The power of words can never compare to the power of reality.
At this moment, the reality before the Marine personnel made them immediately overturn the words of a certain officer from a moment ago.
"Things don't look good over there. It doesn't seem like Kenji-san is actively holding back his power..." A soldier raised a question, and then the questioning quickly spread.
"Hmph! What are you panicking about?" The officer from before spoke again, lecturing everyone with a tone of disappointment.
"In a fierce battlefield, if one side retracts its power, the other side will definitely take the opportunity to attack. This is a matter of ebb and flow. You all should read more books."
"Oh, that's right." The soldiers suddenly understood.
They looked at the center of the battlefield again and found that the speed at which Kenji's Conqueror's Haki retreated began to accelerate.
Soon, everyone could already see the black light rushing out from the warship's cabin. And on the surface, the dark red light seemed to be devoured by the black light.
If that were the case, it would be terrifying because this meant that the Conqueror's Haki was not actively restrained, nor was it forced back, but was being swallowed and assimilated by incomprehensible black energy. This was an irreversible, unstoppable trend.
It was like encountering a superior Devil Fruit ability. Even if you double your power, you cannot stop the impact of the superior Devil Fruit ability.
Although the observing Marines hadn't read many books, they had a lot of combat experience, at least knowing the difference between superior and inferior Devil Fruit abilities.
"Hey, hey! Look, is Kenji-san's Conqueror's Haki..."
"Are you trying to say that Kenji's Conqueror's Haki seems to be... restrained by that black light?"
"Eh? No, I didn't say that, you did."
"Hmm, I just said it looked like it..."
Just as everyone started discussing again, the officer's voice rang out at the opportune moment.
And this time, the officers and warrant officers remaining on the warship collectively came forward, reprimanding and explaining.
"What's the rush? From such a distance, and with such big winds and waves, what can you see clearly?"
"Hmph! You all are still too young. What's this situation? It's just a small scene."
"Don't panic. Just retracting power, that's all."
The situation was quickly brought under control.
Just then, the distant combat scene changed again.
As the black light forced back the Conqueror's Haki, the entire warship was quickly enveloped in darkness, returning to its previous appearance as a dark ship. Furthermore, the black light encroached upwards, dyeing the originally dark red sky with the color of darkness.
Darkness instinctively instills fear in people.
When the boundless sky turns into a dark eternal night, who wouldn't panic at such a sight?
"Don't worry, it's a small problem, soon, Kenji-san will counterattack..."
The officers were still trying to explain. But in reality, whether they explained or not, it didn't significantly affect the soldiers' internal judgment.
Because they were all 'veterans' who had followed Kenji for many years, having witnessed more urgent and dangerous battle situations than the current one, their psychological defenses were not so easily broken.
In fact, if the target of this battle wasn't so special, the officers wouldn't have needed to say anything at all.
If the enemy were pirates, the more difficult the battle, the more these elite soldiers would be filled with fighting spirit.
But right now, the "enemy" is from the World Government, and Kenji is attacking one of the Five Elders, who hold the highest power in the world.
Even pretending not to know who was attacking already caused suspicion, and now that the battle situation seems to be gradually falling into a disadvantage, it can easily amplify the doubts in their hearts.
After all, grassroots soldiers receive years of obedience education and training, so in their eyes, no matter what, the World Government's Five Elders are considered the highest leaders of the Marine.
Disobeying and attacking leaders is easy to say, but quite another thing to actually do.
The Marine soldiers on the warship not causing internal chaos was already the best outcome. For other teams, it would be almost impossible to achieve this level.
Of course, this was also because these soldiers were Kenji's 'old subordinates' and 'old team'.
Especially after recently following Kenji in multiple battles to subjugate Legendary Pirates, their trust in Kenji had reached an unparalleled level.
However, facing an act of attacking the Five Elders, which was almost rebellion, it was certain that the soldiers had doubts in their hearts, but they were just doubts.
Having gone through multiple high-intensity subjugation battles, they subconsciously believed that Kenji's decisions were reasonable.
"Attacking the Five Elders... isn't that a bit bad?"
"Hmph! Open your eyes and look carefully, that ship is full of darkness. What's wrong with striking darkness?"
"Speaking of which, are the Five Elders really on that ship?"
"The entire warship is covered in darkness. If the Five Elders were really on board, they should be affected, right?"
"Hey! Who cares?! Anyway, they don't look like good people..."
Just as the Marine personnel were discussing amongst themselves.
At the center of the battlefield, black light and dark red light clashed in the sky.
This time, the Conqueror's Haki did not retreat an inch, forming a standoff.
At the same time, inside the Egghead Island research institute.
Kenji had already walked out of the laboratory and stopped at the entrance of the institute.
Looking at the island scenery outside the door, he made up his mind. If the system didn't give a mission, he absolutely wouldn't step out of the research institute's main door.
No reward, and you want me to show up and fight the Five Elders? Wouldn't that be a huge loss?
You know, showing up means tearing off the disguise, bringing the conflict into the open, just one step away from flipping the table.
And flipping the table basically means pushing the tower, confronting those world rulers.
For him to just go do that... at least there should be corresponding benefits, right?
Protagonists don't just go against the trend empty-handed. Not to mention powerful abilities, at least they have the favor of destiny.
Or perhaps, it's what's called 'destined'? Like every destined 'Nika'.
But right now, Kenji didn't even have a system mission, so he really couldn't muster any interest in doing anything big.
'Could it be that the system hasn't yet judged the Five Elders and the World Government as hostile?'
Kenji rubbed his chin, his eyes flashing with a thoughtful expression.
'If that's the case... that's quite interesting.'
As Kenji pondered silently, Vegapunk and others followed behind him, also stopping behind him.
These core members of the MADS team now fully understood that the World Government's fleet was coming for them. Not even for their large MADS team, but for their small group, the core members.
And earlier, when Kenji was secretly using his Future Vision to try and comprehend Devil Fruit abilities, several core members of the MADS organization had finally reached a consensus.
And they discussed a plan: to follow Kenji.