Chapter 63: Five Elders Jaygarcia Saturn
"Gulp!"
Fleet Admiral Black swallowed a mouthful of saliva, a slightly troubled expression on his face, because he knew the Five Elders were here to demand accountability.
Answering the Den Den Mushi, Black couldn't help but lower his head, adopting a very low posture.
"Black, is this the explanation you're giving us?"
A cold and majestic voice rang out from the Den Den Mushi, faintly mixed with a trace of anger.
"My deepest apologies! Jaygarcia Saturn! It is my fault."
Black didn't make any excuses.
A failed operation was a failure; no reasons were needed.
As he spoke, Black pressed his head even lower.
It was hard to imagine that a dignified Fleet Admiral of the Marines would be so submissive.
This was more a form of respect.
The voice of the Five Elders member speaking was somewhat aged; he was the most prestigious of the current Five Elders.
Jaygarcia Saturn of the Hristo Family.
He had served as a Five Elders member the longest, already at the advanced age of 158.
It could be said that both Black himself and the previous few Fleet Admirals had served during Jaygarcia Saturn's tenure.
He was set to step down in two more years, and he hadn't expected such a terrible incident to occur within his term.
"Immediately implement remedial measures! Show the attitude of the Marines and the World Government, otherwise, you won't be Fleet Admiral anymore!"
The reason Black was chosen as Fleet Admiral back then, besides his strength, was more importantly that he was sufficiently obedient.
And in these two years, to support the Marines in having the ability to resist the Rocks Pirates, the World Government had continuously invested nearly a hundred billion Beli in funds, recruiting soldiers, building Navy Fortress, Marine Warships.
The annual salaries and pensions for the Marines were an astronomical figure.
They had originally thought the Marines could give them a satisfactory result, but unexpectedly, right from the start, they brought such "beautiful" news.
No matter what, the Marines needed to give an explanation to the World Government and the Member Nations.
And the World Government also needed to give an explanation to the Member Nations.
"Yes! Jaygarcia Saturn!"
Having reached his age, Black's skin had been trained to be very thick.
He didn't take Jaygarcia Saturn's threat to heart.
In the current situation, it was impossible for the World Government to remove him from this position; there were too many things to consider.
Despite this, Fleet Admiral Black still bore great pressure.
It was impossible not to be nervous inside.
Because next, the pressure the Marines would face would become even greater.
Moreover, after this incident, the Marines absolutely had to take action.
They had to confront the Rocks Pirates head-on and show their attitude.
Of course, they also had to avoid Rocks D.
Xebec and the Rocks Pirates when their strength was gathered.
Thinking of this, Black opened the Den Den Mushi.
"Fleet Admiral, what happened?"
When Kong received Black's Den Den Mushi call, he knew something had happened.
Black simply recounted the failure of this operation.
"That's how it is. Go and bring Davis back for me. Prepare to welcome the coming great battle."
There was no need for more words; Kong already understood Black's meaning.
They needed a target, a powerful main figure of the Rocks Pirates who possessed a significant threat.
They would use him to tell the World Government and the Member Nations that the Marines could still be trusted.
The Marines were not afraid of the Rocks Pirates and possessed the strength to confront them.
Avoiding the Rocks Pirates as an overall great enemy, eliminating the main members of the Rocks Pirates one by one, and weakening the Rocks Pirates step by step.
This was the best method he could think of, because the Marines were indeed not the opponent of the Rocks Pirates.
The truly assembled Rocks Pirates were absolutely unstoppable, unless the World Government mobilized its hidden strength.
But some strength, before truly threatening oneself, is difficult to mobilize even for the Five Elders.
Who could have thought that the situation of the Marines in this era would be so difficult?
The sudden emergence of Rocks D.
Xebec had put the Marines and the World Government in an awkward situation.
Relying on his strongest strength, he suppressed a group of ambitious monsters.
Everyone knew that Rocks D.
Xebec was the true core of the Rocks Pirates.
Everyone knew that the simplest way to resolve the Rocks Pirates was to resolve Rocks D.
Xebec.
As long as Rocks D.
Xebec was resolved, the entire Rocks Pirates would fall apart.
The various Pirates within the Rocks Pirates were full of contradictions and suffered from serious internal friction.
It was impossible for them to unite again.
By then, dealing with the Pirates, who would be like scattered sand, would be much easier for the Marines.
And the premise of all this was being able to resolve the Rocks Pirates.
Hadn't the World Government tried? Assassination, poisoning, and other methods had all been used up.
They had even specifically used a honey trap, arranging for a woman trained by the World Government to have potent poison stored in her body during Rocks' entertainment.
A poison that kills upon touch.
Ultimately, it failed.
Although the process was unknown, one could roughly guess.
Having reached this level, Rocks D.
Xebec's Observation Haki had long reached its peak.
His premonition of danger and future sight ability allowed him to perfectly avoid this.
They had even arranged a Life-Linking Fruit Ability User.
As the name suggests, the only Ability was to link the Ability User's life with another person.
Once the Ability User died, the person locked by the Life-Linking Fruit Ability would also die.
The Life-Linking Fruit had historically been used to slay a Top-tier Combatant.
But it failed on Rocks D.
Xebec.
That extremely powerful Armament Haki had long broken through its limit.
It could even resist the Causality Devil Fruit Ability, which was such a bug.
And that Ability User just died in vain.
As for instigating relations between the various cadres and main members of the Rocks Pirates?
It was fundamentally meaningless.
These Pirates slaughtered each other and betrayed each other.
On this ship, there was fundamentally no trust to speak of; it was extremely chaotic.
Everything was again within controllable range.
Because Rocks D.
Xebec possessed absolute strength, suppressing all this.
Things had returned to the starting point.
The current main strategy of the Marines was to eliminate the main members of the Rocks Pirates one by one, continuously weakening the Rocks Pirates.
Simultaneously, they would enhance the overall strength of the Marines.
"Worthy of being my son!"
Nyx, who received the news, was very relieved.
Beside her was Ananke, whose face was full of excitement.
From beginning to end, they had absolute confidence in Hades.
Using such battle results to make a splash with his debut battle couldn't be more suitable.
Also receiving the news were the Rocks Pirates.
The entire Croydia Kingdom was filled with smoke and fire.
Countless Pirates wantonly burned, killed, and plundered in the Croydia Kingdom.
The Royal Palace, which possessed the most wealth, and the Palaces and villas of various Nobles were all occupied by the Rocks Pirates.
They continuously plundered Treasure.
Enjoying this large-scale operation not seen for many years, the Pirates reveled wantonly on the Island, holding grand banquets.
The location of the banquet was the Royal Palace of the Croydia Kingdom.
Dazzling Treasure was piled into small mountains.
Every Pirate wore jewelry and gold-crafted ornaments, drank fine wine, and happily danced.
This was a carnival belonging to Pirates, reactivating the predatory nature of the Rocks Pirates that had been dormant for a long time.
Even though the vast majority of the Treasure was occupied by those powerful Pirates, the Treasure distributed to the ordinary members was also a huge fortune, enough to live carefree for a long time.
Wealth came too easily for the members of the Rocks Pirates.
Precisely because of this, every year countless Pirates wanted to join the Rocks Pirates.
Even though many people would die because of this.
But on this Great Sea, there was never a lack of people who disregarded life and death.
Willing to give everything for a future!
And this was the charm of the Great Sea!
People must pay the price for their choices.
Succeed, then have everything.
Fail, then at worst, just return to the Great Sea.
(end of chapter)