Marine Headquarters Marineford was the largest military base Daren had ever seen.
As he stepped out of the military hospital, warmly seen off by the doctors and nurses, he was immediately greeted by the sight of the massive central fortress—towering like a mountain, dominating nearly his entire field of vision.
The gray-black stone walls loomed imposingly. On either side, massive black cannons were mounted, giving the fortress the appearance of a monstrous war beast, its jaws slowly parting to swallow any enemy that dared approach.
Across the ramparts of the fortress, the word "Justice" was boldly painted in jet black, its calligraphy wild and forceful, exuding an overwhelming sense of pressure.
In front of the fortress lay a vast, oval-shaped military port. Numerous multi-deck Buster Call-class warships were docked there, while other vessels came and went constantly on patrol. The sea was filled with white seagull flags, so dense they nearly blocked out the sun.
Daren scanned the area. On either side of the port and throughout the military buffer zones stood rows of towering gun turrets, their black metal surfaces gleaming under the sunlight. Compared to them, the Marines patrolling or repairing equipment below looked as small as ants.
He also noticed a number of Marine guards whose aura alone marked them as hardened veterans, soldiers who had clearly survived countless battles.
"See that? This is Marine Headquarters."
Next to him, Tokikake puffed contentedly on a cigar he'd "borrowed" from the hospital's gift basket. Noticing Daren's slightly surprised, flickering gaze, he puffed out his chest proudly and grinned.
"Well... I'll give you this—your North Blue Fleet is impressively trained. But the strongest force of justice in the world is still the ground you're standing on."
"Since the formation of the Marines, no one has ever broken through Marineford."
Tokikake looked proud, one hand on his hip, as if giving a grand tour.
He wore the expression of a city slicker proudly showing a country boy around his hometown.
"This kind of military power isn't something your little North Blue can compare to... Hey, hey, hey, what are you thinking about?"
He frowned as he noticed Daren simply squinting at Marineford, unmoved.
"Oh... nothing,"
Daren blinked and smiled, brushing it off.
"I was just thinking... if it were me, could I find a way to take Marineford down?"
"Don't be ridiculous—wait, what!?"
Tokikake whipped his head around, staring at the Marine Commodore in disbelief.
"Just kidding, just kidding..."
Daren chuckled and raised both hands in mock surrender.
"Come on, Tokikake. Isn't the training camp about to start?"
Tokikake narrowed his eyes suspiciously, then after a brief pause, couldn't help but ask:
"If it were you... could you actually do it?"
Daren paused.
"If I were leading the North Blue Fleet, and used its mobility to avoid the heavy artillery zones and carry out an aerial assault..."
"Aerial assault? What's that supposed to mean?"
Tokikake interrupted, his face full of confusion.
"Oh, right... I forgot," Daren said. "An aerial assault is a large-scale attack launched from the air."
He added the explanation casually.
In this world, people still had a very primitive and crude understanding of warfare.
Without any real aerial military capability, the very concept of an air raid simply didn't exist in their minds—let alone the vast array of tactics that could evolve from such operations.
"Ohhh, I see now... I mean, of course I knew that. Just slipped my mind for a second."
Tokikake tilted his chin up proudly.
"So? What's your point?"
Daren didn't call out the obvious bluff. He simply rubbed his chin, thought for a moment, then said calmly,
"If we can find a way to keep Borsalino and Dragon occupied... I'd say there's a thirty percent chance I could cripple Marineford's key military facilities. Maybe a ten percent chance I could flatten the entire island."
"Yeah, I figured—wait, what!?"
Tokikake's eyes went wide as he stared at Daren like he'd seen a ghost.
"Hahaha, just kidding."
Daren winked and gave him a pat on the shoulder.
"This is the heart of the world's might—Justice itself. Like anyone could ever bring it down…"
With that, he turned and began walking briskly toward the training camp.
"Just... kidding?"
Tokikake stood frozen, staring at Daren's tall silhouette. The morning sun sliced through the sky like a blade, illuminating him from behind—and casting a long, heavy shadow on the ground.
Even the word "Justice" emblazoned across his back suddenly felt chilling and solemn.
Tokikake dazedly looked up at the sky.
The sky was a brilliant blue, clouds drifting lazily. White seagulls soared past, letting out cheerful cries as they glided above.
But in Tokikake's mind, a different image suddenly surfaced—
Warships, cold and metallic like beasts of iron, emerged slowly from behind the sea of white clouds, like dragons of war descending from the heavens. At the sound of a chilling command, a rain of cannon fire streaked across the sky like burning tails, crashing down upon Marineford in a relentless storm... until endless flames swallowed everything, including that lone figure standing tall amidst the chaos.
"...Commander Tokikake... Commander Tokikake?"
Daren's voice snapped him out of the vision. He blinked and saw Daren standing a short distance away, wearing a half-smile that wasn't quite friendly.
"Aren't you in a hurry to get to the training camp?"
Tokikake jolted, instinctively catching up as he replied,
"Right, right."
But a cold shiver ran down his spine.
Daren had said it was a joke... but something about the way he had been thinking felt all too serious.
Daren paid no attention to Tokikake's strange reaction.
Observing terrain, analyzing strategic value... it was just second nature to him.
As the admiral in charge of an entire sea region's military affairs, his thinking was always grounded in practicality and warfare. It was the mindset he'd spent years honing.
Where others might look at a grand military fortress and think, "Damn, this is incredible," someone with Daren's mind would instinctively ask, "If it were me... how would I take this place down?"
He was certain that when Sakazuki had first left the North Blue and set foot in Marineford, he'd had the exact same thought.
...
In under fifteen minutes, Daren and a distracted Tokikake had passed through the core of the military zone and arrived at its edge.
They stopped in front of a secluded area of buildings.
A modestly repaired gate was set into an ivy-covered wall.
In front of the gate stood a massive stone slab, etched with a solemn inscription.
"All glory and life belong to justice."
The signature read: Zephyr.
...
(50 Chapters Ahead)
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