In the overcrowded plaza, countless pirates wore feverish expressions, eyes burning with fanatic light.
Rocks spoke again, painting a grand, idealized pirate paradise for everyone on the island. The crowd immediately grew restless hearts pounding, blood boiling, excitement spreading like wildfire.
Beaming at the tens of thousands before him, he thrust an arm into the air and roared:
"Pirates are the true masters of the sea!!!"
"Pirates are the true masters of the sea!!!"
"..."
The chant hit like a tidal wave. The ground seemed to tremble beneath the sound. The air was saturated with raw adrenaline, and the pirates looked like they'd been injected with madness so hyped they nearly felt lightheaded from lack of oxygen.
The roar rolled on without end.
Even Tengetsu Ares, standing within the crowd, was seeing a spectacle like this for the first time.
"It's hard to imagine," he thought, "what kind of scene it'll be if all these people launch an attack on the World Government together."
Beside him, Kaido was practically vibrating with excitement. His eyes gleamed, and his voice came out hoarse.
"Ares-bro… just imagining the war that's coming makes my blood start racing."
"This kind of war… it's intoxicating."
"It's everything I've been waiting for."
Kaido had grown up in war. He was obsessed with it. But compared to what was about to happen, the battles of his past were nothing.
This island had gathered the fiercest, most elite pirates of the era.
And their enemy was the World Government an empire that had ruled for centuries, the true overlord of the seas.
"Getting to fight in a war like this… it's something I've dreamed of my whole life," Kaido said, every inch the war fanatic, longing for a conflict that could shake history.
Ares felt a faint interest as well.
"The World Government definitely has other monsters," he thought. "If I fight them, I should be able to learn a lot."
Only Sladva looked grim. His expression was dark as he spoke in a low voice.
"Ares. Kaido. War isn't as beautiful as you think."
"War is brutal. Bloody."
"If a real all-out war erupts… tens of thousands will die at the very least. Maybe far more."
Just the pirates gathered here were already in the tens of thousands maybe even a hundred thousand.
And the World Government's forces? Only more.
Add in the number of powerhouses capable of mass destruction, and if all of them collided at once… the scale was beyond imagination.
Sladva had lived through war before.
A war that wiped a once-glorious Sea Devil Kingdom off the map and erased it into history.
Kaido flicked his eyes around the plaza, then curled his lip.
"This war isn't something we can stop."
"Look at these lunatics. Anyone who stands in their way will get torn apart."
And honestly, he could hardly wait.
He wanted the war to come fast so he could fight until he was satisfied.
On the stage
Rocks' laughter was wild, almost unhinged. Everything before him was his masterpiece. For an instant, it looked as if he already ruled the world.
Then he raised his hand.
"Execute them!"
Behind the Celestial Dragons, the executioner moved.
Blade up blade down.
Steel pierced straight through their hearts, ending their lives in an instant.
The plaza erupted.
Countless pirates cheered and applauded, bursting into celebration.
It was like New Year's in a pirate's world.
That night
The Rocks Pirates held an unprecedented feast.
And far away, the World Government worked just as feverishly drafting the plan to wipe the Rocks Pirates from the sea.
Troop deployments. Mobilization. Defensive fortifications.
This time, the World Government was preparing to annihilate the Rocks Pirates completely.
...
A Few Days Later
Kaido found Ares.
"Ares-bro! We've got a mission!"
"What mission?" Ares asked.
He was practicing Ryuo, hammering his own body with his fists using that internal flow to strike deeper, training even the organs within.
Then he relied on his monstrous recovery to repair the damaged tissue again and again, forcing it to grow stronger each time.
If he kept at it, Ares believed his physique would one day become flawless inside and out without a single weakness.
Surpassing even a true Supreme Grade blade.
Kaido's eyes shone with excitement. When Hachinosu had fallen into chaos earlier, he hadn't gotten nearly enough.
"This time, we're ripping out the Marines' G-1 Base in the New World."
"We'll cut down their forces in the New World reduce their grip and their threat."
"G-1 Base…" Ares sounded indifferent. He'd fought Marine powerhouses plenty of times already and right now, what he wanted most was quiet training.
Kaido cracked his knuckles.
"About a week from now. The Marines have caught me a few times before. This time, I'm making them pay."
"We're wiping out G-1."
Ares kept training as he asked, "Who's leading the operation?"
"Golden Lion Shiki," Kaido answered, then added another piece of news. "And I think Captain Rocks and the others are moving too."
"But their target… I don't know. Even the commanders seem only half informed."
Ares' commander title had been revoked, and he didn't mind at all.
He was happy to be left alone. Every day, he immersed himself in training, squeezing every second dry to get stronger.
Besides when he'd been a commander, he hadn't really had anything to do.
Hardly anyone under him.
The title meant nothing in practice.
Maybe it only made him look more intimidating.
...
Marine G-1 Base
From a distance, it looked like a gigantic fortress of war.
The walls were tall and thick, lined with massive cannons black muzzles jutting out like the fangs of a beast.
Their coverage could blanket the island in all directions, creating full-spectrum artillery fire.
Inside the base
A tall woman followed close behind Vice Admiral Tsuru, a Navy Justice coat draped over her shoulders. Her pale, delicate feet were striking enough to make countless men lose their minds for years.
She entered the conference room with Tsuru.
The room was packed.
Everyone wore a Justice coat. Every single one was an officer of flag rank.
Even Gion standing behind Tsuru had only gotten in thanks to Tsuru's influence.
And even then, she didn't get a seat.
She could only stand.
Inside the room
The left and right rows were filled with elite Vice Admirals.
Garp. Tsuru. Prodi…
At the very front sat Sengoku and "Black Arm" Zephyr.
Once everyone had arrived, Fleet Admiral Kong swept his gaze over the assembled commanders and spoke in a heavy voice:
"This time, we've laid an inescapable net around G-1 Base for one purpose."
"To destroy the Rocks Pirates in a single stroke!"
"I've received intelligence. In one week, the Rocks Pirates will launch an assault on G-1."
"These next few days none of you can afford a single mistake in your duties."
"..."
"Remember this: behind us stands the World Government… and more than a hundred nations."
"In this battle the Marines will win!"
He pumped them full of resolve first.
Then
The screen behind Kong flashed to life, displaying one bounty poster after another.
Rocks.
And each commander.
Whitebeard. Golden Lion. Captain John. Wang Zhi…
All the way to the last one
Ares.
"Blood-Hand Ares bounty: 2.2 billion berries!"
"He is a deadly threat we must keep our eyes on in this war!"
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