Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
Inside the high-level conference room of the Fortress of Justice, every officer at headquarters with the rank of Vice Admiral or above had gathered.
Admiral Sengoku sat at the head of the table. To his left and right were the seats designated for Sakazuki and Ortoren.
Below them, the next seats in order were Kuzan beneath Ortoren's side, and Borsalino beneath Sakazuki's.
Only after them came Garp, Chief of Staff Tsuru, Gion, and others.
And at the bottom were the many Vice Admirals of Marine Headquarters.
Today's seating arrangement alone was enough to make several Vice Admirals sense that something out of the ordinary was happening.
"If everyone is here, then let's begin." Sengoku tapped the table lightly, drawing all eyes toward him.
He swept his gaze across the room and began, "The incident at the Holy Land, Mary Geoise, should be known to all of you by now. Yesterday, the memorial for Commander-in-Chief Kessler-sama concluded. According to the Five Elders' directive, Fleet Admiral Kong is temporarily acting as Commander-in-Chief and stationed at Mary Geoise, so he cannot participate in this meeting."
The room was silent—utterly silent.
Sengoku paused briefly before continuing, "Though it is temporary, the higher-ups have already reached a decision. Three days from now, Fleet Admiral Kong will officially swear in as Commander-in-Chief in Mary Geoise. At the same time, he will step down as Fleet Admiral. This shift is something our Marines have not experienced in many years. The long-standing vacancy among the Admirals means that this transition will greatly impact those positions…"
He spoke steadily, neither rushed nor drawn out.
The meaning, however, was clear: the Fleet Admiral position was moving up, and as the only remaining active Admiral, he would naturally take over as the next Fleet Admiral.
There was nothing to debate, no voting required—it was decided. And no one present was competing for the role.
The real matter was this: once he became Fleet Admiral, all three Admiral seats would be empty. That was why the core pillars of Marine Headquarters had been summoned—to discuss which three would step up and fill those roles.
"Regarding the selection of the three new Admirals, if anyone has suggestions, feel free to speak," Sengoku said, once again scanning the room.
The atmosphere loosened slightly. Vice Admirals began to whisper among themselves.
Truth be told, the day the news of the Commander-in-Chief's death broke, all of them had already sensed the coming upheaval. No one reached the rank of Vice Admiral by being clueless. They all knew change was coming.
This discussion was simply the final round of confirmation.
After a brief murmur, veteran Vice Admiral Comil raised his hand. "Garp-san—"
Though everyone knew full well that Garp would never accept the position of Admiral, since he was here, formalities demanded his name be brought up. As expected, he was the first to be nominated.
But before Comil even finished speaking, Garp waved his hand. "Don't bother with me. I'm not taking the Admiral post."
"Well, that's truly a shame…"
Several Vice Admirals voiced their "regret," as if they still held onto a sliver of hope that Garp might change his mind.
With Garp out of the way, the atmosphere warmed considerably. Gion looked around, noticed no one was stepping up as the first to propose a candidate, and decided there was no need to hold back.
Raising her hand, she said, "I nominate the current G-5 Base Commander, Vice Admiral Benn Ortoren, to take on the responsibilities of an Admiral."
The moment she finished, Chief of Staff Tsuru raised her hand as well. "I agree. Vice Admiral Benn has exceptional strength and remarkable achievements, and he has overseen the G-5 base for years without a single major incident. In ability, power, and experience, he meets every requirement for promotion to Admiral."
After Tsuru spoke, several other Vice Admirals also raised their hands in support of promoting Vice Admiral Benn Ortoren.
Only then did Sengoku speak. "Are there any objections?"
At that, Ortoren glanced around the room with a pleasant smile, wanting to see just how well-liked he truly was. Would anyone raise a hand against him?
If someone did, he'd need to reflect carefully on how he'd offended that colleague.
And if the chance arose, he would be sure to repair that relationship.
"If there's anything about me that any of you find unsatisfactory, please speak up. I'd rather correct myself and improve than have anyone hold back out of politeness," Ortoren said with a bright, easygoing smile.
It was obvious, however, that Ortoren's interpersonal game was strong; not a single hotheaded Vice Admiral dared to stand up and object.
Seeing no opposition, Sengoku continued, "Vice Admiral Benn Ortoren—your nomination for Admiral is hereby approved. You are now officially one of the candidates for the new Admiral positions."
With that settled, Vice Admiral Jonathan, current commander of the G-8 base and also present in the room, immediately raised his hand. "I nominate the current G-1 Base Commander, Vice Admiral Sakazuki, to serve as one of the new Admirals!"
At Jonathan's words, even Sakazuki—who had been sitting stiff-faced and silent—allowed the faintest smile to slip through.
Then Ortoren raised his hand. "I second the nomination. Vice Admiral Sakazuki has overwhelming strength, exceptional ability, and a brilliant service record. His results at G-1 speak for themselves. To me, he's the perfect choice for the Admiral position."
Sakazuki actually looked stunned, clearly not expecting Ortoren to back him at such a moment. For a split second he even regretted keeping up that cold, aloof act earlier—he should've stood and supported Ortoren when he had the chance!
After that, a string of hawkish Marines all raised their hands in agreement.
Sengoku, following procedure, asked whether anyone opposed Sakazuki's nomination.
Ortoren turned his head toward Kuzan. Kuzan blinked, then muttered under his breath, "Why are you looking at me? You don't actually think I'd oppose it, right?"
"Aren't you two supposed to not get along?" Ortoren whispered back with a grin.
"That's just ideological conflict. In every other way, I fully agree he qualifies," Kuzan shot back, rolling his eyes at him.
Most of Sakazuki and Kuzan's clashes were philosophical—nothing personal. Sengoku knew this well and often avoided placing the two together at headquarters just to prevent sparks. Besides, because Ortoren had indirectly prevented the Ohara incident from ever happening, the two never had that potential powder keg—the refugee ship—to escalate their rivalry further.
With no objections raised, Sengoku passed Sakazuki's nomination as smoothly as the first.
Immediately after, Garp raised his hand. "I nominate Kuzan for one of the Admiral positions."
Before his words even faded, Borsalino—sitting beside Sakazuki—lifted his hand as well. "I also support Vice Admiral Kuzan for the new Admiral position. Vice Admiral Kuzan is exceptionally strong, highly capable, distinguished, experienced—"
Borsalino rattled off his statement in one breath, not even bothering to change vocabulary. Kuzan stared at him, then elbowed Ortoren. "You definitely planned this with him, didn't you?"
"We just exchanged a few thoughts before the meeting," Ortoren chuckled.
Unexpectedly, Sakazuki—perhaps moved by Ortoren's earlier support—seemed to undergo some sudden internal shift. After Borsalino finished speaking, he raised his hand too. "I also support Vice Admiral Kuzan for the Admiral position."
Kuzan was speechless. He looked at Ortoren, then at Borsalino and Sakazuki.
Unbelievable. You three really coordinated behind my back, huh!?
So I'm the only one not doing favors for anyone? Is that it!?
I didn't support Ortoren, didn't back Sakazuki, and now I look like the one who can't read the room!
You guys… you're all devils!
So when Sengoku went through the nomination procedure again, Kuzan instantly threw his hand up. "I nominate Vice Admiral Borsalino for the position of Admiral!"
Silence.
Not a single person followed.
Kuzan: ???
Ortoren nearly burst into laughter. He nudged Kuzan in the ribs. "Didn't Borsalino tell you before the meeting? He said he absolutely won't take the Admiral job. He wants to be the next Garp-san…"
Kuzan froze, glanced at the neutral officers around the room—most staring at him with stunned expressions—and felt his face twitch. He lowered his voice. "I came straight from Impel Down before this meeting… so I'm the only one out of the loop? And you people are playing this game now!?"
Still, since Kuzan had already nominated him, Sengoku had no choice but to carry out the procedure. As expected, no one voiced support…but no one dared oppose either.
After all, not supporting wasn't disrespectful—everyone knew Borsalino had already announced he wouldn't accept the role. But openly objecting would be another matter entirely. That would be slamming Borsalino's face into the floor.
That was a whole different level of offense.
Thus, Borsalino was also included in the list of Admiral nominees. And afterward, no one else suggested further candidates. With these four already on the table, any subsequent nominee would look like a complete clown in comparison.
"Very well. In that case, I will submit these four names to Fleet Admiral Kong," Sengoku said, tapping the table to conclude the topic.
As for why they were submitted to Fleet Admiral Kong—it was because he still officially held the position. According to regulations, the final decision on new Admirals rested with him.
But everyone here knew the truth. This was purely procedural. Kong would simply stall until his promotion to Commander-in-Chief three days later, and then hand the authority to Sengoku.
In other words, the final appointments for the Admirals would only be settled once Sengoku officially became Fleet Admiral.