Chapter 100: The Winning of the World Government
In the office, Chiba looked at Aokiji with a smile, despite the serious topic at hand. "How is it possible? Who's spreading such nonsense? Just because you're my grandfather's disciple doesn't mean you can slander me without consequences. I'll sue for defamation."
Chiba laughed off the accusation, knowing that killing a Marine Admiral like Sakazuki would make it impossible for him to remain in the Marines or utilize their resources in the future.
"I'm not joking, Chiba. You've been back for ten days, and Sakazuki hasn't reported back. There are rumors in the ranks that you killed him," Aokiji said seriously.
Chiba feigned anger, "Which idiot is spreading these rumors? I want to sue them for slander. Aokiji, as a Marine Admiral, it's your duty to arrest those spreading lies about the future Marine Marshal. Investigate their motives. Do they want to remove me to claim the position themselves?"
Chiba's eyes turned cold as he stared at Aokiji. "If someone thinks they can remove me with such tactics, they're sorely mistaken."
Aokiji, sensing Chiba's intensity, replied, "What kind of look is that? Are you suggesting I spread the rumors?"
"Who knows?" Chiba's gaze remained sharp.
Aokiji, frustrated, said, "If I wanted to be Marine Marshal, I wouldn't have recommended you or signed your recommendation letter. And now you doubt me?"
Chiba's demeanor softened, and he laughed, "I'm sorry, I was just upset. Don't take it personally, Uncle Aokiji."
"Hmph, of course, it wasn't me," Aokiji grumbled. "I'm staying out of your affairs. Handle it yourself."
With that, Aokiji left, but on his way out, he stopped and pondered, "Wait, wasn't I supposed to ask him about the rumors? How did I end up defending myself instead? Was I tricked, or does he really suspect me?"
"Whatever, I won't get involved," Aokiji decided as he walked away, leaving Chiba relieved that he had managed to deflect suspicion for now.
Back in the marshal's office, Aokiji sat down, and Sengoku asked, "Did you find out anything?"
"No, as soon as I mentioned the rumors about him killing Sakazuki, he turned it around on me, suggesting I was trying to usurp him," Aokiji replied, sighing. "I recommended him for the marshal position. Why would I want to fight him for it now?"
Sengoku stroked his beard thoughtfully, "Aokiji, I think Chiba's reaction was a ploy to keep you from probing further. He never truly wanted to be Marine Marshal; he only pursued it because we pressured him to."
"If Chiba hadn't killed Sakazuki, he would have dismissed the rumor or joked about relinquishing his claim to the marshal position. His defensive reaction suggests Sakazuki died by his hand."
Aokiji was taken aback, "So, Sakazuki really died at Chiba's hands?"
The revelation was shocking. Aokiji couldn't fathom how Chiba had grown powerful enough to kill an Admiral like Sakazuki, especially after his Lava-Lava Fruit awakening.
"I didn't expect his strength to reach such heights," Aokiji admitted, sinking back into his seat.
"Yes, I didn't anticipate it either," Sengoku replied. "But since Akainu was a Marine Admiral, Chiba's actions mean he can't assume the marshal position."
Sengoku sighed deeply, lamenting not only for Akainu but also for Chiba, whose potential as a leader was now in jeopardy.
Aokiji, however, still held some hope. "Sengoku, we know Chiba, but the World Government and the Five Elders may not. Without evidence, they can't prove Chiba killed Sakazuki. These are just our suspicions."
Sengoku shook his head, "The Five Elders and the Celestial Dragons don't need evidence. They act on suspicion and make decisions accordingly. They're the rule-makers."
"If they believe Chiba is uncontrollable, they'll use him until his value is exhausted, then eliminate him."
Aokiji's face darkened, "Isn't that a bit extreme?"
"We'll see soon enough," Sengoku warned. "If you're questioned about Chiba, don't show strong support. Say you recommended him because Garp pressured you."
Aokiji asked, "Is it necessary?"
"Trust me, it's for your own good. Keep today's conversation to yourself," Sengoku advised, worried about Chiba's recklessness in killing Sakazuki.
"Understood," Aokiji nodded, troubled by the day's revelations and still unsure if Chiba had truly killed Sakazuki.
Another half month passed, and during this time, Chiba focused on gathering resources, refining precious herbs into potent elixirs. He even turned some elixirs into liquid form for Sengoku to sell, acquiring even rarer materials.
Sengoku, despite his concerns, assisted Chiba due to their past friendship and his understanding that Chiba's time in the Marines might be limited.
Meanwhile, the World Government ordered another massive search for Devil Fruits, likely suspecting Sakazuki's death and seeking his Lava-Lava Fruit.
Aokiji joined the search, embarking on a mission to find Devil Fruits. While lounging on a deck chair, he was interrupted by Kong, who criticized his laziness.
"Aokiji, you should lead by example," Kong reprimanded, instructing Aokiji to follow him to meet someone.
Aokiji, puzzled by the presence of four warships surrounding his own, had a bad feeling as he followed Kong to another ship.
Inside the ship's cabin, Aokiji was met by powerful figures, including Lucci and one of the Five Elders, Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro.
"Ethanbaron," Kong introduced, and Ethanbaron invited Aokiji to sit.
Ethanbaron questioned Aokiji about Sakazuki's disappearance, suggesting Chiba might have killed him.
Aokiji deflected, citing the need for evidence before making accusations. Ethanbaron pressed further, but Aokiji maintained his stance, refusing to speculate without proof.
Kong tried to ease the tension, suggesting a casual discussion, but Aokiji remained cautious, unwilling to implicate himself or Chiba.
Ethanbaron hinted at Aokiji's ties to Garp and Chiba, suggesting they didn't intend to harm Chiba but wanted to know the truth.
He proposed that if Chiba killed Sakazuki, they would choose a new marshal, possibly Aokiji, given Kizaru's lack of ambition.
Aokiji laughed off the suggestion, asserting he was no better than Kizaru and praising Sengoku as the rightful marshal.
"In the entire Marine, the most suitable person to be a marshal is old Sengoku. It was a wrong decision to remove him," Aokiji declared, standing by his belief.
[•———•——•———•]
𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙟𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙮. 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚!
𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗼:
⭐ • 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗺 𝗡𝗴𝗼 [𝗦𝘂𝗯𝘀 𝗼𝗻 $𝟭𝟬 𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗿]
⭐ • 𝙅𝙘𝟭𝟮𝟬𝟮 [𝗦𝘂𝗯𝘀 𝗼𝗻 $𝟱 𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗿]
⭐ • 𝘼𝙝𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙟𝙖𝙝 [𝗦𝘂𝗯𝘀 𝗼𝗻 $𝟱 𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗿]
⭐ • 𝗝𝗮𝗰𝗼𝗯 𝗠𝗼𝗲𝗲 [𝗦𝘂𝗯𝘀 𝗼𝗻 $𝟱 𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗿]
𝗔𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸:
✨ • 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝙂𝙚𝙩 𝟭𝟴𝟱+ 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.
✨ • 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁-𝗢𝘂𝘁: 𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩!
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝘂𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝘀 𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗲𝘁, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝘀!
👉 𝙅𝙤𝙞𝙣 𝙣𝙤𝙬: 𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙤𝙣.𝙘𝙤𝙢/𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙊𝙛𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧
💬 𝘼𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝘼𝙫𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚: 𝙈𝙮 𝘼𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙩! 𝙐𝙣𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧 $30—𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 10% 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩! 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙙𝙚: 𝗚𝗢𝗗𝗢𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗥.
𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙂𝙋𝙏 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙗𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙮 𝘼𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙩, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙀𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣-𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙮, 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙣𝙪𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙡. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙦𝙪𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙨, 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙣𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚!
👉 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗽: 𝙋𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙤𝙣.𝙘𝙤𝙢/𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙊𝙛𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧/𝙎𝙝𝙤𝙥