The news hadn't spread yet, but the impact of those words—even without using their brain, the Five Elders could imagine it.
Back then, Roger's final words set off the Great Pirate Era, flooding the seas with countless powerful pirates. Over the years, this momentum had somewhat subsided under the deterrence of the Four Emperors.
But Whitebeard's final words were like tossing a barrel of gasoline into the fire.
Pirates believed in Whitebeard's credibility and didn't think he would lie. It was easy to foresee what the seas would become after this.
"Then why didn't you take action?"
"Sengoku, do you even know what you're saying?"
"I know perfectly well. Whitebeard, Kaido, and Red-Hair—those three monsters were all gathered at Marineford. And your orders were to halt the fighting—what else could we have done?"
"And that final attack, wasn't it arranged by you? Half of the casualties among the lower-ranking Marine soldiers were caused by the aftermath of that attack! Shouldn't you be reflecting on that, too?"
The position of Marine Fleet Admiral might look glamorous, but only the person sitting in it knew the reality. Beneath him were a bunch of unruly Marines—those with powerful strength all had strong personalities, and they always create problems when carrying out orders.
And above him were those damned Celestial Dragons and the Five Elders constantly interfering, leaving him, the Fleet Admiral, caught in the middle and bearing the brunt from both sides.
"Zephyr is dead. Marineford has been destroyed. Casualties among the soldiers are severe. The Wyvern Unit has been wiped out. Half of the Pacifista Unit is gone. Weren't all of these the result of your decisions?"
"Forcing a war to start at the wrong time—this is the outcome!"
Sengoku had always opposed the Summit War. Now that he was being blamed, he no longer held back.
"As the Fleet Admiral, I do bear responsibility for the Marine's defeat, and I will resign from my position. As for the next Fleet Admiral, I recommend Kuzan."
Sengoku had come here to resign in the first place. On one hand, someone had to take responsibility for the Marine's defeat. On the other, he had simply had enough of this nonsense.
He wanted to take a page from Garp's book and just quit this job. Let someone else be Fleet Admiral—whoever wanted it could have it. He was done.
Sengoku's string of words and his resignation turned the Five Elders' unsaid criticisms right back at them. If Sengoku had continued as Fleet Admiral, they would have had grounds to criticize him. But with Sengoku clearly stating he was stepping down, they were left with no reason to reprimand him.
But as for admitting fault—that was absolutely impossible. No matter what happened, the Five Elders themselves could never be wrong.
Unless Imu said they were wrong.
Looking at Sengoku's letter of resignation, although the Five Elders didn't acknowledge their fault, their tone did soften as they shifted to a new topic. Someone like Sengoku was best kept within the Marine ranks—if they pushed him too far, it wouldn't benefit them either.
"Sengoku, don't be so agitated. As for the new Fleet Admiral, that's still under discussion. For now, the Marines still need you to remain in charge."
A scapegoat was certainly needed for the lost war, but the Five Elders hadn't intended to move this quickly—especially since Kuzan wasn't to their liking.
"Marineford's situation is dire, and other regions aren't any better. A massive prison break occurred at Impel Down, Enies Lobby was attacked by an unknown weapon, and the World Government is also in a tough spot."
"Isn't this the result of the deal you agreed to? If it weren't for Blackbeard, that b*stard, how could so many people have escaped from Impel Down?"
"What's done is done. We called you here to discuss how to handle the situation."
"I've already had Magellan compile the list of escaped prisoners. New bounties will be issued soon."
"No. Bounties cannot be issued. If the public finds out that so many prisoners have escaped, what will happen to our reputation?
If the identities of that many dangerous criminals are exposed, it'll cause mass panic."
Issuing bounties had always been the most direct and effective approach, but the Five Elders flatly rejected Sengoku's idea. They didn't care about the life and death of the common people—they only cared about the reputation of the World Government.
Concealing the truth may bring misfortune to unprepared regions, but compared to causing widespread panic, they would rather accept some casualties.
"Not only can you not issue bounties, but you also cannot conduct high-profile arrests. This entire matter must be handled secretly. Do you understand, Sengoku?"
Sengoku didn't want to agree to these demands, but he had no choice. When the World Government gave an order, the Marines couldn't disobey. Mobilizing forces on a large scale required their approval. Only individuals like Garp could act freely.
Even if Sengoku opposed it, the World Government still had ways to restrict Marine operations.
The number of escaped prisoners this time is simply too large. Without mobilizing large-scale forces, recapturing all of them would be an extremely drawn-out task.
In the past, he would have reluctantly said yes—but this time, Sengoku gave no response at all, only a silent protest.
"This matter is settled. Next, we need to address the issue of the Beasts Pirates. Without a doubt, they are now the greatest threat on the seas.
That attack was indeed our doing. Unfortunately, it failed—but it also made one thing clear:
The Beasts Pirates are the ones who can truly threaten us."
A screen appeared in the meeting room, replaying scenes from the Summit War. The footage froze on Genesis and Arceus.
"Arceus, the vice-captain of the Beasts Pirates, and the so-called deity of their religion.
Queen remains inseparably connected to the technological origins of the Beasts Pirates.
But what we can confirm is this: the one who calls himself a god possesses terrifying power.
It was he who stopped our attack."
They could still tell whether the attack had been launched by a ship or by a person—but what they said next would be enough to make Queen lose his mind.
"When setting the bounty for the Beasts Pirates, let's attribute that power to Queen."
"Why?"
"Do you really want to admit that someone can use their own strength to resist that kind of attack? Do you have any idea how much damage that would do to Marines' morale going forward?"
This time was different from before. Previously, the blame placed on Queen came from ignorance— the World Government couldn't figure out who was behind those things.
But now they knew the truth—and they had no intention of revealing it.
Some things were simply never meant to be made public—such as Arceus's involvement.
If the enemy merely had access to some terrifying weapon, there would still be ways to counterbalance it. But when the enemy themselves possessed island-destroying power, it would deal a crushing blow to morale, and the overwhelming terror of such an individual can easily make people lose the courage to resist.
Even the current World Government didn't want to provoke the Beasts Pirates any further.
Thankfully, Arceus rarely took action himself, which gave the World Government hope that they could stall for time.
Until Imu awakens, they had no intention of starting a new conflict with the Beasts Pirates.
Maintaining the status quo—that was their plan.
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