1 Chapter 1

Impel Down,

The great underwater prison Impel Down is the prison that holds the most bloodthirsty pirates and criminals in the world securely. It is the most feared place under the command of the world government, and the one place that fills the heart of every pirate with dread.

Impel down is divided into six levels and with each level the severity and the level of detention increases a hundredfold. Level six also known as Eternal Hell is the most feared and dangerous place in the prison.

It is where prisoners who are insanely powerful, have caused crimes extremely atrocious, and/or whose mere existences have become a major threat to the World Government itself are confined to perpetual imprisonment. The threat posed by even a single Level Six prisoner lurking in a remote country could be an incredible danger to the public. The prisoners on this level are by default given either the death penalty or a life sentence. These people are basically 'erased' from the pages of history so that nobody will even remember their names.

Most high-ranking officers of Impel Down tend to avoid this level because of the danger these criminals pose but will visit it if the need arises. The chief warden of Impel Down also has the authority to execute prisoners kept here on the spot if they begin acting up and may do so at their own discretion. When he was chief warden, Magellan made no qualms about demonstrating this power by dousing prisoners with his deadly Hydra attack when they openly mocked his authority.

Many of the most dangerous prisoners in this place are those whose names are known worldwide. Douglas Bullet, 'Aloof' Patrick Redfield, "World Destroyer' Byrnndi World, and many more. But among all these prisoners there is one unassuming prisoner who has stayed on this floor for more than 20 years. Brought in as a boy of twelve years old, he has spent his entire youth in the prison since then. His name unknown to even his fellow prisoners; he has not said a single word in the entire time he has been here. Most of the other prisoners have even forgotten that there is another prisoner in the floor among them.

But today, after 20 years, that person has made a move.

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A few hours ago, the greatest riot in the history of Impel Down which was led by the Pirate Monkey D. Luffy, was followed on by another attack from the Shichibukai, Marshall D. Teach. In the riot, many of the prisoners in Level six escaped, and this person too utilized that moment.

As he looked at the disgusting visage of Teach initiating a bloodbath in the Eternal Hell, the prisoner finally heaved a sigh and looked at the carnage around him, even as a glowing screen appeared in front of his eyes alone.

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Sign-In system activated:

Condition: Be imprisoned within the Level 6 of the famed underwater jail 'Impel Down' for 20 years to activate the system.

Reward: Character template completely merged with your soul. All abilities and skills of the template have been fully upgraded to the maximum limit and are now unlocked. Your current physical body is now fully capable of withstanding the power you can unleash.

Template chosen: Sephiroth (Final Fantasy)

All abilities are unlocked as a reward for your patience in accepting your imprisonment for over 20 years.

1st Quest Activated: Get out of Impel Down while avoiding detection and proceed to complete the crime for which you were arrested originally all those years ago.

Reward: Ability to determine your future path in your hands with no repercussions.

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As he made his place into the sixth level, Marshall D. Teach was thrilled. His years of patience and suffering had finally yielded fruit and his plan was completely on track. For more than twenty years he had hidden himself under the shadow of Whitebeard, patiently waiting for his chance to make his mark upon the world. And today, he was closer than ever to his goal.

"Good day, all you hopeless jailbirds waiting to end your lives locked up in these cells! If you all are just waiting for your death, how 'bout it? Why don't you all fight to death in those cells? I promise to take those among you who survive with me outside and let you have a new lease on life!" he roared out in a tone full of madness and rage, which was echoed by the roars of acclamations from all the prisoners within the various cells.

Soon, the members of Blackbeard's crew began to go to the various cells and began to unshackle the various prisoners inside.

Among them was the man known as 'Champion' Jesus Burgess. A mountain of a man, he looked like a pro wrestler on steroids, with bulging muscles and a face mask. As he came to an unremarkable cell, he noticed that inside the cell was a tall man with a muscular build. His long silver hair had bangs parted to either side of his face. For a second, even the stout heart of Burgess skipped a beat as the manacled man gave him a piercing glare.

Swallowing in hesitation, Burgess called out to his partner, 'Hey Laffitte, you know this guy? I don't seem to recall him from the bounty posters?"

Soon, Laffitte came to the cell and looked at the prisoner and shook his head. "Not a clue, but he is here, which means his strength was recognized by the World Government. Unchain him Burgess, he will get the same chance as others. Rest is up to his own fate," the man shrugged and moved on, while Burgess moved in and unshackled the prisoner.

Soon, Burgess unchained the man and then pushed him forward towards the place where all the released prisoners began to congregate. No one noticed him slowly positioning himself at a place where the lights were dim and shadowed in darkness. Indeed, ten minutes later when at Blackbeard's urging the bloodletting started, the man whispered a small word and disappeared from the prison without anybody realizing it. The Blackbeard pirates did not even realize what happened at that time. Had they done so, much of the misfortune that befell them later could have been avoided.

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36 Hours Later,

After a hectic day like no other in his life, Fleet Admiral Sengoku entered his office and sat down on a sofa to relax and gather himself for five minutes. Today, the old Fleet Admiral felt the weight of all his years and took a deep sigh of rumination. He had fought and arguably won the last and greatest war that he had participated in his entire life. The Whitebeard Pirates had been annihilated to use a better term, and the last pillar of the original Great Pirate Era, Edward Newgate, also known as Whitebeard had perished in the war along with Portgas D. Ace, the son of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger. This was perhaps the greatest victory won by the Marines against the scourge of Piracy in the last four decades since the death of Rocks D. Xebec.

Kaido and Charlotte Linlin were still present, but although they came from the same era, the difference in prestige between them and Whitebeard was as stark as the difference between day and night. They could never hope to replace Whitebeard's prestige in their lives. Besides, Linlin was getting old and in another decade, she too would decline, and Kaido would probably start declining in another two decades as well. The new generation of pirates was getting worse and they would clash against the entrenched powers in the New World, which would prevent them exerting their full force soon, giving the Marines the time to capitalize on their victory and expand.

But this would be a headache for the next Fleet Admiral, Sengoku mused in dark humor. He had earned his retirement, damnit! Let Aokiji handle these issues from now on, besides it could knock some work ethic into the lazy scoundrel, Sengoku smirked with a bit of schadenfreude. Suddenly, he was distracted as the phone bug on his desk started vibrating.

He picked the receiver and spoke out, "This is Sengoku."

"Fleet Admiral, this is Deputy Head Jailer Domino from Impel Down with a status report," a woman's cool voice came out over the receiver, while Sengoku frowned. The aftermath from Blackbeard's rampage in Impel Down had created a horrible mess, with both Magellan and Hannyabal having been beaten nearly to an inch of their lives, leaving Domino as the only senior officer capable of taking charge currently.

"Proceed," Sengoku uttered even as he became alert and began to listen intently.

"We have taken an inventory of all the prisoners who were released from the sixth floor," Domino continued, even as Sengoku frowned. "After he released the prisoners, Blackbeard instigated all of them to fight each other, with a few chosen survivors departing with him. We cleaned up the corpses of those left behind and realized that four other prisoners are missing, but none of these prisoners left with Blackbeard. They seem to have used this confusion to escape on their own volition" Domino concluded, while Sengoku's pulse started racing.

"Who? Who escaped?" Sengoku asked with a hoarse tone even as he licked his dry lips in trepidation.

"Patrick Redfield, Byrnndi World, Douglas Bullet and … Sephiroth," Domino replied, while Sengoku screamed in his mind. This was a disaster of epic proportions. The threat that these men posed to the world was no less than that of Whitebeard and Shiki themselves. Damn Blackbeard, damn that bastard to the seven hells! Bullet, Redfield, World and … wait a minute … who is this Sephiroth?

"Sephiroth … I do not recall this person? Who is he? Do you have his case file with you?" Sengoku asked after a moment, even as he tried to put a face to this name, but his mind came up blank.

"I have it here," came the voice of Domino, who spoke out quickly.

"Sephiroth … no known last name," Domino continued, "Was arrested and sent to Impel Down at the age of 12, when he infiltrated Mariejois to assassinate the then Vice-Admiral Sakazuki. Suspected to be a survivor of Ohara and the motive was assumed to be revenge. Arrested by Cipher Pol Aigis Zero and was sentenced to imprisonment for life in level six for attempting to trespass into Mariejois. Has been imprisoned for the last twenty years, and was by all accounts a model prisoner for that level and created no problems for anyone," Domino finished her report while Sengoku almost recoiled in whiplash after hearing the report.

He now recalled the incident, where a boy had managed to infiltrate Mariejois and had been sentenced to Impel Down for daring to enter the Holy Land. At that time, the Gorosei had been furious that a no name civilian boy had managed to breach the perimeter security of Mariejois. But since it was resolved quickly, the incident had been forgotten as more important issues cropped up.

Ohara. It was an act that still weighed heavily on his soul. An entire nation condemned to death, but those fanatical scholars had brought their doom upon themselves by daring to research proscribed knowledge despite repeated warnings. If the knowledge those obstinate scholars were researching had spread, the chaos and anarchy it would have caused would have eclipsed even the great pirate era launched by Roger. More than anything else, Sengoku loathed fanatics with a passion because fanatics could not be reasoned with. For them, proving their point of view as the right one took precedence over everything, even if it meant that the world would burn to ashes as collateral damage. Rocks had been such a fanatic, as had been Roger. That fool with his dream of freedom, which bordered on anarchy had ushered in an era of violence and piracy not seen in two hundred years. Inspired by Roger, the number of pirate groups overall in the seas had increased by a whopping 179% over the last two decades. The number of innocent civilians who had lost their lives to pirate attacks all over the world in the last two decades had risen concurrently by over two million. Even if all those deaths could not be laid on the feet of Roger, at the very least two thirds of that figure could be attributed to him as the number of pirates who caused this amount of damage would not have existed if not for his damned speech at his execution in Loguetown.

Similarly, Sakazuki was also a zealot of the same mold. An excellent marine in all aspects, except for his bloodthirstiness. Moderation was not a concept known to the man, and he dealt only in absolutes and saw the world in black and white only. It was for this reason that Sengoku had nominated Aokiji, because with Akainu, the Marines would be plunged into a never-ending war with all pirates.

"Fleet Admiral, what would you like us to do?" Domino's voice came back and pulled Sengoku out of his funk.

"With regards to Bullet, Redfield, and World, you need not worry. I will speak to the Gorosei personally on this matter. Restore Impel Down and clean up the mess. You can requisition any resources you need for that matter. I will order Tsuru to expedite the requests," Sengoku replied back while there was a moment of silence from the other end.

"And what about the fourth prisoner, Sephiroth?" Domino asked for a moment, to which Sengoku paused.

"Forget it, it is not like he is a great threat anyways," Sengoku waved it off casually, "He was not a pirate in the first place, and issuing him a bounty will highlight the fact that someone dared to infiltrate Mariejois, which is not permitted. Hand over his case to the Cipher Pol and tell them that this needs to be handled quietly. That should be suffice for now and he will be taken care of, eventually. He has spent half his childhood as well as his entire youth in Impel Down. What kind of trouble can he cause anyhow?" Sengoku dismissed the threat of Sephiroth out of hand. 24 hours later, he would be regretting those words for the rest of his life.

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New World, A certain flaming island,

The Blackbeard pirates were currently resting in an unnamed island which was more akin to a volcano with its stifling atmosphere. All of them were in high spirits as they had just finished escaping from Marineford, after the end of the Summit war. Their captain had made his mark on the world by stealing the power of Whitebeard himself, and becoming the only known person in history to be able to use two devil fruits at the same time. As such, they were all in high spirits at the moment.

"It is too hot," moaned the gigantic San Juan Wolf, who had managed to sit on the shallow sea bed and still had his torso above the waterline.

"The raft broke because you were too heavy," griped Burgess, while the others laughed heartily.

"Then again, attempting to get into the New World on raft was totally fucking moronic," Shiryu of the Rain responded with a bit of derision in his tone. "You guys are totally flippant, you should now pay more attention to how you guys present yourselves. Our group is in the big leagues now," he concluded to which Blackbeard laughed heartily.

"Gyahahahaha ... you need to relax, Shiryu, there will be a time and place for all that later on," Blackbeard laughed even as he made his way towards their prisoner.

A young woman, with pink hair and a svelte physique, who had been handcuffed to a boulder nearby. She was one of the supernovas of the current era, Jewellery Bonney, known as 'Big Eater' and the captain of the Bonney Pirates.

"To think that such a little girl like you is called a Supernova, tsktsktsk...," Blackbeard laughed even as he squatted in front of her and looked into her eyes. "Your strength is totally useless in the New World, and you cannot survive there. How about it, become my woman and I will take you there instead?" he offered with a leer while his crew laughed and jeered.

"Eat shit, Pig!!" Bonney snarled and kicked Blackbeard in his balls, as the man yowled in pain and retreated immediately.

"Oh my, you have been rejected, Captain," Catarina Devon spoke out with a fake laugh while his men laughed and jeered at his failure.

"Shit, what is wrong with you, girl? Aren't women supposed to be all elegant and refined? Damn," Blackbeard cursed and turned around to Van Augur.

"What's up with those marines? They here, yet?" he asked, while the sniper seemed pensive.

"They are coming, captain, but I don't think they will exchange a ship for this girl. Akainu is aboard the ship."

"Fuck this, Akainu? We are not yet ready to handle that mad dog! Let us beat it, guys," Blackbeard was very decisive and everyone began to sober up quickly and began to make preparations to leave.

"What about her?" Lafitte asked, even as he pointed towards Bonney.

"Leave her, we ain't taking deadweight with us," Blackbeard scoffed, and soon the entire Blackbeard pirates ran away from the site leaving Bonney chained to the rock.

"Damn assholes," Bonney growled and tried to fidget when someone arrived in front of her.

"Hmm, he ran away ... as expected, he is a shrewd fellow," the man spoke out softly and turned to look at Bonney who looked shocked at his appearance.

"Who ... who are you?" she asked in trepidation as the long silver-haired man came forward and with a single hand snapped the handcuffs of her hands and set her free.

"There will soon be a battle here, which can literally sink the island. I am setting you free so that you can leave. I don't want any hindrances to this battle," the man spoke softly and made his way forward while Bonney soothed her wrists and glared at the man, before his words hit her clearly.

"Battle? Soon?" she was puzzled for a moment before the weight of his words hit her like a full-grown seaking.

"Asshole ... do you know what you are talking about? That is Akainu coming here! Akainu! The mad dog of the Marines! The guy who melted off the face of fucking Whitebeard himself! Even that bastard Blackbeard ran away rather than face him, and you want to ...," she began to rant, when an irresistible force erupted from the man and forced her to her knees.

"Do not compare me to that trash! I have waited twenty years to kill Akainu, and today there is no power on this world that can stop me from my goals," the man retorted in a cold voice while Bonney shivered in fear.

"You are mad ... you cannot hope to succeed! I mean ... this is an Admiral," she weakly protested while the man scoffed.

"His reputation is overblown. Whitebeard was at the end of his life, and still it took three Admirals and Blackbeard to take him down. On his own, Akainu never stood a chance. In a one-on-one battle, none of the Admirals can take down any of the Four Emperors. If they could, the Four Emperors would not exist in the first place," he scoffed, while Bonney just stood on the spot as if she had been hit with a sledgehammer.

"Get out of here ... you will die from collateral damage, if you remain in this place," the man warned again, and after a moment, Bonney just took one look at the man and ran away, while on the horizon a marine ship loomed near.

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FIVE HOURS LATER, IN MARIEJOIS,,

The Five Elders are a council of the highest-ranking Celestial Dragons that make up the head of state for the World Government. They essentially hold the greatest authority over the entirety of the world; and at this moment, they are faced with an unexpected problem.

As the five elders were discussing the potential outcome of the Summit war, and whether the remnants of Whitebeard pirates would be able to hold on to their area, they were interrupted as a marine Rear-Admiral ran into the rooms with a panicked look on his face.

"My Lords, there has been a catastrophe! An unexpected event has happened," the man blurted out, with his eyes bloodshot and his voice quivering even as he held a phonebug forward with a trembling hand.

"Calm yourself, what is the meaning of this?" one of the five elders, the one with the bald head and holding a sword on his hand barked in irritation at seeing such behavior from his subordinates.

"My Lord ... this ...I ... Admiral Akainu has been killed and his killer wishes to speak with you!!!" the man blurted out in panic, at which all of the elders stood up in shock.

"Are you mad? Do you even understand the import of the words that you speak?" the youngest elder with the yellow beard spoke out in anger, while the others looked at the man as if he was insane.

"My Lord ... we ... we verified the claims by checking the Vivre card of Admiral Sakazuki, and it is ...," the man whispered and looked forlorn as the expressions of the elders changed drastically.

"This is a disaster ...," the elder with the birthmark on his forehead moaned, while the others nodded grimly.

"Has the news already spread?" the sword-wielding elder asked with a growl, to which the marine recollected himself and shook his head indicating that it had not.

"The killer directly took Admiral Akainu's phonebug and contacted Mariejois directly, even Marineford should not know of this yet. It seems that the killer is serious in negotiating with your august selves personally," the man admitted, to which there were raised eyebrows everywhere.

"Very well, connect the phone bug and then you may leave," the first elder, the one with the scar on the left side of his face spoke out, even as the man obeyed the orders and quickly went out of the room.

Once the phone bug connected, all of the elders sat in front of the table while they waited.

"Am I speaking with the honored five elders, the leaders of the world government?" A calm and collected voice came out, at which there were raised eyebrows everywhere.

"You are," the second elder, the one with the long beard spoke out, "Identify yourself and the purpose of this call," he ordered even as all of them leaned forward.

"My name is Sephiroth, and I am the man who killed Admiral Akainu, also known as Sakazuki, and I am initiating this call to open negotiations," the voice came out, and all of them looked at each other.

"Negotiations, for what? Your surrender?" the third elder, the one with the birthmark, spoke out harshly, while the voice seemed amused.

"Hardly, since I have deprived you of an Admiral, I am offering myself as a replacement," the voice came out, and all of them were taken aback.

"Do you think this is a joke?" the fourth elder, the one with a sword spoke out harshly, while the voice continued in the same tone.

"Hardly, if it were, I would not have concealed the death of Sakazuki and contacted you directly, instead of leaving. The fact that I have contacted you first and not let the marines learn of this, so as to not destabilize your reputation and prestige should be a proof of my sincerity in this matter," the voice came out, while the five elders considered his words.

"You should have received my file by now, and you will have realized that my grudge with Akainu is personal, it was never about rebellion or piracy or anything else. Now that I have achieved my goals, I am looking to live the rest of my life in a content manner. Of course, I could become a pirate, and with my strength, overthrowing one of the four emperors is not a problem for me, but that is not my wish. I have no desire to spend the rest of my life fighting the world government. So, since I have deprived you of an Admiral, I offer myself as a replacement. In that way, you gain a strong tool to enforce your will, and I get to live a life free of hassle as well. It is not a bad bargain all said," the voice came out, while all the elders considered his words.

"It is as you have said," the fifth elder, the one with the yellow beard spoke out, as he looked at a copy of Sephiroth's file, which had been brought by one of the Cipher Pol agents and he looked at it intently, as did the others who looked at their own copies.

"You are the boy from Ohara, the one who broke into Mariejois twenty years ago, and that too, was to kill Sakazuki even then," the first elder noted, while all the others looked at the phone bug with curiosity.

"The one's to give the orders for Ohara's destruction were we, and yet, you choose to kill Sakazuki, and not us. Why?" the second elder asked with a curious tone, while the others nodded in agreement and leaned forward to hear Sephiroth's reply.

"Because Sakazuki is expendable, but you, the five elders are not. You are the lynchpins stabilizing the world from descending into anarchy, and harming you harms the stability of the world. Ohara's destruction was due to the foolish fanaticism of its scholars and I accept their culpability in this matter. Sakazuki, however implemented genocide and killed those who were innocent simply to improve his profile in your eyes and to promote his career. And in doing so, he earned my enmity. My enmity was never with the world government, it was and always has been with Sakazuki, and now that it is resolved I seek a peaceful accommodation with the world government," the reply came back, and the elders looked at each other, couple of them with a hint of approval in their eyes.

"Indeed, you do have the qualifications to negotiate with us. Arrive at Mariejois, and should the negotiations prove amenable, we can come to terms eventually," the 4th elder spoke out, while the others nodded in agreement.

"I will be there momentarily," the voice came and the phonebug went out.

"What ...," before the elders could react, the phonebug went dead and a couple of seconds later, at the corner of the room, a silver portal opened in mid-air and a man walked out of it nonchalantly.

Instantly, the room was filled with a dozen guards from Cipher-Pol Aigis Zero, who surrounded the five elders and took a guarding position.

The man who appeared was tall and had a lithe build, with silver-colored hair partitioned in two bangs. He was wearing a tan colored greatcoat with silver epaulettes and a massive longsword hung behind his back.

"My Lords, Five Elders, I Sephiroth, am honored to be in your presence. As agreed, I come in peace," the man spoke out and detached his sword and held it out horizontally in a submissive manner.

With a curt nod from the fourth elder, one of the CP-0 agents came forth and picked up the sword.

"Be seated," the fifth elder spoke out curtly and pointed to a seat while the other elders moved opposite him.

"I don't know whether to call your move arrogant or stupid," the second elder mused as he looked at the man in front of him.

"Not arrogant or stupid, but rather confident. I believed that you would not go against your words and imprison me if I came to negotiate in person. Going against your words would be beneath your dignity," Sephiroth pointed, while the second elder chuckled as he acknowledged his words.

"Indeed, while we are not opposed to your proposal, we are not convinced either. We would need assurances before we can be certain of your loyalty," the third elder spoke carefully, even as a couple of servants came around and handed over tea and refreshments and left with a quiet bow.

"And what assurances do you require of me?" Sephiroth asked, while the 1st elder looked at him with a piercing gaze. "Explain your rationale for choosing to align with the world government. With your strength, you are indeed as you said, capable of setting up a new pirate group on par with the four emperors, and yet you choose the world government. Why?"

"Because you are the best option," Sephiroth spoke earnestly as he looked at them all. "For the last 20 years that I have spent in Impel Down, I have looked at the worst that this world has to offer. Many of the pirates are nothing but greedy, cruel and vain persons who only seek to satiate their base desires and nothing else. For them, satiating their base desires is all that matters and they do not care about the damage or harm they cause to those around them. They roam around, raping, pillaging and plundering everything around them and they disguise them with hypocritical ideals like freedom and chasing their dreams. Lofty ideals that mask nothing but anarchy and base greed. If I were to give in to such temptations, I would be no less than a beast indulging my baser instincts, and I am a better man than that," he spoke out, while the five elders nodded in agreement.

"And we are a better option than that?" the fourth elder asked as he looked at the young man with a look of appreciation in his eyes.

"Yes, like it or not, over the course of 800 years, the world government has settled itself as a behemoth spanning the entire world, and regardless of actuality, your name and your presence indicates stability and order. No government is perfect, and even the World Government is not, but it is leagues better than the alternative," he spoke out, while the second elder looked at him sharply.

"The alternative?" he asked curiously while the others leaned forward to hear the answer.

"The New World," Sephiroth spoke out quietly, "Look at it and see the anarchy that reigns there. Most of the countries and kingdoms that are present live in eternal fear wondering when they will have to submit to a new pirate overlord, while fearing for their lives. Each day, young and ambitious pirates make their way to the new world, and instantly start trying to create their own territories to start vying with the four emperors. That is why, it is better to be under the rule of a single despot than under the rule of a hundred petty tyrants. And what bigger despot can there be than the world government?" he asked rhetorically, while the faces of the five elders reddened.

"You would insult us to our face?" the fifth elder asked with anger in his tone, to which Sephiroth chuckled.

"Please, do not insult my intelligence and your own with this fake anger," Sephiroth replied as he looked at the five men in front of him. "Are you honestly expecting me to believe that you managed to create a dynasty that lasted for 800 years through nothing but kindness and sheer benevolence? Do not make me laugh," he scoffed, even as he looked at the five elders and continued, "On the contrary, a ruler must be both tyrannical and benevolent as per the need of the time, and thus can his rule endure. Or did you believe that I learned nothing from the great lost knowledge of Ohara? It is because I know what the world government is truly capable of, that I have come here. The Marines, the Cipher Pol, The Army of the world, all are but tools that you use to maintain your rule. And it is better to be a capable tool under a authority that knows how to wield said tool, than be a floundering pirate fighting for rubbish ideals in the sea. Now, you know why I have chosen to submit to your authority. What is your decision?" he asked, while the five elders looked at each other and nodded in some form of agreement.

"Give us some time to discuss your proposal. You will have your answer soon, in the meantime, the hospitality of Mariejois is yours," the first elder spoke out and the five of them got up and walked out of the rooms, while Sephiroth smirked. He knew that the five were going to their hidden master to ask for his opinion.

As he leaned back, Sephiroth leaned back and began to plan how he could use the upcoming events in One Piece canon to his advantage, now that he had thrown a big wrench in the plans.

After twenty minutes, even as he was deep in his thoughts, the five elders came back to the room and Sephiroth became attentive.

The first elder took the cue and spoke out formally, "We have discussed your proposal and have come to a conclusion. We accept your offer, however, you will not take Akainu's place," the first elder spoke out in a somber tone while Sephiroth was perplexed.

"Not take Akainu's place? Then, do you intend for me to join the Cipher Pol?" he asked in a curious tone, to which the first elder shook his head.

"No, you will take Sengoku's place. Sephiroth of Ohara, you are now hereby appointed as the New Fleet Admiral of the Marines under the authority of the World Government."