One Piece: The Strongest Female Pirate Crews

At first, the Five Elders and Akainu had been full of confidence, certain of their victory.

Now, they were utterly dejected.

Like frostbitten eggplants, their faces drooped with dismay.

The furious Five Elders glared at the Navy and CP0, their habitual inclination to berate their subordinates taking over.

"You useless bunch of..."

Yet, the word "trash" was swallowed back.

Criticizing them was tantamount to criticizing themselves.

In the past, whenever an operation failed, the Five Elders could rightfully berate their subordinates for incompetence.

But this time, the mission had been under their direct control, with them as the supreme commanders while the other strong combatants merely followed orders.

With such a colossal failure, the blame naturally rested on the highest authority.

The three Elders of the Five Elders were left with no outlet for their anger, feeling stifled and miserable.

They began to reflect on their failures.

"This was a critical oversight on our part. We only considered Kuke and the Sun and Moon Pirates' known abilities and failed to account for the possibility of hidden powers."

The Five Elders, for once, lacked the confidence to chastise their subordinates.

Even Akainu and the others were dumbfounded to see the Elders conducting self-reflection for the first time.

"We've misjudged you in the past," one of the Elders said sincerely, looking apologetically at Akainu.

Akainu was stunned.

He had been prepared for the usual tirade, as he was accustomed to being berated after every failure against Kuke.

Now, an apology?

The Five Elders were genuinely remorseful.

In the past, they had blamed the Navy for repeatedly failing against the Sun and Moon Pirates, dismissing them as utterly incompetent.

But now that they had taken matters into their own hands, they realized they had done even worse.

At least the Navy had managed to engage the Sun and Moon Pirates in battle.

Today, however, they had lost without so much as a fight.

It was an abject failure.

Worse still, what was their next move?

"Keep searching. We must find them," Akainu growled, his fists clenched, his face twisted with rage.

"Search where?" Kizaru asked, his voice tinged with sarcasm. "You sure don't learn your lessons."

"There's still time. They couldn't have gone far—perhaps a hundred miles, maybe a few hundred. There's still a chance. Do you think they snuck in only to sneak out quietly?"

Akainu, refusing to admit defeat, couldn't accept returning in disgrace.

The three Elders were somewhat tempted.

They had come here with absolute confidence in victory.

To return in humiliation would make a mockery of the Five Elders' authority and turn them into a laughingstock.

But Aokiji raised a critical question.

"And if we find them, then what?"

Akainu fell silent.

So did the Five Elders.

If they found them, it would only result in a repeat of the earlier scene.

Would they keep searching endlessly, becoming an even bigger joke each time?

"What if we could force Kuke into a fight where he couldn't run?" Akainu proposed.

But how could they do that?

The Sun and Moon Pirates had no strict territorial ties. Could Fish-Man Island or Dressrosa count?

"No. Fish-Man Island and Dressrosa are member nations," one of the Elders replied, shaking his head.

They could operate covertly, but overt action was out of the question.

Doing so would undermine the very foundation of the World Government.

The Five Elders frowned deeply, their gazes inadvertently drifting toward Hina.

Hina, Smoker, and their companions had been brought along not for their combat prowess but because of their past connection as classmates of Kuke.

The Five Elders had hoped to use this relationship to distract Kuke during the fight, even if only slightly.

Unfortunately, the fight never took place.

"Earlier, Kuke greeted this female Marine directly. Their relationship seems closer than expected. Could we use her to threaten Kuke?"

The thought arose in the minds of the Five Elders, and their eyes took on a menacing glint as they looked at Hina.

Hina felt the weight of their gaze, which they made no effort to hide.

Her heart sank with fear.

Could Kuke have been right?

But I'm a Marine.

A Marine who upholds justice.

Hina lowered her head slightly, her face calm, but inside, her emotions churned like a stormy sea, leaving her feeling as if she had fallen into an icy abyss.

"Hina, over here," Garp said casually, waving her over.

"Hina, why don't you join my unit?" Aokiji suggested.

The eyes of the Three Elders turned cold.

It was obvious to them what Garp and Aokiji were trying to do.

They snorted but reluctantly withdrew their gazes.

This plan was too risky. It could easily backfire and provoke dissatisfaction within the Navy, especially with someone as impulsive as Garp around, who might act rashly.

"Forget it. There's no opportunity now," the Five Elders conceded.

With the Sun and Moon Pirates gone, there was no chance left.

"Prepare for departure. We need to return as quickly as possible," one of the Elders ordered, his tone deflated.

"Yes, sir!"

A CP0 agent approached hesitantly. "Elder, what about the journalists? Should we... eliminate them?"

If the operation had succeeded, the journalists and their newspapers would have been instrumental in spreading the news to maximize the impact.

But now that they had failed, the journalists were an eyesore.

"It's too late. So much time has passed that killing them now would be pointless," one of the Elders replied, shaking his head.

Of course, they wished today's events would never come to light, that no one would ever know about them.

But it was already certain that the journalists had transmitted the news back to their headquarters.

"Killing them is futile, but we must silence them. Issue warnings to these journalists and their newspapers. Let them know that publishing today's events will incur the wrath of the World Government."

For the sake of their pride and saving face, they needed to act.

"Understood!"

Several CP0 agents disappeared in an instant, reappearing amidst the group of journalists to deliver their threats.

They warned the reporters not to publish any information about what had occurred.

They instructed them to contact their headquarters immediately to stop the presses, destroy any newspapers already printed, and recall those already distributed.

If retrieval was impossible, the news must be discredited as fake.

The journalists dared not resist, hastily complying under CP0's intimidation.

At the various newspaper headquarters:

"What?"

The news enraged their editors.

But when they learned this was an order from the Five Elders, they had no choice but to comply.

"Damn it! This kind of major news would have boosted sales like never before, and now we can't publish it."

"When they succeed, they want us to amplify the news. But when they fail, they silence us. What kind of authority is this? Even the Five Elders are no better than this."

While cursing the World Government and the Five Elders in their hearts, the newspaper editors obediently ceased printing and destroyed the issues.

Except for one newspaper.

The one owned by News King Morgans.

"Afraid of the Five Elders' threats? Me? Never! My headquarters is decentralized, with branches everywhere. Let's see if the World Government can destroy them all! Keep printing and publish it immediately! I was worried about competition for today's story, but now it's my exclusive scoop! Hahaha..."

News King Morgans laughed heartily, thoroughly enjoying the moment.

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DONT FORGET POWER STONE 

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