Renji Kai was silent for a moment before finally speaking. "We're heading to Loguetown. I want to find someone."
"Loguetown?" Hearing that name, Douglas Bullet frowned slightly. After all, he was more familiar with Loguetown than anyone else.
There was a reason for that. Loguetown was known as the "Town of Beginnings and Endings." It was located in the East Blue, near the entrance to the Grand Line. More importantly, the former Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, was both born and executed there. So for Douglas, Loguetown held unusual significance.
"Yes. I want to find someone there. Just the two of you heading to Mary Geoise doesn't seem enough." Renji Kai glanced at the two men beside him and sneered lightly.
"You're planning to go to the Holy Land, Mary Geoise? You really are fearless. You realize your combined bounties are over two billion now, right?" Crocodile said in disbelief, shocked by Renji's boldness.
"Didn't you go there once yourself? What are you so afraid of?"
"I was invited to attend a formal appointment ceremony. And what exactly are you planning to do there?"
"How do you know I'm not going to attend a formal appointment too? Maybe they're already discussing me over there right now," Renji said as he squinted toward the direction of Mary Geoise.
And indeed, just as Renji predicted, at that very moment in Mary Geoise, the Five Elders had summoned Fleet Admiral Sengoku to an emergency meeting right after Crocodile's defeat.
"Sengoku, the world's been getting increasingly chaotic lately. Ever since that breakout, the whole world has been questioning the authority of the World Government. Now, not only have we failed to find the fugitive, but he's also started wreaking havoc all over. Even one of our Warlords of the Sea was defeated by him. Don't you think it's time someone took responsibility for this?" said one of the Five Elders, a bald elder in a deep green suit with a mustache and a birthmark on his forehead.
"Hmph. You can't pin this all on me. Impel Down doesn't fall under our Navy jurisdiction. If you want to place it under our command, then maybe we'd assign strong officers to guard it!" Sengoku replied coldly.
His words had merit. Though the Navy maintained world order, Impel Down and the Navy operated as separate, equal entities. The Navy hadn't stationed any personnel at the prison, and the two branches often only worked together under specific circumstances.
The Five Elders weren't really interested in facts. They simply wanted someone to blame, and Sengoku, a veteran, saw right through their motives.
"Fine. Maybe Impel Down isn't your responsibility, but what about Crocodile? That's your department, right?" another Elder interjected—a bald elder in white Taoist robes and glasses, the only one among them not wearing a suit but with a beard.
"Even that's not entirely on me. I didn't create the Warlord system. Besides, these so-called Warlords are still pirates at the end of the day. If they fight among themselves, doesn't that benefit us more?" Sengoku responded.
"That may be true, but according to our latest intel, Crocodile has joined Renji Kai's crew. That makes Renji even more powerful. Still think that has nothing to do with your Navy?"
"He's a pirate, so we've already issued bounties. I've even dispatched Admiral Sakazuki to the East Blue. But the guy's constantly on the move and has no fixed base. That makes him hard to locate for now," Sengoku said.
"There's no need to bother. This is the man who hijacked Shanks' pirate ship. Sending Sakazuki won't help. If he's defeated, what would that say about our World Government's credibility?"
"No need? Don't tell me you're planning to—"
Sengoku's expression darkened instantly. He had already guessed what they were thinking.
Sure enough, another of the Five Elders spoke. "We've decided to strip Crocodile of his Warlord title and give that position to Renji Kai instead. He'll become the new Warlord of the Sea. In addition, we'll issue invitations to the remaining Warlords for a meeting. At that meeting, we'll require each Warlord to protect their surrounding seas. And we'll warn them—if they're defeated easily again, they'll be permanently removed by the World Government."
"So you care about the World Government's image, but what about the Navy's? A brand-new pirate shows up, and before any of our Admirals can even face him, you're handing him a legal title. Have you even considered what that does to our reputation? How am I supposed to explain this to my subordinates?" Sengoku finally snapped.
He had always opposed the Warlord system. As the head of the Navy, he had to take responsibility whenever the system backfired. From the Navy's intel, the Warlords had not ceased their illegal activities. Instead, they exploited their government-sanctioned roles to plunder civilians in their territories.
This ran counter to true justice and only fueled the power of the pirates. So hearing that Renji Kai and his crew would now be part of the Warlords made Sengoku the first to oppose the decision.