However, just as his sword qi was about to reach the heavily injured Vice Admiral, another steady blade light struck from the side, parrying Shiki's sakura ten!
"Your opponent is me, Golden Lion!"
A veteran Vice Admiral with graying hair and resolute eyes blocked the way. His arms trembled slightly; clearly, taking Shiki's strike was no easy feat.
Behind him, medics immediately braved the hail of bullets to drag the heavily injured colleague away from the battlefield.
"Tsk! Another one!" Shiki spat in annoyance.
This was the most troublesome part about the Marines—they had a massive reserve force. One falls, and another immediately takes their place, seemingly endless.
In the air, the battle between Charlotte Linlin and Tsuru appeared rather "eerie."
As Charlotte Linlin's Dragon Wings flapped, lightning flickered. What seemed like a fierce offensive was actually easily neutralized by Tsuru with exquisite Moonwalk and palms carrying purification abilities.
Meanwhile, Tsuru's attacks were completely unable to threaten Charlotte Linlin.
While nimbly avoiding a swirling arc of lightning, Tsuru said in her characteristically calm tone:
"Charlotte Linlin, if you keep stalling like this, your Captain Rocks might really be unable to hold on much longer. No one can withstand the combined force of Garp and Sengoku for long."
"Ma~" Charlotte Linlin casually swung her blade, her pinkish-purple sword qi detonating several cannonballs flying toward the gibeck in mid-air, easing Shiki's pressure slightly before she slowly replied,
"Is that so? I don't think so. Rather, how much longer can you Marines hold out?"
Her Observation Haki clearly perceived that despite the Marines having the numerical advantage, after more than half a day of fierce fighting, their middle-ranking officers had suffered heavy losses, and their offensive was no longer as fierce as it was at the start.
As if to confirm her words, a loud bang and an exclamation came from the battlefield below.
"Cough, ah—!"
A Marine Vice Admiral attempting to sneak attack Newgate from the side was struck hard by the back of Newgate's Murakumogiri, which was wrapped in tremor power. He spat blood, an unknown number of ribs broken, and was sent flying like a tattered sack, crashing heavily into the sea and kicking up a huge splash.
"Gurarararara! You're not qualified to sneak attack me!"
Anxious shouts immediately came over the Marine communication channel: "Damn it! Vice Admiral Eric is heavily injured! Is there any other Vice Admiral who can take over the pressure on Whitebeard's side?!"
"Bastard! This Newgate is too strong! Even though he can't fully utilize the Tremor-Tremor Fruit on the ship, he still managed to heavily injure Vice Admiral Eric during his battle with Vice Admiral Zephyr using only physical techniques and Haki!"
"Fortunately, we only acted after they went out to sea. If we were on land..."
"Report! All available Vice Admirals... are already on the field! Most of them are injured and still recovering!"
"I'll go!" A voice rang out. A Vice Admiral covered in blood-soaked bandages, swaying even while standing, struggled to his feet. One of his arms was still fixed with a splint.
"Vice Admiral Walker! Your injuries are too severe! If you keep fighting, you'll die!" the adjutant beside him cried out.
Vice Admiral Walker pushed away the soldiers supporting him. His eyes were firm yet cloudy as he panted:
"No... no problem! Capturing pirates and upholding justice is our duty as Marines! As long as... as long as we wait for Garp and Sengoku to finish off Rocks..."
His words carried a tragic determination, but they also revealed the Marines' current predicament—they had deployed almost all of their available high-end combat power.
Some Marine Soldiers looked at the Rocks Pirates' executives, who stood tall like monsters despite the hail of bullets and the siege by many officers; fear and helplessness inevitably appeared on their faces.
"Is... is this the Rocks Pirates?! A single Pirate Crew actually... actually resisted more than half of our Marineford's forces?!"
The battle situation seemed to have fallen into a terrifying balance.
The Marines relied on numbers to barely stall all the Rocks Pirates' executives, but they were unable to achieve any results, whether on the top-tier battlefield or the mid-tier battlefield!
This was even after the Marines had analyzed the situation and specifically dispatched corresponding Marine officers to deal with the Rocks Pirates' executives.
The strength of the Rocks Pirates had already exceeded the Marines' estimations.
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