The situation changed in an instant.
As the sudden upheaval erupted at the center of the battlefield, countless Marines and pirates who had been locked in fierce combat could not help but turn their attention over.
There stood Whitebeard, the old man of the pirates.
There stood Admiral Sakazuki, revered by the Marines.
And there stood that one figure.
His black coat snapped wildly in the shockwaves stirred up by artillery fire. His long, well-defined fingers slowly lit a cigarette for himself. Neither magma nor earthquakes, those twin natural disasters, could come near him.
The entire battlefield had ground to a halt because of a single man.
And the atmosphere only grew heavier.
Whether pirate or Marine, all of them found his sudden move strange. He was supposed to be part of the Navy's side.
Only Sengoku, upon hearing those words, had his expression change instantly.
His pupils trembled as he looked at that figure.
Those crimson eyes
slowly lifted
and turned toward him.
"Then, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, please announce the World Government's newest order."
The whole battlefield fell silent. Then every gaze turned toward the execution platform, toward the figure whose face was cast in shadow.
Perhaps realizing there was no longer any way around it,
after struggling inwardly for a long while, Sengoku finally declared to all the Marines:
"By order of the World Government, Black Spear Ozz Dotor is to be classified as an enemy target!!!"
This was the Five Elders' counterattack.
It was also the fury of having their bottom line crossed.
Even knowing the Navy had no real way to deal with Ozz Dotor, they still had to make their stance clear, because...
the World Government could tolerate the appearance of Nika. Even the Five Elders would not lose themselves over that alone.
But Joy Boy must never reappear in this world.
Nika was merely the power of a Devil Fruit.
Joy Boy was the name of a legend.
As for the losses the Navy would suffer because of such an order, that was not something they cared about. To the Celestial Dragons, the Navy was nothing more than a dog on a leash.
At this moment,
as Sengoku's command rang out,
the once-chaotic battlefield instantly went quiet. In that silence, the occasional clatter of blades and rifles slipping from stunned hands sounded unnaturally loud.
"What?!"
"Fight Black Spear Ozz Dotor?!"
"Doesn't that mean even the Seven Warlords too?!"
"What kind of joke is this... we were just about to win..."
The Marines were questioning their entire existence.
On the other hand, the pirates were far more energized.
"Seriously?!"
"Then doesn't that mean that legendary pirate is on our side now?!"
"I thought we were all dead for sure!!!"
Even Whitebeard, wracked by illness and coughing blood, could not stop the corner of his mouth from lifting.
"Gurarararara... what a surprise you've given me, Sengoku."
Faced with the mockery and provocation of his old rival, Sengoku knew better than anyone that this was a move so rotten it could not be more rotten.
But he had no choice.
And besides, at his core,
Ozz Dotor really was a pirate.
"Sakazuki, Kuzan, Borsalino!!!"
Sengoku roared, then his whole body burst with golden light as he transformed into a towering, massive golden Buddha.
"I'll personally handle Whitebeard and those two commanders.
The three of you are responsible for holding down Black Spear Ozz Dotor and the rest of the enemy forces!!!"
Yes, holding down, not capturing.
As expected of the great strategist, Sengoku's thinking was still extremely flexible.
Leaving aside the fact that capturing Ozz Dotor was impossible, even sending the three Admirals together would never be enough to bring him down along with the Seven Warlords.
So they just had to act the part.
That was the only solution Sengoku could think of now.
The World Government's authority was something the Navy could not defy. Facing Ozz Dotor, it was the same story.
So this was the only way to muddle through.
The meaning was simple.
Look, I've already done everything I can. I sent out the Navy's highest combat power, and it still wasn't enough. Even I, the Fleet Admiral, have entered the battlefield personally.
That should be enough effort to satisfy everyone, right?
When they heard the order,
the three Admirals, each fighting in their own corner, reacted differently.
But under the watchful eyes of countless soldiers across the battlefield, none of them refused.
They allowed Fleet Admiral Sengoku to shoulder the burden of fighting the heavily wounded Whitebeard and two commanders by himself, while all three moved together and arrived before Ozz Dotor.
Three figures stood in front of the execution platform, perfectly aligned,
facing Ozz Dotor together.
"Well... we're old rivals, aren't we?"
Once upon a time,
more than thirty years ago at Marineford, it had also been these same men clashing here.
"How terrifying. To have to face a monster like this again, spare me, would you..."
Borsalino spread his hands helplessly.
"An enemy must be destroyed!!!"
Sakazuki's fist turned into magma, his tone as murderous as ever.
As for Kuzan,
he said nothing.
He merely let ice spread everywhere,
then instantly opened with Ice Pheasant.
He could no longer suppress his killing intent.
The giant bird of ice spread its enormous wings and dove straight toward the black-coated figure at tremendous speed.
Within the freezing cold was Haki as well, not weak in the slightest.
"You're still as passionate as ever, Kuzan."
Only when facing Ozz Dotor did the normally lazy Admiral Aokiji revert to the hot-blooded Kuzan of old.
"But don't be in such a hurry. This war will not end so easily."
"This war won't end so easily, hm?"
The moment Ozz Dotor finished speaking, a golden flash lit up before his eyes, then transformed into a glowing foot.
"If the Navy falls into a disadvantage, then I can't very well sit by and do nothing."
That slippery monkey had finally grown a little more serious after realizing Marine Headquarters might actually be destroyed in this war.
To the Observation Haki of certain experts,
Borsalino's kick had truly approached the speed of light. They knew they would never be able to react to it.
That kick, blazing with extreme heat and piercing force, even without extra martial skill or Haki layered on top, was still terrifyingly lethal.
But Ozz Dotor could react.
If time were slowed down countless times,
while everyone else would seem nearly frozen,
the instant that kick came in, Ozz Dotor's pupils moved as calmly as an ordinary man's.
Then he turned and kicked back.
Whoosh.
Borsalino, who had transformed into particles of light, was instantly scattered and knocked all the way back into the Admirals' formation, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"Well now... what a frightening ability."
For that one second, Ozz Dotor had kicked him and instantly teleported him a thousand meters away.
The only reason he had reappeared at his original spot was because he had immediately broken into light and reflected himself back.
For a moment, the atmosphere became so tense it felt as if it might snap. Yet none of the three backed down.
And just then,
from within the clouds, a voice like muffled thunder rumbled out slowly.
"Worororororo!!!"
"You weren't lying, Ozz Dotor. This really is an exciting war."
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