There wasn't much trouble on Iris and Jasmine's side. After Jasmine broke Spandine's wrist, the two agents panicked and were soon cut down one after the other by Iris's blade.
In truth, the combat strength of CP agents hovered around the Vice Admiral level — not exceptionally powerful.
After dealing with Spandine, Iris and Jasmine didn't return to Ren's side. Instead, they used the gem to open a World-Crossing Gate and returned to the Plane of Euthymia ahead of time.
The gem, once crystalline and translucent, began losing its divine power after use, turning into an ordinary jewel.
The Marines' bombardment continued without pause, even into the night.
The towering Tree of Knowledge, a blazing torch in the dusky evening sky, the flickering light and the ceaseless boom of cannon fire… The burning island looked like a shimmering, dancing flame on the horizon — strangely beautiful and magnificent.
Kuzan stood at the bow of the ship, feeling the night sea breeze, his heart filled with an indescribable mixture of feelings.
What he was really thinking about was Saul. He'd heard that before leaving Marine Headquarters, Saul had gotten into a fierce argument with Fleet Admiral Sengoku…
The World Government said the Ohara scholars were researching Poneglyphs in order to resurrect a weapon that could destroy the world. But Saul, from his conversations with Olvia, believed those people simply wanted to know the truth of history.
Was it really right to execute them just for that?
He didn't let himself think further. No matter what, the scholars of Ohara had indeed violated the World Government's laws. From the Marines' perspective, he could classify them as criminals without hesitation.
And if they were criminals, then naturally they could be eliminated!
"Have all the civilians boarded the evacuation ships?"
He exhaled a breath of cold air. The frozen vapor slowly drifted downward.
"Report, Vice Admiral — all the evacuation ships have been fully loaded."
Aokiji nodded. Since all non-combatants had been evacuated, it was time for them to go all out. He was about to say something when a flash of fire suddenly came from the direction of the evacuation ships.
"BOOM!"
First came the blinding flame, then the dull thud of cannon fire.
Aokiji stared at the evacuation ship nearby, its hull blasted open by a massive cannonball. His pupils trembled.
"Who? Who fired on the evacuation ship?"
"Why would you do such a thing?"
The man, still somewhat hot-blooded at heart, roared loudly, making his subordinates flinch.
"V-Vice Admiral Kuzan… it was Vice Admiral Sakazuki's ship that fired."
"Sakazuki… Does that bastard even know what he's doing?" Aokiji furiously grabbed a Den Den Mushi and dialed Akainu.
"Sakazuki!"
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Why are you attacking the evacuation ships?"
Facing his colleague's rebuke, Sakazuki didn't take it to heart. His face stern as ever, he replied in a slightly hoarse, gravelly voice: "If you're going to do something, you do it root and branch! The evacuation ships could very well be hiding archaeologists. Even if there's the slightest possibility, we absolutely cannot let evil survive!"
Akainu said without mercy: "Continue the attack!"
The warships' cannon fire instantly sank the evacuation ship. Many civilians aboard had already died in the barrage, and even more were left to drown alive in the sea.
This man's extreme "justice" was anything but righteous. But then again, in a world like this, the line between justice and evil had long since blurred beyond recognition.
"It shouldn't be like this…"
Aokiji no longer knew what to do. Before, he'd been too busy hunting down Saul and Robin to think too deeply, but now his mind kept asking him the same question over and over.
Was this Buster Call truly justified?
He knew full well that one person's sense of justice changed depending on their standpoint. But killing innocent people like this…
"CRASH…"
The sound of cannon fire gradually faded from his ears, replaced by the roar of burning flames.
The great Tree of Knowledge, which had witnessed five thousand years of human history, had now collapsed in the flames…
The sound of the fire seemed to grow louder and louder. The blazing inferno devoured the trees endlessly, and it was as if he could hear history itself crying out…
"Vice Admiral Kuzan!"
"Vice Admiral Kuzan!"
The panicked shouts of his subordinates snapped him from his daze. He was about to ask what the commotion was when he saw the forests of Ohara in the distance spreading like madness!
The burning wooden structures stretched toward the sea in a frenzied manner, as if trying to form a massive barrier — or rather, a wall to cut off the flames.
"A Devil Fruit user?"
Only a Devil Fruit user could accomplish something like this.
But to create a wooden wall on such a massive scale — where had this person come from?
"Freeze —"
Aokiji opened his palm. Because of the cold, half his body was already covered in ice — or rather, he had already become ice itself.
"Great Ice Wall!"
He swung his arm, borrowing the power of the waves to freeze a massive ice wall directly opposing the wooden barrier that kept extending toward the warships.
The tips of the two collided, triggering a violent tremor.
"Meteor Volcano!"
On the other side, Akainu — hot-tempered as ever — went straight for the big move right out of the gate. Attacks rained down like volcanic fire meteors!
Fire! Rock! In an instant, they smashed Aokiji's ice and Ren's trees to pieces with overwhelming force!
"Looks like the criminals have an accomplice!" Akainu's eyes turned cold as he stared toward Ohara's island. There, standing atop a coiled wooden dragon, was a strange-looking man.
Whether it was true or not, Akainu had already subjectively classified Ren as an accomplice of the scholars.
Though he had accidentally hit the mark.
"Who exactly are you?"
Aokiji asked coldly.
"I am the Great Wise Lord of Supreme Dharma and Auspicious Virtue," Ren replied with a casual fabrication. "As for your claim that I'm an accomplice of those scholars — I don't really care. I just wanted to test the strength of you two rising star Vice Admirals."
With that, Ren clapped his hands together. The wooden dragon beneath him let out a soundless roar!
Trees rooted deep in the earth burst from the soil in an instant!
A tidal wave of forest surged forward!
Even the flames were blown out by the gale force of that dense onslaught!
"Forest World Descent!"
A cold shout, and countless massive roots thick as mountains rose up, advancing through the earth's soil like dragons diving deep and surfacing again!
For a moment, even Aokiji and Akainu were stunned.
They had seen violent ocean waves — but when had they ever witnessed the fury of a forest?
At that moment, the endless trees looked like the vengeful spirits of the Tree of Knowledge itself!
[
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