"Damn, they actually sent two admirals."
The moment they saw Kizaru arrive, the pirates who'd been hoping to scavenge some scraps completely panicked. Two admirals—if they kept strutting around here, they'd be dead before they even knew what hit them.
"Looks like the Shirakawa kid and his crew are in a bit of trouble now."
At the entrance of Shakky's Rip-off Bar, Shakky took a drag of her cigarette, watching the distant explosions as she spoke to Rayleigh beside her.
"Trouble? I wouldn't call it that."
Shakky couldn't fully perceive the strength of the Silver Pirates' crew members, but Rayleigh was different. The Silver Pirates had at least three crew members capable of holding their own against an admiral.
Add to that their captain Shirakawa, and this pirate crew's strength could already be said to rival some of the established crews of the New World.
In fact, there was no longer a single pirate crew in the New World that could completely overpower them.
Right now, the most intense battle on the battlefield was the fight between Akainu and Kurokam.
Their battlefield erupted with raging flames at irregular intervals, and Kurokam looked like a warrior born from fire itself.
Though some burns could be seen on Kurokam's body, they didn't appear serious.
Akainu's condition, however, was not good. His body was covered by his naval uniform, but the marks on the fabric made it clear that Kurokam had hammered him more than once.
"Damn it." Akainu spat with bitter resentment, cursing himself for being so young.
His current strength was already immense, but he still had room to grow. Kurokam was different—his strength had essentially plateaued, and right now he stood at the absolute peak of his life.
Even if he managed to improve in the future, the gains would be minimal.
The fight between Kizaru and Yuristin, meanwhile, didn't look nearly as fierce.
Neither of them bore any obvious wounds—only a few scrapes could be seen.
Both battles had been going on for over twenty minutes, yet showed no signs of ending anytime soon.
"The naval reinforcements should be arriving soon."
At that moment, Shirakawa spoke, suddenly turning toward the distant harbor.
And as if answering Shirakawa's words, a warship slowly appeared before them.
"They're here! Leave the leader to me."
Jora said excitedly, already itching for a fight.
"Vice Admiral Garp, Sabaody Archipelago is straight ahead."
On board the naval warship, Garp's adjutant reported to him.
"Yeah, I can see that." Garp suddenly felt like his adjutant was only capable of stating the obvious.
The battle on the island was so intense—how could he not see it? Even if he couldn't see it, he could certainly hear the explosions.
He wasn't deaf or blind.
"But it seems Kizaru and Akainu really have run into trouble this time."
Garp's expression grew somewhat grave. He knew Kizaru's and Akainu's strength very well, and it was obvious that both were now locked in bitter struggles.
"I'll head out first. The rest of you follow quickly."
"Yes, Vice Admiral Garp." His adjutant gave a crisp salute, and the next moment Garp launched himself off the warship, streaking straight toward Sabaody Archipelago.
"Looks like the one coming isn't someone you can handle."
Shirakawa said to Jora. He had already sensed that the arrival was Garp. With Jora's current strength, even if he trained for another ten or twenty years, he still might not be Garp's match.
"What? Who is it? Someone I can't handle?" At this point, Jora wasn't even afraid of the admirals, so who could possibly scare him?
"In that case, just watch and find out."
Then, an overwhelmingly powerful presence suddenly intruded upon the Kenbunshoku Haki perception of everyone present.
"Oh shit, no way. It's actually this guy."
The instant he saw Garp, Jora froze on the spot. He never imagined the person who'd show up would be someone like this.
"So? Still want to take him on yourself?"
Shirakawa patted Jora on the shoulder.
"I'll leave him to you, Captain." Jora gave an awkward laugh and instantly retreated behind Shirakawa.
Seeing that Garp had arrived, both Akainu and Kizaru breathed sighs of relief. With Garp here, they could rest easy—at the very least, their safety was assured.
Shirakawa, however, wasn't surprised. He'd already pegged the chances of the arrival being Garp at sixty percent.
Because Sengoku wouldn't make a move lightly at this point. Sending a few vice admirals would just be feeding them cannon fodder, and even sending another admiral wouldn't absolutely guarantee their safety.
So Garp was the most suitable choice.
"Brat, five years without seeing you, and you've changed quite a bit."
Upon arriving, Garp shouted directly at Shirakawa.
"Garp, you haven't changed much in five years, though."
Shirakawa looked at Garp before him—still brimming with energy, just with a few more gray hairs.
But his strength seemed completely unchanged.
"You little punk. You've been hiding for five years. Why not just keep hiding?"
"Because living a life of hiding my head and tail is truly unbearable. So I've decided to come out and turn this world upside down."
"Hahaha! Then first see if you can escape from this old man's hands."
"Escape? Who knows who'll be the one escaping this time?"
After their last escape from the navy, they wouldn't run again.
"Didn't expect this guy to show up."
Rayleigh had already settled into a spot with a clear view of the battlefield.
Honestly, Rayleigh was quite happy to see this old friend, but the two of them couldn't meet right now.
If Rayleigh were to appear on the battlefield at this moment, the atmosphere would instantly sour even further.
"Heh, your talk's gotten a lot bigger. Just wonder if your strength is as big as your mouth."
"Why don't you try and find out?"
"Jora, you and the others go hold off the rest of the navy. But keep an eye on Yuristin and Kurokam—if either of them can't keep going, switch them out."
Though the chances of that happening were practically zero.
"No problem, Captain."
Jora replied. He couldn't beat Garp, sure, but couldn't he at least hold his own against those two admirals?
Thankfully, the navy still had some decent swordsmen, which kept Jora's spirits in a constant state of excitement.
"Then let's begin, Shirakawa."
With that, Garp tore off his shirt, raised his fists, and charged at Shirakawa.
"Gladly."
A smile tugged at the corner of Shirakawa's mouth, and the Sword of Damocles suddenly materialized in the sky above.
The battle was about to erupt at any moment.
This fight could be called the largest battle the navy had waged in recent years.
Whether the Silver Pirates won or lost, their name would once again resound across the world.
"Tsk tsk, never thought I'd run into something this interesting here."
Perched in a tree, Morgans clicked away with his camera, snapping several photos of the battle.
Normally, a battle like this was practically impossible on Sabaody Archipelago—but today, that record had been shattered by the Silver Pirates.
/-\
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