A Marine butcher? I’m just fighting to live with everything I’ve got. Chapter 84 84: The Marines, Bearers of the World’s Justice

The atmosphere inside the high council chamber of Marineford was suffocating.

Seated around the long table were the absolute pillars of Marine authority: Fleet Admiral Sengoku, the three Admirals Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Kuzan, the legendary Vice Admiral Garp, and the stern instructor who had once been an Admiral himself "Black Arm" Zephyr, now the Chief Instructor of the Marine recruits.

No one dared show their usual levity. Even Garp, who would normally spend such etings either munching on rice crackers or dozing off, wore an unusually grave expression.

Sengoku slowly rose from the main seat at the head of the table. He said nothing at first. Instead, he reached into his robes and pulled out a single photograph, laying it gently in the center of the polished wood table.

His gaze swept across the room, pausing on Garp and Zephyr. Among the veterans present, they were the only two who had yet to et the young man whose presence had begun shaking the entire institution of the Marines.

Drawing in a deep breath, Sengoku finally spoke.

"Rear Admiral Renn Hawk."

"Half a year ago, he was nothing more than a branch colonel stationed in the East Blue."

"Today, he is a Rear Admiral appointed directly by my own hand, the commander of the G-3 Branch in the Grand Line."

He let his words settle before continuing, his tone unconsciously rising with a conviction he himself did not often reveal.

"He has the uncompromising resolve of Sakazuki when it cos to justice, yet he is not blinded by bloodlust. He understands what it truly ans to protect."

"In re days, he transford the G-3 Branch into a single ironclad unit, demonstrating a command ability unlike anything we have witnessed before."

"He is the future of the Marines."

"Half a year?" Garp's eyes widened, the creases in his weathered face deepening with disbelief.

In only six months? A branch colonel leaping to beco a Marine Headquarters Rear Admiral? That speed bordered on madness.

Across the table, Zephyr remained silent behind his dark glasses, but the chanical arm known as the "Crusher" on his right side tightened imperceptibly. Such a teoric rise was unheard of, breaking every precedent since the Marines' founding.

Even Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Kuzan once called monsters among n had climbed through the ranks step by step, paving their way with countless battles, blood, and achievents.

Could this young Renn Hawk truly be the future?

"Hmph. Hawk, that boy..." Sakazuki folded his arms even tighter, his eyes narrowing. The boy had already been promoted to Rear Admiral? That was faster than even he had anticipated. Still, Sakazuki admitted, Hawk deserved it.

"Oh my~ Hawk-kun is becoming quite frightening, isn't he~?" Borsalino drawled, crossing one long leg over the other before setting it back down. Behind his tinted lenses, a sharp glint flashed.

"Renn Hawk, a Rear Admiral already, huh?" Kuzan straightened in his chair, the lazy air around him dissipating. His gaze lingered on the photograph, his mind wandering back to a promise he had entrusted to Hawk not long ago.

Sengoku's voice cut through the room again, heavier now, pulling everyone's attention.

"The Great Pirate Era has raged for over twenty years," he declared.

"And instead of peace, the seas have grown only more chaotic. Evil spreads like weeds cut it down and it grows back stronger, wild and unrelenting."

"The Marines were founded as the bearers of the world's justice."

"Our duty is to ensure that across this ocean of cri and bloodshed, the flag of order and hope continues to fly!"

"But tell have we succeeded?"

A bitter smile twisted across Sengoku's lips. "We have not!"

"We have stood by and watched pirates burn and plunder. We have watched villages turn into seas of fire, and we have been powerless to stop it."

"We know the Seven Warlords system is nothing but bargaining with the devil, yet we have allowed those legalized pirates to poison the seas."

"We have bowed our heads to the World Governnt again and again, trading our own ideals for funds, forcing ourselves to carry out orders that contradict the very essence of justice!"

His fist slamd down upon the table with an earth-shaking crack. The entire chamber trembled.

"I've had enough."

His voice grew louder, swelling into a roar.

"I've had enough of this justice shackled by chains!"

"I've had enough of sacrificing innocent lives in the na of so-called balance!"

"I've had enough of justice that grovels before others, stifled and restrained at every turn!"

"Now..."

In his eyes burned a light that none had seen in years a light of defiance and hope.

"A chance has appeared."

"A chance for the Marines to stand independent."

"I intend to free the Marines from the control of the World Governnt."

"What are your answers?"

Sengoku's gaze swept across the room, eting the eyes of every comrade present. These were n who had fought beside him for decades, the true backbone of the organization. He needed their support.

The room fell into a deep silence.

The aning of Sengoku's words could not be clearer. He was preparing to overturn the table itself, to lead the Marines down a path that openly defied the World Governnt.

Garp exchanged a look with Zephyr. Both veterans recognized it instantly.

The Sengoku who once rivaled the likes of Roger, Whitebeard, and Shiki the "Buddha" Sengoku who had once reigned like a titan had returned.

Garp leaned back in his chair, folding his arms. That single gesture was his answer. He had always despised the Celestial Dragons, those so-called nobles of the world. He had refused the rank of Admiral more than once, unwilling to beco their chained watchdog. Now Sengoku was finally ready to cut those chains? That was sothing Garp would stand behind.

Zephyr leaned back as well. Once known as the Admiral who refused to kill, his ideals of pure justice had cost him dearly. His family slaughtered by pirates. His most beloved students massacred. His faith in the Governnt's hollow "justice" had long since shattered. No he had simply woken up.

If this new path ant preventing another "Zephyr" from ever being created, then staking his life on it was a small price to pay.

At the far end of the table, Sakazuki and Kuzan, usually opposed in philosophy, shared a rare mont of silent understanding.

Sengoku's transformation had begun after his visit to G-3. It was not difficult to guess whose influence lay behind this change. Renn Hawk's.

For Sakazuki, it was vindication. This was the kind of Fleet Admiral the Marines needed. To bow to the Governnt under the guise of balance what justice was that?

He clenched his fists. If this was the path, then Sakazuki would see it through.

Kuzan allowed himself a faint smile. When every option is wrong, then the fault lies not with the choices, but with the one who created them. Sengoku had finally understood that truth. Perhaps it was ti for Kuzan's frozen justice to be thawed beneath the sun.

Borsalino glanced left, then right, noting how silence itself had beco the vote of confidence. Behind his glasses, his eyes spun.

Well, wasn't this terrifying. It sounded a lot like... overti. Would it be too much to ask for a raise before they all mutinied against the Governnt?

The creak of the door broke the silence.

Vice Admiral Tsuru entered, carrying a heavy case in one hand. She approached Sengoku, giving him a small, knowing nod.

Understanding, Sengoku took the case himself. He set it down on the table with a sharp thud that drew every gaze.

"This," Sengoku declared, his voice firm and resonant, "is the chance for Marine independence."

He flipped open the case.

A dazzling radiance burst forth, golden light flooding the room until it seed as though they were all subrged in an ocean of treasure.

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