Marineford.
Marine Headquarters.
A tidal wave of stars crashed into the grand conference hall that doubled as Marine Headquarters' briefing room.
Led by Admiral Akainu, sixteen vice admirals and several summoned New World branch commanders had gathered there.
At last, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, the man who had called this emergency meeting, entered the room. Beside him was the officer in charge of the briefing, Major Brannew, who would also be conducting the meeting. The two stepped up onto the platform.
"Where's Kuzan?"
"Ah! Admiral Aokiji understood how serious this matter is and even voluntarily gave up his leave. He's currently returning to headquarters with Vice Admiral Garp."
Sengoku let out a quiet breath of relief at Brannew's answer.
Of course.
A supreme-ranking Celestial Dragon was about to visit Marine Headquarters in person. In the face of such an unprecedented crisis, even those two free spirits knew when to take things seriously.
Sengoku decided he would reward Kuzan and Garp later with special leave of their own in return for their sincere cooperation.
Rustle.
As soon as Sengoku took his seat at the foremost chair, Brannew picked up the first page from the materials he had prepared in advance.
"First. This matter does not concern pirates, but a Celestial Dragon who is practically one of our allies. Because of that, treating this like a criminal briefing could create problems later, so I ask for your understanding that I cannot display that person's photograph."
Sengoku was especially fond of Major Brannew. Among a crowd made up almost entirely of fighters, men with administrative sense like him were rare. Yes, exactly right. This wasn't one of their usual meetings about pirates.
And this wasn't just any Celestial Dragon. This was one of the highest-ranking Celestial Dragons, someone treated as exalted even among their own kind. They had to show courtesy on par with what was afforded to the Five Elders, who governed the upper echelons of the World Government.
If this ended with nothing worse than trouble over some tiny slipup, they would be lucky.
"The gods—in other words, the Celestial Dragons—usually come down below the Red Line, what they call the lower world, under the pretext of a casual outing. However, a situation like this, where one of them follows procedure and notifies us in advance before visiting Marine Headquarters, is absolutely extraordinary!"
At Brannew's opening statement, Sengoku added an explanation of his own.
"As you said... the Celestial Dragons are not people who need to follow complicated procedures just to meet lowly folk like us. They can do as they please. The fact that formal protocol was observed means this is highly likely not the whim of one individual Celestial Dragon. Rather, the person coming now may intend to speak to the Marines as a representative of the Celestial Dragons as a whole."
"Just as the Fleet Admiral said, that is our reading of the situation. That is why we declared an emergency and urgently called so many officers here. Given the gravity of the matter, I judged it best to have as many heads present as possible. In other words, it would not be an exaggeration to say this meeting may determine the future of Marine Headquarters!"
No one voiced any objection to Brannew's conviction.
The public's view of the Celestial Dragons was already bad, but among the Marines—who were often forced to attend them—it was even worse. The admirals had seen time and again how the horrifying crimes committed by the Celestial Dragons beneath the surface never became known, only buried and concealed.
Unless they were admirals obligated to respond, the senior officers naturally avoided assignments involving Celestial Dragons whenever possible. And now a Celestial Dragon was coming directly to their stronghold?
And possibly bringing a serious issue with him?
If that wasn't a bolt from the blue, what was?
Even vice admirals like Tokikake, who were not exactly known for diligence, straightened up and put on grave expressions.
Everyone at Marine Headquarters united with one heart and one purpose: to overcome the crisis of this official visit from a Celestial Dragon. In the briefing room, so silent that not even the faintest fidgeting could be heard, Brannew continued.
"Most Celestial Dragons do not possess epithets of the sort usually attached to pirates. But the man at the center of this matter is different."
With a board marker, Brannew scrawled a single title across the board: Mage King.
Mage King Solomon.
"I regret that the records are incomplete, so I could not confirm the exact date. Several decades ago, one of the Four Emperors, Big Mom, clashed twice with Elbaf, the land of giants. The first time, Elbaf launched the initial attack against Big Mom. The second was a retaliatory war, when Big Mom—after her territory, Totto Land, was attacked first—personally led her fleet to invade Elbaf in return."
"I was an admiral at the time, and I was dispatched in haste to observe the clash between an Emperor and a force comparable to one. Major Brannew, step aside for a moment."
Brannew withdrew from the podium, and Sengoku took the microphone.
"Even I, who witnessed the situation firsthand, couldn't grasp all the details. But one thing was clear. Big Mom's fleet was sunk to the last ship except for her flagship, and she lost. Can you believe it? One of the Four Emperors, still in her prime and not yet old... led her fleet there herself, and still suffered a clear-cut defeat."
At Sengoku's words, unrest spread among the officers who had been listening in silence.
"...Weren't the Celestial Dragons dependent on us Marines and other government institutions because they lacked military strength themselves?"
"That is prejudice. They simply have no reason to reveal their power personally. If the Celestial Dragons truly lacked strength, would they be reigning as the rulers of this world?"
Sengoku answered the newly promoted vice admiral's question at once.
"I was able to meet the man in question back then. I had doubts much like yours, but unless a Celestial Dragon speaks first, I could not dare commit the sacrilege of questioning him unprompted. So I had no choice but to withdraw."
Sengoku recalled the memory.
A geometric magic circle spread across the sky.
A bombardment of light shells raining down upon Big Mom's fleet.
The end.
A single golden beam that wounded the body of Big Mom, whose defense was so monstrous she was called an iron balloon.
It was a majestic sight, as though a god descended upon the earth had delivered divine punishment. Even Sengoku himself, a veteran of countless battles upon the sea, had been overwhelmed by it.
"I have a question."
"Go ahead, Gion."
"Was the clash between Big Mom and the Mage King you just described the first incident that made the title Mage King known to the world?"
"Sharp question. Yes. It wasn't only the Marines who witnessed the moment Big Mom was effectively forced to retreat in defeat. Scouts from the other Emperors saw it clearly as well. At the time, there was hardly anyone in the New World who didn't know the fame of the Mage King."
"And yet there was far too little information for someone so famous."
"That's because a long time has passed, and after that, the Mage King was never involved in any major incident. Officially, at least."
Brannew hesitated at Sengoku's meaningful remark, then drew in a breath.
Having made up his mind, he carefully asked Sengoku whether they should mention information classified as top secret.
"Fleet Admiral, what if we release some information about the God Valley incident? Everyone gathered here has more than enough clearance to know that level of secret. At this point, wouldn't the higher-ups in the government tolerate it to some extent?"
"Very well. It can't be helped. God Valley... not an incident I care to remember, but one that cannot be omitted when discussing the man known as the Mage King. Listen up, all of you."
"The incident I am about to mention concerns a certain pirate crew from the past, and the great disaster they caused—one whose records the World Government has spent decades erasing."
"If you are not prepared to hear it, you may leave the briefing room for a while."
Several of the officers rose from their seats at Sengoku's warning, the weight of which was unlike anything before. Yamakaji was among them.
Originally, the Rocks Pirates and the God Valley incident were matters that would only begin to be discussed in earnest among the upper ranks of Marine Headquarters years later, when Big Mom and Kaido formed their alliance. But the appearance of the Mage King, an irregularity absent from the original story, had dragged that moment forward.
Then came the fragments of classified truth.
"...Good heavens. Those great pirates were once on the same crew? Then why are there barely any records left now?!"
"Were you not listening earlier? The government has been covering it up for decades. Frankly, even revealing this much is worrying. But there is no future without the past. Remember this well: once, a monstrous evil of that scale set its sights on the world, and we Marines risked everything to stop its advance."
"The Rocks Pirates... judging by their members alone, they were such an absurd force that it seems impossible any individual or faction of the same era could have stopped them. Are you truly saying they were forced to halt their advance on an island called God Valley?"
"That's right. The advance of evil, which seemed impossible to stop, was halted by three men: the Pirate King Roger, my friend and the hero of the Marines, Garp... and finally, Mage King Solomon."
Impossible.
You mean the Pirate King and Vice Admiral Garp joined forces?
"Yes. The Rocks Pirates were that powerful an evil. And even then, according to the analysis of the upper ranks at the time, without the Mage King's assistance, a miracle would have been impossible."
Only then did the assembled Marine officers truly grasp the severity of the situation.
A Celestial Dragon with that level of power could not possibly be incompetent. And if such a man was coming to Marine Headquarters with a specific purpose, then there was a very real chance this single visit could decide the fate of the entire base.
"Hmph! You're all trembling over nothing!"
At that moment, the tightly shut doors of the briefing room were thrown open, and Garp—the public face of Marine Headquarters and the man hailed as its hero—strode in at last, with an obviously annoyed Aokiji following behind him.
Digging lazily at a half-dried booger and dropping himself carelessly into an empty seat, Garp casually hurled out a bombshell.
"Mage King! I still hold a grudge against that damn bastard! Let him come, Sengoku! Leave him to me! I've got a debt to collect!"
Garp was genuinely furious.
For the first time in their lives, Sengoku and the other Marine officers felt killing intent mixed into Garp's Conqueror’s Haki, and they were stunned.
"Nothing else matters. I'm handling this. Don't stop me. Anyone who tries can take off their rank insignia and fight me for it. Understood? Then let's dismiss this useless meeting right here!"
Sengoku had known only that Garp and Solomon had fought on the same side at God Valley. He had never known what had happened between them there. Garp had always refused to speak of God Valley, even in private.
With Garp's sudden outburst, the situation began to spiral in a direction no one could control.
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