Chapter 121: All Sides Make Their Move
"To control the rhythm of the war—so, you controlled the Natural Water to change course in order to surface somewhere else and catch the Marines off guard?" Yelena asked thoughtfully while changing the filter on her gas mask.
"That's right—" Louis looked up at the "sky" above them, his gaze deep. "You see, this time is different from the last time we were just playing around. A formidable opponent has arrived—"
"A formidable opponent?" Uta frowned slightly, tilting her head as she repeated the phrase. "It's an Admiral, isn't it?"
A mysterious light appeared in Yelena's eyes. "Previously, we've seen the level of Vice Admirals and the officers below them," she said softly. "For Louis to emphasize that this person is 'formidable,' besides an Admiral, it could only be the Fleet Admiral."
The others heard this and nodded thoughtfully. They also knew that the Fleet Admiral was unlikely to appear here. In that case, the one who had come could only be an Admiral.
"Our first battle upon entering the New World is against a fleet led by an Admiral?" Daz Bonez crossed his arms, tapping one finger lightly against his other arm.
Kuina heard this, her expression remarkably calm.
The several giants exchanged glances, then raised their confident smiles. "Leave the Vice Admirals to us, Captain Louis!"
"Alright—" Louis nodded. "Fight with all your might. You don't need to worry about dying!" To this, Louis indicated that with him present, it would be difficult for them to die even if they wanted to.
Then, Louis looked at the nonchalant Uta and instructed with a smile, "Uta, any Vice Admirals, Rear Admirals, and all the soldiers that Hajrudin and the others don't intercept are all yours."
To this, a serious expression appeared on Uta's face. "Okay! Leave it to me!"
The others were not surprised by this. Although Uta looked petite and deceptively young, she was the third main combatant of the Archangel Pirates. While her destructive power was somewhat less than Yelena's, her ability to clear a field of people was even faster than Yelena's Conqueror's Haki.
The Marines led by an Admiral would surely be battle-hardened elites. Yelena's Conqueror's Haki might not be able to knock all of them out, but Uta's hallucinatory singing could. Furthermore, the physical destruction caused by the Siren's soundwave ability, combined with her extreme speed, was not to be underestimated.
Finally, Louis's gaze shifted to Kuina. "Kuina, find three swordsmen on the battlefield with the rank of Rear Admiral or higher and bring back their swords."
Was the 14-year-old Kuina a match for a Marine Rear Admiral? Of course not, even with the phased improvement in her swordsmanship from her last life-and-death battle. Despite this, Louis still gave her the order to defeat three swordsmen in succession. Since Kuina was so harsh on herself, she wouldn't mind if Louis was a little harsh on her too. Of course, if he didn't have his healing ability, Louis would have only given her the task of bringing back one sword.
Kuina heard this and nodded. "Okay."
After her simple reply, Kuina picked up her sword and returned to her room, preparing to bind her chest a little tighter with bandages again.
Yelena watched Kuina's back as she entered the cloud cave and said distantly, "Is this really alright?"
To this, Louis's expression did not change, and he replied with a cold gaze, "This is the path she chose herself. She has to walk it to the end, no matter what." The only thing Louis could do was provide a safety net for Kuina with his life force.
Louis's words left Yelena with no reason to refute, and in the end, she didn't dwell on it.
After making arrangements for everyone except Yelena, Louis began to operate the Fantasy Species Anemoi, which was still lingering at the entrance to the New World, to deliver a surprise welcoming gift to the fleet that had entered its range of influence.
Meanwhile, the grand movement of the warship fleet had naturally attracted the attention of many pirate spies lingering there. Soon, the abnormal movements of the Marines were transmitted to many powers in a very short time. At the same time, the same news was spread throughout the entire underworld through countless contacts.
A veteran intelligence organization had even obtained confirmed news from the Marines: Archangel Louis, whose second bounty exceeded 1.8 billion Berries, had already left Fish-Man Island and was entering the New World. And for this operation, the Marines had dispatched their highest combat power. In addition, the Marines' famous Giant Squad and many other well-known officers and elite soldiers were blockading the entrance to the New World. Their purpose was precisely to annihilate Archangel Louis at the threshold of the New World.
This news, deliberately spread by those with an agenda, ignited the entire underworld in just over ten minutes.
Totto Land - Whole Cake Island.
Charlotte Linlin, with a chillingly wide smile, spoke into the Den Den Mushi in her hand, giving an order to her second son, who was a thousand miles away. "Katakuri, go and check his quality. If he's really as good as the rumors say, give him a hand and bring them here!"
"Yes, Mama," a deep and powerful male voice came from the other end.
The Kingdom of Love, Passion, and Toys - Dressrosa.
In a solemn and luxurious room on the King's Plateau.
A young man with blond hair, wearing sunglasses, a pink feather coat, and capri pants, leaned casually on a sofa. One of his hands was wrapped around a beautiful woman in a floral dress with long black hair, while the other held the intelligence report presented by his subordinate, and he let out a strange laugh.
"Fuffuffuffu!"
"A monster whose second bounty reached 1.8 billion?"
"He actually got cornered at the entrance to the New World?"
In front of him, a man with a roughly drawn appearance and a blue overcoat spoke, gesticulating wildly, "Behehehe... 1.8 billion Berries! Only a terrifying guy would have such a high bounty. What a pity—"
As his words fell, a sharp, comical voice sounded, expressing its own opinion. "That's not necessarily true! Maybe that guy can escape from the hands of the Marines' highest combat power!"
"Young Master, what do you think?" a slightly chubby man wearing a baby's bonnet and sucking on a pacifier spoke up, asking the blond young man.
However, the young man known as the Young Master had shed his interested demeanor from just now. His smile disappeared, and he casually tossed the intelligence report aside. "Relay this to the Beasts Pirates. The rest has nothing to do with us."
Meanwhile, somewhere in the New World.
On a giant, whale-headed ship, a burly old man over six meters tall, with long, graying hair and a white, crescent-moon-shaped mustache, looked with great interest at the intelligence report his "son" had handed him. "To make such a big name for himself at such a young age... the young people nowadays are quite capable!"
The man known as Whitebeard had a hint of memory in his eyes. Having seen all kinds of monsters in his youth, he knew that this little brat named Louis was unusual, most likely an existence born strong, just like that Linlin. Otherwise, the cornered Marines wouldn't have gone to the trouble of blockading the entrance to the New World.
"A Mythical Zoan, the same as me... an angel?" The man whose face and hair looked like a pineapple opened a pair of dead-fish eyes and looked at his respected old man. "Pops, should we go and get involved? A legendary angel might be able to help with your condition."
As his words fell, the others who had not been interested raised their heads, looking eagerly at the report in Whitebeard's hands.
"An angel—isn't that the legendary being who can heal all living things?"
"If it's an angel, he can definitely help Pops!"
However, Whitebeard casually let go of the report, letting it be carried away by the sea breeze.
"!!"
"Pops, what are you doing?!" someone asked in disbelief.
To this, Whitebeard glanced at them casually. "He's just a stranger brat. You want me to risk the lives of my sons to save a stranger? How could I possibly do something like that!"
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