Chapter 95: The Battle of ONE PIECE!
"Garp! Get ready to depart!"
Sengoku roared unhappily at his old friend, who was sitting on the bow of another Warship, holding a fishing rod in both hands.
Fortunately, the Government Officials from the Propaganda Department hadn't started filming with their Transponder Snails yet, otherwise his irritable appearance would have been seen by Citizens all over the World Nations.
"Oh, so soon? I was almost asleep..."
The Bubble on Garp's nose burst, and he opened his slightly hazy eyes, casually tossing the fishing rod in his hand to Rear Admiral Bogard beside him.
"Let's go, let's go, this damn place is boring to death!"
He completely ignored 'Laugh Tale', the island countless people had searched for. He had spent the entire day fishing while waiting for the Marine Soldiers to haul the Treasure onto the Cargo Ship.
Originally, Garp had been very interested in this island, but after arriving, he lost interest. It was just a Summer Island with dense Plants, and deep within it was an Underground Space.
The Cipher Pol people claimed that ONE PIECE was found inside. He went in to see, and it was indeed quite convincing. The Wanted Posters of all the Roger Pirates members were even posted on the wall, giving the impression that Roger and his crew used it as a memorial.
Oh, and there was also a Poneglyph with the so-called Roger's self-narration written on it.
To be honest, most people seeing this would basically believe it.
For example, at this moment, millions of Citizens standing in front of Live Broadcast Screens in Various Places in the World saw the crystal-clear Poneglyph content on the Screen Feed, as well as the massive Underground Treasury and the somewhat old, yellowed Wanted Posters on the wall.
They subconsciously believed it!
They had previously witnessed with their own eyes many large boxes emitting golden light being continuously pushed onto the Deck of the Cargo Ship under the escort of Government Officials and Navy Soldiers, and then moved into the cabin.
However, for Garp, not sensing any of Roger's Haki Presence on that Poneglyph, he realized that all of this was fake.
He wasn't as resourceful as Sengoku, but he always trusted his own feelings.
Now, everything was finally ready!
The Fleet, consisting of ten Headquarters Warships and two Large Cargo Ships, officially returned to Mary Geoise!
The ten Warships, like giant beasts of the sea, formed a Circular Formation of five-five-two, protecting the Cargo Ships in the center. Those familiar with Naval Warfare knew this was a Defensive Formation.
Once faced with Impact from multiple Enemy Ships, these Warships, divided into inner and outer layers, would begin to rotate around the center, ensuring they could deliver a Volley of bombardment with their maximum Broadside Firepower.
In fact, this Circular Formation also had weaknesses, such as being difficult to counter Missile or Torpedo attacks.
Missiles didn't exist at this point in Time, at least not until twenty years later in the North Blue, and even then, they would only be small, short-range Missiles.
Torpedoes were similar; you couldn't see any ships using them at sea.
Moreover, this constantly changing Circular Formation severely tested the piloting skills of the Fleet Commander and each Ship Captain. Only these Marines from Headquarters could handle it with ease, especially with Sengoku, known as the 'Tactician', in charge of the entire Fleet's command.
At this time, Akainu and Shiryu were stationed on the foremost Warship, Borsalino was stationed on the rearmost Warship, Sengoku and Garp guarded the left and right sides respectively, and the hidden CP0 was concealed on one of the central Cargo Ships.
It could be said that for this Operation Plan, both Marine Headquarters and the World Government took it seriously.
"Snap out of it, Shiryu!"
The stern Akainu saw Shiryu leaning lazily against the ship's railing and barked at him. The latter, intimidated by the former's Strength and Identity, straightened up slightly.
Since becoming Vice Admiral Akainu's Adjutant, Shiryu had a feeling of both pain and happiness.
The happiness was that the other party didn't mind him Slaughtering Pirates at will; sometimes the other party killed even more ruthlessly than he did, clearing an area with a single Magma Fist.
To be honest, it suited his taste perfectly. It would be even better if he could occasionally kill a few Marines, but he didn't dare, unless a Marine deserted during wartime, then it would be fine.
The pain was that this person was too serious, completely lacking a sense of humor, constantly scolding him for not acting like a Soldier.
Crucially, he didn't dare talk back like he did to Magellan.
Akainu's oppressive Aura and personality were simply too terrifying. Shiryu didn't doubt that if he dared to curse back, that Magma Fist would come crashing towards him!
Ah, he was completely suppressed by Sakazuki.
"Vice Admiral Akainu, we didn't see any Pirate Crews daring to charge at us on the way here, there's no need to be so serious, right?" Shiryu said helplessly, his tone sounding somewhat weak.
To be honest, he had held great expectations for the Pirates in the 'New World' before, thinking he would have a blast killing along the way.
But who could have imagined that the Pirate Ships they encountered along the way would steer clear upon seeing this massive Fleet of ten Headquarters Warships? Admiral Sengoku had also ordered them not to pursue, but to reach 'Laugh Tale' as soon as possible to retrieve ONE PIECE.
Actually, this was normal. Who would deliberately pick a fight with such a large Fleet without any attractive benefits?
But because of this, Shiryu felt bored.
"Idiot!"
Sakazuki cursed unceremoniously, "Now the whole World knows we are escorting two ships full of Treasure, and it's a Live Broadcast! Can the situation on the way here be the same as now?!"
"Live Broadcast?"
Shiryu was somewhat used to being cursed at by the other party now. What could he do? He couldn't beat him, and he could occasionally kill to his heart's content, so his attention was focused on the Key Point.
To be honest, when he was in Impel Down, because there was no Entertainment, he could only read Newspapers, but after coming out, he hadn't read them again. Wasn't it more enjoyable to cut down a few Pirates specifically captured alive during this Time?
"So, a group of Pirates eyeing the Treasure will come running later!" His Expression became excited, his Pupils flashing with dangerous crimson Killing Intent.
Sakazuki glanced at him and then looked away, continuing to gaze at the Horizon around them, and instructed in a deep voice, "Don't be careless. The Pirates here are not on the same level as the Pirates in the First Half."
"I understand, of course~"
Shiryu had long heard that the Pirates in the 'New World' not only had extremely high Bounties, but many of them were Ability Users and Sword Masters, and crucially, most of them possessed Armament Haki and Observation Haki.
On the other side, on the Deck of a Warship on the right, Sengoku's eyes suddenly narrowed.
"They're here!"
On the Warship to the left, Garp also raised an eyebrow, silently putting the bag of Senbei in his Coat of Justice pocket, and began stretching his arms.
Behind him, Rear Admiral Bogard, although still resting with his eyes closed, quietly placed his Right Hand on the hilt of the Blade at his waist. But the problem was that the Marine Soldiers in the Crow's Nest scanning the surroundings with Telescopes hadn't seen anything yet.
Ten minutes later, Black Shadows appeared one after another on the Horizon in all directions. Their number was so large that a casual glance revealed twenty to thirty ships!
[Wuwuwuwu——]
The extremely sharp alarm sounded, and Marines of all ranks on the ten Warships quickly ran to their positions, especially the Triple-Barreled Turrets which began to rotate.
"They're here, they're here, they're here!" Shiryu showed a cruel, mocking smile, but Borsalino, in charge of the rear of the Fleet, had a troubled Expression.
"So many? How—scary—~~"
As the Black Shadows continuously approached, the Marine Soldiers responsible for Intelligence quickly confirmed the pattern of each Pirate Flag, and then loudly shouted out the names of the main Captains and their Bounty Amounts.
"White Knight Pirates, Captain 'Knight Commander' Quiller, Bounty of 85 million Berry!"
"Fire Ant Pirates, Captain 'Ant King' Samuel, Bounty of 69 million Berry!"
"Iron Arm Pirates, Captain 'Mad Ape' Conrad, Bounty of 110 million Berry!!"
"..."
A Naval Warfare centered around 'ONE PIECE' officially began before the eyes of the Citizens of World Nations...
(End of this chapter)