While Doflamingo was causing trouble beneath Impel Down, five old men in Mary Geoise had also made up their minds.
"Okay, okay, we understand."
Between power.
The five old men were still posing. The curly-haired old man sat there, holding a phone and listening to what the Den Den Mushi was saying. Then he hung up the phone and looked at everyone.
The curly-haired old man spoke up: "They've already made a decision over there."
The remaining people remained silent for a moment, and then the long-bearded old man spoke first: "Then let's settle it like this. Kuro has fulfilled his promise."
The old man with the knife nodded and said, "That's right. The world's greatest swordsman... although he didn't defeat Shanks, it's still a considerable achievement."
The red-skinned old man said, "According to intelligence, Shanks didn't fight Kuro. Kuro didn't find an opportunity. In addition, Mihawk is on good terms with Shanks. If they really fought, Kuro might not be a match for the two of them."
That's true.
The old man with a map on his head said in a deep voice, "Kuro is smart and knows how to conserve his strength. He is reassuring. Dealing with just one is enough. The fact that the Navy has become the world's greatest swordsman is also a great opportunity for our World Government to increase its prestige."
"I second that." The other old men nodded.
"Then..."
The old man with the map looked around and said, "It's decided then. Borsalino will step down, and Lucilfer Kuro will take his place."
...
Headquarters.
"Brother Storoberry, you're here?"
At the entrance of a large conference room in the main building, Kuro stood at the door, like a greeter, waiting for people to arrive.
"Kuro, have you come to greet me?"
Storoberry was somewhat surprised, but then he realized something and felt relieved. He stroked his long, beautiful beard and said with satisfaction, "It's about time, it should be you."
Kuro tilted his head, somewhat puzzled, but still said, "The old man asked me to greet guests at the door. You know, he's my boss, so I have no choice but to come and greet him."
It was a small internal gathering, and he didn't bring any of his own subordinates. The old man told him to greet people at the door; since his boss had given the order, he had no choice but to do so.
"I'll go in first."
Storobelli chuckled and walked into the meeting room.
Kuro watched him go in, leaned against the doorway, took out the steam cigar from his pocket, put it in his mouth, then took out a lighter, lit it, and exhaled a puff of white smoke. "What a pain in the ass, why did they make me come to greet people?"
"Lieutenant General!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a major general ran over, saluted first, and shouted loudly.
"Okay, let's go in."
Kuro nodded, but he wasn't as polite as he had been to Strawberry earlier.
Given his current status, aside from the veteran Storoberry, there's really no need to be so polite to him.
Do what you're supposed to do in your position. Don't act like you're irresponsible; that would look bad.
Oni Spider, Doberman, Storoberry, Dalmesia, Flying Squirrel, and Fire Mountain are six veteran elite lieutenant generals. The first two belong to Sakazuki's faction, the latter two are the remnants of that idiot Kuzan's faction, and Dalmesia is neutral but does not belong to the old man.
Only Stroberry was the old man's former subordinate and was also within his faction.
The others were mostly ordinary lieutenant generals and major generals who had been trained by him, while this kind of meeting was basically for major generals and above, and other people were not qualified to participate.
As time passed, one lieutenant general and major general after another entered the meeting room, which made Kuro somewhat uneasy.
The call to action had been in effect for some time, and many people had come to headquarters from other places, but the number of people was indeed quite large.
He knew that as a general, the old man's faction must have considerable power, but after a quick calculation, he realized that from the morning until now, for about three hours, one naval officer after another had come over to greet him, and the number was almost three hundred.
This isn't just any ordinary cabbage; it's someone at least a rear admiral in the navy.
This factional power is truly astonishing.
"Big brother."
Just then, a silly voice rang out from ahead. Sentomaru, wearing a bellyband and a cloak, walked over and said, "I'm here too."
"I'm not trying to be mean."
Kuro glared at him. "You're a major general, can't you wear a suit? You wear this tattered bellyband every day. Are you so poor you can't afford clothes, or do you have too many bellybands? Did your family buy you a bellyband that's been in your grave since you were born?"
Sentomaru was taken aback for a moment and said, "This is not a bellyband. It's just my style of dressing. I actually have a lot of these clothes. I have three closets full of them."
As he spoke, he proudly held up three fingers.
Kuro rolled his eyes and smacked Sentomaru on the head.
"You're actually quite proud of that, aren't you?!"
Sentomaru is 2.8 meters tall. He used to be about the same height as Kuro, but now Kuro is much taller than him, so fighting him still feels like fighting a child.
"You idiot! I'll teach you a lesson you won't forget! Go change your clothes tomorrow, or I'll beat you up!"
Kuro kicked Sentomaru in the butt, sending him flying inside. "You're damaging our faction's image, get out, get out!"
Sentomaru, looking aggrieved, rubbed his bottom and turned around, saying, "Big brother, I'm the last one. Everyone else has gone in."
"Huh? You're the last one?"
Kuro exhaled a puff of smoke. "Alright, let's go in."
After saying that, he led Sentomaru into the somewhat dimly lit conference room at the front. The old man had not yet arrived, but the rows of seats under the huge main seat were already full of people.
The major generals and lieutenant generals were all puffing on cigars or cigarettes, their sitting postures varied wildly: some had their legs crossed, some had their legs crossed, and some sat sideways.
The way the navy sits and the laughter of the pirates will always remain a mystery.
Sentomaru found a place to sit down, while Kuro frowned, walked straight to the main seat, looked at the marines sitting in all sorts of strange postures, and coughed.
To no avail; not only did their sitting postures continue to be bizarre, they even started whispering among themselves.
Kuro's expression changed, and he gritted his teeth and growled, "Everyone, sit down properly!"
One sentence made everyone's expressions turn serious, and they all sat up straight.
"What the hell do you guys look like?!"
Kuro pointed at them, looking exasperated, and said, "It's one thing to have weird sitting postures, but some of you are smoking, some are drinking, and there's even one wearing a bellyband! What's going on? You're the Marines! You should know shame, you should know shame!"
As he spoke, Kuro arrogantly exhaled a puff of smoke.
Naval Admiral: "..."
Zhan Taomaru: "..."
Why single him out?
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