Inside the top floor of the Golden Hotel, a faint glimmer of magic flickered in Yuuki's eyes as he let out an inward sigh.
Under the combined assault of Conrad's seawater bombardment and the Marines' artillery barrage, any pirates who had survived by this point were bound to be formidable.
If these pirates charged Gran Tesoro according to the Marines' plan, the resulting chaos would be unavoidable.
From this alone, it was clear that the Marines—or perhaps the World Government—had already begun to suspect that Yuuki's purpose in seizing Gran Tesoro was far from simple.
Never underestimate clever people.
Moreover—
the New World pirate crews that had targeted Gran Tesoro had already been devastated after this series of blows.
At this point, the Marines' Buster Call operation had already reaped tremendous gains.
Simply annihilating this many New World pirates was enough to reverse the negative impact the Navy had suffered from the Sabaody incident.
After all, the prestige of "eliminating pirates" would never fall to another pirate crew like the Magic Eye Pirates.
Ding!
Yuuki lightly tapped the flowing gold before him with a finger, briefly pausing the infusion of magic before resuming.
A look of understanding flashed through his eyes.
Through this Buster Call, he could see that the Navy likely had another hidden purpose.
Among the New World pirates attacking Gran Tesoro, many were crews subordinate to the Four Emperors.
The Marines had no reason to fear that.
Meanwhile, whether the Magic Eye Pirates suffered losses in this Buster Call or not, conflict with the Four Emperors had already become inevitable.
The true purpose behind Aokiji freezing the sea was likely this—
to leave the Magic Eye Pirates with nowhere to retreat.
It was obvious.
The Navy intended to use the Four Emperors' hands to eliminate them.
"A strategist, huh?"
A strange smile appeared on Yuuki's face.
This delicate, interlocking setup—
it clearly bore the signature of Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
They truly thought highly of the Magic Eye Pirates.
Or perhaps…
Sengoku had already begun preparing for the Summit War?
Using this Buster Call to throw the New World into chaos ahead of time.
That thought crossed Yuuki's mind.
If that was really the case, then his influence on the original course of events was perhaps even greater than he had anticipated.
According to the timeline, at the point when Luffy had just arrived on Skypiea, Ace should not yet have been defeated by Blackbeard.
"Heh… where will the end of this fate finally lead?"
Yuuki chuckled softly.
The surging magic within him trembled.
Swish! Swish!
Two massive silver spatial gates abruptly appeared within the golden hall.
The next moment—
two heavy sets of footsteps emerged from within.
Blue Ogre Dorry and Red Ogre Brogy stepped out.
"Go. Bring this tedious conflict to an end."
Yuuki spoke flatly without even lifting his head.
As he spoke—
the sturdy walls of the golden hall automatically split apart, revealing an enormous metal gate.
A flicker passed through the emotionless eyes of Dorry and Brogy.
The two giants nodded and strode toward the opened gate.
Then—
both of them leapt directly from the top floor of the towering Golden Hotel.
The instant they landed, Gran Tesoro itself trembled.
BOOM! BOOM!
After steadying themselves, Dorry and Brogy burst into a sprint.
Everywhere they passed, the chaos that had just begun on Gran Tesoro was crushed into silence.
In less than a minute—
the two giants had already reached the massive bow deck of the ship.
Without the slightest pause, they leapt down onto the solid ice below.
Their mountain-like bodies slammed onto the frozen sea, causing huge cracks to spread in every direction.
Yet the ice showed no signs of shattering.
The sea frozen by Aokiji was clearly not so easily broken.
Under the enhancement of magic, their physiques had become even more terrifying than in life.
Such an impact meant nothing to them.
At this moment—
under the bombardment from the three Marine warships, the pirates who had been driven forward had already approached Gran Tesoro.
When they saw the two suddenly appearing giants, not one of them slowed down.
Instead, they became even more frenzied.
Their ships had already been destroyed in the previous crossfire between Yuuki and the Marines.
Their crews had suffered heavy casualties.
Now, only by boarding Gran Tesoro could they recover their losses.
"Kill!!"
"Damn Marines and Magic Eye Pirates!"
"There have to be ships on Gran Tesoro! Take them!"
"Gold! I can already see the gold!"
"..."
The pirates' roars rang out nonstop.
Marine Side
"That's enough."
"All warships, prepare to fire every shell."
Using a monocular telescope, Vice Admirals Momonga and the others watched as the driven pirates approached Gran Tesoro.
They immediately issued orders to every warship.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
In an instant, countless cannons fired in unison.
Dense shells rained down like black raindrops toward Gran Tesoro.
Facing both the charging pirates and the incoming artillery—
Dorry reached into the air and grabbed.
The power of Ore Magic condensed in his hand, forming a massive metallic greatsword.
Brogy did the same.
In his palm appeared a gigantic stone axe formed from earth-element magic.
CLANG!
The ore blade and stone axe collided, producing a heavy metallic roar.
A terrifying energy fluctuation began to gather between the two weapons.
"HAKOKU!!!"
Dorry and Brogy roared together.
RUMBLE—!!!
A dazzling, gigantic white energy shockwave exploded forth.
The charging pirates didn't even have time to react before they were engulfed and blasted away.
Where the shockwave passed, a deep scar was forcibly carved into the ice.
And its power did not diminish in the slightest—
it continued hurtling straight toward the ten Marine warships.
Along the way, even the incoming cannon shells were crushed and obliterated.
At that moment—
the faces of Momonga, Doberman, and the other Vice Admirals changed drastically.
They immediately burst out from the cabins and leapt into the air, preparing to intercept the incoming attack.
Farther Away
The battle between Aokiji and Conrad had reached an intense peak.
Relying on his overwhelming Haki and Logia intangibility, the flow of battle was gradually tipping in Aokiji's favor.
Yet—
despite being at a disadvantage, Conrad showed no concern whatsoever.
That only made Aokiji more wary.
BOOM!
A violent clash exploded between them.
The two pulled apart once more.
"This fight is far more interesting than the last one."
Conrad raised a hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.
His torn black robe revealed pale but solid muscles beneath.
Aokiji's gaze sharpened.
Both arms were coated in black Armament Haki.
Faint dark-red lightning crackled around his fists.
"What exactly is your objective?"
"Who knows?"
Conrad let out a low laugh and spread his hands.
Then his tone turned cold.
"Pass a message to your Fleet Admiral Sengoku."
"To deal with the Magic Eye Pirates, this manpower isn't nearly enough."
Aokiji's expression changed.
He instantly vanished from the ice, charging straight at Conrad.
But Conrad had already stepped backward into a suddenly appearing emerald magic gate behind him and vanished.
A direct miss.
Aokiji quickly turned toward Gran Tesoro.
He could sense an enormous energy rapidly gathering there.
BANG!
The ice beneath his feet exploded.
Aokiji shot back like a white afterimage.
Meanwhile—
just as Momonga, Doberman, and the other Vice Admirals were about to intercept Dorry and Brogy's Hakoku Sovereignty—
Conrad suddenly appeared between both sides.
The Vice Admirals froze in shock.
Before they could react—
an emerald spatial gate appeared.
The devastating energy wave was directly swallowed by the gate, disappearing from the Marines' sight.
Then—
another gigantic magic gate appeared above the Marine fleet.
The Hakoku wave that had just been swallowed was released once more—
directly onto the ten warships below.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The conversion happened in an instant.
Momonga and the others had no time to return, much less stop it.
They could only watch helplessly as the ten warships were reduced to ashes beneath the overwhelming energy blast.
Conrad's cold laugh echoed through the air.
Then he vanished completely.
By the time Aokiji returned—
what he saw was the shattered remains of the ten warships.
Momonga and the other Vice Admirals stood there, tears streaming from their eyes, fury burning in them.
Out of the 1,000+ Marine elite soldiers assigned to this Buster Call—
fewer than fifty had survived.
These were not ordinary soldiers.
They were the elite of Marine Headquarters.
Even Aokiji, with his usual lazy demeanor, swayed slightly.
"DAMN PIRATES!!!"
Doberman let out a furious roar.
Tears and mucus streamed down the face of the usually dignified man.
Drawing his blade, he charged toward Gran Tesoro in rage.
THUD!
Aokiji instantly appeared behind him.
A hand coated in Armament Haki struck heavily against Doberman's neck.
Doberman's eyes rolled back as he lost consciousness.
Before he could fall, Aokiji hoisted him onto his shoulder.
He looked toward the other Vice Admirals and said expressionlessly:
"I'll bear all responsibility."
"Retreat."
Top Floor, Golden Hotel
"Anger…"
"Cruelty…"
"That should keep them quiet for a while."
A calm voice rang out.
In this Great Pirate Era—
how could their anger possibly compare to that of the countless civilians who had been humiliated, enslaved, and left powerless to resist?
And how could their sense of cruelty compare—
to the World Government's casual destruction of entire nations,
or their habit of treating countries as hunting grounds?
(End of Chapter)
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