Chapter 158 Whitebeard's Fleet Suddenly Appears in MarinefordThis is why Kaido, that madman, was so obsessed with Doflamingo's artificial Devil Fruit; the disparity in troop strength was simply too great.
Countless heavy cannons were arrayed along the bay's seawall. At the forefront of the army, the Seven Warlords of the Sea stood in various poses.
Hawkeye Mihawk's eyes were sharp as knives, Moria chuckled maniacally, and Doflamingo wore an arrogant and untamed expression.
Behind them, Empress Hancock led the female warriors of the Kuja Pirates, bows drawn, serving as the top-tier ranged firepower.
Meanwhile, the three Admirals—Akainu, Kizaru, and Aokiji—symbolizing the Navy's highest fighting force, slowly took their seats on three golden chairs below the execution platform.
In an instant, the 100,000 Marines seemed to be injected with a powerful stimulant, erupting in deafening cheers that seemed to shake the sky above Marineford.
Doflamingo, trembling with excitement, stared at the magnificent war machine before him, bursting into maniacal laughter.
The old monster who had dominated the seas for decades was finally taking his leave. Who would claim the throne of the sea's ruler afterward?
Would it be one of the remaining three Yonko?
Or the Seven Warlords of the Sea, known for their pragmatism?
Or perhaps those arrogant brats, the so-called Worst Generation?
All eyes involuntarily turned to the frenzied pink flamingo.
Doflamingo smiled grimly, rejecting all answers. The army of justice would be the ultimate victor!
The Navy was the true ruler of these seas; even the Revolutionary Army, representing the will of the people, could not contend with them!
As for those D. clan members who had always lurked in the shadows of history like rats?
Doflamingo's lips curled into an exaggerated smile. They were nothing but pathetic creatures forced to hide by the Celestial Dragons!
The Navy is the sharpest blade in the Celestial Dragons' hands!
When the smoke of this war clears!
I! Donquixote Doflamingo!
will ride the tide of the times and return to the top!
Hahahaha!
Hawkeye glanced at Doflamingo with an expression of utter disbelief, completely baffled by the guy's madness.
Just then, the heavy prison doors beneath the execution platform slowly opened with a rumble.
Luffy, yawning and looking half-asleep, appeared on the Den Den Mushi screen, leading a string of Whitebeard Pirates captains.
Everyone's pupils contracted sharply at that moment!
The reporters on Sabaody Archipelago nearly dropped their cameras in excitement; the figure was none other than the culprit who started this war—Vice Admiral Monkey D. Luffy!
Rumor has it that Blackbeard dared to attack the Whitebeard Pirates entirely at the behest of Vice Admiral Luffy.
Look! All twenty captains of Whitebeard's Grand Fleet have been brought out!
Veanan, whose entire body has been modified into a machine!
Slippy, like a mad dog!
Katz, with his incredibly long neck!
And even Squard, the giant vortex spider!
Are these the spark that could ignite a war that could destroy the world?
Indeed, capturing twenty of someone's adopted sons in one go is an insult any father would find unbearable, let alone Whitebeard, known for his fierce protection of his own.
Twenty dejected captains were herded by Luffy like ducks to the execution platform, where they knelt in a row.
His secretary, Kalifa, very considerately brought over a leather chair and placed it beside the platform. Luffy unceremoniously plopped down and crossed his legs.
The morning sunlight shone on him, making the once skinny Luffy appear unusually robust and muscular.
Akainu, who had been posing arrogantly below, instantly turned ashen-faced, craning his neck and roaring at Luffy, "You bastard! What are you doing! As a vice admiral, why aren't you at the front lines providing support?!"
Luffy picked at his ear, looking disgusted. "Huh? What's it to you? I'm exhausted, can't I sit here and rest for a bit?"
His contemptuous gaze was as if he were looking at a pile of unrecyclable trash.
Akainu was furious, his right arm instantly turning into molten lava, wishing he could unleash a vicious attack on this undisciplined bastard on the spot.
However, at that moment, Garp and Sengoku, two powerful figures, walked onto the execution platform together, standing on either side of the prisoner.
This scene was like a bucket of ice water poured over his head. Akainu's anger instantly died down. He could only snort coldly and curse "coward," before sullenly sitting back in his chair.
Kizaru, standing beside him, smirked, watching Akainu like he was watching a clown performance, thinking that this idiot's brain was probably filled with cement.
If it weren't for those old men in the World Government protecting him, Sengoku would never have let this guy become an admiral, given his intelligence and emotional intelligence.
Luffy glanced coldly at Akainu, his eyes filled with disgust.
Back when Roger surrendered and went to prison, the World Government's bloody purge of all pregnant women was led by this mad dog.
To eradicate the threat completely, under the guise of absolute justice, they adopted a "better to kill a thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free" attitude towards all pregnant women on the island Roger passed through within a year.
This heinous massacre lasted for ten months, with tens of thousands of pregnant women and innocent infants dying under the blade.
This is a shameful stain on the Navy's history that can never be washed away. In Luffy's eyes, this act of wielding a knife against women and children out of fear of blood is the ultimate expression of cowardice.
Based on this incident alone, Luffy can never condone Akainu's repulsive absolute justice.
A sliver of dawn appeared on the horizon. As the temperature gradually rose, a thick white fog began to spread across the sea, drastically reducing visibility.
A Navy officer on surveillance, his binoculars fixed on the sea, suddenly spotted a series of massive, dark ship shadows in the morning fog.
The lookout's voice trembled with extreme fear: "They're here! The enemy has appeared!!"
All personnel on alert! Prepare for battle!!
A suffocating tension instantly enveloped Marineford, as thousands of cannons simultaneously turned their muzzles towards the sea.
One after another, strangely shaped pirate ships emerged from the mist like ghosts.
Sengoku glanced at Luffy beside him. Just as the kid had predicted, they had indeed come from underwater.
Ever since Luffy had Garp bring back information about Fish-Man Island, Sengoku had been on guard against this underwater attack, so he didn't panic as he had in the original timeline due to Whitebeard's surprise attack.
That was the pirate crew's massive fleet! Dozens of ships!
Quickly, locate Whitebeard's flagship!
However, the Marines stared wide-eyed, counting and recounting, only to find they were all their own large fleets; they couldn't spot Whitebeard's iconic Moby Dick.
Luffy raised an eyebrow, gesturing towards Sengoku: "Fire! You guessed that old man wasn't here, right?"
Sengoku shook his head, his voice low and serious: "If we're going to do it, we have to go all the way. What if Whitebeard goes back to reinforce those fleets? We can't let our guard down."
Luffy shrugged, saying nothing more.
The forty-three pirate ships, under the cover of the fog, rapidly approached Marineford Port.
Just then, the once mirror-like surface of Crescent Bay suddenly began to churn with enormous bubbles.
The three admirals, Sengoku, and Garp almost simultaneously looked up, their eyes blazing.
They've arrived! The main attraction has arrived!
With a deafening roar, the massive, coated warship Moby Dick, accompanied by three secondary ships, burst forth from the bay like a behemoth!
Seawater cascaded down its hull like a waterfall.
A white-bearded figure, standing six meters tall and wielding the enormous Supreme Grade Sword Murakumogiri, stepped onto the deck.