"Marines—this war is over!"
From the direction of the Marine warships—
After using a vine imbued with the effects of Leech Seed to bind the Marine elite Vice Admiral Momonga, Usopp raised the armored hand cannon in his grasp. The pitch-black muzzle pointed straight at the commander of the warship, yet his voice was broadcast across the entire battlefield.
In the blink of an eye, the massive green plant restraining Momonga swelled violently, transforming into a towering tree that reached for the sky.
Opposite it, the once highly respected Vice Admiral Momonga now had his eyes shut, head lolling to one side as he lay unconscious.
As Usopp's voice spread in all directions through the special sound shell device, the chaotic war zone fell silent in an instant.
In truth…
From the very moment Akainu died, the Marines had already lost all will to fight.
Especially after the Five Elders ascended one after another, no one even knew what they were still fighting for.
If not for the intermittent flashes of rainbow-colored light refracted by ice crystals in the distant sky—proof that Admiral Aokiji was still fighting—they might have already laid down their arms.
But after Usopp's shout, and upon seeing the miserable state of the revered Vice Admiral Momonga…
The last line of defense in the hearts of the Marines finally shattered.
The flames of war seemed to vanish in a single instant.
"Hm?!"
Marco, who had been flapping his azure-flamed wings midair, froze for a moment and turned his gaze toward Usopp in the distance.
"If I remember correctly… that guy should be the one with a three-billion-Beli bounty—the Insect King, Usopp, right?"
"To defeat Vice Admiral Momonga so easily… the Straw Hat Pirates truly are a den of hidden dragons and crouching tigers."
As he spoke, Marco beat his wings and swiftly moved across the battlefield, relaying the news of the war's suspension to every Whitebeard pirate.
Compared to the coordination of the Whitebeard Pirates, however, the Beasts Pirates on the other side had already gone completely berserk.
Most conspicuous among them were the Gifters—those whose bodies had mutated after consuming artificial Devil Fruits.
These forcibly altered monsters charged through the battlefield like rabid dogs off their chains.
Because of them, the combined Marine casualties inflicted by the Whitebeard Pirates and the Straw Hat Pirates didn't even match those caused by the Beasts Pirates alone.
They were, without question, true battlefield madmen.
Of course, the Marines and government forces were no pushovers either, striking back fiercely against the Beasts Pirates.
As a result, even after Usopp's voice echoed across the battlefield, many areas were still locked in brutal combat, fighters too blood-drunk to stop immediately.
"It looks like the war's already over."
At that moment, Queen swept aside a group of charging Marines with his mechanically modified massive tail. His bloated body then leapt forward, landing directly in front of King.
"…Yeah."
King nodded thoughtfully, his gaze drifting toward the distant sky.
Just then, a robot wearing sunglasses descended stylishly from above. He slammed his arms together with a crisp metallic clang, drawing the attention of both King and Queen.
"Hey! You two—you're the All-Stars of the Beasts Pirates, right?!"
"Order your people to stop immediately!"
"This battle can't afford any more casualties."
"Otherwise, don't blame us for getting rough!"
Franky removed his sunglasses, staring warily at King and Queen below.
After all, though the Beasts Pirates were supposed to be allies, not long ago they'd been planning to seize Totto Land's waters.
"You think we'll stop just because you say so?! Then where would our pride be?!"
As expected, Queen shot back defiantly at Franky's sharp warning.
It wasn't that he was deliberately opposing the Straw Hat Pirates.
The real problem was that Jack the Drought had already charged straight into the very center of the battlefield.
Other than Kaido himself, no one could make Jack stop immediately.
Not even King—the strongest beneath Kaido—could manage that.
And Queen, obsessed with saving face, certainly didn't want to admit that in front of outsiders.
Thankfully, the situation was special enough that King didn't bother putting on the airs of a veteran Yonko crew.
Seeing sparks about to fly between Franky and Queen, he quickly stepped in.
"It's not that we don't want to stop. It's just that most members of the Beasts Pirates are battle maniacs. Once they start fighting, they won't stop until every enemy is dead."
"We'll do our best to cooperate, but we can't guarantee how much we can control."
"Battle maniacs, huh?" Franky frowned. "That's troublesome."
"In that case, just do what you can. Leave the rest to us."
As his words fell, Franky tapped his temple with one finger, transmitting the situation of the Beasts Pirates to the rest of the Straw Hat crew through the mental network.
Though the network constructed by Robin wasn't as vast or stable as Red's, it was more than sufficient for a battlefield of this scale.
Very soon, the Straw Hats all received the update.
The mental network instantly became lively.
Nami sniffed disdainfully. "Honestly, the Beasts Pirates barely helped at all and caused so much trouble."
"Why don't I just whip up a storm and wipe them out while I'm at it?!"
"Yohohoho~ Easy there, Nami."
"They did come to help, after all."
Brook hurried to calm her down.
Meanwhile, Usopp—still holding Vice Admiral Momonga hostage for all Marines to see—curled his lip.
"Let's stop the sarcasm. The priority now is dealing with the Beasts Pirates still fighting!"
Kind-hearted Chopper chimed in immediately. "These Marines may be our enemies, but they don't deserve to die. It'd be too cruel for them to be sacrificed here for nothing."
Robin proposed calmly, "Some areas on the Beasts' side have already stopped. I'll compile the remaining active zones into map coordinates. The rest will be up to you."
"Oh!"
"No problem~"
The Straw Hat crew responded in unison.
In an instant, everyone stopped what they were doing and sprang into action.
The first to unleash their strength on the battlefield were Usopp and his insect army.
A moment ago, the dense swarm had surrounded the Marines, restricting their movements.
But at Usopp's command, the insects instantly changed targets, diving toward the rampaging Yonko pirates one after another.
The army advanced like a tidal wave.
Faced with Usopp's insect horde, the ordinary Beasts Pirates stood no chance.
Fortunately, Usopp didn't order the insects to go for the kill—otherwise, the Beasts Pirates' lower ranks would've been wiped out in minutes.
This… was the power of the Insect Swarm!
"Gyahahaha~! Come on, Marines! Keep coming!!!"
"I'll show you the might of Jack-sama!"
On a Marine warship, Jack—transformed into his beast form—rampaged wildly, sending enemies flying in all directions.
Perhaps because he'd successfully boarded a ship and could finally unleash his strength, Jack was unusually exhilarated, to the point that he didn't even hear the Den Den Mushi ringing in his pocket.
But then—
A violent gale descended from the sky, carrying sharp ice pellets that smashed straight into Jack's massive face.
"What the hell is this?!"
The freezing rain slapped wildly against his face, cooling his frenzied mind just a little.
At that moment, a figure floated directly above him.
Sitting atop her Clima-Tact, Nami looked like a genuine magical girl as she scolded him softly.
"Hey, long-nosed guy. The war is over."
"Keep messing around, and don't blame me for getting rough!"
"The Straw Hat crew?!"
Anger flashed through Jack's eyes. He raised his long trunk disdainfully.
"No one tells me what to do—and certainly not you!"
"If you know what's good for you, get out of my way! Otherwise, don't blame me!"
"What a stubborn brute~"
Nami's eyes flickered. Realizing there was no reasoning with him, she gave up instantly.
Brilliant lightning suddenly sparked in her palm.
She shouted, "Chopper, no need to go easy on him anymore!"
"Roger!"
Chopper, who had arrived on the warship with her, answered immediately.
The next second, he crushed the Rumble Ball in his mouth.
"Monster Point!"
A gigantic monstrous figure suddenly appeared before Jack.
In Monster Point, Chopper thrust out his left hand. From a special device at his wrist, a massive green plant blade formed instantly.
His right hand extended as well—perfectly catching the thunder giant sword personally forged by Nami.
"Swordsman—Two Sword Style!!!"
Slash!
Holding two enormous blades, Chopper struck a powerful stance, confronting the massive mammoth head-on.
After training with Zoro for so long, aside from the trash talk, Chopper had already mastered basic Two Sword Style techniques with ease.
With his monstrous physique, dealing with an ordinary Yonko commander was no problem at all.
And now, he even had Nami's lightning empowering him!
Poor Jack…
He had no idea that all his fame was about to become Chopper's stepping stone into the world of true power.
…
…
Elsewhere—
Compared to the skirmishes around the warships, the battle between Aokiji and Sanji showed no sign of shrinking.
Especially after Zoro joined in.
Though he didn't directly enter the battlefield to help Sanji fight Aokiji, his constant taunts caused Sanji's fiery aura to visibly flare hotter and hotter.
As a result, Aokiji found that breaking through Sanji's wall of flames now required far more effort than before.
At this point, Aokiji was truly suffering.
His superiors were either dead or missing, and he alone was left stubbornly holding out.
Even Aokiji himself didn't know what he was still holding on for.
More than anything else, he just wanted to know—
When would this farce finally end?
Perhaps the heavens heard his plea.
Just as he once again condensed a massive iceberg out of thin air, completely suppressing Sanji's flames and forming it into a colossal ice spear that shot toward Sanji—
A pitch-black spatial wormhole suddenly appeared before Sanji, swallowing the ice spear whole and sending it who-knows-where.
"Let's end the fight here."
Red's voice echoed out of nowhere.
The next moment, his figure stepped straight out of the wormhole.
Freshly returned from outer space, Red smiled gently and looked up at Aokiji.
"Continuing this fight won't do this sea any good. So let's end it here today."
"What do you say, Admiral Aokiji?"
"…Red."
Aokiji stared intently at the suddenly appeared Red, his expression grave.
He knew all too well—
Though he could suppress Sanji completely, even surviving on this battlefield was a razor-sharp question.
A swordsman who had slain Akainu, Straw Hat Luffy who had whisked away the Five Elders, Whitebeard and Kaido watching hungrily…
And this Trainer Red before him, who had yet to make a move but seemed to control everything from the shadows.
Facing this lineup, Aokiji could only think:
"Forget it. I'm tired. Just end it already."
Perhaps this battle had been a mistake from the very beginning.
Yet just then, Red suddenly produced a mysterious bottle out of thin air and tossed it toward Aokiji.
"Tired of fighting, Admiral Aokiji?"
"Here—have a Super Potion. Recover some stamina."
"…???"
Aokiji reflexively reached out and caught the glass bottle, staring at it in confusion.
What… is this situation?!
He froze for a moment, glancing from the potion in his hand to the smile on Red's face.
After thinking it over—and confirming he truly had no way out—Aokiji simply raised the bottle and gulped it down.
The moment the Super Potion took effect, shock visibly flashed across his eyes.
A mysterious power from the Pokémon world instantly replenished his drained stamina.
Though it didn't restore him to peak condition, his mental state and strength recovered considerably.
"This is…"
Aokiji looked at Red, puzzled.
But before he could ask more, a pitch-black spatial wormhole opened right in front of him.
Red's invitation followed immediately.
With a light chuckle, he said:
"Our sincerity should be clear enough, Admiral Aokiji."
"The Marine battlefield is in good hands—my companions have minimized Marine casualties as much as possible."
"So…"
"How about coming over to our side for a bit?"
"We can even discuss the details of you becoming the next Fleet Admiral."
"What do you say?"
(End of Chapter)