Although it hasn’t been confirmed, it’s basically certain that the Lunarians were wiped out by the World Government.
Time of the Lunarian Genocide?
Based on King’s relatively young age (47) and the fact that relatively recent and significant historical events (think the God Valley incident) have been erased from history, I would argue that the Lunarian genocide more than likely occurred somewhat recently, and not a thousand years ago.
The Vivre Cards Prove that King has a Vendetta Against the Marines
We also know from the Vivre Card, that King
and King alone was accompanying Kaido to Marineford. Now this may just be wank for King, but I think it’s deeper than that.
King probably has some vendetta against the World Government and by extension
some living marines.
Which Marines? (why Akainu?)
Once you accept that King has some vendetta against the marines and world government, there’s actually more evidence to back Akainu being one of King’s targets than any other living marine:
1) He’s probably more OK with genocide than the other admirals/higher tier marines. The O’Hara incident basically proves this.
2) There is a clear magma vs fire dynamic established in One Piece. The volcano man playing a big role in the annihilation of the fire men would fit this.
3) It would start to transition Akainu back into the story as an antagonist. This is not a trivial point. Regardless of whether you think Akainu is a fight for Sabo, a non-EOS fight, the final fight, etc., at some point he needs to be dealt with. Akainu being a major figure in a successful genocide builds him up and would be good writing on the part of Oda.
Also
@TheAncientCenturion asked to be tagged in my next thread so here you go.