Seeing this, the other soldiers dared not hesitate and immediately fired the laser cannons.
Boom!
The laser pierced through the clouds, turning a flock of albatrosses to ash, which fell from the sky.
This scene was captured on the monitors. Seeing it was just birds, the Five Elders exchanged glances.
"It seems we were overly concerned," Kong sighed.
"Hmph, any accident is possible. We cannot allow even a one-in-ten-thousand chance to occur," Saint Warcury said.
Kong didn't know what else to say. However, Saint Garling looked at the instruments and said, "Overusing Uranus will deplete its energy. Originally, it could only last a month. At full combat power, it might only last three days."
"It's better to conserve some energy. We can plan further after obtaining the Mother Flame," Saint Ju Peter suggested.
"The Mother Flame is in Wano. We can deal with them on our return," Saint Nasjuro said.
"Is the Whitebeard Pirates' threat not as great as the Straw Hat Pirates'?" Kong asked.
"Straw Hat, who ate the Sun God Nika Fruit, is just like Joy Boy back then. He has grown now. We must kill him before he obtains the Great treasure," Saint Warcury said.
"What exactly did Joy Boy do back then?" Saint Garling asked.
"What happened is in the past. Our enemy is different now. But the Straw Hat boy is indeed a greater threat than the Whitebeard Pirates," Saint Nasjuro said.
"And what about Roy? Is he not a threat?" Kong asked.
"Him..."
The three veteran Elders fell silent. Roy had killed Saturn and Mars; his threat was very real. However, in their view, pirates could not overthrow the World Government; only Joy Boy could.
Thus, they looked down on pirates, and especially looked down on Roy, believing such a scenario was impossible.
No matter how strong Roy was, he wasn't Joy Boy. He wasn't the Sun God who brought hope.
Therefore, the Celestial Dragons never considered Roy their primary opponent. In their eyes, only the fated Sun God could overthrow them.
For some reason, Kong had an indescribable feeling, like the calm before a storm.
"Elders! Another flock of birds detected!" a soldier monitoring the instruments reported.
"Ignore them!" Saint Warcury waved his hand.
"Yes, sir!"
The soldier paid it no mind. Uranus continued its flight. However, the next second, the ship was rocked by a violent explosion.
The Five Elders were thrown off balance, all startled by the sudden blast. They looked back to see red alarm lights flashing inside the ship.
"What happened?!" Saint Warcury roared.
"Cause unknown currently! But the right side is damaged! Power is affected!" a soldier reported.
"Find out what caused it, quickly!" Saint Nasjuro ordered.
"Yes, sir! Dispatching personnel now!"
The ship had multiple levels. The top actually featured a massive platform, like a deck. Uranus could also land on the sea, acting as a floating island.
But such a violent, explosive attack was clearly not normal.
Overhead hatches opened. Five men in white suits stood at the entrance.
"I don't think an investigation is needed. It's the enemy," a young man with yellow hair and prominent fangs said.
"You report to the Elders. We'll prepare to engage," the leader, a man with long hair, said, drawing his rapier.
They knew at a glance it was the enemy. Those weren't birds; they were phoenixes! The leader was none other than Marco.
"Hey, you must be the World Government's special forces, right? We're the Whitebeard Pirates. Pleasure to meet you," Marco said, leading the Phoenix Corps, formed by him, Thatch, and others, who had arrived early.
The phoenixes' immortality made them the perfect suicide squad.
Each carried explosives to bomb Uranus. After exploding, as long as their flames didn't die out, they wouldn't perish.
"Kill!!"
The four drew their weapons and charged. Both sides clashed.
The Five Elders received confirmation: it was an attack. The Whitebeard Pirates had come.
The four elders were furious, while Kong seemed to have expected it.
"The Whitebeard Pirates were bound to act. This was anticipated. Moreover, we are currently very close to Wano. This will likely become the battlefield," Kong said.
"Stop making cynical remarks! We need to find a way to eliminate the Whitebeard Pirates now! Since we can't deal with the Straw Hat Pirates first, we'll handle the Whitebeard Pirates in advance! Destroy Pluton and retrieve the Mother Flame!" Saint Warcury said.
"That seems to be the only option," Kong said, releasing his clenched fist.
Outside, the battle was fully engaged. Uranus was as large as an island. The earlier suicide bombings had only caused partial damage, not substantially affecting Uranus unless they hit the Mother Flame replica location.
Only by damaging the power source could the ship be stopped.
Now, war was imminent. The two sides had to fight.
This time, it was the World Government's military strength. Besides the Marines, the World Government had Cipher Pol agents.
The combat power of CP agents wasn't low. Those twenty men in suits were CP members. Additionally, there were the God's Knights. Although they had failed in Elbaf, it didn't mean they were dead.
Shamrock had already led his subordinates to the top of Uranus. At this moment, a battle at ten thousand meters was about to begin.
Several dragons pulled sky islands into the fray. Cannons on the sky islands continuously bombarded Uranus.
Uranus's cannons returned fire. One shot pierced through a sky island, causing unknown casualties. Those who fell from the sky island had almost no chance of survival.
It was like a group of ants attacking an elephant. Using all types of weapons produced in Wano, they unleashed their entire arsenal upon Uranus in the shortest time possible.
The firepower far surpassed a Buster Call. If it were an island of similar size, it would have been devastated.
But this was Uranus, constructed with alloy materials capable of withstanding blasts far beyond imagination.
Despite continuous bombing, it only created some pits and dents, failing to cause substantial damage.
The research and development team responsible for manufacturing the cannons watched helplessly.
"Current world explosives simply can't penetrate that metal shell," Queen shook his head upon seeing the results.
"I don't believe it! Try my armor-piercing round!"
Caesar controlled a large cannon and fired a special projectile. When it hit Uranus's shell, the explosion was more powerful, with greater penetration.
But looking at the result, just a larger crater. It was somewhat effective, but the metal's ductility was too good; it was useless. Moreover, the metal seemed to have memory properties, quickly recovering.
"Useless!!" Vinsmoke Judge said.
"It seems the only way is to kill the people inside," Vinsmoke Niji laughed, stepping on his flight shoes and soaring down.
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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