Chapter 85: The Navy Arrives, The War Ends
The battle raged on into the night—until an unexpected event occurred. A 300-meter-long merchant ship, carrying a large number of civilians, inexplicably drifted toward the right side of Luo Han's battlefield.
At that exact moment, a stray slash wave from the clash between Roger, Whitebeard, and Golden Lion sliced the ship in half.
As the merchant ship sank, survivors swam to Line Island, ending up near the battlefield edges. But even there, they were not safe—the aftermath of the ongoing clashes caused civilian casualties.
All of this was clearly visible to Garp and the others through their binoculars.
"Those bastards—didn't they see the civilians?!" Garp slammed down the binoculars, clenched his fists, and stormed toward the deck edge.
"Don't be impulsive, Garp. That merchant ship's appearance was way too sudden!" Sengoku quickly grabbed Garp's arm to stop him.
"But the people dying out there are real, Sengoku! Are we just supposed to stand here and watch? I can't do that!" Garp yanked his arm free and continued forward. His sense of justice wouldn't allow him to stand by.
Tap tap—step. Zephyr launched himself using Moonwalk toward Line Island. Of the three, he was likely the least able to tolerate what was happening.
"Hahaha!" Watching Zephyr go, Garp paused, then laughed and patted Sengoku's shoulder. "Guess we're going too, Sengoku!" With that, he launched into the sky with Moonwalk.
Sengoku watched his friends disappear into the distance and sighed. "No matter what, saving civilians is always the right choice."
At this time, Sengoku hadn't yet grown numb to the world's darkness. Seeing that civilian ship appear, he made his choice.
"Move the battleship in!" he ordered.
…
Everyone briefly hesitated at the sudden appearance of civilians, but quickly resumed fighting—they had no choice.
By now, almost everyone was wounded.
Luo Han, too, had been slashed by Rayleigh due to a misjudgment and his failure to activate bullet-time in time. Fortunately, his Mind Force Armament significantly boosted his defense. The cuts weren't fatal—deep enough to bleed, but not enough to impair him.
Garp and Zephyr reached Line Island and assessed the situation. Garp headed toward Roger and Golden Lion's location, while Zephyr moved toward Luo Han's area. Sengoku positioned the navy's warship near the civilians to protect them.
Clang! Crack! Garp smashed one of Golden Lion's slash waves, stopping it from hitting the civilians. He then stood at the edge of the battlefield, watching Roger, Whitebeard, and Golden Lion, not yet intervening.
Zephyr did the same—his focus was on shielding the evacuation of civilians alongside Sengoku.
Both still remembered the Five Elders' orders: do not interfere in the battle between the Roger and Rocks Pirates.
But fate, as always, had other plans—especially when those "accidents" were intentional.
Just as Garp was about to block another attack—boom boom boom!—Roger, Whitebeard, and Golden Lion suddenly landed around him, encircling him completely.
"Hahaha! Garp, you finally showed up!" Roger laughed. He seemed to have expected this and spoke with confident ease.
Garp furrowed his brow. The sudden encirclement confused him. "If you guys are going to fight, move it elsewhere! Don't get the civilians caught up in this!" The evacuation still needed time.
Roger's casual conversation with Garp irritated Golden Lion, who wasn't in the mood for reminiscing.
"Enough chatter. I'll take care of you all at once!" he declared, launching twin slash waves—one at Roger, one at Garp.
Whitebeard didn't say a word. He punched out a Tremor Shock, the air cracking loudly with explosive force—peace shattered in an instant.
"You bastards have no regard for civilians?!" Garp roared. Encircled by the trio, and seeing them start fighting right over his head, Garp couldn't hold back anymore. He joined the fray—and the battle became a four-way brawl.
Zephyr faced a similar situation. When he arrived, the fight was reaching its climax. The Roger Pirates were barely holding on. The Rocks Pirates had more heavy-hitters, and things were looking grim.
Rayleigh and Jabber, noticing Zephyr's arrival, exchanged glances. Seeing a chance to escape, they stopped attacking Luo Han and led the Roger crew toward Zephyr.
Zephyr, thinking they were aiming for the civilians, erupted in fury. Without hesitation, he attacked. Just like that, Zephyr was pulled into the battle as well.
Now surrounded by pirates, Zephyr began fighting everyone, making the battlefield even more chaotic.
Luo Han, Cole, and Sister Shao regrouped at a distance, quietly observing. On the far shore, civilians were boarding the navy ship in an orderly manner. Sengoku stood nearby, guarding them and prepared to intercept any stray attacks.
"How strange… a civilian ship suddenly showing up like that. The sea around Line Island is supposed to be completely locked down by the Rocks Pirates. There shouldn't be any merchant ships out here… and yet one appeared," Luo Han muttered, stroking his chin. The war must be ending soon, he guessed silently.
As things unfolded, just as Luo Han predicted, after the civilians were rescued, the sight of Garp and Zephyr caught in the middle of pirate battles triggered a full naval intervention.
The battle—later called the Battle of Line Island—ended one hour after the navy joined in. All three factions eventually retreated.
The next day, news of the battle spread across the seas. While the world was stunned by Roger fighting both Whitebeard and Golden Lion alone, it was Luo Han's performance that left people speechless.
He knocked away one of Roger's right-hand men, severed the arm of a top swordsman on Roger's crew, and pierced a giant fish-man's abdomen. Two of those opponents were Admiral-level, and two more were just below that.
And later, Luo Han single-handedly held off both Rayleigh and Jabber.
All of this—done by an eighteen-year-old kid.
The world exclaimed, "Another monster like Charlotte Linlin has risen!"
…
Luo Han didn't know any of that yet. He and the others had just returned to Tucker's ship after the battle.
Why Tucker's ship? Because Whitebeard's had been sliced in half by a random slash wave during the battle.
"I'm sorry," Sister Shao suddenly said to Luo Han and Cole.
Luo Han blinked, unsure what she meant. But then something clicked, and he smiled slightly.
"It's okay, Sister Shao. Cole and I are fine, right?"
"And you held off Rayleigh. We may be on different sides, but I hope it didn't mess up… anything important to you."
Hearing his response, Sister Shao unexpectedly blushed like a shy girl.
"There's nothing going on between me and him. Don't overthink it. I've always stood by you two brothers!" she declared firmly.
Heh… Luo Han just smiled. But thinking back to how she'd stopped Rayleigh to let him protect Cole, he felt deeply grateful. At least she knew where her loyalty lay. Had she chosen the Roger Pirates instead, Luo Han wouldn't have been nearly as polite—just like with Golden Lion.
"Alright, let's head to Battleship Island and rest up—also time to find a new ship," Whitebeard said. He then instructed the crew to set sail.
The navigator pulled out a map, checked the Log Pose, and adjusted course toward Battleship Island.
The next morning, after a full night of sailing, the crew spotted a small island and decided to dock for rest before continuing on.
The island was shaped like a giant hamburger, with a dense forest in the center and grassy plains all around. Only two mountain paths led up, where a few small villages were scattered.
Luo Han and his group avoided disturbing the villagers and chose a quiet spot on the island's northern side.
Once ashore, the head chef brought out utensils and instructed the cooks to prepare the meat they'd brought. It had all come from Sea Kings Luo Han hunted during the journey—each a few hundred meters long.
(END CHAPTER)
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