Thud—
The sound of steady footsteps rang out, causing the tense atmosphere in the tent to pause.
Momonga, Doberman, and the others turned their heads, only to see that Aokiji—who had been leaning against the pillar, dozing—had already gotten to his feet and was walking outside.
"All units, listen up."
Aokiji's calm voice sounded out.
"The Buster Call begins now."
"Yes, Admiral Aokiji!"
"Yes, Admiral Aokiji!"
The large number of soldiers froze for a moment, then immediately saluted and sprang into action.
"The Buster Call… now?"
The ever-smiling Onigumo's expression showed a trace of surprise.
Momonga and Doberman were equally caught off guard and puzzled.
But the two of them quickly understood.
Launching the Buster Call right now truly was the best possible timing.
The Magic Eye Pirates were currently locked in battle with the New World pirates, the two sides temporarily holding each other in check.
This was the perfect chance for the Marines to strike the battlefield by surprise.
If they waited until all those New World pirates had been blasted into the sea, it would be too late.
They could use the Magic Eye Pirates' hands to wipe out all the pirates in one fell swoop.
Gran Tesoro
Top floor of the Golden Hotel
While enchanting the gold, Yuuki was also splitting off a portion of his focus to control Conrad's attacks.
Everything was proceeding exactly as expected.
Using Key Magic, Conrad connected to the seawater in the depths of the ocean, then released it through spatial gates in the sky, forming a cyclical attack.
As long as it continued for a little longer, it would be enough to leave every pirate in this sea region behind.
As for this result—
Yuuki felt no emotional fluctuation whatsoever.
Although these New World pirates weren't weak, they still didn't count as any real trouble.
What did surprise him, however, was this:
Among all the enemies who had come to besiege Gran Tesoro this time, there were neither Revolutionary Army members nor forces like Doflamingo's, who loved this kind of chaos.
It was basically all pirates.
"In that case, it looks like the Marines must be making some major move. Those people probably received word of it."
Silver magic power flowed around Yuuki's body as he continuously infused the flowing gold before him with mana, speaking to himself with a faint smile.
Not long after this thought surfaced—
the movement of ten massive warships heading toward Gran Tesoro entered his perception.
That familiar aura of natural elemental power caused Yuuki's brow to lift slightly.
"So that's it…"
"A Buster Call."
Yuuki let out a low chuckle.
At Sea
Aokiji and several Vice Admirals stood at the bow of a warship, looking toward the vortexes in the distance and the raging seawater still pouring down from the sky.
"Report! All naval cannons have been fully adjusted!"
"Three warships have locked onto the vortex zone!"
"Gran Tesoro has officially entered attack range. Full fire coverage is possible!"
"..."
Reports came in one after another from all ten warships.
These specially constructed vessels from Water 7 not only possessed enough firepower to destroy an island—
their firing range also far exceeded that of normal warships.
"Since preparations are complete, let's begin."
Aokiji casually tossed the Den Den Mushi in his hand to the nearby marine soldier.
With a step, his body leapt off the deck and dropped toward the sea.
The instant he was about to touch the water—
Aokiji's gaze sharpened.
A terrifying chill gathered in his right arm.
The moment it plunged into the sea, he shouted in a low voice:
"Ice Age!"
BOOM!!!
Centered on the point where his arm touched the sea, the entire ocean began freezing at an unimaginable speed.
The four massive vortexes Conrad had set around Gran Tesoro were instantly frozen solid.
At the same time, the seawater still gushing from the magic gates in the sky was also frozen.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The overwhelming freezing force even caused Conrad's numerous magic gates to rupture and explode as the frozen seawater rapidly expanded.
In only two or three breaths—
the entire sea region had turned into a frozen world.
Whoosh!
Aokiji landed on the ice, bent his knees slightly, and without the slightest pause, an ice pillar surged up beneath his feet, launching him straight into the sky.
BOOM!
A block of ice exploded in midair, shattered ice fragments scattering everywhere.
Conrad burst out from within the frozen mass, and Aokiji had already entered his field of vision.
"Our last fight wasn't finished yet, Conrad."
Aokiji's cold voice rang out.
His legs pressed against the rising ice pillar, turning into a black blur as he appeared directly in front of Conrad.
After the battle in Alabasta, Aokiji had already figured out Conrad's abilities.
Naturally, he would not use Devil Fruit energy attacks that could be absorbed.
Instead—
he went straight for close-quarters combat.
"Finger Pistol: Strike!"
Swinging his arm, he concentrated all his power into his fingertip and blasted it toward Conrad's chest.
"And it's you again."
"What? Ready to join us already?"
Conrad's face remained expressionless.
A layer of pale green magical skin covered his body as he raised his palm to meet Aokiji's incoming finger.
BANG—
The Finger Pistol collided with Conrad's palm, producing a heavy muffled shockwave in the air.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Key Magic.
Emerald mana erupted from Conrad's body.
Six magical spatial gates rapidly formed in midair, creating a cube that instantly surrounded Aokiji.
Then—
all six gates shone brilliantly at once.
Terrifying energy blasts erupted simultaneously, bombarding the trapped Aokiji.
"Iron Body!"
Aokiji curled slightly, his eyes widening as he crossed his arms before his chest.
Armament Haki and Iron Body fused together to protect his entire body, blocking the six streams of magical energy head-on.
During the clash—
Aokiji's body suddenly began spinning.
His body turned elemental, effortlessly slipping through the six-sided prison of magic gates.
In the next instant—
his body reformed at Conrad's flank.
Without any flourish, he threw out a single heavy punch.
BOOM!!
The penetrating force of Armament Haki exploded outward.
Conrad's body was blasted away uncontrollably, sent flying far from Gran Tesoro.
"With the Magic Eye Pirates as they are now, that's not enough to make me join."
Cold air escaped Aokiji's lips.
The corner of his eye swept toward Gran Tesoro as he used Moonwalk to chase after Conrad.
On the Warship
Seeing that Aokiji had successfully drawn Conrad away from the area according to plan, the Vice Admirals all relaxed inwardly.
Boom! Boom!
Not far away, cracks began forming in the giant rectangular ice sculptures suspended in the sky—the frozen masses created from the seawater.
Clearly, among the pirates who had attacked Gran Tesoro, there were quite a few with monstrous physiques aside from Devil Fruit users.
Previously, they had been pinned down beneath the seawater.
Now, although frozen, it clearly wasn't enough to kill them.
Instead, many powerful pirates broke free from the ice.
The moment they emerged, they saw the ten warships stationed in the distance.
Naturally, they immediately realized what was happening and prepared to scatter.
However—
"Open fire!"
Doberman spoke coldly into the communicator in his hand.
BOOM! BOOM!
The three prepared warships fired in unison.
Shell after shell blasted onto the ice, erupting in deafening explosions.
The cannon fire from the three ships formed an encirclement, sealing off every route of escape for the pirates—
leaving only one direction:
toward Gran Tesoro.
Clearly—
the Marines had no intention of letting these pirates go.
Instead, they intended to use artillery fire to force them into attacking Gran Tesoro.
Faced with the dense bombardment—
the pirates' faces darkened.
They cursed and roared furiously, but in the end had no choice but to grit their teeth and charge toward Gran Tesoro.
"Phase One, Phase Two—perfect success."
"All remaining warships, lock onto Gran Tesoro and prepare for bombardment."
Momonga smiled as he issued the order.
With the sea suddenly frozen, Gran Tesoro's enormous mass would inevitably fall into chaos.
And with these pirates charging in, that chaos would only worsen.
The Magic Eye Pirates simply did not have enough manpower.
As for their strongest fighter, Magician Yuuki—
in this kind of chaos, whether he wanted to protect the treasure aboard or had some other objective, he would likely be unable to leave Gran Tesoro.
This—
was the Marines' plan from the beginning.
Their goal was to destroy Gran Tesoro, not to directly clash with the Magic Eye Pirates.
As long as they could pin down "Magician" Yuuki, that would be enough to unleash full-scale bombardment on Gran Tesoro.
(End of Chapter)
⭐ Enjoying the story?
You can read ahead and support the translations by joining my Patreon! Your support helps me update faster and take on more projects. Thank you for reading!
The story has been completed on Patreon!
patreon.com/AminaSim