Center of the battlefield.
"Fufufufufu."
"How terrifying."
Boom, crash!
Doflamingo tilted his head, dodging a flying chunk of ice. "No one can intervene in those two's battlefield either."
Up ahead, the clash of sword pressures between Luffy and Hawkeye had once again torn a hideous, hundred-meter-long gash in the ice plain.
The surging sword pressure currents completely shredded the wreckage of a small warship nearby into pieces.
"It looks like you really want to get involved," Crocodile glanced at him.
"Fufufufufu. How contradictory."
Doflamingo let out a wild laugh, but veins bulged at his temples. His smile was complicated. "That guy killed a Celestial Dragon!"
"I've kept the newspaper about those Celestial Dragons being killed in the most prominent spot in my bedroom. Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic!"
Crocodile swung his hook at him. "What does that have to do with you?"
What does it have to do with me?
Doflamingo's expression turned ferocious.
It had everything to do with him!
Back then, he had wanted to go back. He had even killed his own traitorous father. But those bastards who thought they were gods had rejected him.
And now, those gods had had their heaven pierced!
So this guy also had an obsession with Straw Hat?
Watching this, Crocodile felt like Doflamingo was a mental patient.
Could it be that Doflamingo, like himself, had also fought Straw Hat?
He really didn't know much about what had happened outside while he was locked up in Impel Down.
But it didn't matter!
Once the huge machine of war started, it was hard to stop. Just look at this chaotic scene!
"I'm getting excited too!" Crocodile grinned.
In the distance, there were giant icebergs and roaring magma meteors.
Aokiji and Akainu—these two monsters—were worthy of the Admirals' strength.
But in between were Whitebeard and Golden Lion—remnants of the old era.
Space cracks from the Gura Gura no Mi shaking the atmosphere.
Giant Marine warships floating in the air.
"So this is the power of the great pirates?" The Marines watched in shock.
"Don't be afraid! We have the absolute advantage!"
Tens of thousands of Marine elites shouted.
"Hahaha! Try us, Marines!" The Whitebeard Grand Fleet and the Impel Down escapees were also numerous.
Deafening cannon fire. The sharp ring of clashing blades. The screams of the dying. The roars of those charging...
These shocking scenes were only one small part of the grand picture of the Impel Down War—a meat grinder of a battle.
"I'm... I'm going to die, aren't I?"
There was only one Den Den Mushi left broadcasting everything happening here. Buggy could already imagine how much he would be hunted after this war ended.
He could already see it!
On the battlefield, the Marines chasing him were definitely the most numerous.
If it weren't for the group of prisoners he had brought out fighting beside him, his body would have been cut into who knew how many pieces by now.
But everything happening on the battlefield was being broadcast without reserve to the Sabaody Archipelago. Soon, the news would spread across the entire world!
"Quick! Record all of this! This is huge! This is huge!"
"This is unprecedented first-hand material. The world will shake from today's reports!"
"Oh my god. Is this really a war between humans? Who will win—the pirates or the Marines?"
In the square of the Sabaody Archipelago, the reporters were the most excited.
The citizens looked up at the giant screen, watching the apocalyptic scenes.
No matter the outcome, the pattern of the world would change today.
"Hahaha! A war so exciting it makes you tremble!"
On the roof of some hidden bar, Eustass Kid watched the stolen live footage and let out a near manic laugh. "Shahahaha! Hey, who do you think will win this damn war? The Marines? Or Whitebeard and those escapees?"
Beside him, Basil Hawkins the Magician drew a tarot card, expressionless, and glanced at it. "Marines' win rate: 55%. Whitebeard and the escapees' win rate: 45%."
The variables hadn't changed much from the start of his fortune-telling.
But the scales were tipping in an unpredictable direction.
"Hard to say. The Marines have to deal with more than just Whitebeard now! Straw Hat Luffy, Golden Lion Shiki, and that whole crowd of madmen who escaped from Impel Down!"
Apoo stared intently at the live broadcast. "The key is that Fire Fist Ace has already been rescued. The Whitebeard Pirates have no more reservations. Now all they have to do is full escape."
If the Whitebeard Pirates fought the Marines to the death, the ultimate victor would surely be the Marines.
But if a Yonko crew was determined to escape, even the Marines couldn't stop them, right?
The man who had truly changed the course of the war was that man.
Apoo ground his teeth as he stared at the man who was currently fighting the World's Strongest Swordsman.
He really wanted to see Luffy die there. Being punched unconscious by Luffy back on the Sabaody Archipelago was a humiliation he could never forget.
"Hey, Kid!"
Apoo suddenly spoke. "The goal of our alliance is to topple an Emperor, isn't it? Now it looks like after this war, that Straw Hat will probably be immediately recognized by the whole world as an Emperor of the Sea, right?
What if we make him our target? Taking down a new Emperor is more interesting than challenging those old monsters, isn't it?"
The strength Luffy had shown was already enough to be called an Emperor.
More importantly, he had that terrifying network of connections behind him.
If Luffy was willing to recruit soldiers in the New World, strong fighters would flock to join him without end.
Hearing this, Kid was taken aback for a moment, then burst into arrogant laughter. "Shahahaha! Apoo, did Straw Hat punch your brain silly? Since when are there five Emperors?! I don't believe it."
He laughed so hard he doubled over. "After this war, someone will fall from that throne! Whitebeard is old. And the one who falls might not be Whitebeard—it could be Straw Hat. Those Marines bastards will never let a guy this dangerous just leave."
Killed a Celestial Dragon!
Destroyed Impel Down!
Caused this chaotic situation—would the Marines let Straw Hat leave?
Even if he was the grandson of the Hero of the Marines, Sengoku would not go easy on him.
Or rather, only on this battlefield did they have the chance to destroy this evil bloodline.
"Hard to say."
Hawkins slowly drew another card and glanced at it. "According to my fortune, Straw Hat Luffy's probability of dying in this war is far lower than that of Whitebeard Edward Newgate."
Whitebeard was indeed already too old.
How many years had it been since this man had earned the title of World's Strongest Man?
That battered, riddled body needed IV drips year-round to survive.
Time was the most merciless. Even someone as strong as Whitebeard could not resist its power.
Facing the full force of Marine Headquarters' top combatants, if not for Luffy and the Impel Down prisoners' sudden disruption, the battle would probably have already become a one-sided crush.
"Marine Admirals, Whitebeard, Straw Hat..."
Not far away, Urouge the Mad Monk sat cross-legged. His huge body leaned forward slightly as he watched the figures on the screen—figures like natural disasters. "All of them are monsters among monsters!"
"Exciting, isn't it?"
Apoo seemed very eager to drag Urouge into this as well. He grinned. "These are the opponents we Supernovas will have to face in the future. So, Urouge, do you want to join us too?"
"You?"
Urouge raised his eyelids, looked at Apoo, then at the murderous Kid beside him and the superstitious Hawkins, as well as Killer the Massacre Soldier, who stood silently behind Kid.
Four Supernovas.
That was indeed a considerable force.
"So your target is all the Emperors?" Urouge asked.
"Obviously!"
Apoo's eyes flickered. "Aren't you? If you go to the New World and don't take down an Emperor, what kind of great pirate are you?!"
"Heh. My ambitions aren't that grand."
Urouge rubbed his bald head, then suddenly burst out laughing. "The problem is, there's only one spot for Emperor. There are three of you here. Even if you actually take down one of them, how would you split the position?"
The newly formed alliance shot him a terrifying look.
Urouge spread his huge palms and said, "Hey, hey, hey. Don't look at me like that. I'm just speaking the truth. I don't mean any harm!"
He didn't want to get involved in this mess.
An alliance of Supernovas?
Don't be ridiculous. All the Supernovas together had been almost crushed by that guy Straw Hat. Now only four of them were left, and they wanted to challenge an Emperor?
Even Luffy, who wasn't yet a real Emperor, was already this terrifying. And they wanted to challenge the established Emperors?
Don't be ridiculous.
They only had one life.
If the one starting this alliance was Straw Hat, Urouge might be somewhat interested.
Urouge left. Kid, Hawkins, and Apoo were left standing there. The atmosphere was momentarily delicate.
"Shahahaha!"
Kid broke the silence with a laugh. "Anyway, our alliance agreement is that we'll automatically disband after taking down an Emperor! Until then, we're not enemies!"
The three exchanged glances and tacitly dropped the sensitive topic.
Three men, nine hundred cunning tricks.
Add Killer, and that was twelve hundred.
Without the power to truly shake the foundations of an Emperor, discussing how to divide the spoils was meaningless.
Judging from the battle scenes on the screen, the power those monsters displayed made any sober Supernova understand that charging in with their own meager forces would be sheer suicide.
An alliance was the only way out.
Just then, on the battle scene, an enormous figure suddenly drew everyone's attention.
"Hey, hey, hey. Is that a giant?!"
Kid's pupils suddenly contracted.
It was too big.
On the screen, a colossal being appeared—its size far beyond that of ordinary giants!
Its height exceeded that of the Marine warships nearby.
Like a moving mountain, with every step, it made the ice plain tremble violently.
It wore a horned helmet, wielded a massive door-like cleaver matching its height, had light purple skin, and its bare upper body was covered in knotted muscles, radiating raw strength.
The giant Vice Admirals looked like children next to it.
"Little Oars Jr.!"
Some pirates who recognized it exclaimed.
"That's a great pirate with a bounty of 550 million berries!"
"A division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates—Demon Oars Jr.!"
"Kishishishishi!"
On the battlefield, Gecko Moria watched this enormous figure and couldn't help but let out a high-pitched laugh. His giant scissors opened and closed excitedly. "What a surprise! I didn't expect Oars to have descendants still alive!"
A giant's shadow!
For Moria, obsessed with creating an army of powerful zombies, this was the top-tier material of his dreams!
Originally, Moria was already one of the biggest beneficiary of this battlefield, with an endless supply of shadows—powerful shadows!
He could form another army of giant shadows.
Seeing this giant, he instinctively licked his lips.
He still couldn't quite let it go.
But then, a violent headache hit him, freezing the smile on his face.
Then Moria ground his teeth as he looked at the figure wearing the straw hat on the battlefield.
After being beaten up by Luffy on Thriller Bark, he had developed some psychological trauma.
"I've come to save you, Ace!" Little Oars Jr. shouted.
He let out a deafening roar. The sound waves, like a hurricane, shook the nearby ice layers, sending ice chips raining down.
"Oars!"
The smile that had just appeared on Ace's face vanished. Seeing Oars's movements, he immediately shouted:
"Wait! Stay there! Don't come any closer!"
Oars's enormous size was both a powerful combat force and a sitting duck on the battlefield!
For strong fighters at or above the level of Vice Admiral, dealing with such a slow-moving target wasn't too difficult.
And the Marines also had intensive cannon firepower.
If Oars charged into the core battlefield, he would instead become trapped in an encirclement.
Little Oars Jr. always listened to Ace. The moment Ace spoke, he stopped his charge.
His huge head turned. Seeing that Ace was indeed free, he grinned a simple, honest smile.
"Okay, Ace! I'll wait here to cover you!" Little Oars Jr. said in a booming voice.
Then he stood like a giant guardian god on the edge of the ice plain battlefield, swinging his giant cleaver.
"This guy is way too huge!"
A Marine giant Vice Admiral looked up at the mountain-like Little Oars Jr., shock written all over his face. "This is the first time I've encountered someone I have to look up to!"
"What? You think you can challenge me?"
Little Oars Jr. looked down at the little man—the giant Vice Admiral—at his feet. He raised his tens-of-meters-long super cleaver and let out a thunderous roar: "Get lost!"
With that, the giant cleaver, with a shrill sound of cutting air, slammed down toward the giant Vice Admiral.
"Haaah!"
The giant Vice Admiral roared, raised his own broadsword, and struggled to meet the attack.
Clang!
After several deafening exchanges, the broadsword in the giant Vice Admiral's hand was cut clean in two.
He himself was forced backward, step after step.
Watching Little Oars Jr. raised his cleaver again, the giant Vice Admiral's face showed both reluctance and humiliation—but he was helpless.
For ordinary people, and even ordinary giants, in the face of absolute difference in strength and size, the saying "size is justice" was most cruelly demonstrated.
"What a huge guy."
Luffy, in the midst of his fierce fight, stole a glance at the distant, wall-like Little Oars Jr. Amazement flickered in his eyes.
Although he wasn't as large as Oars—the corpse of the ancient giant he had encountered on Thriller Bark—the visual impact was still shocking.
And since this guy was on his side, it gave him an inexplicable sense of security.
"Straw Hat. Don't get distracted in battle." Hawkeye's comment was followed by an emerald slash aimed directly at Luffy's throat.
This man still wasn't using his full strength.
He was waiting for a satisfying battle.
"You're so annoying!"
Without even looking back, Luffy flicked his blade upward. A dark red slash from Magi intercepted Hawkeye's attack.
On the Marines' flagship, Sengoku watched the battle situation. His expression was dark.
How had they transported a monster like this from the Whitebeard Pirates?
Were there more surprises like this?
The game had reached this level.
"We can't wait any longer."
Sengoku took a deep breath, suppressing his anxiety, and said to the communications officer beside him, "Deploy the Pacifista unit!"
The order was quickly relayed.
The holds of several rear-positioned warships opened. Rows of humanoid weapons—identical in appearance to Bartholomew Kuma—stepped onto the ice plain.
A flash of light appeared in the distance.
"You're on guard against these things?"
"I've already seen them on the Sabaody Archipelago."
Luffy slashed his blade against Hawkeye's Yoru and said, "The Marines have even stronger guys, don't they?"
There were four presences.
Luffy was being cautious.
Those ominous presences were different from any enemy he had faced before.
He wasn't someone who just charged in headfirst anymore. That wouldn't get them out of here.
"What are these things?"
"One of the Seven Warlords?"
"Are you kidding me? Since when can the Seven Warlords be mass-produced?"
"The target is pirates. Eliminate them all, Pacifistas."
Sentomaru, carrying an ax, was in charge of commanding the Pacifistas. Their eyes glowed red. Their palms aimed at the pirates and prisoners ahead. Light condensed in their palms.
Sizzle!
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Countless's amazingly powerful golden laser beams shot into the battlefield like a storm.
Wherever they passed, the ice exploded.
They could even deal considerable damage to pirate ships!
They were basically self-propelled humanoid cannons. The pirates' guns and cannons had no effect on the Pacifistas.
"Is that Kuma? Why are there so many?!"
Ivankov looked at the scene in disbelief.
"You seem to know them, Okama King of the Revolutionary Army."
Not far away, Moria saw Ivankov's reaction and let out a high-pitched laugh. "Kishishishi! That's all in the past. It doesn't matter now. Kuma willingly volunteered to become the government's most cutting-edge human weapon!"
He just hadn't expected the Marines to deploy these experiments so soon.
The construction cost of a single Pacifista was comparable to that of a giant warship.
"Human weapon?!"
Ivankov's expression instantly turned extremely ugly.
They hadn't seen each other in many years. But he and Kuma had escaped from a place like God Valley together as comrades. Later, they had both joined the Revolutionary Army.
In Ivankov's memory, he had always been a quiet, gentle man.
What had the World Government done to him?!
***
Dive deeper into the story with 30+ advance chapters, available now on Patreon!
patreon.com/CNBLUE
If you're enjoying the novel, please consider leaving a review. Your support is crucial and helps the story grow immensely. Thank you!