Chapter 124

Grandline, Marine Headquarters

After the news of the approaching armada of pirates had reached the headquarters of the marines all the personal evolved into a state comparable to a beehive on fire, pure chaos to be exact.

Luckily for those at the bottom of the hierarchy in the marines, those at the top to be exact, were quite experienced when it came to dealing with threats of big magnitudes and thus reigned in the chaos with a tight grip not long after it had come to be known.

Sitting in the big conference room Sengoku, the fleet-admiral, reclined in his chair at the head of the table, a frown marring his face. Before him on the table laid a map depicting the first half of the new world and the islands the war would most possibly be fought on.

Next to Sengoku sat his friend and comrade Garp, followed by the admirals and vice-admirals. But, as the occasion was of a pretty high importance, another instance was sitting in on said meeting, namely the Gorosei, via a video transponder snail.

"The armada of Kaido and BigMom is the most immediate threat so all our forces should focus on them to finish that battle as fast as possible. After all there are still other threats waiting to clash with us…" the oldest of the Gorosei spoke into the contemplative silence of the meeting with a voice that brokered no argument and none were given in response, only nods of consent.

"That would indeed be the smartest course of action. We should avoid a war with more than one front at all costs. If we enter one and one side fails it will doom the others like a house of cards that collapses onto itself when one card is removed. Which forces should we deploy to take on the two yonko?" Sengoku asked the Gorosei while agreeable humming filled the room as all of the admirals present knew that a war fought on more than one front was a dangerous and difficult undertaking, especially against foes of such power.

"Send out our warsh.i.p.s and station half of our pacifista on those sh.i.p.s. The other half should remain in the marine headquarters for the case that another faction decides to take action in the chaos and take the head of the serpent off while the body is busy dealing with the most obvious threat." Another member of the Gorosei answered after the five elders discussed the matter for a few seconds.

"Though only the pacifista won't be able to take on the yonko, which is the biggest problem we are facing at the moment. How should we deal with them?" Sengoku wondered causing slight frowns to appear on some of the present members.

"That indeed is a problem we have spent quite a lot of thoughts on. Luckily a fortunate avenue has opened itself to us when we most needed some more manpower." The oldest of the Gorosei responded bringing silence to the now arguing officers.

"What manpower are you talking about? I know of only a handful of people that could possibly clash with those two and come out alive in the end…" Kizaru asked the Gorosei with a contemplative frown on his face.

"A faction we had not considered to appear in the war to be honest but one that may stand a chance with some help from our faction. As you may know Doflamingo disappeared from the face of the grandline a few months ago and has yet to be found but it turns out he didn't need to be found as he came to us instead. He has allied himself with a man called Blackbeard, which may ring a bell in some of your heads when hearing the name. The man himself has an ability that could potentially win us this war but has to be handled with caution as the man is a fickle and scheming pirate if there ever was one. That much we could gauge from the meeting…" Another of the elders answered the admiral's question which caused quite a few eyebrows to jump into many a hairline.

"Doflamingo and Blackbeard? Have you gone senile up there? In which universe do those two even stand a chance against one yonko, let alone two?!" Akainu spoke out with frustration at the whole situation tinging his voice.

"Watch your mouth, admiral, and yes they do stand a chance if you consider the devilfruit Blackbeard possesses…" The oldest of the elders butted in with his eyes boring into Akainu who didn't falter one bit under the withering glare of the man until the two were interrupted by vice-admiral Tsuru.

"Enough of this bickering. What is this devilfruit you speak about? What could it possibly do to reign in those monsters?" The old woman spoke with annoyance tinging her voice causing Garp to chuckle in amus.e.m.e.nt at his old comrade's guts.

"Blackbeard's devilfruit saps away the power of the devilfruit of his opponent once touched." At the elder's words silence fell upon the room only to erupt in exclamations of different kinds once the man's words registered fully with all those present.

"Do you know what that means? That man, should he become even more powerful, will become the biggest threat to the admiral's who mostly dominate the oceans because of their logia powers! Should those become a moot point than we would lose a lot of firepower and pressure!" Vice-admiral Momonga spoke with dread in his normally rather calm voice.

"Indeed, vice-admiral. But who said we would let that happen? Once Blackbeard has fulfilled his purpose his existence will no longer be tolerated. In fact we aim to gain that man's devilfruit for ourselves in the future. But that is a topic for another day. Admirals, you will assist Doflamingo and Blackbeard with taking care of the two yonko. Which one you target first will be up to you. After you have done so take out Blackbeard immediately. There will be no prisoners in this war!" The oldest of the elder stars spoke and received grim nods in return.

After the most pressing matter had been discussed the present officers returned to discuss the different strategies they would soon employ in the great war…