Chapter 105 The Tangled Five Elders

Upon hearing this answer, the pirates had a look of confirmation on their faces.

Ah, it was done by Akainu, so there's no problem.

Only Akainu would be the most suitable person for such a thing. As pirates, who didn't know that he was more ruthless and heartless than anyone else?

But this also sent a chill down their spines. To think that he would become the Fleet Admiral in the future, the Marines would be even more unbearable.

During the live broadcast, Luke affirmed Robin's answer.

"Correct answer, it is indeed Akainu."

Robin wasn't surprised by this answer. It was something she had witnessed with her own eyes and couldn't be wrong about.

She glanced at Luke, gratitude shining in her eyes. She was very grateful to Luke for giving her this opportunity.

She knew that it was impossible for her to defeat an Admiral with her own strength. But to have this chance to seek revenge for the killer of her fellow scholars at Ohara was rare.

Although she had few friends in Ohara and didn't have much attachment to the civilian, many of them were the relatives of the scholars who had taught her.

For the sake of those teachers, she had to do this.

Just for that, it was worth it participating in this QnA show.

"Now, please listen to the next question. 3rd The question is: Who let Nico Robin Escape?"

Upon hearing this question, Sengoku and Akainu from Marineford widened their eyes.

They were also quite curious about this question.

During the Ohara incident, there were five Vice Admirals, ten warships, and several elite Marines present, with around a thousand Marines on each ship.

It was a grand lineup with considerable combat power.

This lineup would make any pirate crew, except for the Four Emperors, tremble. How could they let an eight-year-old girl escape?

And now, the question revealed that she was help by someone.

At this moment, Sengoku and Akainu turned their gaze towards Aokiji, and others who knew some inside information also looked at him.

Aokiji felt a bit guilty under their gaze, pretending not to notice anything, just like how Kizaru and Sengoku had done before. He stared intently at the live broadcast;

Seeing Aokiji's appearance, Sengoku and the others could easily guess who was behind this.

In fact, after the Ohara incident, they had investigated the disappearance of Nico Robin.

And the last person who saw Nico Robin was Aokiji, with people confirming that he had gone after Robin at that time.

Logically speaking, it should have been no problem for Aokiji, with his strength, to capture a little girl.

However, Aokiji's explanation was that he was blocked by Saul, so he wasn't able to catch Robin in time. By the time he finished dealing with Saul, Nico Robin had disappeared without a trace.

Although there was no evidence to prove Aokiji's claim was true, there was also no evidence to prove it was false.

This matter was left unresolved.

And they did see Saul's body, completely frozen into an ice sculpture.

Saul was originally a Vice Admiral at Marineford, and Sengoku and the others had no choice but to believe that Saul had blocked Aokiji.

But now everything became clear. It was true that Aokiji deal with Saul, but he also let Robin escape.

Sengoku didn't have any objections to Aokiji letting Robin go. He wasn't as trusting of the Gorosei as before, as the incident at Mariejois had made him realize that these guys didn't share his sense of justice.

The Marines needed Admirals with independent thinking; otherwise, they would become mere pawns of the Gorosei, and justice would be reduced to just a slogan.

Compared to Akainu, who only cared about completing the mission and eradicating evil, Aokiji's trace of kindness better suited the image of the next Fleet Admiral.

If a Marine lost even the most basic sense of kindness, could they still be expected to uphold justice?

Was this kind of justice really justice?

Sengoku had no objections to Aokiji letting Robin go, but Akainu had a different opinion.

If it weren't for Aokiji letting this escaped fish off the hook, Nico Robin wouldn't be appearing in this live broadcast, exposing the things Akainu had done in the past and subjecting him to unnecessary shame.

Although Akainu's actions may have been ruthless, they were necessary to prevent the dangerous criminals from Ohara from escaping. And if it weren't for Nico Robin escaping, there wouldn't be so many things happening today. This just showed that letting Nico Robin go back then was purely a mistake.

Akainu glared at Aokiji with fiery eyes, growing more and more displeased with him.

This guy not only competed with him for the position of Fleet Admiral but also let go of the Devil's Child and opposed him right under his nose. And to make it worse, Aokiji's Devil Fruit ability was ice-based, which countered Akainu's magma power.

This guy was born to be his opponent.

If it weren't for the fact that it wasn't the time to fight Aokiji now, Akainu wanted to punch this traitor who let the enemy escape.

Akainu's killing intent was felt by the surrounding Marines, and Aokiji noticed it too. But Aokiji fearlessly met Akainu's gaze.

It wasn't just Akainu who didn't like him; Aokiji also increasingly disliked Akainu.

In fact, Aokiji still hadn't let go of the incident where Akainu sank the refugee ship at Ohara. If it weren't for Akainu's actions, he wouldn't have shown mercy and let Robin go.

All of this was Akainu's fault, so how dare he glare at him?

The two Admirals glared at each other with anger in their eyes, and others kept their distance, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire.

Sengoku and Garp also stood nearby, ready to intervene at any moment.

Fortunately, the two of them only exchanged intense gazes and didn't escalate into an actual battle. Otherwise, if they started fighting in Marineford, it would turn into another Punk Hazard before the war even began.

In the live broadcast, Robin hesitated for a moment but still said that name.

"Answer: Aokiji."

Aokiji spared her life, so she owed him a debt. However, Aokiji also killed her friend Saul.

In reality, Saul sacrificed his life to save Robin, and it was because of Saul's sacrifice that Aokiji let her go.

So

Robin had complex feelings towards Aokiji. She didn't consider him an ally or an enemy. She was wary and fearful of him, with a tinge of gratitude. She saw him as someone to avoid, primarily by fear.

She hesitated for a moment because she considered the consequences of revealing this information about Aokiji, feeling a sense of repaying kindness with enmity. However, even if she didn't say it, Luke would still disclose the answer, so she decided to speak up.

However, surprisingly, people weren't surprised at all when they heard that Aokiji had let Robin go.

Perhaps it was because Aokiji had always appeared more relaxed and laid-back in the footage, even when he encountered Luffy in the hot spring. He was a completely different type of Marine compared to Akainu.

At this thought, many couldn't help but think that it would be great if Aokiji became the Fleet Admiral.

In comparison, Akainu was ruthless and merciless, not hesitating to kill innocent people. On the other hand, Aokiji, Aokiji his seemingly lazy demeanor, had a more humane side. He even showed mercy and let an eight-year-old like Nico Robin go.

Having a man like him as the Fleet Admiral would at least relieve them of the fear of becoming sacrificial pawns.

Originally, Akainu, who was serious and dedicated, was the best candidate for Fleet Admiral. However, his personality made them fearful.

Slacking off on the job was one thing, but being merciless was another.

Moreover, besides his laid-back appearance, Aokiji's ability to become a Vice Admiral was a testament to his exceptional capabilities.

So, in a situation where their abilities were similar, Aokiji was considered more suitable.

At this moment, people from all over the world unconsciously formed a consensus.

There was another important factor: after Akainu became the Fleet Admiral, Aokiji left in anger and became a pirate.

For the Marines, this was a tremendous waste. They would rather have Aokiji as the Fleet Admiral.

As for Akainu, it would be better if he remained as their Admiral. If possible, some even wished that Akainu would resign and leave in anger. They were afraid of having a Marine like him.

Even if they were unwilling and dissatisfied, the order of this world still relied on the Marines. But they hoped for a Marine who genuinely considered their well-being.

...

The exposure of Akainu's brutal killing and Aokiji's release of Robin left the Five Elder of Mariejois twitching at the corners of their mouths.

This was not good news for them.

Akainu's image among the public could be predicted to be extremely negative. If they insisted on pushing him as the Fleet Admiral, the image of the World Government and the Marines would worsen in the eyes of the world's people.

The Five Elder didn't want to see this situation. Although they didn't care about the life and death of the general public, if they didn't consider the people's opinions enough, it could lead to rebellion, and that was what they were concerned about.

However, they didn't want to choose Aokiji either if they didn't choose Akainu.

This guy, Aokiji, actually let go of Nico Robin, whom they considered a threat.

This could be seen as betrayal.

If Aokiji wasn't an Admiral, they could even directly arrest him and bring him to Impel Down to face trial based on this charge.

When Aokiji was still a Vice Admiral, he dared to disobey their orders in a covert manner.

If they let him become the Fleet Admiral, they might as well say goodbye to the Marine as a part of the World Government.

An insubordinate Fleet Admiral was not needed.

After much consideration, the Five Elder couldn't help but think of the third candidate, Admiral Kizaru.

Was their only option an acting monkey?