"Now, don't be so grumpy," Sentomaru said, picking his teeth with a toothpick. "We're here to help protect the place. The food will be replenished when our supplies arrive."
They had been dispatched to the Devil's Triangle in response to Rodin's provocative actions. The World Government, furious with Rodin, had raised his bounty and given the Marines a direct order. However, they couldn't find Rodin anywhere in the first half of the Grand Line, so they decided to wait for him at various key locations.
"You're a liar!" Moria bellowed, pointing at the Marines. "It's been three days! Where is he? He's all talk; he's afraid to show his face!" The Marines had been eating Moria out of house and home, and his food storage was nearly empty.
"Mr. Moria, please be patient. We're searching for him," a Rear Admiral said, feeling annoyed at the Warlord's complaints. "The Calm Belt is also heavily guarded by our top-tier fighters."
"So what? Where is he?" Moria demanded.
"We haven't found him yet."
"Then what are you doing here? Get out! Go with Kizaru!" Moria's face contorted in a sneer. "Even if he does come, with my powers and my zombie army, I'll crush him!" Moria's army was meant to fight Kaido; he wasn't afraid of a newcomer like Rodin.
Just then, a Transponder Snail rang. Sentomaru answered it, his expression serious. "Hey, old man... I see." He hung up and turned to Moria. "You want us to leave? Fine, we'll go now."
Sentomaru pushed Moria out of the way, and the Marines followed, some of them even picking up trash as they went.
"Get out! You don't need to clean up!" Moria yelled.
"Right, right, we'll be going now, Mr. Moria. Don't hesitate to call us if you need anything," one of the Marines said.
"Piss off! I'm not calling you ever again!" Moria spat, watching them leave. A sneer spread across his face. "Hmph. Who would dare challenge all the Warlords?"
Suddenly, a ghostly laugh echoed outside the window. "Heh heh heh heh. Warlord Moria, are those annoying Marines finally gone?"
Moria was about to reply when he felt a strange tremor. The sound of air rushing reached his ears, and he sensed several powerful auras approaching.
"Perona!" Moria's heart pounded in his chest. "Quick! Go to the port and get Admiral Kizaru!"
At the same time, atop the spooky castle, a tall man with a bear-ear hat and a book in his hands slowly looked up. The dark sky seemed to be closing in on him. "So, he's here?"
At the port, Sentomaru was talking to a three-meter-tall man in a yellow and white pinstriped suit and a Marine coat. "Old man, what took you so long to arrive with the supplies?"
Kizaru looked up, scratching his head. "Ah, that's a scary sight," he said casually.
"Quick, call for backup!" Sentomaru yelled, grabbing his axe.
"It's too late," Kizaru said, his eyes glinting. "His subordinate has the same ability as Doflamingo. This will be difficult." Kizaru turned into a stream of golden light and vanished.
Sentomaru looked up and saw a woman in a flamingo feather coat floating in the air, her hand raised. "Birdcage!" she announced. A sound of metal clanking through the air could be heard as a massive birdcage formed around the entire island.
Above the island, the Ark Maxim hovered silently. Kizaru reappeared on its bow. "Old man believes, if you're going to catch a thieves, you should catch his king first," he said. He crossed his hands and prepared to attack. "Yata no Kagami!"
Countless golden light particles shot from his hands toward Rodin. But Rodin, sitting on the bow, remained still. Four women stood beside him.
One of them, in a wine-red trenchcoat, leaped into the air, her eyes gleaming. "How can I let you harm our king?"
Mihoko snow-white blade met the volley of light, and with a blinding flash and a deafening crash, Kizaru's Yata no Kagami attack was neutralized. She, with a graceful leap, closed the distance. "I've been wanting to fight an Admiral-level fighter for a long time," she said.
"And I've been curious about you," Kizaru replied, forming a large laser sword with his hands.
Their swords clashed, sparking and generating a powerful shockwave. "Yo... this is no less sharp than the Supreme Great Sharp Twelve Swords," Kizaru mused, his eyes narrowed. "You are a woman, and you are terrifyingly strong."
"Enough talk," Mihoko said, her eyes turning cold as she went on the offensive.
As they continued to duel, hundreds of meters below, pairs of scarlet eyes appeared in the mist. Dozens of figures, all shaped like the Warlord Bartholomew Kuma, prepared to fire a barrage of lasers at the Ark Maxim.
"Pacifistas?" Rodin said with a slight smile.
Before the lasers could hit, dozens of thick, black threads, imbued with Haki, shot out from the ark. The lasers collided with the threads, but instead of cutting through, they dissipated. Dover, controlling the threads, then used them to fling the Pacifistas into the distance.
Before Dover could do more, Bartholomew Kuma himself appeared before her. "Your opponent... is me," he said, slapping his palm forward. Dover blocked his attack with a web of thin, transparent threads. The threads scattered, but Dover, nimble and agile, released a flood of new threads to ensnare the Tyrant Bear.
Below, Sentomaru, carrying his large axe, began to advance toward the ark. But Crocodile blocked his path with a massive sandstorm.
On the ark, only two women remained with Rodin. "Our main goal is to kill Warlord Moria," Rodin said. "Everything else is secondary."
"Don't you worry, Captain," Baki said, her rosy nose twitching. "I've got this." She then split her body, her upper half flying toward the castle, and her legs bounding back to Rodin's side.
Rodin smiled. Baki's ability to control her separated body parts over a distance far greater than her male counterpart was a sight to behold. "Don't worry about me," he told her, as he watched her legs standing patiently beside him. He was in no rush to act, waiting for the right opportunity. The Birdcage he had set up isolated the island from the outside world, preventing anyone from calling for help.
"Mr. Rodin, there's a zombie army below!" Tashigi said, peering over the railing. She had improved her swordsmanship under Mihawk's tutelage, but she still served as a servant on the ship.
"Tashigi... you were a Marine before, weren't you?" Rodin asked gently. "If you want to run, now is your chance."
Tashigi looked down, her face conflicted. "I don't want to be a pirate," she said. "But... I agree with you. The Warlord system must be eradicated." She felt that Rodin, despite his methods, was doing the right thing. "Mr. Rodin, I'm going to fight too!" she said, her eyes firm.
"Whatever," Rodin said, sensing everyone's movements on the island through his observation Haki.
Tashigi leaped off the ark, but after a few seconds, she began to panic. "Ahh! It's so high!" She had misjudged the altitude and was now in a free fall.
Meanwhile, Baki had entered the castle, cutting down zombies as she went. She soon arrived at a spacious hall.
"Negative Ghost!" a woman named Perona yelled, releasing several spirit-like beings from her body.
"I don't have time for this," Baki said, clapping her hands together. The ghost dolls vanished into thin air, and Perona gasped in shock. "How is that possible?!"