Borsalino sat slumped against his desk, clearly injured and unable to move. Hound took one look at him, then stepped back and raised his hand in salute.
"Leave two men with Admiral Borsalino," Hound commanded coolly as he turned on his heel. "If the rebellion fails, you know what to do."
"Loyalty!" the two soldiers shouted in unison, eyes blazing with fanatical determination.
As Hound strode out of the office, the two soldiers turned to face Borsalino, and without hesitation, raised their rifles to their own heads.
Borsalino blinked in surprise.
When Hound said, "If the rebellion fails, you know what to do," Borsalino had assumed they would try to kill him, dragging him down with them in a desperate act of defiance.
But judging by their actions, clearly that was not the plan.
"You… what are you doing?" Borsalino asked, puzzled. "Are you planning to kill yourselves if the rebellion fails?"
"Yes!" one of them replied firmly, lifting his chin. "From the moment we chose to follow Lord Elio, we have been prepared to die for him. If the rebellion fails, we will not live in disgrace!"
Borsalino shook his head. "What has Elio done for you to earn such… madness? Such absolute loyalty?"
The other soldier stepped forward. "Admiral Borsalino, I once served under your command. Two years ago, I was part of your fleet during an expedition to the New World. But I doubt you remember me. I was just a Seaman back then."
He paused, voice steady but eyes burning with emotion.
"But Lord Elio… not only did he know my name, he saved me when I was at my lowest, drowning in despair."
"Oh?" Borsalino narrowed his eyes, studying the soldier. He searched his memory, but couldn't recall ever seeing him before. Eventually, he gave up.
With a deep breath, Borsalino pushed through the pain and forced himself into the chair behind his desk, the sea-stone shackles biting into his wrists. "Then tell me… how did Elio save you?"
The soldier stepped closer, voice intense. "I was born in the South Blue. Before joining the Marine, I served as a soldier in the King's Army of a small nation. In that country, there was no greater honor than protecting the king, even at the cost of your life."
"But… what if the king got hurt while trying to save a soldier?"
At this, the soldier's voice grew agitated. His gaze locked onto Borsalino. "Two years ago, I was part of your mission to eliminate pirates in the New World. Elio's ship was part of the fleet. The battle was fierce. We fought through waves of cannon fire, boarded the enemy ship, and engaged in brutal hand-to-hand combat. I watched comrades fall, some struck down by gunfire, others hurled into the sea by those damned pirates."
"I wanted revenge. I charged toward the enemy captain, reckless and blinded by rage."
"But I was too weak."
"The captain didn't even see me as a threat. He knocked me into the sea with a single shockwave."
He clenched his fists. "It was then that you made your move. You used your Devil Fruit to defeat the pirate captain, tearing their ship apart in the process. Debris rained down around me. I was floating there in the ocean, watching the wreckage fall toward me. I didn't blame you. War always brings death. As a Marine, I was prepared for that."
"But just as I accepted my fate, Elio's ship appeared."
"He saved me. Pulled me from the water moments before the wreckage crushed me. He even bandaged my wounds himself."
"From that moment on… I no longer believed in justice. I believed in Elio."
"If he hunts pirates, I follow. If he defies the world, I offer him my loyalty and my life."
--------
Marine Headquarters Prison.
The blaring of sirens echoed nonstop, gunfire erupting across the facility.
Admiral Sakazuki's expression had grown darker than ever. His burning eyes remained fixed on Elio, but even without looking around, he could feel it, the soldiers and officers gathered in the plaza had already begun seizing control of headquarters with overwhelming force.
"Elio," Sakazuki said after a tense silence. "Do you have to take this rebellion to such extremes?"
He rose to his feet, voice low and dangerous. "There's still time to stop. If not, I'll kill you myself. If I kill you, this rebellion dies with you."
Just as his voice faded, the Transponder Snail in the arms of the rear admiral beside Elio began to ring.
"Buru buru—"
The sound was sharp in the tense atmosphere of the prison. The rear admiral answered immediately, not daring to delay.
"Go ahead."
"This is Vice Admiral Hound!" came the voice from the other end, brimming with excitement. "Please relay this to Lord Elio immediately: Admiral Borsalino has been subdued!"
Sakazuki's head snapped up, eyes wide with disbelief.
Borsalino? Of everyone in the Marine, Borsalino was the one closest to him. He knew better than anyone how powerful Borsalino was.
Unless Sengoku and Garp had joined Elio, there was no way anyone could have subdued Borsalino.
No way… unless Borsalino had chosen not to fight.
The weight of that realization hit Sakazuki hard.
His brother-in-arms, the man who embodied "ambiguous justice," had chosen to stand aside.
And then, the Transponder Snail rang again.
This time, it wasn't just one. All across the room, other officers' Transponder Snail began to buzz.
"Report! The armory is under control!"
"Report! Dormitory 7 has been secured!"
"Report! The science division is under our command!"
"Report! Vice Admiral Gion has stopped Vice Admiral Tokikake!"
"Report! Officer Tashigi has been neutralized!"
"Report! All external communication lines are being monitored!"
"Report…"
Each new message drove Sakazuki further into grim silence.
He hadn't imagined the rebellion would move this quickly.
And he hadn't expected Vice Admiral Gion, one of the Admiral candidates, to choose Elio's side and even block Vice Admiral Tokikake, another Admiral candidate.
Though no word had come yet about Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Sakazuki knew the truth.
If they didn't stop this soon, Marine Headquarters would become a battlefield unlike any in its history.
Because not everyone was loyal to Elio.
At least half the soldiers and officers would resist, and once they did, Marineford would descend into chaos.
Even if Elio failed to seize the Fleet Admiral's seat, he would cripple the Marine beyond recovery, possibly forever.
And what worried Sakazuki most was this: reinforcements from the Grand Line and the Four Seas were likely already en route.
If they arrived in time to coordinate with Elio's faction inside the base…
Then, even if Elio failed to take the title of Fleet Admiral, he would still deliver a fatal blow that could reduce the Marine Headquarters to an empty shell.