Deep blue flames transformed into a shield, and King crossed his arms in front of Kaido.
“If you want to attack our king, you’ll have to get through me first!”
Veins bulged across King’s face. With a powerful flap of his wings, he forcibly blocked Sengoku’s descending strike.
Bang!
Sengoku’s Buddha’s Impact was originally an area-of-effect attack, and using one’s own body as a shield against it was no simple matter. Yet King spread out a barrier large enough to block the shockwave, preventing Kaido from being affected in the slightest.
“Conflagration, huh? Looks like you’ve been plotting against Marine Headquarters for quite some time.”
“King? Why are you here?”
Compared to Sengoku, Kaido was actually the one with more questions. He did not remember ordering King to come here.
“I received the battle report from Shayna. It said that ever since you left Onigashima, you haven’t appeared anywhere again, Boss Kaido.
But there’s no way you’d be willing to sit out a war this big. Either Mariejois or Marine Headquarters, you had to be at one of these two places.
Though if it were Mariejois, I figured you’d wait until Lord Sacred Beast returned first.”
“Worororo! King, you really do understand me. But you shouldn’t be the only one who came here, right?”
Kaido’s gaze shifted toward the shoreline. He could sense several familiar presences.
“That’s right. I called Jack over too. We don’t have many people, but it’s more than enough to clear the way for you, Boss Kaido.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Jack, Tiger, and a group of Fish-Men appeared along the coast. With the waves surging behind them, they stepped onto the land of Marine Headquarters.
“Fine. Since you’re already here, then fight alongside me.”
In front of his own subordinates, Kaido restrained himself somewhat and finally rose back to his feet.
Kaido disliked having his battles interfered with, but a battle that had not even properly started did not count. King had not launched a sneak attack either, he had simply taken Sengoku’s attack head-on.
On top of that, Kaido had always been exceptionally tolerant toward the people he valued, possessing an almost absurd double standard in that regard. So not only did he show no displeasure, he instead burst into an excited laugh.
But every bit of Kaido’s laughter grated painfully on Sengoku’s ears. Kaido himself. King and Jack, two of the Calamities. Tiger, the hero of the Fish-Men, along with several elite Fish-Men and a small number of aerial forces.
After circling around, the forces that the Beasts Pirates had previously dispatched had instead regrouped at Marine Headquarters. This had undoubtedly already exceeded what the current Marine Headquarters could withstand.
“Do you see it, my brethren?! That place over there is Mariejois, the source of all the suffering inflicted upon us!
And this place is where the soldiers who protect them are stationed! If we don’t resist, our situation will never change!
The war has already begun! Either we live forever in the darkness of the deep sea, or we fight our way into a brand-new world!
Some of us will die. Many people will die!
Hiding away in one corner of the world might allow us to scrape by. After all, only some of our compatriots would be captured and turned into slaves, and those people might not be you. But no one can guarantee that the next slave won’t be one of your loved ones!
If we make no sacrifices, Fishman Island will never change. The Fish-Men have endured far too much darkness. Today, we’ll use our own blood to stain a path forward!
For the future of Fishman Island, charge with us!”
Many years ago, Tiger had been disgracefully captured and taken to Mariejois. After escaping, he had resolutely climbed back up to Mariejois once again. And today, he was leading his idealistic brethren in a counterattack against this place.
“Moo!”
While Tiger was delivering his speech, Jack’s body had already begun to expand, transforming into a massive behemoth composed of steel as he charged straight ahead with unstoppable momentum.
“You’re really impatient. King, you don’t need to worry about me here. Go keep an eye on Jack. That brat’s still too young, and that Alcremie isn’t by his side. Don’t let anything happen to him.”
“Yes.”
King nodded and immediately flew in Jack’s direction, while Kaido rolled his neck and picked up his kanabo.
“This wasn’t originally my idea, but my adorable subordinates are being a little willful. As their Governor-General, I have to indulge them a bit. Sengoku, show me exactly what you’ve got if you want to defend the Marine Headquarters! Worororo!”
Kaido charged forward with his club. His overwhelmingly powerful chain of blows left Sengoku completely unable to disengage. Meanwhile, the other officers at Marine Headquarters also reacted, launching a fresh offensive against the Beasts Pirates with support from the soldiers and artillery.
Only at this point did Mariejois, which was practically right next door, finally respond.
Inside the Five Elders’ office, the familiar scene of all five gathered together was gone. Only three remained here, but their temperaments were just as they had always been.
“These people really are audacious. To think they’d actually dare do something like this. It seems our indulgence has made these pirates far too arrogant.”
“Our response was a little late, but we’re still in time. It’s just a pity about those things.
If we could keep all of them, we’d be able to make up this year’s budget deficit.”
Nasjuro wore an extremely regretful expression. As the Warrior God of Finance, he controlled the World Government’s economy. Before the war began, he had already sent people to move against Tesoro, only for them to come up completely empty-handed.
Even Beasts Fruits had suspended operations. Its headquarters and core personnel had all been relocated, and its funds had been completely withdrawn. Only the original framework remained scattered throughout the world.
Faced with those ordinary employees, Nasjuro had unusually chosen not to take any action against them, instead allowing them to continue operating as before. There was no particularly complicated reason. Beasts Fruits simply affected far too many regions.
Targeting those ordinary employees would not only fail to reap any profit, it would instead cause the economies of those areas to collapse.
After all, the Beasts Pirates had only withdrawn the specially supplied products they themselves provided. Many of those branch companies purchased and sold goods directly from their surrounding regions, actually helping stimulate the local economies.
The World Government constantly sheared wool from every region, but they also understood that the sheep had to remain alive if they wanted it to keep producing wool. As long as that sheep did not cross their bottom line, they could tolerate it and would even periodically feed it some fresh grass.
“That’s no longer the most important matter. Kaido has launched a surprise attack on Marine Headquarters. At this rate, Sengoku probably won’t be able to hold out for much longer. Kaido’s officers have already gone there as well. Our laws really have been trampled under their feet.”
Warcury, the Warrior God of Justice, spoke about what was happening below. Peter then added: “The Marines are ultimately our public face. Letting them continue attacking like this would be inappropriate. We should send some support.
I remember Kong used to be Fleet Admiral of the Marines, didn’t he? Send him.”
“No. Sending him alone isn’t secure enough. Since we’re already taking action, we might as well be decisive about it. This time, I’ll go personally.”
Nasjuro stood up and walked toward the hall’s exit with his sword in hand.
“I’ll leave this place to the two of you. One inside and one outside, you should be able to handle the situation in Mariejois just fine.”
“Go without worry. It’s rare, but the two of us are more than capable of handling things here.”
Nasjuro walked out of the room alone. As he left, the sword in his hand began emanating an unusually dark and sinister aura.
Meanwhile, Kong, who was in Mariejois, also received the deployment order from the Five Elders.
Though advanced in age, the muscles on his body remained exceptionally well-developed. His hair and beard were shaped like two mountains, and two medals were pinned to his shirt.
As the Fleet Admiral before Sengoku and the current Commander-in-Chief of the World Government’s entire armed forces, Kong inevitably found himself heading to the front lines as well.
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