"Jie hahahaha!!!"
Shiki was in extremely high spirits.
"What a show this has turned into, Marine Headquarters, Marineford!!!"
"Back then, Ozz Dotor and I came here together and destroyed more than half of Marineford. This time, the whole place might just sink beneath the sea."
"After all, both Newgate and Ozz Dotor, those two monsters, are on this island right now!!!"
The thought that the thing he had always wanted to do but never managed to accomplish might finally happen today made Shiki burst into wild laughter.
"Instead of worrying about that, why don't you worry about how much longer you can hold on, Shiki!!!"
Leaping into the air, Garp smashed the floating Shiki back down with a single punch.
Among the older generation of monsters, Garp was one of the very few who had still maintained his peak combat power. Dealing with the current Golden Lion was easy for him.
"With you and the Whitebeard Pirates as you are now, you still cannot break Marineford's defensive line!!!"
"Jie hahahaha!!!"
Shiki spat out a few mouthfuls of blood, but his laughter remained bold and unrestrained.
"How naïve, Garp!!!"
"It seems you still haven't realized what kind of situation you're in now."
"On my way here, I saw quite a few interesting people heading this way. This war won't end so easily!!!"
"What?!"
A trace of gravity crossed Garp's face.
...
At the same time,
Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
The Room of Authority.
"The war has reached its most intense stage."
The five supreme powers of the World Government were secretly observing the battlefield through a Den Den Mushi. They watched Whitebeard coughing blood and the Golden Lion being steadily driven back, their expressions cold.
"The era of the old generation of great pirates, those led by Rocks, has already passed."
Saint Warcury spoke calmly.
"Though there have been some minor twists, from the current state of the battlefield, the Navy's victory is already inevitable."
Saint Mars also held an optimistic view.
"This war will become a model case. It will crush the ever-growing arrogance of pirates that has risen since Roger's execution. The number of people heading out to sea will drop sharply."
All five of them were very satisfied with the current direction of the battle.
And then,
A messenger soldier came stumbling in, panting, practically crawling.
"R report to the Five Elders!!!"
"Hm???"
The sudden disturbance instantly drew their attention. The Five Elders frowned and looked at the flustered soldier.
"What disgraceful behavior."
"What could possibly make you act so frantically in front of us?!"
Facing the cold gazes of the highest authorities in the world, the soldier broke out in cold sweat.
But then he remembered how important the intelligence was.
A hidden CP0 squad had been completely wiped out. This was the intelligence they had barely managed to send out with their dying breath through a Den Den Mushi.
"Reporting, it concerns the results of the CP0 squad's investigation into Saint Ozz Dotor's secret experiment!!!"
"What?!"
At the mention of that, the first and strongest reaction came from Saint Saturn.
As the Warrior God of Science, he was the one directly in charge of Vegapunk's research and the one with the deepest understanding of scientific work. He cared far more about this matter than the other Elders.
Of course, the others were also extremely interested in and wary of the secret Ozz Dotor had kept hidden for so long.
"Read it."
Five gazes locked onto him at once, and the soldier's pressure increased sharply. He hurriedly opened the report.
After reading only a glance, however, instead of showing the shock and horror the Five Elders expected, his expression turned puzzled and confused.
Then,
A line of text, extremely brief and written in haste, slowly came from the soldier's mouth.
"Research objective. Artificial Nika slash marks. Sun God Joy Boy."
"What?!"
The moment the soldier read the final word, his head exploded from the force of a single glare.
Blood splattered across the entire Room of Authority.
A terrifying wave of Conqueror's Haki burst outward, and the floor began to crack.
Five pairs of eyes, filled with murderous rage, turned toward the Den Den Mushi.
"What kind of joke is this?!"
"We believed we had already shown Ozz Dotor more than enough courtesy, even yielded to him at times. How dare he?!"
"This is a hatred that cannot be reconciled. After the World Government has existed for so long, Joy Boy must never be allowed to appear again in this world!!!"
The Den Den Mushi was picked up, and the will of the highest authority was quickly transmitted to Marine Headquarters.
...
"Beru beru beru..."
Hm?
The war had reached its fiercest phase, yet Sengoku's personal Den Den Mushi suddenly began ringing. He was puzzled, but he had no choice except to answer.
The call was from Mary Geoise.
Click.
"Reporting to the Five Elders, the situation in the Paramount War remains favorable."
Sengoku gave his report first, but he quickly noticed that something was terribly wrong with the expressions on the other end.
The Den Den Mushi, mimicking the faces of the Five Elders, was full of killing intent and fury.
"Sengoku, at all costs, add Ozz Dotor to the list of targets to be attacked!!!"
"???"
Hearing that order, Sengoku, who had just been thinking that everything was going perfectly, Whitebeard's forces being crushed under the assault of the three Admirals, the Golden Lion getting pummeled by Garp, and victory soon at hand, nearly had his mind go blank.
"This..."
"This is an order, Sengoku!!!"
The Five Elders displayed a level of harshness that was shocking and utterly baffling.
Then they hung up the Den Den Mushi. They still had to report this matter to Imu-sama at once.
Meanwhile, Sengoku stood beside the execution platform, staring at the battlefield burning with battle and felt his whole body go cold.
He saw the Marines fighting with renewed spirit, the pirates falling back and resisting desperately.
That entire flourishing scene had been wiped away by a single phone call.
Attack Ozz Dotor?
Who was supposed to do that?
An Admiral? Garp? Himself?
And what about the Seven Warlords?
At that exact moment, a voice he least wanted to hear rang out.
Before anyone realized it, Ozz Dotor had already walked to the center of the battlefield, the domain of the three Admirals.
"Oh? An aged Whitebeard and two Emperor Commanders. As expected, even with all that, taking on the three famed Admirals is still a bit too much."
Whitebeard's chest had been pierced through, and by now he had probably coughed up liters of blood.
Ozz Dotor stood beside the battlefield between Whitebeard and Akainu, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"That's Saint Ozz Dotor!!!"
"Is he finally going to make his move against the Whitebeard Pirates too?!"
"Wonderful. The battle is decided!!!"
Even the pair of Koby and Helmeppo, still hiding and watching from the outskirts, seemed convinced that the Navy had already won.
"As expected, becoming an Admiral is still too much for me. Even Luffy was struck down on the path of chasing his dream..."
Koby lowered his head, trying to comfort himself.
But in the next moment, Helmeppo's face changed drastically.
That reaction drew Koby's attention as well. He looked up and saw the man who had always remained calm and composed.
That stylish figure raised one hand lightly and stopped the magma giant fist in midair. His eyes blazed with crimson light.
"However..."
"Did you really think my Observation Haki failed to hear what was said through that Den Den Mushi, Sengoku?"
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