“Everyone, avert your eyes! Anyone below the rank of Commodore is forbidden from looking directly upon His Excellency!”
On the Red Line, the Marines were carrying out temporary redeployments. Although war was raging on every front, Mariejois still had a certain number of troops stationed there. What the World Government valued about these men was not their combat strength, but their ability to handle miscellaneous affairs.
Besides, in the eyes of the Five Elders, even an attack on Marine Headquarters was less important than maintaining their own pomp and ceremony.
Amid repeated shouts, the ordinary Marines hurriedly moved aside, terrified of angering the World Government’s highest authority.
“Saint Nasjuro, I have been awaiting your arrival.”
As Commander-in-Chief of the World Government’s armed forces, Kong was also a high-ranking official and effectively the supreme authority of its military arm. Yet before Nasjuro, he still appeared a rank lower, having come here early to wait for him.
“No need for formalities. That pirate Kaido is currently attacking Marine Headquarters. As you know, most of the Marines’ forces are presently carrying out missions in the outer seas. Your junior, Sengoku, cannot defend Marine Headquarters by himself.
That place is, after all, the face of the Marines. If the Marines completely lose face, it will reflect poorly on the World Government as well. Go support him first.”
Faced with a capable man like Kong, Nasjuro did not act particularly arrogant. After all, people like him were wholeheartedly serving the World Government.
“Yes.”
After giving his acknowledgment, Kong took a small group of men with him and directly stepped through the air, leaving Mariejois. As the forward defensive post guarding Mariejois, Marine Headquarters was not very far away in the first place.
As Commander-in-Chief, the people Kong brought with him were naturally not cannon fodder, but an entire contingent of Commissioned Marine Officers. Waiting for a ship would have been the greatest waste of time.
Nasjuro appeared to be in no hurry, but after Kong left, he quietly vanished. The Marines present did not even notice how Nasjuro had departed.
“Phew… Has that one finally left? That atmosphere was unbearable.”
Only after confirming that Nasjuro had left did the Marines stationed at Mariejois finally breathe a sigh of relief. The companion beside him did not seem to understand why he had been so nervous and could not help asking, “Was there really any need to be that serious?”
“Heh. I almost envy someone who knows nothing. Do you know why the position you’re standing in became vacant?”
Compared with hunting pirates in the Four Seas or being stationed at a branch base on the Grand Line, serving as part of Mariejois’s garrison was unquestionably safer. Outside, danger might come every few days, while Mariejois might not see a single incident in more than a decade. In the eyes of some, this was an extremely comfortable posting.
“No…”
“Because the last guy accidentally looked up at Saint Saturn once. Then his head went bang and exploded. Ever played one of those watermelon-smashing games? It looked just like a watermelon crushed by a club.
This place looks safe, but there are things everywhere that can kill you. You’re only a Lieutenant Junior Grade. There are no fewer people here who can take your life than there are outside. Watch yourself, young man. You still have a lot to learn.”
Celestial Dragons did not care about the lives of ordinary Marine soldiers. Almost no one who offended them came to a good end. That was the risk one had to bear here. This place truly was peaceful and idyllic, provided that you yourself were a Celestial Dragon.
After being thoroughly frightened—or perhaps warned—the newly arrived Marine looked in the direction of Marine Headquarters, lost in thought.
At the same time, at Marine Headquarters, the Marines stationed there had fallen into an absolute disadvantage.
“Thunder Bagua: Yama’s Dance!”
The kanabo in Kaido’s hands swung at tremendous speed, leaving trails of afterimages around him. Sengoku’s golden Buddha body shone brilliantly, yet it could do nothing to change the course of the battle.
“The Buddha’s golden body… It sure can take a beating. I suppose that counts as a rare advantage. But don’t you have any new tricks? Where are your reinforcements? I didn’t come here just to play monk and ring a bell!”
Due to the nature of the Buddha Fruit, Sengoku’s bodily structure had undergone a transformation. The golden Buddha body itself possessed an indestructible quality, making Sengoku’s body as hard as diamond. Every collision with Kaido produced deafening booms.
Boom!
Hassaikai collided with the shockwave released from Sengoku’s palm, sending the giant Buddha body flashing backward. Yet Sengoku’s aura surged to an even higher level as his pupils contracted slightly.
“Kaido, this is Marine Headquarters! Don’t get too arrogant!”
“Marine Headquarters? I attacked your old headquarters before. Back when this place was still called G1, I came whenever I wanted and left whenever I pleased. What does where we are have to do with the fact that you can’t defeat me?
I’ve already given you plenty of time. If no one else shows up, then get ready to admire your own elegiac couplet! Kundali Dragon Swarm!”
The way Kaido swung his club changed, a dense curtain of club afterimages surging toward Sengoku.
“Wrathful Vajra Gaze: Buddha’s Flaming Strike!”
The corners of Sengoku’s eyes seemed to ignite under some mysterious power, flames filling both pupils. As he swept his palm forward, golden flames appeared out of thin air, and within that fiery impact was something that Kaido found rather interesting.
“This presence… Conqueror’s Haki? There really are more and more conquerors on this sea. Even you Marines can awaken Conqueror’s Haki now!”
The justice Sengoku upheld was “Reigning Justice.” But in Kaido’s eyes, Marines willing to carry out every order of the World Government could hardly be called conquerors.
Of course, that was not particularly important. Since the opponent before him still had some fight left, that was ultimately a good thing. Scorching dragon flames enveloped Kaido’s body. He intended to meet his enemy with the enemy’s own methods and crush him head-on.
“Fire! Fire! Don’t stop! Keep firing!!”
While Kaido and Sengoku fought fiercely, the Beasts Pirates’ forces were also advancing. Their numbers were small, but every one of them was elite, with King and Jack charging at the very front.
The transformed Copperajah had become a gigantic killing machine on the battlefield, like a tank making its first appearance in the First World War. Its enormous steel body rendered the Marines’ cannon fire almost powerless, making them once again experience the terror inspired by gigantic beings.
Two years ago, Oars had done something similar. But Oars was still made of flesh and blood; cannonballs hurt when they struck him, and the Shichibukai had also been there to stand in his way.
Against the Jack of today, however, the Marines found themselves running out of options. After all, the Beasts Pirates had assembled a bizarre lineup of tortoise shells.
Kaido, the strongest overall, possessing formidable Haki and a terrifying physique, known as the Strongest Creature.
King, the strongest in defense, whose Lunarian racial gifts made his defensive capabilities unparalleled in the world.
Olga, who could make herself impossible to locate, rendering even the strongest attacks useless if they could not hit her.
Jack, thick-skinned and tough, possessing powerful defensive abilities and reckless enough by nature to simply bulldoze through attacks.
And Queen, who holed himself up inside his own safe house, had forged powerful Haki through constant beatings from his own allies, possessed shameless tactics, and had extraordinarily strong endurance.
Kaido and his four Calamities had practically maxed out completely different branches of defense. Without opponents of the same level, there was simply no stopping their advance.
“Otter Hammer!”
A double-chinned Marine had taken on the traits of a sea otter and wielded a long-handled war hammer shaped like a huge shell. He too was a Marine Vice Admiral from the Grand Line. With Geppo and Soru, Vice Admirals like him possessed a limited ability to fight in the air.
But there was a fundamental difference between hovering and flying. Not only did King easily evade the attack swung at him, the Vice Admiral nearly had his head taken off by King’s blade. It took several Vice Admirals working together just to somewhat restrain King and prevent him from fully displaying the true nature of the Conflagration.
Yet doing so tied down most of the combat strength stationed at Marine Headquarters. Against the Fish-Man assault force charging alongside Tiger and Jack, the only thing the Marines could rely on was artillery.
“Leave that guy to me…”
At that moment, a giant wearing an iron mask stepped forward.
“Vice Admiral Lonz! Your injuries haven’t healed yet. If you fight like this…”
“It doesn’t matter. I can still fight. Those things alone won’t stop that big brute.”
During the Beasts Pirates’ island relocation operation some time ago, Lonz had suffered grievous injuries. Merely surviving had already been remarkable. He had yet to fully recover, but now intended to stop Jack.
Two other Giants stepped forward alongside him.
“We’ll go too.”
“But according to the agreement, after this battle, you have to release our chiefs!”
All the Giant Vice Admirals from Marine Headquarters had joined the World Government fleet attacking Red Hair. Lonz had remained behind because of his injuries, while these two giants had been kept here because the World Government did not fully trust them.
One wielded a giant axe and the other a giant hammer. They were Kashii and Oimo, the former gatekeepers of Enies Lobby.
They had originally been members of the Giant Warrior Pirates, subordinates of Dorry and Brogy. When Dorry and Brogy began their duel on Little Garden, these combatants had returned to the Kingdom of Giants ahead of them.
But even after fifty years, not a single one of them had returned. Worried about the safety of their two chiefs, Kashii and Oimo set out to sea together to search for information about them, only to be deceived by the Government in the end.
Dorry and Brogy had supposedly been captured by the Marines, and as long as the two of them guarded the gates of Enies Lobby for a hundred years, they would be released.
In the original timeline, they learned the truth when the Straw Hats invaded Enies Lobby, but in the current timeline, that never happened.
It was not until Regice destroyed Enies Lobby at the start of the Summit War that the two of them were given a new posting, continuing to work for the World Government.
The reason they had not been allowed to accompany the World Government fleet this time was precisely because the Government did not want them learning the truth. With the straightforward nature of Giants, the two of them had simply continued being deceived for no apparent reason.
Before long, Jack also spotted the three giants. Yet he showed no intention of stopping whatsoever. Accompanied by the roar of the Copperajah, Jack instead quickened his pace and charged straight ahead.
“Stop right there!”
Lonz grabbed Jack’s tusks with both arms, but Jack’s speed did not decrease in the slightest. Lonz’s feet dug into the ground as shattered stones burst outward beneath him. Lonz himself was forced directly to his knees, yet his hands still refused to release Jack’s tusks.
“Get out of my way and die!”
Jack violently swung his trunk. Blood immediately seeped through the bandages of the still-gravely-wounded Lonz, while his internal organs felt as though they had been turned upside down. Jack then raised one of his forelegs and stomped toward Lonz’s chest.
At that moment, Kashii and Oimo also rushed forward, each taking one side as they tried to withstand Jack’s Bulldoze. The result was that there were now three people kneeling on the ground.
Even with two adult Giants joining forces, they still could not withstand Jack’s charge.
“N-No way… Those are three Giants… Three Giants together still aren’t as strong as him?”
The immense strength of Giants had long been deeply ingrained in everyone’s minds. Seeing the Giants collapse dealt a blow to the Marines’ morale. They had no idea who could possibly stop the enemy now.
“Wait! No, that’s not it! The Giants won!”
The soldiers in the distance could not clearly see what had happened, but they could see Jack’s body suddenly flying backward, as though the Giants had shoved him away.
After Jack came to a stop, his body began shrinking as well, transforming from the enormous metal elephant back into his lean Human-Beast form.
At this point, Jack’s expression had become considerably more serious. His giant-elephant form was something he used to bully weaker opponents. Against someone with real ability, he still needed his Human-Beast form. At the very least, Jack could feel a sense of pressure from the old man standing before him.
The one who had just forced him back was that old man. If it had only been those few Giants, Jack would not have cared even if there were several more.
“That punch… really hurts, you old b*stard.”
“Pirates these days are getting more and more lawless. Your strength still isn’t enough for you to rampage around this place.”
Hearing Jack say that it only hurt, Kong was instead somewhat surprised. His old epithet had been “Steel Bone,” and his strength had been forged one punch at a time. Given the urgency of the situation, he had not used his full strength, but it still should not have amounted to merely “a little painful.”
At the same time, Kaido suddenly swung his club behind himself.
Clang!
“You noticed me? Good. If your head had been cut off just like that, then it would not have been worth my coming here personally.”
“Worororo! The killing intent on that blade was impossible not to notice. So the World Government really does still have a few interesting guys.”
In truth, Kaido had only sensed the other person’s presence at the moment the blade was swung. He had not even noticed when this bald man had arrived nearby.
Forget Kaido, even Sengoku, who was facing Nasjuro directly, had only just noticed him.
“Saint Nasjuro…”
There had seemingly been some strange markings where Nasjuro was standing, but by now they had already vanished without a trace. All that could be seen was his elongated head and the sharp blade he had just returned to its sheath.
A ring of strangely colored flame-like ribbons also floated behind Nasjuro, while a black haori draped over his body, giving him an extremely ornate appearance. Other than that, there did not seem to be much about him that differed from an ordinary human.
“Since you have come here, there is no need for you to leave. Remain here forever as our guest.”
Nasjuro seemed to disappear from the world once again. By the time Kaido became aware of his position, Nasjuro was already right in front of him, but the blade he swung was blocked by Kaido’s barrier.
“An interesting ability. Looks like this war is going to be far more entertaining than I expected.”
Kaido realized what was happening. It was not that the other man moved extraordinarily fast. Rather, he caused Kaido to subconsciously forget that this enemy even existed. And that was precisely Nasjuro’s ability.
The Venus of the Five Elders, Warrior God of Finance, Saint Ethanbaron V. Nasjuro.
His ability was the Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan: Nurarihyon.
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