"So what is the Marshal planning to do? Decide on the fourth Pirate Emperor as quickly as possible?"
Sengoku was silent for a while before replying, "No. Sacrifices have already been made. If we back down now, then everything we have invested up until this point will have been largely meaningless."
Rowan's eyes narrowed slightly. "So the Marshal intends to continue? Do you know how many pirates have invaded the G5 Branch's territory in just this past week? If I hadn't sent all six of my units into action, with Smoker and Tashigi each separately taking only the manpower needed to operate their warships and giving chase, G5 would have descended into complete chaos by now!"
"Do you know what those pirates trying to increase their bounties will do? After throwing out the bait of becoming an Emperor, these scum who can only be called trash don't even care about treasure! They'll massacre entire cities!"
"They'll do anything to increase their crimes, just to force the Marines to raise their bounties, or even more directly, to become the fourth Pirate Emperor!"
There was obvious anger in Rowan's voice. It came from the frustration he had accumulated over the past week, and it was also the reason he had just slaughtered an entire pirate crew without mercy.
The Den Den Mushi imitating Sengoku closed its eyes, as if desperately trying to suppress something.
"I know."
"But at the same time, the pirates of the New World are indeed killing each other while fighting for this title. Rowan, you should understand. Ever since the Seven Warlords of the Sea system was established, the Marines have already lost the ability to suppress the entire sea on their own."
"The title of the Four Emperors isn't merely about consuming the pirate forces. It is also about stabilizing the pirates in the future. Once the Great Pirate Era begins, pirates from the Four Seas will enter the Grand Line, coating their ships at Sabaody Archipelago before passing through Fish-Man Island and entering the New World."
"In the future the New World will be abandoned."
"Abandoned?"
Sengoku's voice sounded somewhat weary.
"Yes, abandoned. According to the established strategy, the New World will be abandoned and become a paradise for pirates. Those pirates flooding into the New World will have only two choices."
"Either challenge one of the Four Emperors and replace them, or submit and become one of their subordinates. Other than that, with the Red Line and Calm Belt restricting them, they will have no other choice."
After those words, the conversation between the two sides fell into silence.
After a long while, Rowan spoke, "I understand. Marshal, give me the exact location. Once I deal with the pirates on Tashigi's side, I'll head over as quickly as possible."
After saying that, Rowan directly hung up the Den Den Mushi, clearly expressing his dissatisfaction.
Sengoku's way of doing things was not the same as Sakazuki's, but as someone in a position of authority, there were times when he would make the same choices.
Dressrosa was also located in the New World, yet in the future from Rowan's memories, this member country of the World Government would be occupied by one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Donquixote Doflamingo, while the Marines would still take no action.
The New World was a paradise for pirates. The new pirates would have only two choices: submit or challenge.
Those who submitted would lose their fighting spirit and cease to be a threat, while those who challenged would naturally have one side suffer defeat.
No matter what happened, there was nothing to lose.
The warship was heading toward the ninth area where Tashigi was located. Rowan got up and went to the cabin.
After creating a Shadow Clone, the main body left and directly appeared aboard a ship belonging to the Revolutionary Army's First Division in the New World.
"Bang!"
A gunshot rang out. On the pirate ship fleeing in the distance, the railing shattered, and the pirate hiding behind it had his chest blown open, his entire shoulder torn apart in the process. He was clearly beyond saving.
"Click."
The sniper rifle was cycled again. Ahudidn't even use the scope. He simply raised the rifle and fired.
Within just a minute, eleven sprays of blood had already bloomed aboard the fleeing pirate ship.
"Are those bastards from the Beasts Pirates trying to wipe us out?!"
"At this rate, none of us are going to survive! Their sniper's range and firepower are way too strong!"
"They're just ordinary people! Why the hell are they chasing us so relentlessly?!"
"Turn back! If we keep running, we're all going to die!"
The moment those words fell, another deafening explosion rang out.
The helmsman had been crouched down while steering the ship. Now, a bullet exploded against the wheel, blowing half of it apart.
"Bang! Bang!"
Less than two seconds apart, two more gunshots rang out, completely shattering the ship's mast.
But Ahu still didn't stop. He continued until the boarding battle began, only then ceasing his harvest of lives.
"Kill these villains!"
"Bastards, they actually massacred an entire village!"
"Bring their heads back! Let everyone know the consequences of slaughtering innocent people!"
"These people deserve to die!"
Amid the furious roars, the members of the Revolutionary Army's First Division, disguised as the Beasts Pirates, all surged onto the enemy ship.
There was an entire level of difference between the two sides, and with the enemy captain and strongest fighters already taken out by Ahu, the battle quickly became completely one-sided.
"Sir."
Ahu put away his sniper rifle and bowed slightly.
Rowan nodded. "Have our people at the G5 Branch have the squad leaders request permission to disperse their forces and guard the various villages and towns. Their base commander, the Vice Admiral, will agree. Then tell everyone not to hold back. Anyone who comes here must leave their life behind."
"Understood."
Ahu immediately began communicating with the Revolutionary Army members operating within G5 under the guise of Marines.
Then he stood behind Rowan and said, "The New World has completely descended into chaos, Sir. We've been getting one challenger after another lately as well."
Rowan frowned. "The Four Emperors' title was a scheme devised by the World Government and the Marines. Compared with this, the Four Seas aren't much better off either. But unlike other parts of the New World, the Marines will at least defend their territory there with everything they've got."
Thinking of what Sengoku had said earlier, Rowan let out a breath.
Ahu hesitated for a moment before speaking. "There seems to have been a conflict between the Marines and BIG MOM's forces in her territory. Our intelligence says that natural-type Devil Fruit Marine Vice Admiral has quite the temper. The two sides got into a fight after just a couple of exchanges."
"The natural-type Magma-Magma Fruit user, Marine Vice Admiral Sakazuki, the Admiral candidate. According to our intelligence, he's already been designated as the next Marine Admiral. His strength is indeed on a completely different level from ordinary Vice Admirals. He should at least be capable of exchanging blows with BIG MOM."
Rowan replied, "Sakazuki's strength is enough to protect himself, but the Marines under his command don't have the ability to fight the BIG MOM Pirates. Once a war breaks out, who do you think will be the ones making the sacrifices?"
Ahu paused, his originally somewhat gleeful expression disappearing.
Many of the First Division members active in the New World had joined the G5 Branch under the guise of Marines.
Under these circumstances, core members like Ahu knew that among the lower and middle-ranking Marines, there were many who could potentially be recruited as their own people.
Moreover, one of the most important aspects of their ideological training was teaching recruits to put themselves in other people's shoes, in other words, developing empathy.
"I'll notify our people over there now and see if they can save some of them."
Ahu said this as he prepared to head into the cabin to find a Den Den Mushi. Rowan didn't stop him, though at this point, there probably wasn't much they could do.
With Sakazuki's personality, he would naturally consider the deaths of those lower-ranking Marines a necessary sacrifice.
So by the time he asked Sengoku for reinforcements, those Marines had probably already been wiped out.
After instructing the dispersed forces to use the Revolutionary Army's strength to maintain control of the G5 territory, Rowan returned directly to the warship that had just set sail.
Sure enough, not long afterward, the adjutant brought over a Den Den Mushi.
After connecting, the captains of the Second and Third Divisions explained that pirates were running rampant throughout their respective territories.
They requested permission to stop returning to the branch and instead disperse their forces to guard the towns and ports throughout the entire territory.
Once pirates attacked, they would simply hold their position and wait for reinforcements. Once the support arrived, they would counterattack and wipe out all the pirates.
Rowan agreed with the suggestion he himself had made. The reason for going through all these extra steps was simply to have an additional layer of insurance.
Soon, the Marines responsible for reconnaissance atop the mast spotted something. The adjutant below informed Rowan, "Vice Admiral, we're almost there."
Rowan looked toward the distant island. Flames, like a natural disaster, engulfed the port.
Under the coverage of Armament Haki, a figure moved at Soru speed, desperately blocking the enemy's assault.
Their Observation Haki was more or less evenly matched, but thanks to her Logia ability, Tina's Black Cage could only serve as an obstruction.
In fact, the support team consisting of Smoker and Tina wasn't particularly strong to begin with. It could even be described as a strike team centered around the two of them.
Once the two at the forefront were held back, the people beneath them could barely make a difference.
"Whoosh!"
A wave of flames swept over. The scorching heat forced Tina to burst forward with Soru, narrowly avoiding it before turning around and suddenly charging back in.
"Ah!"
The Black Cage descended, binding and piercing more than a dozen pirates who had tried to take advantage of the opening to break through, pinning them directly to the beach.
"You can't even take care of yourself, yet you're still thinking about stopping my men?"
As soon as the words fell, a surge of explosive flames came rushing forward.
"Boom!"
Tina burst out from the flames, both shoulders charred black. Clearly, she had been injured because of the choice she had just made.
Her Marine justice coat had already been burned to ashes, and she had suffered injuries across multiple parts of her body.
Yet Tina knew very well that merely holding back the man in front of her wasn't enough.
The support team's combat strength was limited. More than a dozen Marines were continuously providing covering fire, but if they allowed those pirates to break through, that small force would never be enough.
If that happened even if Vice Admiral Rowan arrived in time, the entire place would already have been slaughtered.
"Hu, hu, hu..."
Panting heavily, Tina looked at her opponent. "If you leave now, you still have a chance to survive. This is the territory under the jurisdiction of G5 Branch. You have no idea how powerful Vice Admiral Rowan is."
"Rowan?I know."
Asgati let out a light laugh. "That guy who was once known as the Executioner of the West Blue, rising through the ranks because he executed Roger. A man who reached Vice Admiral through nothing but luck. Do you really think I'm afraid of him?"
With that, he waved toward his subordinates behind him. "Boys! As the crew of a Pirate Emperor, are you going to fear some mere Marine Vice Admiral?"
For a moment, the members of the Burning Pirates behind him became excited, despite the fact that they had already lost quite a few men.
"Hahaha Of course not! He's just a Vice Admiral!"
"Making our captain a Four Emperor is our dream!"
"Forget about becoming Pirate King. We'll do that after our captain becomes a Pirate Emperor!"
"We're the Burning Pirates!"
"Kill everyone on this island! Slaughter the Marines! Our name will spread across the entire sea!"
Amid the uproar of these scum, the Burning Pirates launched another assault.
"Whoosh!"
Flames surged outward, forming a circle around Tina. Asgati swung both hands, sending flames shooting toward her like bullets.
With Observation Haki, Tina narrowed her eyes and continuously dodged.
The Black Cage extended from her arms, covered in Armament Haki as it slammed into the ground.
"Bang."
The flames avoided it ahead of time, but the Black Cage simultaneously retracted.
Flames erupted beneath Tina's feet as she once again launched an attack against the pirates attempting to break through.
"That woman is coming!"
"Captain!!"
"Boss!"
Amid the shouting, a flaming fist came crashing down, while flames surged in from both sides.
Now!
Tina's eyes narrowed. At the same time as she pulled both arms back, the Black Cage crossed over and slammed down, locking the man's fist in place.
A black bar of the cage pointed straight at his heart.
"Bang!"
The flames exploded.
"A trick you've already used won't work nearly as well the second time."
Asgati rubbed the injury on his shoulder. It had been pierced once ten minutes ago, allowing Tina to capture his physical form.
"Marine woman, get out of my way and you can live. Our Observation Haki is about evenly matched. Under these circumstances, someone like me with the ability to turn into a Logia element naturally has the advantage."
Tina stared intently at him. "A Marine's duty is to protect civilians. If I encounter danger and only think about escaping to save myself, then Tina would never be able to face the person I used to be."
Duty protect civilians?
Asgati's expression became complicated.
Years ago, if the Marine he had encountered back then had been someone like this woman no, how old would this woman have been back then?
This world was sick. So sick that only by becoming like this could someone survive, and live comfortably.
A Marine who protected civilians was nothing more than another person among countless others destined to die miserably.
Become a Four Emperor. Only by becoming a superior being could one truly control their own fate and live a good life.
"Bang, bang, bang..."
A burst of gunfire rang out. Their rudimentary Armament and Observation Haki enhanced the power and accuracy of the bullets, but against Asgati, it was useless.
He sidestepped the shots and looked toward the dozen or so Marines behind the woman.
"Tina!"
"Don't worry about them breaking through anymore!"
"As long as we're alive, we won't let them get inside!"
"Focus on that bastard! Let him see the will of our G5 Branch!"
"We'll stake our lives on this! We absolutely won't let them through!"
"Leave it to us, Major Tina! I haven't even confessed my feelings to you yet! I absolutely, absolutely won't die here!"
Somehow, something strange had gotten mixed into the dozen Marines.
The Marine who wanted to confess his feelings suddenly got smacked on the back of the head.
"Smack."
"A few peanuts and you're already drunk?"
The moment that voice rang out, everyone turned around.
"V-Vice Admiral!"
"Vice Admiral, these damn pirates they're actually, actually bullying our adorable Major Tina!"
"Unforgivable! Vice Admiral, you have to avenge Major Tina!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. How could they? Major Tina is so cute, even the way she smokes is cute."
The corner of Rowan's eye twitched.
Did these guys have some kind of misunderstanding about what love was?
Their moral compass really did follow their eyes.
"Go wait in the back. Remember to come over and loot the spoils later."
"Understood!"
The dozen Marines happily retreated, without the slightest hesitation.
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