At the Holy Land Mariejois, oop floor of the Wover headquarters, the Five Elders were gathered, discussing pressing matters.

  The Five Elders were the true power behind the Wover. Above them was a figure known only as "Imu," an enigmatidividual whose existence even most of the Celestial Dragons were unaware of. Imu rarely intervened, only appearing when it was necessary to "extinguish" certain threats, to erase individuals or ideas deemed too dangerous. So, unless it was aential crisis for the Wover, most decisions were handled by the Five Elders themselves.

  These five mehe highest authority within the Celestial Dragons, often referred to as the 'Supreme Celestial Dragons.'

  The Five Elders of today, though not as old and frail as they would appear in ter decades, were still no longer in their prime.

  "The intel has e in. Six months ago, the Roger Pirates had another enter with the Whitebeard Pirates in the New World," the bearded Elder began with a grim expression. "But what's troubling is the presence of the Wanokuni samurai on Whitebeard's ship… Kozuki Oden has indeed joihem. We were right about the Roger Pirates."

  The bald Elder sighed in frustration. "First Dougs Bullet, leaves the Roger Pirates, and now they've gained another powerhouse? It's like they're pying a game we 't win."

  "That's not the real issue here," the Elder with the sword cut in. "The problem is that Roger's crew has been sc the seas, seeking the world's secrets. They're after the final isnd, Raftel. Normally, this wouldn't us much since even if they found the historical Poneglyphs, they wouldn't be able to read them. But now… with Kozuki Oden aboard, that ges everything. He could be capable of deciphering the aext!"

  "Then we must prioritize capturing the Roger Pirates," said the Elder with blond hair calmly.

  "We've already ramped up our efforts, but unlike Whitebeard, Shiki, Mer doesn't have a fixed base or territory. They're always on the move. Finding them in the vast o is like finding a needle in a haystack," said the curly-haired Elder gravely.

  "And they don't just stay in the New World. They're all over the globe. Last we heard, they were spotted in the first half of the Grand Line, but we have no idea what they were searg for," added the bearded Elder.

  "What else could it be? They're clearly after more Poneglyphs," the bald Elder replied with a deep frown.

  In fact, the Roger Pirates were currently in Water 7, but not for anythied to the Poneglyphs. They were there to ission a ship from the legendary shipwright, Tom. trary to what Cudius had thought, the famous Oro Ja hadn't been built yet, and that's what Roger and his crew were in Water 7 to get their new, faster ship.

  The Wover's fear of the Roger Pirates had only growhe st six months. With the addition of Kozuki Oden, who could potentially read the Poneglyphs, the Five Elders had been pressuring the Mario intensify their efforts to capture them.

  But the Roger Pirates were not only trying to stay ahead of the Wover. There was a deeper, more personal reason behind their urgency Roger himself was suffering from a terminal illness. While they had found a doctor at Twin Capes who could temporarily suppress his symptoms, Roger's time was running out. The crew needed a faster ship to plete their journey before it was too te.

  "To make matters worse, it seems there are roups trying to uhe truth of what happened 800 years ago. Schors and other scattered forces across the seas are digging for a dots some of which might include the Poneglyphs," the blonde Elder said grimly. "The Marines have bee out to deal with them multiple times, but we still haven't been able to identify exactly where they're ing from."

  The bearded Elder sighed. "Roger's crew is trouble enough. Now we've got these schors sniffing around too. This is getting out of hand."

  "Could it be Ohara?" the bald Elder asked after a pause. "After all, Ohara is the most renowned ter for archaeological study. They might have the knowledge to decipher these aexts."

  "I've sidered that possibility as well," the blonde Elder responded. "But at this point, it's only suspi. Ohara is aeemed hub of history and culture. Moving against them without crete proof could cause a signifit backsh."

  The truth was, they couldn't afford to act recklessly when it came to Ohara. The isnd had a prestigious reputation, and any rash as taken without evidence would undoubtedly stir up problems, not only within the academiunity but possibly across nations that valued Ohara's historical tributions.

  While they suspected that Ohara sight be behind the ret archaeological expeditions, the Five Elders were hesitant to jump to clusions. Ohara had been peacefully coexisting with the Wover for turies, and they believed it was uhat the isnd's schors would jeopardize that retionship. After all, the gover had been funding Ohara's research generously, allowing them to delve into a history and culture.

  But the Five Elders were uimating the current geion of Ohara schors. Unbeknownst to them, those schors were more determihao uhe truth about the Void tury an act that would eventually pit them directly against the Wover.

  "This is a delicate situation. We o be cautious. I've assigned CP-9's Chief Spao iigate. Though he's not the stro or the most upstanding individual, he's diligent. I'm fident he'll bring us satisfactory results," the blonde Elder added.

  Spandine was, of course, the father of Spandam, who would ter go on to bee the infamous leader of CP-9. Cudius had entered Spandine before, and he kly what kind of person he was a sycophantic, cowardly man who would practically grovel before the Celestial Dragons. But despite his ckluster personality, Spandine was surprisingly petent when it came to iigative work. He would indeed uhe truth behind Ohara, setting the stage for its eventual destru.

  However, expeg Spao find the A ons? That was a long shot. Even the Five Elders didn't hold much hope in that regard.

  The bald Elder suddenly spoke up, breaking the flow of versation. "What about the other matter? You didn't just put Spandine on this case. What about the A ons? Any updates?"

  The blonde Elder shook his head. "No, nothing substantial. Finding an A on is no easy task. I've merely told Spao test the waters. If he mao uncover something, great. If not, there's no rush."

  "Well, sihe A ons are tied to the historical texts, it makes seo let him hah tasks," the bald Elder said with a nod.

  Spandine's reputation wasn't great, but at least in this instance, he would succeed in exposing Ohara. Cudius knew all too well what kind of chaos Spandine's iigation would cause in the years to e. The Ohara tragedy was fast approag, though no one k yet.

  "So, moving on to today's main issue," the bald Elder said, pointing at a map oable. "What do you think of Sengoku's proposal?"

  The map showed an isnd, illo Isnd, one of the famous hot spring isnds in the New World. tally, this was where Cudius and Dragon were currently located.

  "Is the intel solid?" asked the bearded Elder.

  "It's been firmed by CP-0," the bald Elder replied. "The remnants of Captain John's pirate crew have been hiding out there."

  "Then, justice must be carried out. The fleet from Naval Headquarters has been stationed nearby for a while now, correct?" said the curly-haired Elder.

  The phrase "carry out justice" in this text meant only ohing a Buster Call. illo Isnd was about to be wiped off the map.

  Captain John had once been a member of the infamous Rocks Pirates, before they were disbanded after the Battle of God Valley. After that, Joh solo, but i years, he had been driven into a er by Golden Lion Shiki. Shiki had been on a rampage, recruiting or destroying anyone who might oppose him, trying to recreate the fearsome Rocks Pirates of old.

  So far, Shiki had crushed rival pirates like Ochoku and Silver Axe. Now, he was gunning for Captain John, who had narrowly escaped one of Shiki's attacks. But John was not oo give up easily. He had hidden a vast treasure across the world, and if he maroup and recover, he could easily return to power in a short time.

  But Admiral Sengoku wasn't about to let that happen. He had weighed the options and decided that the only way to deal with Captain John was to obliterate him and his crew. A Buster Call would ehat no one, including John, could escape.

  Sengoku, often seen as calm and collected, was ruthless when it came to justice. He always chose the most effit path, even if it was brutal. His cold logic would ter be seen in the destru of Ohara, and even during the Marineford War, where he was willing to sacrifice the entire Naval Headquarters to crush Whitebeard's forces. Sengoku wasn't just ruthless toward his enemies he was willing to put everything on the lio protect the Wover's is, even if it meant heavy losses for the Marihemselves.

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