The natural system started off strong, but the navy finally reached its peak!

After all, Blackbeard was severely injured by Shiki in the Marineford War and was on the verge of death. This was the perfect opportunity to eliminate him completely!

Unfortunately, reality dealt them a heavy blow.

Without Whitebeard, their strongest shield and spear, the entire crew's strength plummeted.

Aside from Marco himself, who can maintain Yonko-level combat strength thanks to his Phoenix Fruit, other captains like Jozu and Vista...

Facing the Blackbeard Pirates, those vicious thugs recruited from Level 6 of Impel Down.

When faced with the original officers such as Shiryu and Bages, he seemed powerless and constrained at every turn.

Blackbeard himself has not even shown up; only his crew members have appeared.

They had already used various strange and powerful abilities and tacit cooperation to completely restrict Marco and his group, making it extremely difficult for them to even break through, let alone take revenge.

Perhaps it's not a matter of teamwork, but rather a difference in individual skill levels.

.........

Meanwhile, in the New World, in the waters of the Srock Kingdom, which was originally one of Whitebeard's important vassal kingdoms...

On the azure sea, a giant warship bearing the Navy's "Natural Disaster" insignia and the number G-10 sails forward, cutting through the waves.

At the bow of the ship, Gern, draped in a coat of justice, stood against the wind.

In the distance, four pirate ships, each flying a different skull and crossbones flag, were swaggering toward the island, attempting to seize this "unclaimed" territory amidst the chaos.

Gern's eyes were cold, and he didn't even make any extra movements. He simply raised his left hand and made a handshake in the direction of the four pirate ships!

"Buzz—Boom!!!!"

The airspace where the Pirate King was located shattered out of thin air, the atmosphere groaned in despair, and visible cracks spread out like ripples, precisely covering the four pirate ships!

The ship's hull instantly twisted, disintegrated, and shattered!

Along with the pirates above, they didn't even have time to scream before being reduced to dust by the terrifying force of the shockwave.

It sank into the sea, leaving behind only four rapidly spreading waves and floating pieces of wood.

After easily clearing out the smaller fry, the warships approached the port of the Kingdom of Srock without any hindrance.

The local people and former Whitebeard's allies accepted the naval flag with almost no resistance.

Gern, without shedding a drop of blood, took another island.

Having easily handled the takeover of the Kingdom of Srock, Gern stood on the deck of the warship, holding an encrypted Den Den Mushi in his palm.

"Tezzolo, how are things going with the others?"

After all, the vast sphere of influence left behind by Whitebeard was like a huge power vacuum, attracting hungry wolves from all sides.

Faced with such a vast sea area and complex forces, Gern adopted a strategy of advancing along multiple routes and launching attacks from multiple points.

So, Hawkeye went back to the Grand Line for a vacation.

Enel and Bartholomew Kuma continue their fight against the 'Big Mom' Pirates.

Enel used his Psychic Field's wide-area perception and the destructive power of his lightning to launch rapid attacks and exert deterrence.

Kuma, on the other hand, uses his Paw-Paw Fruit's teleportation ability to provide precise support and troop deployment, making him extremely efficient at clearing out stubborn strongholds.

Ribo and Bullet took charge of Kaido's Beasts Pirates all the way.

Ribo uses her healing abilities and agile, swift physical skills to provide support and launch surprise attacks.

Barrett, on the other hand, completely demonstrated overwhelming power, taking on the toughest challenges.

'Snake Princess' Torituma and Ghost Princess Perona were responsible for the area closer to G-10 and for the Wang Zhi's forces.

Torritoma used his great swordsmanship to intimidate and control the area and carry out decapitation strikes.

Perona's Ghost-Ghost Fruit can easily demoralize the enemy and create chaos.

When the two work together, they can often paralyze the enemy camp without bloodshed, and they are especially good at dealing with large pirate alliances.

As for Gern, as the absolute core and deterrent force, he leads a fleet alone, patrolling the most central, sensitive, or fiercely resisted sea areas.

He was in charge of the Red-Haired Pirates, but unfortunately Shanks is too cunning, so far Gaun hasn't even seen a trace of them...

On the other end of the Den Den Mushi, Tesoro, stationed at G-10 base, gave a brief response and report.

Enel, Barrett, Ribo, and others are responsible for the progress of their respective areas.

Although progress has varied in speed, overall they have been clearing obstacles with a strong stance and taking over Whitebeard's legacy.

After finishing his report, Tesoro added in a low voice, "Also, regarding General Gern and Fleet Admiral Sengoku..."

An extremely large sum of money was allocated through official channels, nominally as a "Special Fund for New World Defense Construction and Marineford Reconstruction."

"How should we handle this money (cover it up? Or embezzle it and launder it)?"

"Just make the arrangements as normal."

"Hmm? General Gern, are you serious? According to our previous rules, we shouldn't have directly..."

Hearing Tesoro's surprise, Gern's face showed no surprise, but rather a knowing smile. Almost without hesitation, he immediately issued the order.

"This doesn't need to be so complicated. Apart from the portion left for our 'Marshal' to establish his 'New Marineford' in the New World..."

"The remaining funds will all be used to establish a naval branch."

“Yes.” Tesoro immediately accepted the order without any questions.

After all, once Gern officially issued an order, he never asked any further questions.

After hanging up the phone, Gern put away the Den Den Mushi and gazed at the boundless blue sea before him, the sea breeze ruffling the hair on his forehead.

"Compared to planting a flag to declare sovereignty..." he muttered to himself.

"Establishing a real, fully functional naval branch with garrison and supply capabilities in every key sea area is the only way to achieve stable rule."

Guern's thinking was very clear.

Compared to the vast and chaotic waters of the New World, it is impossible to achieve long-term control by relying solely on strong personal force and a few flags.

Pirates can come and go as they please; the territory they conquer today may be infiltrated or seized by other forces tomorrow.

“Especially on this vast ocean…” Gern’s gaze pierced the sea surface, as if he could see a future network of naval branches scattered like stars.

"These branches will become solid nodes for me to control the air routes, exert influence, gather intelligence, provide supplies, and most importantly, deploy force in a timely manner."

They are like wedges driven into the sea, firmly fixing 'justice' to this territory that once belonged to the Sea King.

This is not merely about taking over territory; it's a strategic move to fundamentally alter the power structure of the new world.

What Guern wanted was not nominal ownership, but complete, top-down actual control.

These naval branches scattered throughout the new world are the most basic and important cornerstone for him to realize this grand blueprint.

Chapter 486 The Five Elders' "backup plan" has arrived!

One week later, New World, G-10 Base

Having cleared and consolidated the routes under his charge, Gern returned to his headquarters and sat opposite the current Marshal Sengoku in the small garden.

"Hehe." Sengoku chuckled as he looked at Gern, who was calmly brewing him black tea, and spoke first.

“Gern, no matter what, I will keep my promise.”

"The idea that the new Marineford will be established in the new world will not change."

Then, Sengoku abruptly changed the subject, posing the core question: "However, what about the first half of the Grand Line (Paradise) and the sea routes connecting the four seas?"

There must be sufficient force to deter and maintain order; the relocation of headquarters must not lead to chaos.

"So, what... do you plan to do about this?"

This is both a practical problem and a test of Guern's overall control.

In response to Sengoku's question, Gern simply took a sip of his hot tea, chuckled softly, and set down the cup.

He gave a completely unexpected answer.

"Sakaski".

Gern said calmly, "I intend to let Akainu be solely responsible for the defense of the first half of the Grand Line."

Then, facing the incredulous gaze of Sengoku, he offered a cup of tea and continued to elaborate on his ideas.

"I will build a brand new, independent G-2 headquarters for him on the original site of Marineford."

He would be in full command of the entire defense of the park and its entrances to all four seas.

"And our G-2 Division in the new world will be upgraded and expanded to become the new Naval Headquarters—'New Marineford'."

"......"

"Sakazuki???"

Upon hearing Gern's groundbreaking idea, Sengoku was clearly stunned, even forgetting to pick up his teacup for a moment.

This arrangement is flawless in terms of strategic logic.

Given Akainu's tough, ruthless style and belief in absolute justice...

Without needing to consider 'balance' like he did, the first half can be viewed as a normal garrison mission.

Go directly to suppress and eliminate the young generation of pirates from all four seas in the first half of the Grand Line who have not yet matured.

It's a perfect match for their expertise, and it can greatly limit the number and quality of pirates that will flood into the New World in the future.

Of course, most importantly, although Akainu's ideology is extreme, he is a guy who actually does things and is really serious!

The branch he's in charge of will be managed so well that everyone will give him a thumbs up!

But then again...

"Sakazuki is now eyeing the Marshal's position with great interest!"

How could he possibly be willing to give up the New World, the center of power, and retreat to the first half of the Grand Line to become a 'regional manager'?!

This is tantamount to marginalizing him and distancing him from the future power center of the navy!

“He won’t agree.” Sengoku shook his head.

Gern's arrangement, while seemingly reasonable, is actually...

This is a demotion in disguise, effectively removing Akainu from the power struggle in the New World!

Although he was given an important task and a stage that he couldn't easily refuse.

But judging from the 'sorry' he played with Gern at the time, it's clear that he wasn't a complete political fool.

And Gern, of course, was aware of this, so he smiled calmly at Sengoku, whose brows were furrowed.

"In short, that's how it is."

"As for how to arrange it, how to get Sakazuki to go 'willingly'... that's my business!"

“You bastard…” Sengoku’s brows furrowed even deeper as he looked at Gern’s smug, self-assured smile.

"Oh well, never mind."

After pondering for a while, Sengoku shook his head, temporarily suppressing his thoughts about Akainu.

Leaning slightly forward and lowering his voice, he spoke of the most important and pressing hidden danger at hand.

"What we should be paying attention to now is the World Government, those five old guys."

I'm a war criminal who played the "Holy Land Incident" with you; they'll never completely trust me.

They definitely have a backup plan, or even... they might have already activated it! You have to be careful, they..."

Just as Sengoku was about to elaborate on the specific actions the World Government might take, which he was concerned about...

"Gah—ga ga—!!!"

A burst of dense and noisy howls came from above the small garden, abruptly interrupting Sengoku's words!

The next moment, the two of them looked up at the same time.

In the sky, countless seagulls belonging to the World Economic Herald newspaper seemed to have received some kind of unified command.

They formed a huge formation, emitting a piercing screech, and flew rapidly over the G-10 base!

What's even more striking is that these seagulls weren't delivering their goods with a specific purpose as usual, but rather engaging in a massive, unleashed torrent.