Starting as a pirate, he rose to become the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society.

Chapter 403 The Navy's Troubles in the Empire: Only the Victor Can Define Justice!

Sodexo's homeland.

The city of Saint Loria.

Large numbers of people are marching in the streets, holding up signs and shouting slogans to defeat the invaders from another world.

Ironically, those maintaining order on both sides of the street were armed personnel dressed in naval uniforms.

"Get out! Get out of our home!"

"You invaders!"

"Release the POW camp! You brutal war criminals, you are war criminals!"

"Give back the territory of Sodexo to us Sodexo people!"

At the military base in St. Loria, Sakazuki stepped out of an armed helicopter with a serious expression.

Vice Admiral Steeles of the Marine Headquarters quickly stepped forward to greet him, saying, "Admiral Akainu, you've arrived."

"If I hadn't come, you would have handed over this place that Saint Loria just conquered!" Sakazuki said angrily, showing no respect for Stales.

Sterles looked slightly embarrassed, then said, "I'm so sorry to have troubled you!"

"What's the situation now?" Sakazuki didn't directly pursue Steires's responsibility, but instead asked.

"Large numbers of people took to the streets to demonstrate, which has seriously affected the city's order and operation. They have also gone on a major strike," Steeles explained.

Sakazuki listened to the reports with a cigar in his mouth, his expression growing increasingly grim.

"Get us out? Return Sodiz's territory to the Sodiz people?" Sakaski coldly looked at Sterles and said, "Did we steal Saint Loria from the Sodiz people?"

"Uh, this..." Sterles shook his head awkwardly and said, "Of course not. If you have to say, we took it from the Seris Empire."

"Isn't that it? What kind of trash is the Sodis? Without us, they'd still be mining for the Seris and the Empire. Now that we've defeated the Empire's garrison here and occupied Saint Loria, these trash dare to stand up and yell at us. How dare you let them call us war criminals!? Steires, I think you don't want to be the Saint Loria base commander anymore!!!" Sakazuki cursed.

Before Sterles could even speak, Sakazuki roared, "Tell me, what is a war criminal? Only the defeated are called war criminals! We have 30,000 elite naval soldiers stationed here, over 600 heavy cannons, three vice admirals, fourteen rear admirals, and countless commodores and field officers. We decisively defeated the Saint Loria city defense forces, capturing 27,000 and killing 14,000. We entered Saint Loria as victors, and now you're letting this bunch of scum, suppressed by the Empire, brazenly call us 'war criminals' in the streets? You, Vice Admiral, have no shame, but I, Sakazuki, do!"

Sterles was thoroughly scolded and said with shame, "I'm sorry, Admiral Akainu, I really don't have much experience in this area."

"Hmph!" After cursing, Sakazuki looked at Lieutenant General Onigumo beside him and said, "Effective immediately, you are dismissed from your position as commander of the Sterles Saint Loria base, and given a major lapse in discipline. You will be in charge of guarding Saint Loria City. Any questions?"

"Yes, no problem! I guarantee I'll complete the mission, all for justice!" Onigumo stood at attention and saluted without hesitation.

When the word "justice" was mentioned, even the cold and tough Sakazuki's expression faltered slightly. After a moment, he said, "As the invaders of this world, we are indeed no longer qualified to talk about justice. But that's precisely why we need to reclaim the glory of justice, victory, victory, and more victory, until we become the justice of this world again! Onigumo, don't be as weak as Staleys, but don't go too far either. One day, we will take root here."

Sakazuki was indeed a ruthless man, but he never truly participated in a war as a global aggressor.

He knew that once he had stained his hands with blood here, he would no longer be a representative of justice.

Everything they did was for the sake of survival and the pursuit of their world's interests.

But at the same time, Sakazuki was also very clear that only the victor has the right to talk about justice!

Therefore, he must lead the navy to victory, victory, and more victory here, until he stands at the pinnacle of the world, just like Bane in that world, thus defining the navy's nature in this world as justice, as the victor!

This is the glory of restoring justice!

With the appointment of Lieutenant General Ghost Spider, the city of Saint Loria immediately launched a crackdown on the demonstration, arresting nearly a thousand leaders, all of whom were executed by firing squad. Some of those with serious offenses were sent to prisoner-of-war camps to work on infrastructure projects alongside the prisoners.

The next morning, order was restored in St. Loria. People went to work and did their jobs. Apart from a small number of resistance forces who were hiding, everyone else began to live in accordance with the military control rules set by the navy.

And what happened in St. Loria is not an isolated case; in fact, it is happening all over the large swathes of Soddes territory currently occupied by the navy.

The Empire has been fighting Sodexo for so many years, and there are still resistance forces there. They are all from the same world.

Now that another world has attacked, how could there be no resistance?

For the navy, this war was not just; it was a complete suppression, a completely unjust war, but it also required a complete victory!

Meanwhile, near the interdimensional gate.

What was originally a desolate wilderness has now been transformed into a magnificent naval base by the highly efficient navy.

This base is currently the main headquarters for the navy's operations against the Empire.

It is known as the "Kantis Headquarters".

With the west suppressed and occupied, although small rebellions and resistance occasionally broke out in the rear, the navy's main offensive direction has generally shifted eastward.

If the conflict between the navy and the empire had not yet fully erupted before, and the navy had dealt a heavy blow to the empire, then the navy had shifted its main focus to the west and successfully resolved the western issue, then now the conflict between the navy and the empire is out in the open.

A large number of high-ranking naval officers gathered at the Cantilever headquarters.

Inside the operations room, many naval personnel were engaged in a heated debate.

"From a macro perspective, we've already seized half of the world, enough to establish ourselves. Do we really still need to go to war with the Empire?"

"The more we occupy, the more problems we face. Leaving aside the suppressed resistance forces, take the interdimensional portals for example. Since last month, three new interdimensional portals have appeared within our sphere of influence. If we don't sort out our rear before going to war with the Empire, what if a situation similar to our world arises? What if an army from another world suddenly appears behind us, leaving us caught in a pincer movement?"

"Our military might is currently at its peak, while the empire is in decline and plagued by internal strife. This is the perfect opportunity to unify the world. If we miss this chance, it will be much more difficult to fight the empire once it recovers!"

"I also think we should press on with this momentum!"

"Don't you know what kind of people the Empire is? They can even wage a war of annihilation against their own people from the same world. If they recover and reunify their command, do you think they'll tolerate us sharing this world with them?!"

"Appeasement is a form of slow suicide!"

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

"If we don't fight now, the consequences will be dire!"

"Then how do we solve our rear problems?! You all have generals on your shoulders, you should understand the simple truth, right? If the rear is unstable, how can we fight at the front?!"

In that conference room, everyone was arguing amongst themselves; major generals were hurling insults at each other, and lieutenant generals were arguing back and forth.

On the contrary, the admirals and chief of staff, and other high-ranking naval officers, did not make such a big fuss, but instead discussed the situation of the meeting in hushed tones.

"It seems there are still significant differences," Borsalino clicked his tongue.

"There's nothing we can do. Our navy has never fought a war like this, a global invasion. At the beginning, the fighting was so intense that there was no time for reflection. Now that we've gained a foothold, everyone's suppressed thoughts and emotions have been exposed." Boss Zephyr sighed and said with emotion.

There is definitely psychological pressure. Most of the navy still consider themselves to be righteous, but this war is unjust. When they were fighting, they certainly didn't think about it that much. Now that the initial war has come to an end, the pressure and contradictions in their hearts have all come to the fore.

"They have all sorts of ideas, and it's understandable that they argue and vent their emotional stress. But we can't afford to have any disagreements. We must maintain a high degree of consensus, or there will be big problems!" Sengoku said in a deep voice.

No matter how much the lieutenant generals and major generals argue, it can be resolved in the end by simply categorizing them. Those who are unwilling to fight, who are under more psychological pressure, and who have not yet adjusted can be sent to the rear to oversee the situation, while those who are willing to fight and have not yet had enough of fighting can be sent to the front lines.

This is the simplest and most direct method. Relying on the navy's massive military system and resources, it is entirely possible to achieve this. Even those unwilling to fight can be recalled to their original world.

However, if disagreements and irreconcilable conflicts arise among the high command, the problem will be much bigger. It will directly affect the navy's next strategic steps and even cause a huge waste of resources. In severe cases, it could even lead to defeat!

"We'll definitely have to fight," Garp said without hesitation.

He, who was once a dove, is so steadfast here, and the other high-ranking officers do not seem to object. Clearly, the naval leadership has reached a consensus: continue fighting!

"But the problems at the rear still need to be solved," Kuzan said, picking up his teacup and taking a sip.

"Sakazuki is currently reorganizing the rear. Let's try his high-pressure policy first and see if it can keep things under control," Sengoku nodded.

"What if the backlash is severe?" Borsalino glanced at everyone and asked bluntly, without any attempt to avoid the question.

Everyone fell silent. After a long while, Zephyr said in a deep voice, "Then let's execute the Great Migration Plan that Xiaohe proposed earlier. Send all the locals here to the Calm Belt, let Dragon receive them there, disperse them, and send them to various parts of the world for assimilation. At the same time, relocate our own people here to live. Refugees, displaced people, and people from countries that are at risk of destruction due to rising sea levels should all move here. Once our people have filled this place, the problems we just mentioned will no longer be problems!"

Although doing so would take a lot of time and consume a lot of manpower and resources, it would be extremely troublesome compared to Sakazuki's high-pressure policies.

But how should I put it, this plan is indeed a "one-and-done" solution.

This essentially resolved the problem of potential troubles in the rear, preventing a situation where I was fighting on the front lines while rebellions broke out in the rear.

This is also an advantage of having a world as a foundation; at worst, we can just send it all away to you!

"Let's observe Sakazuki's method first, while we continue to prepare for battle," Sengoku said after thinking for a moment.

(End of this chapter)