The Marines began a full-scale retreat.
Naturally, Luo Xing's side had no intention of letting them withdraw in peace, and their entire army launched an all-out offensive.
In the sky, King's pteranodon form and Who's-Who in his saber-toothed tiger form led the pursuit.
On the sea, Shiryu, Avalo Pizarro, Catarina Devon, and the others sailed their warships forward, laughing madly as they shouted for the cowards of the Marines and World Government not to run.
Beneath the sea, First Son of the Sea Jinbe repeatedly stirred up massive currents, harassing the Marine warships.
With enemies pursuing them from all three directions, the Marines were thrown into complete chaos. Several more warships were destroyed, and the thousands of Marines aboard them were slaughtered to the last man.
Sengoku was driven into a fury. Transforming into his golden Buddha form, he unleashed terrifying shockwaves and forcefully held back the enemy's strongest fighters.
After all, he was a veteran top-tier powerhouse who had once crossed blades with Roger, Whitebeard, and the Golden Lion.
Once he truly let loose, he actually managed to hold back the combined assault of King, Shiryu, Jinbe, and the rest.
While recklessly draining his stamina by repeatedly unleashing his Buddha techniques, Sengoku roared:
"You all retreat first! I'll hold them off!"
Kong joined the rearguard as well.
Aokiji used Ice Age to freeze the sea, blocking the Beasts Pirates' ships and Jinbe below the surface.
With three top-level powerhouses going all out, the Marines finally managed to buy enough time for their fleet to withdraw.
The war dragged on for several more hours before it finally came to an end.
Kong and Sengoku led the battered remnants back to Marineford.
When they had set out, they had commanded dozens of warships.
Now, fewer than ten remained.
When they had departed, they had fifty thousand troops.
Now, only a little over twenty thousand had returned in fighting condition, with casualties reaching half their total forces.
As for their high-end combat power, Chaton had been killed, Momousagi had been captured, the leader of CP0 had been gravely wounded, and the rest of the CP0 members had all been wiped out.
As for the other fallen Marine Headquarters vice admirals and rear admirals, there were simply too many to count.
There was no doubt about it.
In this battle for the Sabaody Archipelago, the Marines and the World Government had suffered a complete and utter defeat, with catastrophic losses.
Of all those who returned, aside from Kizaru, who yawned and went home to sleep, everyone wore expressions of grief.
Admiral Aokiji let out a sigh.
He had originally hoped to use this war to earn a great merit and strengthen his bid against Akainu for the Fleet Admiral position.
But the enemy had simply been too powerful. Even though he had gone all out, he had still achieved very little.
Sengoku forced himself to stay composed and said to Aokiji:
"Aokiji, stay here and reorganize the troops and treat the wounded. I'm going to Mary Geoise."
After saying that, he left for the Holy Land Mary Geoise together with Kong and the leader of CP0.
Naturally, they were going to meet the Five Elders.
The CP0 chief wore a dark expression.
After such a disastrous defeat, he had no idea what kind of punishment awaited him.
Kong and Sengoku were equally grim.
But compared to punishment from the Five Elders, what worried them more was the future situation of the world.
The Beasts Pirates had become increasingly arrogant and aggressive.
The Marines and the World Government had suffered defeat after defeat, their authority crumbling.
The whole world was likely about to descend into total chaos.
And the two of them were not wrong.
As soon as Big News Morgans sent the battle report from Sabaody across the world, countless people were shaken to the core.
And at the same time, many ambitious figures could no longer suppress the burning desire in their hearts.
In the New World, on a certain uninhabited island, three captains among the Worst Generation had gathered together.
Eustass Kid.
Scratchmen Apoo.
Basil Hawkins.
A newspaper lay on the table before them.
Kid grinned with naked ambition.
"The Marines and the World Government are getting more useless by the day. They don't have the power to control the world anymore!"
"In an age of chaos like this, this is our chance to make our names known!"
A strange glint flashed through Apoo's eyes as he asked,
"Kid, got a plan?"
Kid answered without hesitation:
"I'm gonna drag Red-Haired Shanks down from his throne! You two wanna team up with me?"
In the original storyline, Kid had first challenged Shanks, lost an arm to him, and only afterward formed an alliance with Apoo and Hawkins.
But in this version of events, he had already witnessed at Sabaody the terrifying clash between the Five Emperor Luo Xing and Dark King Rayleigh.
He understood that the gap between himself and a true Emperor-level powerhouse was still enormous.
So this time, he didn't act recklessly.
Instead, he intended to gather a few allies and move together.
Holding a set of tarot cards, Hawkins cast a reading and said:
"If we face the Red Hair Pirates right now, our odds of winning are less than one in ten. Too low."
Kid said:
"Of course we're not making our move right now. We'll train for a while first and master Haki."
In the New World, if you didn't know Haki, you could barely take a step.
Any famous great pirate could slaughter them with ease.
Hawkins said:
"If we grow stronger first, the odds will improve. I also heard that the Red Hair Pirates' vice-captain was killed by Kaido and Big Mom. That should raise our chances even more."
Clearly, Hawkins had agreed to join the alliance to take down Red-Haired Shanks.
Kid then turned to Apoo.
"What about you, Apoo?"
Apoo spread his mouth into a grin and laughed.
"Of course. Of course I've got no objections..."
Kid was overjoyed.
Thus, the vicious alliance formed by the three Supernova captains was born.
But neither Kid nor Hawkins knew the truth.
Though Apoo looked normal on the surface, he had already been making entirely different plans in secret.
Apoo intended to join the Beasts Pirates.
And Kid and Hawkins would be his offering, his ticket of admission into Kaido's crew.
…
In the waters near the entrance to the New World, three pirate ships crossed paths.
Judging by the flags on those ships, they belonged to Mad Monk Urouge, Jewelry Bonney, and Capone "Gang" Bege.
Bege, cigar clenched between his teeth, was the first to speak.
"The era's entered a level of chaos nobody can stop anymore. Only the truly strong can stand firm in it."
"So, what are you two planning to do?"
Mad Monk Urouge replied:
"I'm going to challenge Big Mom."
A gleam flashed through Bege's eyes.
He, too, planned to target Big Mom Charlotte Linlin first. After all, he had heard that the old hag was insane and not particularly bright, making her easier to bring down than the other Emperors.
But the calculating Bege didn't say any of that to Urouge.
Letting Urouge test the depths of the Big Mom Pirates first wasn't a bad idea at all.
Jewelry Bonney said:
"What I do is none of your damn business!"
With that, she immediately turned her ship around and left.
It seemed that she had no intention of entering the New World. She had been lingering around its entrance for a long time.
Jewelry Bonney's identity was highly unusual, and she seemed to have certain ties to the Celestial Dragons.
She was hesitating over something.
But unfortunately for her, something very unlucky happened.
She ran into the Blackbeard Pirates, who had just escaped from Marineford.
To be fair, Blackbeard really was incredibly unlucky.
In the war at Marineford that he himself had set in motion, not only had he gained nothing, he hadn't even managed to secure a single seaworthy ship.
As a result, he was still riding around on a shabby little sailboat.
And when he read in the newspaper that the Five Emperor Luo Xing had destroyed Impel Down, recruited a large number of powerful subordinates, occupied Sabaody, and utterly crushed the joint forces of the Marines and World Government, Blackbeard flew into a rage and roared:
"Damn it! Damn it all! It's all because of that bastard that my plan failed!"
Looking at the furious Blackbeard, Burgess and the others were just as dejected.
Then suddenly, they spotted Bonney's pirate ship.
Burgess cried out excitedly:
"Captain, look! There's a ship over there, and there's a beauty on board too! Hahahaha! I'll go catch her and bring her to you, Captain!"
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