Kong and Saint Garling were stationed at the rear of Marineford.
Their perspectives differed from Sengoku's.
Their mission was to ensure Ace's death and enhance the World Government's deterrent power.
Sengoku's primary objective was to boost the Marines' prestige.
Though all were high-ranking officials, they served different masters.
Sengoku focused entirely on the Marine side, while the other two acted in accordance with the World Government—that is, the Celestial Dragons.
...
The two sat in their positions, quietly watching the Visual Den Den Mushi broadcast.
As the battle reached a stalemate, Kong rubbed his eyes and posed a question to Saint Garling.
"Since you've become one of the new Five Elders, does that mean someone has stepped down?"
Hearing Kong's inquiry, Garling wasn't angered.
He was a Celestial Dragon without excessive arrogance, appearing quite approachable on the surface.
Moreover, Garling quickly grasped Kong's underlying intention.
"Don't ask what shouldn't be asked yet. Focus on your work—a position is being reserved for you."
Kong showed an excited smile at this response.
But simultaneously, he confirmed one thing in his heart: the downfall of the Demon God Ray must be connected to the death of a Five Elder.
Based on Garling's reaction, Kong was certain that Ray had taken out at least two of the Five Elders.
Otherwise, how could there be a vacancy for Garling while still reserving one for him?
"Saint Garling, I am indeed growing old, so I truly desire the immortality granted by Imu-sama. Therefore, rest assured—this battle will definitely demonstrate the World Government's authority."
"Hmm. I'll put in a good word for you with Imu-sama as well."
With that, the two resumed watching the battlefield broadcast.
Meanwhile, Garling assigned a task to his secretary, 'Alpha,' beside him.
"Have the CP agents in the basement prepare for combat."
"Yes, sir."
This secretary, who bore a striking resemblance to Kalifa in both attire and appearance—also a CP8 agent—acknowledged the order and headed straight downstairs after leaving the office.
Kong glanced sideways at this scene, his eyes shifting slightly, but he remained silent.
...
On the battlefield, the stalemate between the pirate alliance and the Marines continued.
One hour had passed since the battle began.
Buggy and Doflamingo had been engaged in combat for nearly twenty minutes, progressing from initial probing to unleashing their full power, as if genuine fury had been ignited between them.
Both were awakened Devil Fruit users, their attacks affecting vast areas.
Under Doflamingo's manipulation, the ice surface within a hundred-meter radius transformed into sharp strings infused with Haki, launching lethal strikes at Buggy.
Buggy refused to be outdone.
Using his Chop-Chop Fruit abilities, massive hundred-meter ice blocks floated around him, blocking attacks while crushing many Marines.
As the fight dragged on, Doflamingo felt increasingly burdened.
Though they appeared evenly matched with similar wounds, the reality was different.
Doflamingo's attacks only caused superficial injuries to Buggy, as most damage was avoided through his body-splitting ability.
Whereas every one of Buggy's strikes targeted his internal organs.
If not for his ability to stitch his shattered viscera with his String-String Fruit powers, Doflamingo would have been defeated long ago.
However, if Buggy's Chop-Chop ability were to strike Doflamingo a few more times, the threads inside his body would no longer be able to mend themselves.
It was easy enough to stitch a liver broken into two pieces, but if it shattered into a hundred or a thousand fragments, the difficulty of repair would be immense.
Doflamingo was a gangster, not a surgeon.
His medical skills were limited, and continuing to fight like this was not a solution.
Just as Doflamingo was cautiously confronting Buggy head-on, a finger joint encased in ice quietly approached from behind him.
Simultaneously, Buggy unleashed a crushing shockwave with his fist from the front.
In such a situation, Doflamingo had no choice but to gather a massive amount of threads to block the attack.
As the collision occurred, another large section of the ice shattered.
At that moment, Buggy knew his opportunity had arrived.
He had encased his finger in ice long ago, precisely for this moment.
Within that finger, he had already concentrated an immense amount of Haki.
Using the flying ice fragments as cover, Buggy's finger successfully struck Doflamingo's back, right over his heart.
"Secret Art: Shatter!"
Feeling the impact from behind, Doflamingo broke out in a cold sweat and frantically generated threads inside his body to wrap around his organs.
Unfortunately, this was an attack Buggy had prepared for a long time. The terrifying power of the Chop-Chop Fruit, combined with advanced Armament Haki, violently blasted into Doflamingo's heart.
"Pfft—!"
A sweet taste filled Doflamingo's throat as a massive amount of blood gushed out from his seven orifices like a turned-on faucet.
His eyes rolled back behind his sunglasses, and he collapsed straight to the ground, motionless.
Seeing this, Buggy retracted his finger and began gathering Haki into it once more.
Once the charging was complete, he split the finger again and encased it in ice.
After taking down one of the Shichibukai, Buggy was quite pleased with himself. His eyes darted around, searching for his next victim.
A few seconds later, Buggy grinned.
'Found her!'
"Old woman, last time Ray stopped me, ruining my plans. This time, before Ray arrives, I must make you experience the beauty you missed out on before."
After muttering to himself, Buggy destroyed over a hundred Marines with a single Chop-Chop punch and stealthily made his way toward Momousagi.
What he failed to accomplish in Loguetown, he had to achieve this time.
Otherwise, it would eat away at him!
...
On the battlefield between the Admiral Candidates and the Yonko commanders, Chaton and "Diamond" Jozu were locked in a stalemate.
Both were high-defense, moderate-offense tanks, and their exchanges had yet to inflict any significant damage on each other.
However, the Marines and pirates around them fell in waves.
Momousagi and "Flower Sword" Vista let their inner swordsman's competitive spirit run wild, growing more and more excited as they fought.
But after their recent clash of sword energies, Vista gradually calmed down.
As a Marine, Momousagi was on the defensive—her goal was merely to stall the top fighters of the Whitebeard Pirates.
Vista, on the other hand, was on the offensive.
Yet, after half an hour of fighting, he had made no progress.
This couldn't continue.
His opponent was, as expected of a Marine Admiral Candidate, evenly matched with him, leaving no opening to exploit.
"No matter what, I must break through! Ace only has an hour left."
Gathering advanced Haki into his twin blades, Vista charged at Momousagi once more.
'This woman was too fast; fighting from a distance would only allow her to kite me.'
So, he decided to look for an opening in close-quarters combat.
Seeing this, Momousagi wasn't afraid.
After all, she only needed to restrain her opponent, so the psychological pressure was minimal—she could simply enjoy the battle.
With the same flowing Haki coiling around her, she gripped her renowned sword with both hands, her long legs propelling her forward as she instantly clashed with Vista.
In an instant, sword energy ran rampant and ice shards flew everywhere.
At that moment, a small, finger-like piece of ice stealthily approached Momousagi's back near the heart area.
Buggy's blue ponytailed head peeked out from behind a distant ice block, his mouth curling into a lecherous grin.
Yet, within his eyes, there was a trace of killing intent!
'Whether you live or die depends on your physical resilience.'
"Awakening Skill: Shatter!"
Momousagi, who was fully focused on dealing with Vista, had concentrated almost all of her Haki into her renowned sword.
When she sensed the Haki-infused ice behind her.
With all her might, Momousagi rapidly withdrew the Haki coiled around her renowned sword, Konpira, forcibly activating the Haki within her body to protect herself.
Unfortunately, it was already too late.
The power of disintegration surged into her body and the Admiral Candidate helplessly collapsed to the ground.