Chapter 193

The mage died.

In the operation to suppress the Akatsuki organization, three mages died inside the Rainy Hidden Village, and not even their remains could be recovered.

To honor these three, the Fapingyi Society held a ceremony inside the Cathedral of Carthia in Magnolia Town.

All personnel who had previously participated in the operation attended, including Ran Zhan, who was suffering from "severe injuries."

"Lord Makarov, I am deeply sorry for the deaths of these three."

Looking at the church before him, Ran Zhan's face showed a look of guilt.

"This has nothing to do with Lord Ran Zhan—who could have imagined the Monu Sect and the Akatsuki organization would join forces?"

No matter how furious or remorseful Makarov was at that moment, he would never turn his anger toward Ran Zhan.

After all, Ran Zhan had warned them from the start that the Akatsuki organization's power was terrifyingly immense; everyone had already prepared to die.

On the contrary, Makarov even had to thank Ran Zhan.

If Ran Zhan had not arrived despite his severe injuries at that critical moment, it wouldn't have been just three dead—it would have been the complete annihilation of the entire allied army.

"By the way, do you know anything about the Five Elders of the World Government?"

"Is it also a powerful dark organization?"

Makarov had naturally received news of the Five Elders' appearance.

For this suddenly appearing force, Makarov was deeply concerned.

Because it was too coincidental.

It was simply too coincidental.

They appeared in the Wastewood and caused massive destruction while we were suppressing the Akatsuki organization.

The coincidence was so extreme that Makarov even began to suspect whether the World Government's Five Elders had some connection to the Monu Sect and others.

But after careful thought, Makarov dismissed this hypothesis.

Because he had received word that the Five Elders seemed to come from the Grand Line, arriving in this world apparently to capture the Bai Huzi Pirates.

But if they came to capture the Bai Huzi Pirates, then Ace, who had once accepted a mission from our society, was also on their capture list.

To be honest, Makarov had always been deeply grateful to Ace for helping Fairy Tail when he fell, and he held a favorable impression of him.

So, Makarov unconsciously viewed the World Government as another dark force like the Akatsuki organization.

Now that the Akatsuki organization and the Monu Sect have joined forces, we already feel powerless—adding the World Government would make our already unfavorable situation even more difficult.

Moreover, after this incident, Makarov placed great importance on intelligence gathering.

Perhaps through this death god beside him, who has lived for centuries, he could obtain some information about the World Government.

"To be honest, although I am aware of the existence of the Grand Line, I only know a little about the World Government."

"As far as I know, the World Government rules the Grand Line and is the largest organization."

"Its headquarters is located in the city of Mary Geoise on the Red Line; the Five Elders are its supreme rulers, totaling five individuals."

"Its organizational nature is somewhat similar to your so-called Fapingyi Society."

At this point, Fairy Tail picked up several pieces of information.

The Five Elders and the World Government, like the Bai Huzi Pirates before them, all originated from the Grand Line.

The only difference was that the two seemed to be enemies.

And they could both confirm that the so-called Grand Line, like the previous Akatsuki organization and Seireitei, was a fragment from in another world.

Having said that, everything is actually fine; after all, they already knew part of this information from Aizen earlier, though it wasn't elaborated upon.

But what Ran Zhan said next was information they had never known.

"The World Government controls the Grand Line and has under its command the Seven Warlords of the Sea; each Warlord possesses immense power."

"Besides the Warlords, there are the Three Admirals, even stronger than the Warlords—each nearly as powerful as the leader of the Akatsuki organization, Xuanwozhang Sect."

"Of course, this does not mean the Warlords are inferior to the Admirals; there are Warlords whose strength rivals that of the Admirals."

"Moreover, as the rulers of the World Government, the Five Elders themselves possess power surpassing that of the Three Admirals."

"What?"

It must be admitted that upon hearing this news, Makarov's mind went completely blank.

Keep in mind that during the suppression operation, just one Changmen of the Akatsuki nearly wiped them out entirely.

Wouldn't the World Government, possessing three Admirals simultaneously, be even more terrifying than the Akatsuki organization?

"Mm," Aizen nodded and continued speaking.

"To be honest, if you hadn't told me, I still wouldn't dare to believe that the Five Elders would personally lead a team to this world."

At these words, not only Makarov but even the Fairy Tail members nearby were left stunned.

"… 'Oh my god! Is the World Government that terrifying?'

"If they intend to attack us, wouldn't we be unable to even put up any resistance?"

The Three Admirals, the Seven Warlords, plus the Five Elders; just imagining such a lineup is enough to induce despair.

…………

Hearing this, Aizen gently shook his head and continued speaking.

"No, within the Grand Line, the World Government is not without opponents."

"Just as you mentioned earlier regarding Ace, the Bai Huzi Pirates, the Yonko faction he belongs to, are sufficient to give the World Government a headache."

"Besides them, there are three other Yonko powers who are equally formidable."

"The other four are respectively: 'Big Mom' Charlotte Linlin, who rules over Totto Land."

"'Hundred Beasts' Kaido, who occupies Wano Country."

"'Red-Haired' Shanks, whose identity remains mysterious yet possesses immense strength."

"Each Yonko commands their own forces, opposing the World Government throughout the Grand Line."

"Because the Four Emperors' forces are too powerful, in order to resist the Four Emperors, the World Government recruits powerful pirates from every sea region of the Grand Line, and the Seven Warlords of the Sea came about from this."

If earlier Aizen had only given a brief description, this time he laid out the full picture of the Grand Line's forces in detail.

So much so that midway through the talk, Natsu muttered a small complaint, "That's all you know?"

With a bang, as expected, he got a smack from Erza.

Hearing the end of it, Makarov's suspended heart gradually settled down as well.

Although it couldn't be said to be completely at ease, at least he could relax a little.

After all, upon learning that such a massive force was eyeing this world covetously, anyone else would probably have panicked long ago.

"Master Makarov, my apologies for the news."

Aizen said this directly to him at this point.

"The Monu Sect and the Akatsuki organization have reached a cooperation — it's too sudden, I need to return quickly to report the news."