Chapter 43: The Five Elders
Mariejois, the Holy Land, the Hall of Power, and the Five Elders Roundtable Meeting Room
The white-walled and golden Hashirama tower on the cloud top is filled with a deep cold pressure.
The CP0 white-faced envoy knelt on one knee and bowed his head to present a sealed urgent telegram.
Five elders sat quietly beside the round table, the lights casting an uncertain shadow on their stone-like faces.
Rogge's men killed the World Government's allied king, "Wapol," on Drum Island. The entire Tontata tribe joined the G-5 branch and is currently assisting them in restoring order in the area...
There was a moment of silence.
Topman Vochuli Sheng snorted lightly, put down the newspaper, and glared at him, "This kid... is really brave."
Saint Satan closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, whispering:
"The King of the Alliance was executed privately. According to the old law, the entire fleet should have been wiped out long ago."
"But..." He slowly opened his eyes, his tone solemn:
"Lord Yim has already decreed that 'Xuanlin Rogge' will be the destined enemy of the so-called 'Guiding Light'."
"We don't have to stop him."
On the other side, Saint Ten Peter twisted the Buddhist beads in his hand and asked in a low voice:
"Even the Tontata tribe sided with him... That tribe that believes in the Field of Light always follows only the one chosen by fate."
"Their movements are more revealing than intelligence."
Macas Mazsheng nodded in response:
"Rogge's hands are stained with the blood of Red Hair, and now he has killed Wapol. He is no ordinary man."
Izambaron V. Nasujuro Saint spoke slowly:
"Let him continue."
"Have him help us...clean up those restless 'guide lights'."
"Whether it's a lamp or a fire—it should be extinguished."
Everyone looked around, was silent for a moment, and finally nodded in unison.
Seconding
Seconding
Seconding
Seconding
The candlelight flickered silently, and the shadows of the five rulers were reflected on the wall, like five huge mouths of the abyss, quietly swallowing up the future of the entire world.
————
Half a year after returning to the G5 base...
The golden light of the setting sun shines down, reflecting the sea surface rolling like lava, and the harbor lined with warships is bathed in the evening light of red gold and dark blue.
Rogge sat at the top of the central tower, turning to the last page of the account book in his hand, after the last item "Total amount of financial recovery after the liquidation of East Blue".
He closed the account book in silence and tapped the corner of the table with his fingertips.
"...Man, how many thieves did Rhett raid in those years at East Blue?" He smiled wryly and shook his head. "Okay, this money is clean."
He raised his hand and looked at the obsidian ring placed beside the desk. Along the silver lines, the fruit mark slowly flowed with a strange glow.
[Secret Fruit·Space Ring].
This was one of the compensations he "forced" from the Five Elders half a year ago in exchange for "letting Red Hair go" at that time.
The "Space-Type Mobile Treasure" ability has no combat bonus but extremely high strategic value, allowing Vegapunk to help integrate it into the ring.
Create an independent space, the capacity of which increases with ability development, and the items stored in it are permanently preserved.
The ring contains an independent space of approximately 1,000 cubic meters and has a temporary shelter function that can accommodate living targets for a short period of time.
In short, this thing is not only a battlefield emergency warehouse, but also a strategic material transfer warehouse. When necessary, it can also temporarily hide a small team "harmlessly to people and animals".
Rogge leaned back in his chair and glanced out the window.
"Vegapunk's brain... is sometimes too powerful." He whispered.
Outside the window, the training ground was extremely lively.
Enel's body was covered in lightning. Without activating the Thunder God form, he forced the opponent Rhett to dodge repeatedly with just the alternating physical skills and electric discharges of thunder.
"You just rely on lightning to get people struck!"
Rhett roared, and flipped the Seastone knuckles in his hand violently, and the armament color exploded like ink, covering his fists.
"Shut up!" Enel put his hands together and pointed, and with a "boom", a thunder struck out. The two men fought in close combat again, and a white-hot arc of lightning exploded in the air!
——Bang, bang, bang!!
The floor tiles cracked again, arcs of electricity and Haki tore at each other, and gravel flew everywhere.
The G-5 soldiers next to them had already become numb and sat in a circle, eating French fries and placing bets.
"Come on, come on, can you dodge Rhett's next attack?"
"I'm betting on Enel to use his ultimate to shock myself."
"Didn't he get hurt by lightning last time?"
In the corner, Trafalgar Law squatted with his arms folded, quietly opened the room, and with a serious face, took the golden rod from Enel's hand and handed it to Rhett.
"This is scientific research sampling," he said.
"You thief!!" Enel was so angry that he was about to explode. "You only use that room for your own private matters!!"
Luo Danding Kaidō: "Scientific observation. You can't shock me."
Upstairs, Rogge leaned against the window, flipping through the account book in his hand while watching the group of "problem children" below making trouble again.
He sighed slightly, but couldn't help laughing.
"These little bastards..."
Putting on his cloak, he walked to the balcony, the corners of his clothes fluttering in the wind.
"Enel!! Rhett!! Who's going to fix the training ground tiles after you blew them up like that?!"
"Xiu? Didn't you find the Dontata tribe?" Rhett retorted while jumping to avoid the lightning.
"Yes, Leo and the others work very fast, and they can even sing while sewing." Enel looked righteous, with thunder balls shaking above his head.
Rogge rubbed his forehead and took a deep breath. "If you keep making such a fuss, you'll all be on night duty tomorrow—patrol three times and copy the tactical regulations ten times!"
"Ten times?!" Rhett screamed, "Why don't you just let me surrender!"
"I can copy it five times, so will the remaining five times of Thunderbolt count?" Enel was eager to try.
"Electric your sister——"
"What did you say?!"
"Stop fighting!!!"
There was chaos down there, so much noise that even the wind was blowing around Luffy.
Rogge leaned against the balcony, looked up at the sunset in the sky, squinted his eyes and said to himself:
"But... that's fine."
"With them, the G-5 feels like a 'living force'."
Just as he was about to turn around and leave, Rogge suddenly raised his brows and stopped.
"…Right."
He paused slightly, his eyes looking towards the far north, past the base tower and the ice sea line, his sight seemed to penetrate hundreds of kilometers of frost border, and fell on the white desolate land that was frozen all year round and shrouded in clouds and mist - the [Great Glacier].
"That place..." His eyes were dim and the corners of his mouth slowly curled up.
"Under the great glacier, there seems to be a gold cave left by someone."
"It is said that even a top-level Armament Haki would need three shocks to break through that extremely cold ice layer."
He changed the subject, glancing down at Rhett and Enel, who were still fighting and lashing out at each other. His expression changed from cold to lazy, with a hint of malicious ridicule.
"…Just right."
"Let these guys go down and stretch their muscles. Stop sitting around the base like they're playing drums."
But halfway through his words, Rogge fell into a brief contemplation.
[Red Hair Pirates].
The battlefield survey map when Binz was injured half a year ago emerged in his mind.
"Binz was seriously injured around that glacier." His eyes darkened slightly.
He snorted coldly, turned and walked into the office, his windbreaker creating a series of neat ripples.
He murmured as he walked, "It's time to lift up that layer of ice and take a look."
He casually picked up the spare Den Den Mushi on the corner of the table and tapped the shell with his knuckles. His tone was relaxed but with a sense of pressure:
"Ain, notify the training team."
[Ding——] Den Den Mushi connected.
"Yes, Rogge Vice Admiral." Ian responded quickly.
"Leave tomorrow."
"Target—the Great Glacier."
"Just call it 'intensive training'."
"By the way, let's take stock of the 'assets' that were omitted from the old account books."
The wind outside the window was getting stronger, the snow in the sky was rolling, and the clouds seemed to be torn apart by a sharp blade.
In that distant, icy land, buried deep are not only treasures, but also unsolved mysteries and the scent of old enemies.