"Still alive?" Inside the Going Guard, Drake looked on with a trace of surprise at the bald Elder struggling futilely in his mecha's grip.
Even a seasoned master of Rokushiki hit by a full-force blow from the Going Guard would be completely neutralized if not killed outright.
Yet this low-profile Elder—who usually stayed behind the scenes in Mary Geoise—was this durable?
Three punches in, and he could still move?
"In that case, let me show you something interesting," Drake murmured, a faint smirk playing on his lips as he gathered a dense surge of spatial power within his palm.
"Die!"
"Spatial Strangulation!"
In the next microsecond, Drake stood completely dumbfounded. Nothing happened inside the Going Guard's mechanical hand; the spatial energy failed to manifest entirely.
"Still not working?!"
"Cough, cough..." Blood seeped continuously from the corners of the bald Elder's mouth. Held tightly in the mecha's fist, he was utterly powerless to resist.
All of his former majesty and arrogance had vanished. His breath was ragged and faint, his eyelids so heavy he could barely keep them open.
"Hm?" Drake's brow hitched as he noticed a subtle anomaly about the bald Elder.
The man had pitch-black pupils and dark circles under his eyes. Though the dark rings were faint, they looked distinctly unnatural.
"Hey, is something off with you?" Drake asked.
"What?" The bald Elder raised his head with great effort. When his eyes locked onto the giant entity before him, his pupils contracted sharply.
"You... you can actually speak? What on earth are you?!"
In his mind, this colossal figure was merely a advanced automaton—after all, the Going Guard's current form looked and moved like a giant mechanical humanoid.
Yet such a construct was casually conversing just like a human.
"Hmph." Drake let out a cold laugh, intensifying the mecha's grip. The Going Guard's current crush force was so immense that even Kaido of the Beasts would likely have his entire skeletal structure pulverized.
Slowly, Drake opened the mecha's giant palm. What he saw next gave him a jolt of surprise.
The bald Elder was still glaring fiercely at the Going Guard's head, showing no obvious signs of agony.
Yet Drake knew with absolute certainty that every bone in the man's body had been shattered into fine powder—and yet, he hadn't even flinched!
Did these Elders, who spent their days sunbathing in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, truly possess such terrifying willpower?
How was that possible?
"You're quite different from what I imagined," Drake said, eyeing the bald Elder. "I thought you Five Elders were just a bunch of useless old men waiting to die in retirement."
"Hmph! How could outsiders ever know our true nature?" The bald Elder turned his head, casting his gaze toward Luffy and Sabo.
"Those two over there must be Straw Hat Luffy and Fire Fist Sabo of the Legendary Four Brothers. If it's them, it makes sense that Guernica was completely outmatched."
Inside the Going Guard, Drake chuckled softly. With Luffy and Sabo's current strength, very few people on the planet could stand against them.
When the two of them fought as a team, even a Yonko wouldn't hold out for long under their joint assault.
As for this Guernica—a figure Drake had barely heard of—he was hardly a top-tier threat, so he naturally stood zero chance against the two brothers.
"Just kill me! No matter who or what you are, you will never defeat Lord Im!"
The bald Elder suddenly barked at Drake, "Failing this mission means death for me anyway. Rather than dying by Lord Im's hand, I'd rather fall in battle! Come on! Kill me!"
"Hm?!" Drake's brow furrowed.
To think a top executive of the World Government possessed such grim resolve.
And there were four more like him.
Meanwhile, atop the Red Line, a massive army was massing across the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.
There were Navy soldiers, alongside ranks of white-robed CP0 operatives.
The total force numbered a staggering one hundred thousand!
Nearly every available Marine unit that could be mobilized had been summoned to Mary Geoise for this final stand.
At the very front of the Holy Land's defensive line, a dense concentration of formidable presences gathered.
Leading the vanguard were the hardened Vice Admirals of the Navy.
Standing at the absolute front, the Vice Admirals formed the first line of defense.
Soon, a platoon broke away from the hundred-thousand-strong army. This group of roughly a hundred individuals wore mysterious masks and pristine white robes.
The moment these masked figures appeared, even the Vice Admirals—men who commanded immense authority within the Navy—looked on with grave expressions.
CP0!
The supreme agency of the World Government, where elite talents possessing the highest intelligence and lethal combat capabilities were gathered.
The Marines stepped aside to clear a path for them. Not a single officer uttered a word, their minds locked in tense vigilance.
Most of them had only just learned about CP0's existence. That the World Government possessed such a covert agency was something the average Marine had never heard of before.
Had it not been for this global war, such a phantom organization would likely never have stepped into the light, and ordinary soldiers would never have known of its existence.
Watching these masked, white-robed figures radiate an imposing pressure, the Marines' expressions grew increasingly heavy.
"Vice Admiral, sir... are those really the legendary CP0?" a Marine private whispered to the officer beside him.
"Yes," the Vice Admiral replied gravely.
The surrounding Marines straightened up, harboring a deep sense of dread toward the World Government's supreme intelligence organization.
"Out of the way!" The white-robed masked man leading the group shoved aside the Vice Admiral who was speaking with his subordinate, stepping casually past him.
"Vice Admiral, sir! Are you alright?" A Marine private rushed forward to support the officer, then shouted angrily at the masked man, "How dare you push a Vice Admiral like that?!"
"Hm?" The white-robed agent turned his head slowly, walking toward the soldier.
"What? You have a problem with that?"
"I—" Before the soldier could finish, the masked agent thrust a single finger straight through his chest.
Purtch! Blood sprayed violently across the cobblestones.
"WHAT?!" The surrounding Marines gasped in horror, staring at the scene in utter disbelief.
"Why would you do that?! He's a Marine! We're allies!" the Vice Admiral growled, his voice trembling with rage.
"Bwahahaha! Allies?" Another white-robed agent stepped out from behind the leader.
"Do you even know who we are? After what you Marines have pulled, you actually have the nerve to call us allies?"
"What did you say?!" A collective wave of shock and fury rippled through the Navy ranks.
"What do you mean by that?!" A Marine Captain lunged forward, grabbing the agent by his collar.
"I mean exactly what I said," the agent replied coldly, driving a finger straight through the Captain's heart.
"Listen up, you Marines! The reason this war spiraled into such a mess is entirely because of your incompetence!"
"A Marine Admiral defected to the enemy... For such a preposterous scandal to happen only proves that the Navy has decayed into a completely useless joke!"
"You!!" The Marines ground their teeth, glaring furiously at the masked agents.
Yet not a single one of them could utter a word of denial.