Topman Warcury, holding a cup of hot tea, suddenly lifted his head. His gloomy gaze fell coldly on the Fleet Admiral before him.

Steam curled from the tea in his hand, drifting past his shadowed eyes, adding an eerie, unfathomable air to the room.

A quiet anger began to spread through the chamber.

Faced with the stare of Topman Warcury—the Five Elders' enforcer, the Warrior God of Justice—Kong fell silent.

He had always known the Five Elders were arrogant. But he hadn't expected them to be this arrogant.

This wasn't just personal bias anymore.

It was a cold, brutal reality.

Yes, my lords... you lost.

All five of you descended upon the North Blue and attacked together, yet not only did you fail to take that boy Daren down, you let him slaughter hundreds of elite Celestial Dragons and even steal the prize of the World Noble Hunting Tournament—the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi.

Your sacred Mary Geoise was blown to pieces by the North Blue fleet Daren had built. Countless so-called "gods" were buried beneath a rain of cannon fire.

And I warned you this might happen.

Rogers Daren is not the Zephyr of old.

Defiance is etched into his very bones. The more you try to crush him, the more violently he will strike back.

But your judgment—your reason—was blinded by your godlike arrogance.

And so, you made a catastrophically poor choice.

This was a complete... and undeniable defeat.

Kong looked at their proud, emotionless faces, and for a moment, he wanted to unload everything—his frustration, his fury, all of it.

But he didn't.

He couldn't.

After decades of service, after handling countless thorny crises for both the Navy and the World Government, Kong understood better than anyone just how the Five Elders operated.

So instead, he took a steadying breath and said in a calm, firm voice:

"My lords, that's not what I meant."

"But if this war continues, it will fracture the Navy itself. And once the world loses the Navy's support, we will descend into chaos."

"Kaidou of the Beasts, Whitebeard Edward Newgate, Big Mom Charlotte Linlin—these Yonkō are already circling the New World like wolves. And Gol D. Roger has now assembled every piece of the puzzle... he could reach the Final Island at any moment."

"Continuing to fight Rogers Daren will only lead to pointless bloodshed."

Kong believed every word he said. He was certain his reasoning was solid enough to sway them.

Their reckless attack on Daren's wife and child had already driven Zephyr to "defect," taking with him a formidable force.

If the World Government refused to back down and this conflict continued, the ones who'd suffer the most wouldn't be the bureaucracies under their command, nor even Mary Geoise with the Five Elders now guarding it...

It would be the Navy.

As Fleet Admiral, Kong could not stand by and watch his forces splinter and collapse, or be slaughtered in a meaningless war.

"Pointless bloodshed..."

Saint Saturn let out a cold laugh.

"Kong, are you saying the hundreds of elite Celestial Dragons slaughtered by Rogers Daren—and the nobles turned to ash in the bombardment of the Holy Land—died for nothing?"

The veins on his hands bulged as he gripped his ancient cane. A terrifying red glow flickered in his eyes.

In that moment—

Kong felt the air around him freeze, solidify.

His brain throbbed with a rush of blood. His skull swelled as if on the verge of rupture.

Explosive Gaze!

"I'm just saying, if this keeps up, the Marines' combat strength is going to suffer a massive collapse!"

Kong gritted his teeth, his bloodshot eyes bulging slightly from their sockets as he took a step forward.

"I already warned you about this, but you insisted on going your own way!"

At those words, the Five Elders' expressions darkened instantly.

A chilling killing intent spread through the room, suffocating the entire council hall in seconds.

"Watch your tone, Kong! Have you forgotten where you are?"

"And besides… why should we explain ourselves to you?"

"The Marines you speak of are nothing more than the public face of the World Government!"

"So what if there's a gap in combat power? Humans are like vermin—no matter how many die, they'll keep reproducing. The same goes for the Marines!"

"Perhaps what we're facing now is a bump in the road, but in the grand flow of the World Government's eight-hundred-year history, it doesn't even amount to a ripple."

Their voices struck one after another, cold and dismissive, each line steeped in disdain.

With every word, Kong's face grew darker.

His broad, muscular chest heaved uncontrollably like a volcano on the brink of eruption, and his coarse hands clenched into tight fists.

Though the Five Elders sat still, their haughty expressions made it feel as if they were looking down from above on the Fleet Admiral before them.

They calmly sipped their fragrant tea, smiling as one of them added,

"Even someone like you could never truly comprehend the World Government's eight hundred years of legacy—"

"What the hell kind of legacy is that?!"

Kong's roar exploded without warning, cutting them off mid-sentence.

The Five Elders froze, their hands stopping mid-sip, staring in shock at the normally composed Fleet Admiral now consumed with fury. For a moment, none of them could react.

Did he just… insult us?

Before they could respond, Kong's voice thundered through the hall again.

He had reached his limit.

"The Holy Land of the Celestial Dragons was almost leveled! If I hadn't been holding the line at Pangaea Castle, this whole damn council hall would already be a pile of rubble!"

"It's still chaos outside! Your 'godly' kin are out there screaming and crying like frightened animals!"

"Over seventy percent of the armories inside the Holy Land have been blown to bits! More than half the granaries were incinerated in the fires! Hospitals are packed beyond capacity! And riots have already broken out in several districts!"

"Five minutes ago, I was still frantically coordinating with government-designated merchant fleets across various nations to rush food and medical supplies here!"

"And on top of that, Morgans from the World Economic News Agency… looks like he's already begun mass-printing the next issue. All the truths you tried to bury are about to be made public!"

"If you still have any so-called trump cards left, then show them! Stop sitting here sipping tea and talking nonsense!"

He let it all out in one breath, not stopping for even a second.

And when he was done, Kong felt his whole body tremble with relief.

His pores opened, his muscles relaxed—as if he'd just downed a cold beer under the blazing summer sun.

Refreshing didn't even begin to describe it.

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