Because he had seen the investigation report, Orion didn't know the relationship between the elderly lady and himself before investigating her identity.
This meant that Orion took care of the elderly lady without any ulterior motives. Thinking of this, Sakazuki no longer hesitated and said straightforwardly.
"Can your Den Den Mushi be used? Contact Orion for me!"
Momonga took out the Den Den Mushi and dialed. Soon, the Den Den Mushi connected. Without waiting for the other party to speak, Momonga got straight to the point.
"Transfer to Lord Orion!"
After a brief few seconds, Orion voice came through the Den Den Mushi.
"Momonga, I'll give you ten minutes. No matter what choice Sakazuki makes, you must immediately return and accompany me to meet Sengoku!"
Sakazuki brought the Den Den Mushi to his face and said in a deep voice.
"This is Sakazuki. I only have one question. If your answer is what I want, I will help you ascend to the position of Fleet Admiral!"
Without waiting for a response from the Den Den Mushi, Sakazuki immediately changed his tone.
"Since you've already investigated my mother identity, why didn't you use it as a bargaining chip to make a deal with me? You should know very well that this is my only weakness!"
"No reason!"
Orion voice came through the Den Den Mushi unhurriedly.
"I believe that after learning of the elderly lady identity, you would definitely compromise on tonight's events, even reluctantly fight for me. Because at any time, Mother is never a multiple-choice question!"
"But I won't do that, because to me, family is not a bargaining chip."
.....
At the same time, on the road to the Marine Headquarters building, Orion tossed the Den Den Mushi to Strawberry beside him, looked up at the towering headquarters building ahead, and gradually narrowed his eyes.
Although he didn't say much to Sakazuki, the fact that Sakazuki took the initiative to contact him through the Den Den Mushi was enough to indicate Sakazuki attitude.
For Sakazuki, a Marine Admiral, Orion didn't need him to stand by his side at this moment. As long as Sakazuki chose to remain neutral, tonight's plan would succeed.
"Bang"
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, and a bullet tore through the air, heading straight for Orion face.
Before Orion could react, Bastille, who had been silently following him, swiftly drew his sword.
The giant Shark Slayer sword swung in an arc, cutting the incoming bullet in half.
Immediately after, Bastille took a step forward, and the Shark Slayer sword erupted with a terrifying aura. Without hesitation, he slashed towards the direction the bullet had come from.
Whoosh—
A slash imbued with a fearsome aura shot out, instantly cutting through the rooftop of a building hundreds of meters away. Accompanied by a shrill scream from the rooftop, the cleanly severed rooftop tilted and fell, crashing to the ground and stirring up a cloud of dust.
Orion didn't stop because of this minor incident. As Bastille swung his sword, Orion had already stepped forward, surrounded by Strawberry and a group of Marine Vice Admirals, Rear Admirals, officers, and hundreds of soldiers, heading straight for the headquarters building.
"Orion, you Marine scum!" Just as Orion stepped through the entrance into the hall, a furious roar suddenly erupted. While feeling tense, a sense of unprecedented pride ignited in their hearts.
"Bang—"
At that moment, the tightly shut doors of the conference hall were violently flung open. Immediately after, Vice Admiral Maynard stormed into the hall in a rage, followed closely by Vice Admiral Yamakaji, another high-ranking officer from headquarters.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku?" As soon as he entered the hall, Maynard widened his eyes in disbelief, staring at Sengoku, who was seated calmly in the chair of the fleet admiral.
He stood frozen for several seconds before suddenly snapping out of it. Turning his gaze sharply toward Hound, he shouted angrily.
"Hound, what the hell is going on? Have you joined the rebellion too?"
Hound shrugged slightly and replied indifferently.
"Maynard, please calm down. If you continue to make a scene, I won't go easy on you just because we're colleagues. Enough people have died tonight. If you want to be one of them, I can arrange that!"
Hearing this, Maynard took a swift step forward.
"Maynard!" Before Maynard could reach Hound, Sengoku suddenly spoke up, his voice deep and commanding.
"Sit down!"
At that moment, Yamakaji walked over. He placed a hand on Maynard shoulder and then took a seat in the empty spot to Sengoku right.
Maynard didn't sit down immediately, his eyes glaring furiously at Hound. As if he knew exactly what Maynard was thinking, Hound took a step forward, meeting his gaze head-on, and said sternly.
"Maynard, I'm ordering you to sit down now. Otherwise, this will be your grave!"
As Hound words fell, the soldiers standing on either side of the conference hall raised their guns, their cold barrels pointed directly at Maynard.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"
"This is treason! Orion has rebelled!"
Suddenly, an urgent voice rang out from outside the conference hall. Before anyone in the room could react, a group of figures rushed into the hall.
Leading them was Vice Admiral Stainless of the Navy Headquarters, followed closely by Vice Admiral Urban, who had long flowing hair and a pair of fangs, and Vice Admiral Red King, who had six chins. As soon as they entered the hall, the three of them froze in place, their urgency vanishing in an instant.
Sensing the tense atmosphere in the room, the three of them swallowed nervously in unison and then silently walked over to sit down on Sengoku left side.
Seeing this, Maynard stopped confronting Hound and decisively took a seat next to Yamakaji.
It wasn't that he had backed down, but with more and more colleagues who shared his stance entering the room and Fleet Admiral Sengoku, known as the "Resourceful General," remaining silent, he naturally chose to bide his time and wait for the right moment.
As soon as Stainless and the others sat down, the sound of clear footsteps echoed from outside the door.
Moments later, Vice Admiral Gion strode into the conference hall with an air of confidence, her cape billowing behind her. Under the surprised gazes of everyone present, she took a seat directly across from Sengoku. As soon as Gion sat down, two rear admirals and a dozen soldiers quickly lined up behind her in perfect formation.
"Gion, what's the meaning of this?" Seeing Gion take a seat that wasn't hers, Maynard expression darkened as he asked in a low voice.
"Have you joined the rebellion too?"
Gion did not respond to Maynard. Instead, she turned to Sengoku with a hint of apology, nodding slightly and saying.
"Marshall Sengoku, I am truly sorry for what happened tonight. For the sake of true justice, I had no choice but to follow Lord Orion!"
Upon hearing this, Maynard, Yamakaji, and Stainless all widened their eyes in shock. When they first saw Gion enter the conference hall, they had assumed she had been "invited" by the rebels.
They never expected that Gion had already defected to Orion side, even addressing him as "Lord." This meant that Gion had not merely chosen to stand alongside Orion but had pledged her loyalty to him.
Of course, none of that was the most important point. What truly mattered was that Gion was a candidate for admiral, a master swordsman with the highest potential to become one of the next three admirals.
Someone with such a bright future had chosen to pledge her loyalty to a young vice admiral, a rising star.
"True justice?" A flicker of confusion passed through Sengoku eyes. He was even more curious about Gion choice than Maynard and the others.
"Yes, true justice!" Gion nodded calmly and continued.
"Lord Orion told me some things about the World Government. At first, I didn't believe him. I even thought he was exaggerating. Even when I followed his lead and sought confirmation from Dr. Vegapunk of the Science Division, I remained skeptical."
"It wasn't until I went on duty at Mari Geoise that I finally believed everything Lord Orion had told me was not an exaggeration."
Sengoku expression changed slightly.
"Vegapunk? Mari Geoise? What exactly did he tell you?"
Instead of answering directly, Gion countered with a question.
"Marshall Sengoku, have you ever been to the palace of Mari Geoise? The one built by the twenty kings who founded the World Government eight hundred years ago! In the grand hall of that palace stands the Empty Throne!"
"We all know that no one is allowed to sit on the Empty Throne because it symbolizes the equality among the twenty founding nations of the World Government. It represents that no one can ascend to become a dictator."
"However, based on what I've uncovered, someone has been sitting on the Empty Throne for years now!"
"That's impossible!" Sengoku abruptly stood up, his eyes fixed on Gion, who remained composed. He was so agitated that he even addressed her by her codename.
"Momousagi, this is a lie fabricated by Orion to convince you to assist him in this rebellion! You should know very well that the reason Orion was able to take control of the situation so quickly tonight is not because he was desperate being transferred to Enies Lobby, but because he had been planning all of this in secret!"
"Marshall Sengoku, I am not a child!" Gion expression remained calm.
"Lord Orion told me these things three years ago. At the time, he advised me not to rush to verify it, as it could put my life in danger. But over these three years, I've been quietly investigating. Four months ago, I finally found a trace of evidence, and I can confirm that the so-called highest authority of the World Government, the Five Elders, are nothing more than puppets controlled by someone else."
"Because behind them lies a mastermind!" At this point, Gion emotions finally showed a ripple of fluctuation. She slowly stood up and spoke with words that would shock anyone.
"The mastermind behind all this currently resides in a place within Mari Geoise called the Flower Room. The Five Elders refer to him as—Lord Imu."