"You did well, Kong. You truly didn't disappoint us."
After hearing Kong's report, Saint Nasujuro nodded with great satisfaction. Using nothing more than tens of thousands of member-nation soldiers and a mass of ordinary slaves selected from over a hundred thousand, they had not only held off an assault by more than a hundred thousand New World pirates, but had also inflicted tremendous casualties upon the Dark Matter Pirate Crew.
Although the price was the fall of Red Harbor and the annihilation of the defending forces, such an exchange ratio made Steelbone Kong an extraordinarily competent commander.
Under normal circumstances, even elite forces of the same number—if drawn from the member nations—would still suffer total annihilation when fighting pirates capable of surviving in the New World, and at best inflict only minor losses on them.
If not for the fortress network and multiple layers of defensive structures that Steelbone Kong had insisted on building, along with the pre-planted explosive rock traps, Red Harbor would never have held out as long as it did, nor would it have succeeded in killing so many powerful pirates in one blow.
The only flaw was that nearly two hundred thousand of the Holy Land's guardian troops and slave soldiers had been wiped out.
But to the Five Elders—who never valued human life—these lowliest commoners and slaves could die by the tens or hundreds of thousands without stirring even a ripple in their hearts.
"It's a pity we couldn't bring Sakazuki back. His combat strength would still be pivotal in the coming battles… I should have stayed behind at Red Harbor to cover his retreat…"
Steelbone Kong voiced his 'self-criticism,' knowing well that if the Five Elders wanted to find fault in the Red Harbor defense, the loss of Sakazuki was the most obvious point.
The Five Elders cared nothing for manpower or material losses—ten thousand, a hundred thousand dead soldiers or slaves meant nothing to them. But the loss of a top-tier combatant, even for the World Government, was far from insignificant.
So Kong deliberately brought up Sakazuki. He understood the Five Elders' arrogance perfectly.
If he did not mention Sakazuki, the Five Elders might very well pursue responsibility.
But now that he had voluntarily admitted fault, pushing the issue further would make it look as if they cared deeply about the life of "a mere Sakazuki."
"Hmph! Sakazuki has truly gotten worse with age—falling for the traps of a bunch of low-grade pirates! He's brought shame upon the World Government! This has nothing to do with you, Kong. As supreme commander you've already done all that you were supposed to do. Go and rest. We will still need you later."
Just as Kong expected, before he had even finished his self-criticism, Saint Saturn took the initiative to smooth over the matter, wiping away the last possible trace of blame.
"You've worked hard, Kong. The report ends here for now. Go wait at the Army Command Headquarters—the next orders will be delivered shortly."
Saint Mars also accepted Saturn's handling of the matter. After all, if anyone were truly at fault, the greatest blame should fall on Akainu himself.
Even a top-tier powerhouse falling in such a baffling and humiliating manner—if not for the Gorōsei's absolute certainty in Sakazuki's loyalty to the World Government, they might have suspected he had defected to the Dark Matter Pirates.
And even if they continued to pursue the matter, the one who would take the blame would only be the deputy commander of the Holy Land Guardian Army—the captain of Mary Geoise's guards—who was responsible for receiving Sakazuki.
"Yes. Please allow me to take my leave first."
Kong saluted as respectfully as he could, then exited the council chamber where the Gorōsei were gathered.
Outside, the two deputy commanders of the Holy Land Guardian Army waited anxiously for the Gorōsei's summons. Though they were, respectively, the king of the Cero Kingdom and the captain of the Dakvisk Kingdom's royal guard, in the eyes of the Gorōsei they were still insignificant figures.
Even though they had come together to report the situation, only Kong was summoned inside. The two deputy commanders could only wait nervously beside the great doors.
"Marshal Kong! Are the Gorōsei ready to receive us?"
Seeing Kong emerge, Spark Cero—the king of the Cero Kingdom—hurried over impatiently.
Aside from the once-every-four-years Reverie, this was his first opportunity to meet the Gorōsei in person; no wonder he was so excited.
As one of the member nations closest to Mary Geoise, the Cero Kingdom bore far heavier obligations than most. Above all, the Celestial Dragons visited their kingdom more frequently than almost anywhere else.
Every visit of a Celestial Dragon brought unbearable suffering to the people. For the sake of hosting them, Spark Cero and every king before him imposed extreme taxes, forcing countless citizens into poverty, and many even starved to death.
Yet neither Spark Cero nor any of his predecessors held the slightest hatred toward the World Government or the Celestial Dragons. On the contrary, the Cero Kingdom had always been one of the Government's most loyal supporters.
The reason was simple: the World Government was their strongest backing.
As long as the World Government existed, even if the Cero royal family were overthrown, the Gorōsei would help restore them. This was why Spark behaved like a groveling dog whenever the Gorōsei were involved.
At this moment, Visk—the captain of the Dakvisk Kingdom's guards—also looked over nervously. Unlike Spark, who came from generations of kings, Visk was a commoner soldier who had risen through the ranks; naturally, he was far more tense at the thought of facing the Gorōsei.
Still, as one of the few strong fighters among the member states, Visk was specially marked in Government intelligence reports.
To rise from common birth to become the second-in-command of Dakvisk, inheriting the name of the kingdom's first royal guard captain, Visk possessed formidable strength. If Sakazuki hadn't rushed in and gotten himself defeated, Kong had fully intended to assign Visk to cover the retreat.
"The Gorōsei have other matters to attend to. Everything that needed reporting has already been delivered. I have been ordered to proceed to the Army Headquarters and await further commands. What do you intend to do?"
Kong asked sternly.
He had completed all the tasks Kizaru assigned him, but he still wanted to perform well moving forward—to secure a favorable starting point when the World Government eventually collapsed.
It was shameful to admit, but ever since becoming the first Fleet Admiral in history to be defeated by pirates, Kong had always carried resentment—and even moments of despair—about his fall.
°°°
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