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In front of countless screens, people all over the world waited expectantly until the flag of Hoenn Government appeared on the sea.
"They're out!"
"It's the Hoenn Government's Grand Fleet!"
"Hiss—there are so many of them!"
At a glance, there were no less than a hundred warships of various sizes.
The scale was quite enormous!
"Where are the Marines?"
The audience waited anxiously, but fortunately, the director didn't make them wait too long and shifted the camera to another location, where the Marine fleet could vaguely be seen.
Its scale was equally astonishing!
The Hoenn Marines fleet.
Daichi held a telescope, looking toward the Marine fleet, and could see many familiar figures, especially Aramaki.
"Two Admirals have arrived."
Daichi put down the telescope.
As expected, the Marines would not deploy all their forces. Two Admirals leading the team was already considered the highest-level operation.
There was no other choice. The Marines' most important duty was to protect the Holy Land.
"A warning first!"
Two warships left the formation, sailing to the left and right sides respectively, dropping a beacon at regular intervals.
One of them sailed toward the Marine fleet, passing almost face-to-face in front of it, and the leading officer picked up a loudspeaker.
"Marines ahead, listen up! The sea area within the beacons is the exercise range planned by our Hoenn Marines. This matter has already been notified to the World Government!"
"If your warships enter our exercise range, it will be considered an obstruction to our exercise, and we reserve the right to counterattack!"
"Please maintain a safe distance!"
"Over!"
After speaking, the officer quickly urged his subordinates to run away, fearing that if the Marines attacked, his small warship would not be able to withstand it.
The Marines fell into a brief silence.
Soon, it erupted.
"These bastards, they completely disregard us!"
"Too arrogant!"
"Shoot them down!"
Most Marine soldiers did not want war, but being mocked face-to-face ignited some anger, and the officers felt particularly humiliated.
However, without an order from an Admiral, no one dared to act on their own.
"Rawawa, how troublesome!"
Aramaki had a headache.
Having fought Daichi once, he really didn't want to fight a second time. The power Daichi used to compress the earth was impossible for him to defend against.
If possible, he did not want to clash with the Hoenn Marines this time.
Aramaki looked at the adjacent warship.
"Brother Issho, what do you think?"
"This old man truly wishes to know, what kind of justice does this war possess?"
Fujitora rolled his eyes.
He knew almost entirely negative information about the Hoenn Government, especially its leader, Daichi the Destroyer.
An unpardonable great villain.
But he wasn't the kind of man who would unconditionally believe something based only on hearsay. After all, newspapers were the eyes and ears of the World Government, and altering content and slandering enemies were common occurrences.
He would not easily believe the other party either.
Right and wrong, good and evil, could only be accurately judged after personal contact.
"Let's wait for now."
Fujitora shook his head.
"Indeed, we were a step slow this time."
The Hoenn Government had already given advance notice, seizing the initiative. If they were to rashly enter the other party's exercise range, it would undoubtedly be unreasonable.
After waiting for more than half an hour, the Hoenn Government's sea-enclosure operation finally ended.
Aramaki's face immediately fell.
"Hey, hey, this isn't good."
"What happened?"
"The Hoenn Marines have also included the sea area at the entrance of Reverse Mountain in their exercise range, and we still have our people there!"
Fujitora was slightly startled.
In that case, they couldn't stand idly by either!
After a moment of thought, Fujitora raised his sword.
"Aramaki, let's go together and check out the situation."
"Eh? Just the two of us?"
"That's right. I do not wish for a large-scale conflict with the Hoenn Marines. There's no need to increase casualties for either side."
Before Aramaki could respond, Fujitora lightly swung his blade, and a section of the deck beneath his feet cracked open, carrying him flying toward the entrance of Reverse Mountain.
"Seriously, wait for me!"
Seeing this, Aramaki grew small propeller flowers on his back and bravely followed, not forgetting to order his subordinates.
"You all stay here and wait for orders. Do not act rashly without our command!"
"Yes, Admiral Ryokugyu!"
Reverse Mountain entrance, coast.
Several small and medium-sized warships were docked at the shore, watching the approaching Groudon, and the officers became tense.
Gazelleman held a loudspeaker.
"Marines, this is the exercise range of our Hoenn Marines. Please leave immediately, or you will bear the consequences!"
"What a joke!"
Marine Headquarters Rear Admiral Hina crushed her cigarette and argued. "This toll station is a facility of the World Government. You are the ones who should leave. Hina is very angry!"
"This is the final warning!"
Groudon turned its cannons, aiming at Hina's warship.
The warship classes were completely mismatched. Even if the Marines had more warships, they would easily suffer losses if they engaged in bombardment.
"What?!"
Hina sensed something and immediately turned to look at the toll station. A woman in high-tech equipment appeared above the toll station and planted a sign with a skull on it.
The next moment, the other party disappeared.
Gazelleman shouted again.
"You have ten minutes to evacuate. After ten minutes, our fleet will conduct a shelling exercise on the marked location!"
"Damn it!"
Hina was furious.
The other party had no intention of communicating with her, and several warships were approaching. If they started shelling, their few warships would likely be instantly destroyed.
"Notify the staff to evacuate immediately!"
"Understood!"
The urgent task now was to take the toll station personnel and leave, to rendezvous with the Marine Headquarters fleet. What to do next would depend on the arrangements of the two Admirals.
In just three minutes, all the panicked staff boarded the warships and departed.
Only reporters, who had heard the news and had been waiting for a long time, remained on the coast. Upon seeing Daichi disembark from the ship, they immediately picked up their Transponder Snails to film.
Daichi stood on the shore, waiting, his gaze fixed on the two figures flying in the distance.
Soon, the two landed.
"Rawawa, Brother Daichi!"
Aramaki came before Daichi, complaining discontentedly. "What you're doing makes things very difficult for us!"
"What's so difficult about it?"
Daichi said indifferently. "Our Hoenn Government will compensate the World Government for any losses caused by destroying this toll station at market price. The World Government won't suffer any losses."
"That's not it at all!"
Aramaki's forehead twitched with a vein. "This is a World Government facility. Are you trying to start a war with us by destroying it?"
"World Government's?"
Daichi chuckled.
"Since the World Government was founded, Reverse Mountain has always been a public area, not belonging to any single country."
"I'd like to ask you, what right does the World Government have to build a toll station here, and what right does it have to collect transit tolls?!"
"This..."
Aramaki was speechless.
What he said seemed to make a little sense.
Daichi continued to ask.
"If building a toll station means this place belongs to the World Government, then if I plant the Hoenn Government's flag on the Red Line, would the Red Line then belong to our Hoenn Government?"
"Of course not!"
Aramaki blurted out.
Claiming territory isn't that easy.
The laws regarding this were very lacking, but common sense dictated that as long as a territory was unclaimed, the World Government could claim it as its own.
"Exactly, it cannot."
Daichi nodded.
"Currently, there are no laws defining the ownership of public areas, including but not limited to uninhabited islands, the high seas, and this place."
"There are over three hundred countries worldwide, and the World Government is only an alliance of half of them. It cannot represent the entire world, and there are still more than half of the non-member countries!"
"Therefore, the World Government has no right to build a toll station here, let alone collect tolls from passing ships!"
Daichi sneered, pointing at the toll station.
"In other words, this toll station is undoubtedly an illegal structure!"
"I want to ask the two of you!"
"What's wrong with demolishing an illegal structure?"
The two Admirals fell into contemplation.
It seemed, they couldn't refute him!