"WHAT?"
The sudden report caught Fleet Admiral Sengoku completely off guard. His eyes widened in shock as he quickly stood up and grabbed the Den Den Mushi.
Basskerville on the other hand, remained calm a faint trace of cunning flickering at the corner of his mouth.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, it seems the concerns of the World Goverment have become a reality!"
Meanwhile, at Marineford Plaza.
Prompted by Orion imprisonment, the Marine officers and tens of thousands of soldiers had swiftly mobilized, standing in perfect formation on the plaza.
Each soldier and officer wore a red ribbon tied around their arm.
At the forefront of the soldiers stood over a dozen Rear Admirals and more than thirty Vice Admirals.
Facing these Rear Admirals, Vice Admirals, and the soldiers were three Marine Top Vice Admirals: Momonga, Strawberry, and Bastille.
"Vice Admiral Momonga? That's great! I never expected Vice Admiral Momonga to be on our side!"
"Vice Admiral Strawberry? The hero who pursued the Sun Pirates back in the day! Why is he here too?"
"Vice Admiral Bastille! Are you also fighting for Lord Orion? That's fantastic!"
As the voices from the soldiers continued to rise, the three Marine Vice Admirals remained largely unresponsive. After surveying the crowd, Momonga slightly tilted his head to gaze at the night sky.
He was a seasoned Vice Admiral in the Marines.
Long before Orion was even a Lieutenant, Momonga had already been an Vice Admiral, participating in numerous major events and earning immense prestige within the Marines.
However, due to his rigid personality, even after being promoted to Vice Admiral he had few colleagues he could truly converse with. His overly serious and inflexible approach to matters had even led to him being ostracized by other Vice Admirals.
Of course, such workplace ostracism meant little to him. He had joined the Marines not for social connections but to ensure that more people could be protected by justice.
Thus, he poured all his energy into his work, participating in every major event, including the Battle of Edd War.
However, during one mission, his elderly father fell critically ill on the verge of death and wished to see his eldest son one last time. When his younger brother called the Marine headquarters, the news was not immediately relayed to him.
In desperation, his brother sought out an officer known for his willingness to help. To their surprise, upon learning of his father dying wish to see his eldest son, Orion who was then a Rear Admiral, immediately set sail on a warship to his hometown and brought his father to him.
When Momonga saw Orion carrying his father off the warship and standing before him, he thought he was hallucinating.
What surprised him even more was that Orion not only brought his father to him but also a medical team to ensure his father could speak a few words with him.
Although his father eventually passed away, Momonga and Orion formed a deep friendship from that moment on. In their spare time, they would discuss the future of the Marines, as well as the corruption and flaws within the World Government and the Marine organization.
"Hey, hey, hey, what are you all doing here?" Suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind the three of them.
Turning towards the sound, they saw the two Marine Vice Admirals, Onigumo and Doberman, both clearly drunk. Before they even got close, the smell of alcohol wafted over with the wind causing Momonga to frown involuntarily.
"Isn't that Vice Admiral Momonga? Ahaha, and there's Strawberry and Bastille too? Come on, let's go have a drink!" Onigumo, who had arrived arm in arm with Doberman, glanced at the soldiers standing neatly in the square, then shook off Doberman and staggered over to Momonga, grabbing his arm and preparing to turn around.
Momonga didn't move.
Instead, he tilted his head slightly to look in the direction of the Marine headquarters prison.
At that moment, lights suddenly lit up from the direction of the prison, and a group of officers with red scarves draped over their shoulders filed out in two rows, standing in formation.
Seeing this, Momonga didn't hesitate for a moment. He decisively broke free from Onigumo grip, turned to face the more than ten thousand soldiers standing in formation on the square, and said in a deep voice.
"All units, attention! Target: the prison gates. Double time, march!"
Whoosh—
Over ten thousand soldiers turned in unison and began running toward the prison gates.
"HUH?"
The sudden turn of events caused Onigumo and Doberman expressions to change slightly. They spoke in unison.
"Momonga, what are you doing?"
"Gentlemen, times have changed!" Before Momonga could respond, Bastille who was carrying a large machete on his shoulder, suddenly turned around and dropped a bombshell.
"The Marines needs a more capable Fleet Admiral, and that person can only be Vice Admiral Orion!"
"What?" Onigumo and Doberman exclaimed in unison once more.
After a brief moment of stunned silence, both men quickly snapped out of it. Onigumo took a step back as if facing a formidable enemy, his gaze fixed intently on Bastille as he said in a grave tone.
"Bastille, how dare you utter such treasonous words!"
"Damn it."
Doberman also fully regained his senses at this moment and cried out.
"Onigumo, stop them! They're planning a prison break!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Before Onigumo could react, a series of crisp gunshots rang out without warning.
The bullets whistled through the air, instantly piercing through the bodies of Onigumo and Doberman, who had just pulled out his Den Den Mushi.
Immediately after, a group of soldiers swarmed in, closing in on the two men and emptying their magazines without hesitation.
However, both were Vice Admirals of the headquarters. Even with their bodies riddled with bullets, they didn't die on the spot.
"Damn it, who gave the order to fire!" Seeing Onigumo and Doberman lying in pools of blood, Momonga quickly stepped forward and scolded.
"Don't waste time here! Hurry and go welcome Vice Admiral Orion!"
Bang! Bang! Bang—
As soon as Momonga finished speaking, the crisp sound of gunfire rang out again.
Two officers had somehow appeared in front of Onigumo and Doberman, their gun barrels aimed at the men's heads as they unhesitatingly emptied their magazines.
"Vice Admiral Momonga, this is war." After executing Onigumo and Doberman, one of the officers, who wore the insignia of a Rear Admiral, immediately looked up at Momonga with a fanatical expression and said.
"Anyone who stands in Vice Admiral Orion way is our enemy, no matter who they are."
Having said this, the officer wasted no more time. He turned and ran into the main force, speeding toward the prison.
Momonga heart sank as he looked at the two Vice Admirals lying lifeless in their own blood, his expression complicated.
Of course, he supported Vice Admiral Orion, but he didn't want this incident to result in the bloodshed of so many headquarters officers.
What surprised him most was that two powerful Vice Admirals like Doberman and Onigumo would meet their end in such a manner.
At that moment, the sharp crack of gunfire continued to echo, rising and falling across the various dormitories and residential areas of the Marine headquarters.
Clearly, officers and soldiers loyal to Orion were eliminating dissidents, taking action to help Orion successfully seize the position of Fleet Admiral.
As the gunfire suddenly resounded over Marineford, the piercing alarm was also triggered.
In an instant, the sounds of gunfire and alarms intertwined, forming the trumpet call of death as a coup d'état that had been six years in the making finally began.