Chapter 362: The Five Elders Won't Be Beaten to Death, Right?
"Has your Demon God taken action?"
While others speculated, the mustache Elder, Saint Warcury, directly questioned the Apostles.
Guessing was pointless, it was better to ask directly, maybe they get a straight answer!
"Who knows?"
Sadly, Celestial Dragon didn't oblige, playing the riddle-master instead.
"Besides that Sun God, whether any other reinforcements in this Holy Land can reach you is also uncertain!"
His words sent a wave of alarm through the allied leaders.
"Enough chatter. You're the Five Elders, right? You seem decently strong. If you won't submit, that's fine too, beat us instead! Whether you survive depends on your skill."
As the Five Elders' faces grew grim, the Apostle Kiiro stepped forward. Its demonic face split into a chilling grin.
Its eerie eyes scanned the Elders up and down, as if it was appraising merchandise.
"Which of you wants to spar with me? My hands are itching."
The Five Elders exchanged glances. They become wary of Kiiro.
No matter what, they no longer had the luxury of choosing whether to fight, these fools still hadn't shown up!
"The Demon God Apostle Kiiro, the monster who defeated Big Mom? Fine, I'll take you on!"
Curly-haired Elder, Saint Saturn stepped forward, leaning on his cane.
If he could avoid it, he'd rather not face this inhuman beast, but they were on the defensive now.
Of course, they still had Imu-sama and their hidden trump cards.
This was their stronghold, and it is not far from Marine Headquarters. Even if King was tied up by that man, surely other marine forces could move!
For now, they needed to buy time for reinforcements.
He refused to believe the vast Holy Land couldn't muster decent support.
"Let's take it outside! This isn't a place to fight!"
"Sure! But why not call others? I'm worried you won't entertain me enough!"
Kiiro's brazen taunt made Saint Saturn take a deep breath. The words stoked a rare anger in the usually lofty Elder.
He'd love to gang up on him, he had no confidence against this fearsome foe who'd bested Big Mom.
But their numbers were hopelessly mismatched.
"No need!"
Saint Saturn's tone was stiff as he refused.
He strode outside, and Kiiro followed with keen interest, fearless of traps.
He's gone! A Five Elder was about to fight?
Many allied leaders stared in shock at Saturn Saint's departing figure.
Since the Five Elders had never fought publicly, most leaders saw them merely as the five supreme rulers of the world.
At the pinnacle of power, they had no need to act, many assumed their strength was no different from an ordinary person's.
The royalty of allied nations were a prime example, many kings were just average in strength, so they naturally viewed the Five Elders the same way.
Some kings from the allied nations were more rational, believing it wasn't surprising that the Five Elders possessed strength. After all, the Celestial Dragons couldn't have reached their position by being entirely incompetent.
Especially in this era, over the past six months, the rapid changes had intensified people's reverence for personal martial power.
With strength, one could truly obtain anything they desired. This truth had been exemplified by the King of Fear, who once dominated the New World and was now known as the Demon God.
Thus, it wasn't odd for the Five Elders, who held the highest authority in the World Government, to have power.
The logic that powerful people wielded great authority, and those with great strength could attain higher power, began to take root in people's minds.
This was also a headache for some allied nations.
After gaining strength, some civilians even sought to revolt, possibly influenced by this shifting mindset.
At this moment, the leaders of the allied nations held a certain admiration for the Five Elders.
No matter how strong they were, facing monsters like these might still be beyond their reach!
Would that Five Elder really avoid being beaten to death? They harbored pessimistic thoughts about it.
"Since Kiiro's off to have his fun, I suppose I'll play a bit too."
After Kiiro and Saint Saturn departed, Zhurong stepped forward.
Seeing Zhurong's eager expression, the Five Elders felt stifled, reluctantly sending out another of their own.
While the Five Elders grappled with their frustration, Marine Headquarters Marineford received a distress call from Marijoa.
Receiving the message from Admiral Sengoku, currently stationed at the Holy Land, Kong wore a grave expression.
He immediately convened an emergency meeting with the high-ranking officers still at headquarters.
Soon, the meeting room filled with marine officers who had rushed in for the urgent summons.
As they took their seats, Kong's opening statement sent shockwaves through them: "Marijoa has been invaded."
"How is that possible?!"
Marine officers erupted in disbelief, their voices overlapping in heated discussion.
Seeing their incredulity, Kong nodded and waved a hand to silence them.
"The situation is dire. According to Sengoku, who's currently stationed there, the invaders are the legendary mysterious demon clan."
"Not only that, the Demon God's Apostles have acted, they even attack Pangea Castle."
Hearing Kong relay the situation, t people in the room still felt they were dreaming.
The Holy Land, invaded, by the enigmatic demon clan, no less, with Apostles acting in Pangea Castle.
Was this the prelude to war?
"Fleet-Admiral Kong, how many demons have invaded the Holy Land?"
A vice admiral, recovering from the shock, quickly raised a question on everyone's mind.
The demon clan remained a profound mystery to the world.
People understood them primarily through the Apostles, hinting at the clan's immense power.
"Unknown."
"Unknown?"
Kong's response drew frowns from the others.
He projected several photos via a Den Den Mushi onto the meeting room's screen: images of thick white fog, humanoid black mist figures, various other silhouettes, and a stone-light pillar rising from Pangea Castle.
"The Holy Land is shrouded in white fog, severely limiting visibility and making it impossible to assess the situation clearly."
"But we can now slightly lift the veil on the demon clan's mystery…"
Pointing to the images, Kong shared some of Sengoku's on-site observations, deepening the Marine's understanding of the demons.
He didn't elaborate much, supporting the Holy Land was the priority.
He hadn't expected the Demon God's Apostles and the demon clan to be so brazen as to invade Marijoa directly.
The Holy Land was so close to Marine Headquarters, weren't they worried about King intervening?
Or did they think holding the allied kings and Five Elders hostage would paralyze them?
Or perhaps the Demon God was backing them.
The first possibility gave Kong a headache.
With the allied kings gathered, they were a glaring weakness if the enemy resorted to shameless threats.
The latter possibility was even graver. If the Demon God acted again, did it mean he was confident in defeating King? That was a serious issue.
Kong didn't dwell on it too much, the situation was unclear, and there was no need to scare himself yet.
"Now, I'll assign the support team: King, Esdeath, Borsalino…"
Suddenly, Kong's voice halted as he turned toward a wall.
The officers' gazes followed his.
Under their scrutiny, a ghost-like figure emerged from the wall, or rather, phased through it.
Facing the curious stares of the room, the figure showed no fear and spoke words that shifted their expressions: "Human Marine, I'm afraid you can't go support the World Government."
( End of this chapter )