Chapter 28 Fired

"You can be fired for what you did today, Garp," Sengoku's voice sounded from behind, snapping Garp out of his expressionless state.

"What do you mean?" Garp asked as he turned around with a wide smile. "Akainu simply tripped and hit his head," he added with a loud laugh, patting Sengoku on the shoulder.

Seeing his old friend's actions, Sengoku could only sigh, knowing what had truly happened due to his proximity at the time. When Kizaru left, Marco moved to free Ace, but Akainu, who hadn't left the stands yet, saw Marco's attempt and moved to stop him. Unexpectedly, Garp's fist, coated in Haki, had punched down on Akainu's head, knocking the Admiral unconscious.

"Garp" Sengoku was about to say something but was interrupted.

"Yes, I also witnessed Admiral Akainu trip," a woman's voice interjected, catching the attention of both men.

It belonged to Vice Admiral Tsuru, someone of the same level of seniority as Garp and Sengoku.

"Tsuru..." Sengoku started to say something but eventually decided to let it go.

He turned away from the two troublesome Vice Admirals toward the battlefield and felt his whole body age by a decade.

He rubbed his head as he stepped forward to command the medics and enlist the support of several uninjured Marines to help their injured comrades.

Let's just say that by the end of this day, Sengoku had a few dozen more white hairs appear on his head Out of nowhere.

The Whitebeard Pirates had begun their escape, yet Sengoku did not order anyone to chase them.

A lot of things needed to be done to ensure that the Marines would survive, and the importance of defeating Whitebeard was pushed down the priority list.

The news about the event wasn't something the World Government and Marines could suppress, as many pictures were released by the World Economic News, showing the current state of Marineford. For about a day, Morgans milked this news, shoving as many headlines as he could into the newspaper with pictures all unanimously provided by Augustus.

The World Government quickly took action and attempted to suppress the damage, but the injuries were already too vast.

The injured were reported to be around 5,000 with serious injuries, while the dead amounted to a whopping 25,000 Marines. A huge chunk of the Marine force was wiped out.

As for the Whitebeard Pirates, it was unknown how many had died, but according to estimates by Stephen, it was around three ships' worth of pirates who were killed.

The Marines definitely suffered a much larger blow compared to Whitebeard's crew.

"Your Majesty, what now?" Stephen asked, his tone uncertain.

"Whitebeard will now do everything he can to go against you, Your Majesty. The pirates will be more frivolous with their actions, leaving a path of destruction wherever they go. I simply... don't understand," Stephen said, his expression weary. Unlike Tony, Stephen, although an excellent doctor and sorcerer, had never been in close proximity to war and mass destruction like Tony and Godfrey. Stephen had always been a healer, a protector of the masses.

"Well, it's simple, we make it all go boom!"

"What?"

"Yeah, the World Government and the Revolutionary Army," Augustus clarified with a grin.

"Chaos would no doubt ensue almost immediately. Whitebeard and Shanks will try to maintain some semblance of normalcy, but come on.

Whitebeard is a man on the verge of dying; he won't stick around long enough.

Shanks has motives that are unknown, but what's clear is that his motives don't align with ours, and he has served his purpose to us.

So it won't be much of a loss to cut Shanks loose, you get it?" Augustus looked meaningfully at Stephen before continuing.

"The other Emperors, granted they are strong, but they aren't strong enough, Godfrey is enough to handle them.

In the chaos, we grab ahold of these headless kingdoms and bring them under us after an expedition against Shanks and Big Mom, to initially announce our presence and demonstrate our strength," Augustus explained.

"The remnants of the Revolutionary Army will exist, but two people need to die: Dragon and Sabo. After that, the Revolutionary Army holds no threat to us."

"As for the pirates, the Marines will take charge against the weakened Whitebeard Pirates, with our assistance if needed.

Garp will lead the charge, re-establish some of their majesty, and spread fear through the world."

"The current order of the world will be broken, Your Majesty. How will we provide the Marines with financial resources to continue?" Stephen asked.

"Through the kingdoms that refuse to come under us," Augustus responded with a thoughtful nod, as if making up his mind.

"Alright, Your Majesty," Stephen said with a small bow. "What is my next task?"

"Continue doing what you are doing.

As important as the external operations of the kingdom are, the internal is even more important. What I am doing might be a bit tyrannical and not that different from the World Government, but as long as our citizens thrive, are safe and sound with good health, I am satisfied.

And after I am done, the entire world's citizens will be our citizens anyways" Augustus said.