenly swung open.
"Heh heh. What’s wrong? It seems Marine Headquarters has run into quite a difficult problem."
A figure dressed in a white robe and wearing a mask strode into the room.
Seeing this unexpected visitor, the Marine officers present felt their hearts skip a beat.
During this period, Marine Headquarters had been under tremendous pressure after declaring war on two Emperors simultaneously.
As an organization under the World Government, the Marines had naturally tried requesting reinforcements from the World Government.
Unfortunately, the response they received had been decidedly inadequate.
Otherwise, if the World Government were willing to provide its full support, Sengoku—known as the Marine strategist—would not be so overwhelmed right now.
Seeing the unexpected visitor, Sengoku’s expression darkened slightly.
"What are you doing here, Maha? I assume you didn’t come bearing good news."
The moment he said this, everyone’s nerves tightened.
Only two or three days remained before the Summit War.
Under the pressure of facing two Emperors simultaneously, the question was no longer whether the Marines could maintain the upper hand.
Even holding their ground and avoiding defeat seemed almost impossible.
If they could find some kind of breakthrough within the World Government, that would undoubtedly be a good thing.
"Heh heh. Fleet Admiral Sengoku, putting it that way, if outsiders heard you, they might think that the World Government doesn’t support Marine Headquarters."
Maha gave an awkward laugh before reaching inside his robe and taking out a scroll.
He handed it over.
"This contains the tactical arrangements and reinforcement proposal from the Five Elders. You should take a look first."
"Tactical arrangements and reinforcements?"
Sengoku’s expression darkened.
The Five Elders’ sudden change in attitude clearly surprised him.
During this period, he had tested the Five Elders’ position more than once. He had even repeatedly gone to Marineford to seek assistance from Kong, the Commander-in-Chief of the World Government’s land, sea, and air forces.
As the previous Fleet Admiral, Sengoku believed that if Kong were willing to commit troops and resources, then facing two Emperors simultaneously would not merely be a matter of avoiding defeat.
They might even be able to gain the upper hand and secure victory.
Unfortunately, every response had been an unequivocal refusal from the Five Elders.
Their primary concern was that the Revolutionary Army might exploit the situation and launch a decapitation strike against the Celestial Dragons in Marineford.
Once this reason was given, many of the world’s nobles immediately voiced their agreement.
As a result, Sengoku’s requests for reinforcements ultimately went nowhere, and even Kong had admitted that he was powerless to change the decision.
Now, Maha of CP0 had suddenly appeared.
Naturally, Sengoku found this unexpected.
Yet when he thought about the Five Elders’ underlying motives, he still felt a faint sense of unease.
The moment he finished reading the scroll in his hands, his expression changed dramatically.
Garp and the others beside him noticed the change as well.
They leaned over to look, and their expressions changed in the next instant.
"Create two separate battlefields and divide the pressure of facing the Emperors?"
"Have the Five Elders gone mad?"
"Facing even a single Emperor is enough to put Marine Headquarters on full alert. And now they want to divide our forces between two battlefields? Our chances of victory will only become even lower!"
Sengoku clenched the document tightly and rose in anger.
The expressions of the officers present changed as well.
Marine Headquarters had gathered one hundred thousand soldiers and more than a hundred elite officers.
Yet even facing Whitebeard, the strongest of the Emperors, they already felt immense pressure.
If their forces were truly divided between two battlefields, who would be sent to the second one?
No.
More accurately, in their eyes, anyone leaving Marineford and heading to the second battlefield would practically be going to their death.
For a moment, everyone’s gaze turned toward Maha, filled with urgency.
Maha gave another dry laugh, completely ignoring the looks directed at him.
"Heh heh. Fleet Admiral Sengoku, you’re taking this too seriously."
"The five Lords are doing this precisely to prevent Marine Headquarters from being unable to face two Emperors simultaneously, resulting in the fall of Headquarters and turning the Marines into a laughingstock throughout the sea."
"By dividing the two battlefields and drawing Whitebeard and Kaidō of the Beasts toward separate locations, we can prevent the two Emperors from joining forces once the fighting begins."
"As long as we can defeat one side quickly, those forces can immediately reinforce the other battlefield."
"At that point, once the two Marine forces reunite, we might even be able to catch both Emperors off guard and wipe them out in one fell swoop."
His low voice carried a hint of amusement as it echoed throughout the hall.
Yet to the other officers, his words only caused their expressions to stiffen.
CRACK!
The teacup in Sengoku’s hand shattered.
As the Marines’ strategist, he had naturally considered countless battle plans.
Among them had been simulations involving the division of the battlefield.
But no matter how many times Sengoku had run through such a scenario, the result had always been the same.
There was only one outcome.
Looking at Maha, who had appeared and immediately begun arrogantly giving orders, Sengoku angrily said:
"Maha, it sounds wonderful when you put it that way. But if we’re facing two Emperors and dividing the battlefield into two, where exactly is this second battlefield supposed to be?"
"Even Marine Headquarters doesn’t know when we’ll defeat Whitebeard."
"You’re hiding behind the scenes, refusing to provide reinforcements, and now you want me to divide our forces between two battlefields."
"Then you should go back and ask the Five Elders to give me a list."
"Let me see who exactly they want to send to their deaths!"
"If the World Government has no sincerity whatsoever, then you have no right to dictate how we fight this war!"
Nobody present had expected Sengoku to tear away the fa?ade so directly the moment he spoke.
Yet, as Sengoku had said, Marineford had already been designated as the execution site for Ace’s public execution.
That meant they were about to face the Whitebeard Pirates.
The forces stationed there would naturally receive the highest priority.
The Fleet Admiral and Admirals would unquestionably be among those assigned to defend Marineford.
Then who would be left to travel to the second battlefield and face Kaidō of the Beasts, another Emperor?
What kind of forces would be needed to stand against him?
Even if they took a step back and assumed that the second battlefield only needed to buy time until reinforcements arrived, the pressure of facing Kaidō—one of the Four Emperors—would still be enormous.
Who could guarantee that the second battlefield would not be overrun before reinforcements arrived?
For a moment, confronted with this seemingly fatal second battlefield, the minds of all the Marine officers sank.
They had considered the possibility of sacrificing themselves.
But they had never imagined being sent to die pointlessly like this.
Rather than dividing their forces between two battlefields and allowing the enemy to defeat them one group at a time, most of them had the same thought:
Fight the enemy head-on on a single battlefield.
At least then, they could die with purpose.
For a moment, everyone’s nerves were stretched to the breaking point.
One after another, they looked toward Maha, hoping that he had some way to turn the situation around.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT
◇ 1 bonus Chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus Chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70+ Chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Sagamaster789