"Garp! Get ready to move out!"
Sengoku barked irritably at his old friend, who was sitting at the bow of another warship, fishing rod in hand. Fortunately, the government personnel from the Publicity Department hadn't started filming with the Den Den Mushi yet, or else his furious demeanor would have been broadcast to the entire world.
"Oh, so soon? I was almost asleep..."
The bubble on Garp's nose popped, and he opened his bleary eyes, casually tossing the fishing rod to Rear Admiral Bogard beside him.
"Let's go, this place is boring as hell!"
He completely ignored the legendary 'Laugh Tale' behind him, which countless people had been searching for. He had spent the entire day fishing while waiting for the marines to load the treasure onto the cargo ship.
Initially, Garp had been quite interested in the island, but once he arrived, he lost all enthusiasm. It was just a lush summer island with an underground space deep within. The people from Cipher Pol claimed that the ONE PIECE had been found there. He had gone in to take a look, and it did seem convincing. The walls were covered with bounty posters of all the members of the Roger Pirates, giving the impression that Roger and his crew had left it as a memorial.
There was also a stone tablet with what was supposedly Roger's personal account.
Honestly, most people would have been convinced by this.
For example, the millions of people around the world standing in front of live broadcast screens were watching the crystal-clear footage of the stone tablet, the massive underground treasure vault, and the old, yellowed bounty posters on the walls. They instinctively believed it! They had already witnessed countless large boxes, glowing with golden light, being escorted by government personnel and marine soldiers onto the cargo ship's deck and then loaded into the hold.
However, for Garp, the fact that he didn't sense even a trace of Roger's Haki on that stone tablet made him realize that it was all a fake.
He might not be as cunning as Sengoku, but he always trusted his instincts.
Now, everything was finally ready! The fleet, consisting of ten headquarters-class warships and two large cargo ships, was officially returning to Mary Geoise!
The ten warships, like sea monsters, formed a circular formation with the cargo ships at the center. Those familiar with naval warfare knew this was a defensive formation. If attacked by multiple enemy ships, the warships, divided into inner and outer layers, would begin rotating around the center, ensuring they could unleash their maximum broadside firepower.
However, this circular formation had its weaknesses—it was difficult to defend against missile or torpedo attacks. But at this point in time, missiles didn't exist yet. It would take at least twenty more years for small, short-range missiles to appear in the North Blue. Torpedoes were also rare, as no ships on the sea used them.
Moreover, this constantly shifting circular formation heavily tested the skills of the fleet commander and the captains of each ship. Only the marines from the headquarters could handle it with ease, especially with Sengoku, known as the "Strategist," in charge of the entire fleet's command.
At this moment, Akainu, accompanied by Shiryu, was stationed on the lead warship, while Kizaru took command of the rearmost vessel. Sengoku and Garp guarded the left and right flanks respectively, and the covert CP0 agents were hidden on a cargo ship in the center.
It could be said that both the Marine Headquarters and the World Government were taking this operation seriously.
"Stay alert, Shiryu!"
Akainu, who rarely smiled, scolded Shiryu when he saw him lazily leaning against the ship's railing. Shiryu, intimidated by Akainu's strength and status, straightened up slightly.
Ever since becoming Akainu's adjutant, Shiryu had experienced a mix of pain and pleasure.
The pleasure came from the fact that Akainu didn't mind his indiscriminate slaughter of pirates. In fact, sometimes Akainu was even more ruthless, clearing entire areas with his Magma Fist.
Honestly, it suited Shiryu's tastes perfectly. It would have been even better if he could occasionally kill a few Marines, but he didn't dare—unless a Marine deserted during battle, which was fair game.
The pain, however, stemmed from Akainu's overly serious demeanor and complete lack of humor. He constantly scolded Shiryu for not behaving like a proper soldier.
The key issue was that Shiryu didn't dare to talk back to Akainu as he would to someone like Magellan.
Akainu's overwhelming presence and intimidating personality were too frightening. Shiryu had no doubt that if he dared to retort, a Magma Fist would come flying his way. He was completely under Sakazuki's thumb.
"Admiral Akainu, we haven't seen any pirate crews daring to approach us on our way here. There's no need to be so serious, is there?" Shiryu said helplessly, his tone sounding somewhat weak.
To be honest, he had high expectations for the pirates of the New World, thinking he would have a thrilling time killing them along the way.
But who could have guessed that the pirate ships they encountered along the route would steer clear of the massive fleet of ten Marine Headquarters-class warships? On top of that, Admiral Sengoku had ordered them not to pursue and to reach Laugh Tale as quickly as possible to retrieve the One Piece.
This was actually quite normal. Who would deliberately provoke such a large fleet without any enticing benefits? However, this left Shiryu feeling bored.
"Idiot!"
Sakazuki didn't hold back his scolding: "The whole world knows we're escorting two ships full of treasure, and it's being broadcast live. The situation now is completely different from when we set out!"
"Live broadcast?"
Shiryu was somewhat used to being scolded by now. What could he do? He couldn't win in a fight, and occasionally he still got to kill to his heart's content. So, he focused on the key point.
To be honest, back in Impel Down, there were no entertainment options, so he could only read newspapers. But after getting out, he hadn't bothered with them anymore. Why waste time reading when he could spend it cutting down a few captured pirates?
"So, a bunch of pirates eyeing the treasure will come after us!" His expression grew excited, his pupils flashing with a dangerous crimson killing intent.
Sakazuki glanced at him and then looked away, continuing to scan the horizon. He warned in a deep voice, "Don't get careless. The pirates here are on a completely different level from those in the first half of the Grand Line."
"Of course, I understand~"
Shiryu had long heard that the pirates of the New World not only had incredibly high bounties but also included many Devil Fruit users and Swordmasters. The key was that most of them were proficient in both Armament Haki and Observation Haki.
On the other side, on the deck of a warship to the right, Sengoku's eyes suddenly narrowed.
"They're here!"
On the left warship, Garp raised an eyebrow and silently tucked the bag of rice crackers into the pocket of his Justice Coat, then began to stretch his arms.
Behind him, Rear Admiral Bogard, though still resting with his eyes closed, subtly placed his right hand on the hilt of his sword at his waist. However, the lookout on the mast, scanning the surroundings with binoculars, hadn't spotted anything yet.
It wasn't until ten minutes later that black dots began to appear on the horizon in all directions. Their numbers were staggering—at a glance, there were at least twenty to thirty ships! [Woo woo woo woo—]
An extremely sharp alarm sounded, and the various ranks of marines on the ten warships quickly rushed to their positions, especially those manning the triple gun turrets, which began to rotate.
"They're here, they're here, they're here!" Shiryu revealed a cruel, mocking smile, but Borsalino, who was in charge of the fleet's rear, wore a troubled expression.
"So many of them, how—terrifying~~"
As the shadows drew closer, the marines in charge of intelligence hurriedly identified the patterns on each pirate flag and then loudly announced the names of the main captains and their bounties.
"White Knight Pirates, Captain 'Knight Captain' Queller, bounty 85 million Berries!"
"Fire Ant Pirates, Captain 'Ant King' Samueru, bounty 69 million Berries!"
"Iron Arm Pirates, Captain 'Mad Ape' Konrad, bounty 110 million Berries!!"
"..."
A grand maritime battle centered around 'ONE PIECE' officially began before the eyes of the world's citizens.