New World, Marine Frontline Command Headquarters.
Early morning.
In the conference room.
Morris and Vice Admiral Tsuru had also been up all night, directing the battle.
The Navy's encirclement on the large screen was constantly shrinking, the effect evident, but the sacrifices…
Below, personnel were reporting the results and casualties of the night's battle:
“As of 6:43 AM today.”
“The pirate encirclement operations against the direction of Whole Cake Island and the Land of Wano have progressed by one-quarter overall, and the defense line has stabilized.”
“Casualty situation…”
“Vice Admiral Doberman, Vice Admiral Burner, Vice Admiral Meredith, Vice Admiral Strawberry… a total of thirteen Vice Admirals have fallen.”
“Their fleets all conducted suicidal ramming attacks, intercepting pirates and preventing any breakthroughs of the defense line.”
As the words fell, the conference room fell into silence.
A moment later.
Morris took a deep breath and waved his hand:
“You may go.”
The statistical personnel bowed their heads and said:
“Yes.”
Vice Admiral Tsuru, seated at the head of the table, frowned deeply:
“The casualties are too great.”
“Thirteen Vice Admirals lost in one night.”
Morris shook his head:
“There was no other way.”
“There was no time to deal with them slowly.”
The frontline in the New World was stretched too thin. It wasn’t about encircling one or two islands, but a vast encirclement spanning dozens of islands.
The length and breadth of the battle line meant that the commanding Vice Admirals and troops were stretched thin.
Although the Four Emperors were dead and their cadres decimated, that was only the Four Emperors. The tens of thousands of pirates within the encirclement, including many wild powerhouses.
They had to shrink this massive encirclement to a certain radius before the pirates could react, allowing the forces to converge and completely lock them down.
Morris looked at the encirclement, which had shrunk by a quarter on the screen:
“But this is still not enough…”
The current defense line had barely closed. The distance between the various fleets had shrunk somewhat, but it was still far from enough.
To completely lock down the defensive perimeter, with the current lines, they would need to shrink it by at least another half to ensure that not a single pirate could escape.
Vice Admiral Tsuru clasped her hands under her chin and closed her eyes in thought for a moment before speaking:
“Have the Admiral candidates and some elite Vice Admirals conduct solo breakthroughs.”
Morris pondered:
“Paving the way for the fleets…”
It was indeed a method. In the current situation, with the Four Emperors dead and their cadres largely eliminated,
the strongest wild pirates were only at the level of Four Emperor cadres. The Admiral candidates and elite Vice Admirals could retreat unscathed.
However, it wasn't entirely without risk. A solo breakthrough could encounter a large pirate fleet and become entangled, risking death.
But in war, who doesn't die…
Morris looked at the battle situation on the large screen, his eyes narrowing:
“Issue the order.”
“Inform Gion, Kashi, Momousagi, Dalmatian, Bastille, Law, and Drake to prepare for solo breakthroughs.”
“Await orders.”
The messenger behind him quickly went to relay the order.
Morris then walked to the large screen and brought up the positions of these seven individuals.
Looking at the vast map and the encirclement, he pointed his baton at one person and began to redraw the encirclement, forming a red line.
He traced over them one by one.
The encirclement on the large screen, like a giant pizza, was divided into several slices by Morris's baton…
----------
Early morning, Mary Geoise.
Inside the vast white palace.
The Five Elders listened to their subordinate's report with grim expressions.
The tall, thin Five Elder spoke in a low voice:
“Forty-seven islands, and not a single anomaly was found.”
“Damn it…”
These islands were newly selected after the suppression of the Revolutionary Army’s headquarters last time, but now they were all fake…
The burly Five Elder took a deep breath:
“If that doesn’t work, we’ll deal with the Marines first.”
Thinking of the news that had spread throughout the world in just half a day, he couldn't help but curse:
“A bunch of useless people.”
To think that the pirates who had dominated the seas for decades, the Four Emperors, were all wiped out in a day and a half by Sakazuki, their heads displayed at Marine Headquarters. What else could they be but useless…
Of course, they also knew that it wasn't entirely the Four Emperors' fault for being too weak.
It was impossible to investigate anything in more than a day, but they already had a guess as to how Sakazuki had accomplished it.
Those Four Emperors were scattered across the New World. To reach their locations and annihilate them all in a day and a half.
Excluding combat time, there was almost no time spent traveling. The only explanation was teleportation.
And the thought of teleportation made the Five Elders’ expressions even more grim.
The previous user of the Teleport-Teleport Fruit was a government agent who had died nearly twenty years ago.
When that agent was dying, they had sent him to Vegapunk to see if the Teleport-Teleport Fruit could be recovered.
Now it seemed that Vegapunk had colluded with Sakazuki at that time…
The Five Elder holding a sword looked troubled:
“Teleportation…”
Now, the Marines could attack at any time. The troublesome thing about the Teleport-Teleport Fruit was that it could instantly gather the high-level combat power of the Marines in Mary Geoise.
If a war were to break out, whether they would die or not was another matter, but Mary Geoise would definitely not be able to be protected…
The combined high-end combat power of the Marines and the World Government participating in the war would likely be even greater than in the Battle of Dressrosa a few years ago.
That battle between pirates and Marines had annihilated all the islands in an entire sea area. Mary Geoise was not that large, and it would surely collapse.
And what was hidden there would inevitably be exposed…
The curly-haired Five Elder gripped his cane and said in a deep voice:
“Call Kong.”
“It’s time to choose a side.”
“All that matters now is victory.”
“The remaining Revolutionary Army is nothing more than a bunch of ants.”
“The foolish pigs have been purged, no need to worry about them anymore.”
“It is time for this world to welcome a true king…”
----------
Early morning.
Grand Line, beneath the Red Line.
Two massive fleets, having traversed the East Blue and the South Blue, hundreds of Revolutionary Army ships, converged in sight.
Dragon stood on the uppermost deck, gazing up expressionlessly at the endless Red Line.
Before the cliff face thousands of meters high, these hundreds of Revolutionary Army ships appeared so small. And the people standing on these ships were like ants…
But even ants could unleash a roar of defiance…
Karoo, wearing a bird-beaked megaphone and a black feathered cape, approached:
“Everyone is ready.”
“We can depart at any time.”
Dragon nodded slightly and said in a deep voice:
“It seems they all know.”
His gaze swept over the faces looking up at him on each ship. In their eyes, there was a terrifying rage, a rage against the gods…
Karoo also said in a deep voice:
“The fall of forty-seven islands could not be kept secret.”
The Revolutionary Army was composed of people from all over the world. The elites gathered here came from the Four Seas. With the World Government’s large-scale conquest, the news could not be concealed.
Although they had known this day would come, the World Government’s counterattack was truly swift…
Dragon was silent for a moment before saying:
“Prepare.”
He vanished like a gust of wind.
Karoo took out his walkie-talkie, and his voice rang out across the hundreds of ships:
“All ships, spread out to the flanks, secure everything around you.”
“Prepare!!!”
Whoosh—
Whoosh—
Whoosh—
This calm sea suddenly stirred with an eerie gale, swirling around the converged massive fleet, forming a colossal tornado…
Three ships, nine ships, seventeen ships…
These ships, hoisting their sails and unfolding their modified flanks, soared into the sky in batches, reaching into the clouds…
----
Early morning, Mary Geoise.
The Five Elders, who had just ordered someone to summon Kong, suddenly felt a tremor.
The cups on the table rippled, and a booming sound reached the grand hall, a dangerous aura stimulating their nerves.
They exchanged glances, and before any agents could enter, they walked out directly.
Pushing open the palace doors, they were met with an unimaginably huge tornado, enveloped in thunderclouds and lightning, approaching in the distance…
A deafening roar, accompanied by the sound of dragons, echoed through heaven and earth, through Mary Geoise…
“Great warriors of the Revolutionary Army!”
“There may be gods in this world, but they are certainly not the nobles who call themselves gods down there!!!”
“We may fail.”
“But our will shall be passed down through generations, our flame undying!”
“This world will surely welcome the dawn of victory!”
“A thousand years from now!!!”
“There will still be people who remember this time, this moment, here in this place called the abode of gods!!!”
“There were a group of mortals!”
“Who, risking their lives, faced these ‘gods’!!!”
“To carry out!!”
“Judgment!!!!”
The condensed thunderclouds, with the falling words, accompanied by thunder and lightning, transformed into an enormous thunder dragon, smashing towards the grand palace representing the Five Elders…
Below, the Five Elder holding a sword drew his blade. A streak of sword light flashed.
The giant thunder dragon was split in two and fell upon Mary Geoise, exploding with chaotic lightning.
Immediately following were swarms of flying ships, crashing into various locations…
Ship after ship of the Revolutionary Army swooped down, crushing the houses and buildings of Mary Geoise. Revolutionary soldiers wielding spears leaped from their ships.
They launched a charge against the ‘gods’…
----------
Rumble—
A deafening sound erupted.
It came from high above, thousands of meters in the sky, reaching the evacuated Marine Headquarters…
Sakazuki stood on the ramparts of the fortress, listening to the deafening roar and looking towards the direction of the Red Line:
“It has begun.”
Boom!
Garp landed here from a distance. Sakazuki’s brows furrowed.
Garp said, unable to contain himself:
“Can we go now, Sakazuki?”
Sakazuki said indifferently:
“What’s the rush?”
“The battle has just begun.”
“With Dragon’s abilities, he won’t die for now.”
Garp’s expression sank upon hearing this. He glanced at Sakazuki.
Without any hesitation, he turned and left, clearly having made preparations long ago. He stomped his foot and shot out like a sharp sword, treading on the air, heading towards Mary Geoise.
Sengoku landed on the fortress shortly after, looking at the departing Garp:
“Hey! Garp!!!”
His expression also sank, and he looked at Sakazuki:
“When do we depart?”
Sakazuki’s indifferent voice rang out:
“If you can’t wait, you can go with him.”
“Having been a Marine your whole life, you shouldn’t have forgotten how to fight after just two days of rest, should you?”
Sengoku took a deep breath, cast a deep look at Sakazuki, turned to look in the direction Garp had left, stomped his foot, and charged off.
After a long while…
Swish—
Karp appeared on the top floor of the fortress. After sensing with his Observation Haki, he was somewhat surprised:
“Not here?”
Sakazuki said:
“Are the people ready?”
Karp nodded slightly:
“Yes.”
Since they weren’t here…
Swish—
His figure instantly disappeared and reappeared, holding a昏迷 youth with a straw hat in his hand.
Sakazuki used his Observation Haki to sense the youth’s aura:
“Interesting…”
The aura was deep and continuous, no weaker than the high-level combatants at Headquarters, but that was merely the aura and internal energy. Actual combat was still far behind.
Karp said:
“Unlike the Paramecia types that operate on rules.”
“These Zoan types, once their energy reaches a certain level, can break through internal limits and awaken.”
“However, this guy’s fruit is quite perverted…”
“It consumed almost all the nutrient solution on Egghead Island to mature to this extent.”
“According to data tests, it has reached the critical point.”
“Now, all that’s needed is to awaken him, release the Seastone shackles, and stimulate him a bit.”
“The immense energy within him, combined with his emotional fluctuations, will directly trigger his awakening.”
Sakazuki chuckled and said:
“First, send this guy to Sote, to reunite with his companions.”
“And bring the Red-Haired’s head…”