There was absolute silence in the assembled crowd as they observed the funeral procession as it passed them by. Dour faces watched as the ashes of the deceased were given over to the sea, painfully aware that it could have as easily been their own.
From almost two hundred ships that went to stop the Hunter only thirty returned...only fifteen thousand men from the hundred thousand that left Marineford ten days ago.
Rain drops fell down the hat's brim as the Fleet Admiral observed the expressions on the gathered marines. They all lost friends and family in this battle, and though they were victorious in the end it all felt rather hollow.
The price of victory was too damned high this time.
For all their effort and sacrifice they couldn't even claim the Hunter was dead, the newspaper were allowed only to print that the marines won a victory in a grand battle against the scum but nothing detailed.
In any case it was a small comfort for all the family's that received the dreaded KIA/MIA letter.
Even the wounded couldn't be considered fortunate...horrible burns covered the body's of those that were too close to the blast and hundreds had to be immediately operated before the disgusting larva could eat any more of their victims flesh...unless an egg found its way to the brain, then a quick end was the only help the doctors could give.
Sakazuki raised his head to the sky and allowed the rain to wash over it...it seemed that even the weather cried for the fallen, then why couldn't he?
Kizaru was his comrade for decades now and still...
"Fleet Admiral" said a soft voice from behind him.
Sakazuki pushed his thoughts aside as he turned around and looked down on the unfamiliar person.
"Yes?"
"A pleasure to meet you, I'm Agent Smith from the CP0 branch and I was send here by the Gorosei regarding your..." the man with the sunglasses turned to the procession before refocusing on Akainu "...recent victory over the Hunter. Can we talk somewhere more private?"
"After the funeral ends" was the Fleet Admiral's reply as he turned his back on the smaller man.
"The matter is of some urgency..."
"I will see you in my office AFTER the funeral procession" said Akainu with a glare that would make lesser men tremble.
"As you wish" calmly responded the Cipher Pol agent as he made his way to the Fleet Admirals office alone. He could understand Sakazuki's wish to be seen grieving with the other marines, it strengthened moral if the soldiers thought that their superiors actually cared...
Agent Smith had to wait twenty two minutes and sixteen seconds before the Fleet Admiral returned to his office from the funeral...a horrible waste of time in his opinion.
Sakazuki didn't even glanced at the calm, expressionless agent siting in front of his desk "So why are you really here?" asked the logia as he hung his drenched coat on a hook rail. His last visit to Mariejois still left a bad taste in his mouth, not to mention Fujitora's insubordination. They basically gave him one week to fix as much of the mess as humanly possible...and it seemed the time was up.
"As you know the Gorosei aren't very happy with your performance against the Hunter" reminded the agent in a apathetic voice "twice you fought the thing and twice the Marine only managed a Pyrrhic victory. The setback at Impel Down was especially bad with the loss of the prison, an Admiral and the majority of the most experienced crews in the Navy. Your decisions have put the Marine and with that the World Government in a very bad position. The Gorosei want to know how you plan to rectify the current situation?"
Akainu scowled at the man, but he was already pushing his luck with staying at the funeral, he simply didn't have the political leverage at the moment to refuse the agents demand "I have already made arrangements with Vegapunk and Doctor Asul, both assured me that their new projects will correct our current manpower shortage."
"The number of soldiers isn't the problem here" responded Smith "its the quality of them. The captains that are left at your disposal are still very green and easy picking for pirates. Most Vice Admirals are either ash or monster food, we lost two Shichibukai because of the Straw Hats and finding a replacement for yet another Admiral is in itself a colossal undertaking. And lets not touch upon what Admiral Fujitora did. It seems that the Gorosei placed too much trust in your abilities if this is all you are able to do...perhaps they should reevaluate your position in the hierarchy..."
Sakazuki remained unfazed by the words of the shorter man, though he wanted nothing more than to turn the agent into ash "A problem like the Hunter was unexpected. As for strengthening the new crews we have increased our Pacifista production, even a weak captain will have enough firepower with a few of the things on board."
Smith wasn't convinced "Perhaps, though the things could make the crews lazy if they do all the fighting...no sense in keeping people around if all the work will be done by the human weapons anyway."
"They wont" growled the Fleet Admiral.
The two stared at each other for what appeared to be a full minute before Smith broke the silence "Very well, see that they don't. Now for the other part..." said the agent as he presented Akainu with a document "In there are all the details about the upcoming Reverie, the Gorosei don't want anything going wrong there...don't mess this up Fleet Admiral."
Sakazuki frowned "If by some chance the Hunter survived the Dyna Stone explosion I don't know if we will have the power to stop him." Saying those words grated horribly on Akainus pride but he was a realist here, even before Kizaru the thing was monstrous...now it could probably be on par with the Yonko.
The Cipher Pol agent observed the Fleet Admiral through his sunglasses "We came to the same conclusion. Because of that we have send two of our best assassin to find and neutralize the thing if it survived the battle. Better to eliminate it now then after it did any more damage."
"And how do you plan to do that?" asked the logia, if the virus survived it would be too powerful for any assassin send after it.
"That is classified" said the agent with a smirk "but don't worry, they are more than able to deal with any situation that could arise."
Akainu wasn't convinced about that, but he had enough of his own problems to deal with. If the CP0 branch desires to deal with the monster so be it, he certainly wont complain "Is that all?"
"Yes" responded Smith as he rose to his feet and made his way to the door "my job here is done."
Sakazuki was more than happy when the man left the room, though less so when he saw all the paperwork he had to finish...he didn't even manage to write a proper eulogy for the fallen thanks to all the reorganization he had to do if he wanted to keep the Marines as a fighting force after this disaster.
He only hoped that if the monster really survived the explosion it will concentrate on the pirates and give the World Government some room to breath.