"Meow, litter-scooper, aren't you going to chase them? They should be your prey, shouldn't they?" A small black cat appeared in the ruined town, nimbly traversing the pitted streets. It trotted over and squatted in front of Cross, looking up at him in a surprisingly human-like manner.
"No need to rush. The prey are already trapped on the island, with nowhere to run. Besides, this is a grand feast for everyone; I can't hog it all to myself!" Cross smiled as he slowly sheathed Shusui. Then he squatted down, cradled Bastet in his arms, and gently stroked its head. "Also, don't call me 'litter-scooper'!" As he said this, a vein popped on his forehead, and even his petting hand pressed down a bit harder on Bastet.
Pere pere pere... Pere pere pere...
Suddenly, the sound of a Den Den Mushi came from his embrace.
"At a time like this, I bet it's Gion calling!" Cross murmured softly. Holding Bastet with his left arm, he took out a small, blue and white Den Den Mushi from his pocket with his right hand. He then placed the Den Den Mushi on Bastet's back and picked up the receiver.
"Meow~" Bastet moved its body in displeasure, but still didn't knock the Den Den Mushi off its back.
Click—
"Moshi moshi, this is Cross!"
"Start gathering the troops. Roberts Legion reinforcements are almost here. Also, I saw a really big wild boar from the air, running out onto the plains. That should be Reepel the 'Raging Boar', right?" The Den Den Mushi indeed emitted Gion's voice.
"That's right, that's him!" Cross replied, "And I heavily wounded Moratos the 'Impaler Snake', the Roberts Legion's quartermaster, but he was rescued by Alec and Yorick of the Three-Gun Freaks!"
"As expected of you, well done!"
Screech—
Suddenly, just as Gion finished speaking, a long eagle's cry echoed from the sky. A giant silver eagle descended sharply, stirring up a chaotic airflow, and landed in front of Cross.
"Vice Admiral Sakazuki just informed me that most of the Roberts Legion's pirate ships have lost their ability to resist or have been sunk, with only a handful escaping. Our main force will be landing soon!" Gion gracefully dismounted from the giant silver eagle's back, taking three quick steps to reach Cross.
"I also heard the cannon fire lessening. It seems our surprise attack was very effective!" Cross grinned, then put the Den Den Mushi from Bastet's back away.
"Not only that, there's a fortress blocking the entrance at the other end of this canyon, but the Roberts Legion largely destroyed it during their attack, significantly reducing its defensive capabilities!" Gion pointed behind her and explained, "Otherwise, if those pirates had occupied a well-defended, sturdy fortress, the battle might have been prolonged for a while!"
"In that case, it's as if fate itself is helping our Marines!" Cross chuckled, looking in the direction Gion indicated. Although thick dust and black smoke from burning fires obscured the view within the town, he could still vaguely discern a tall, dilapidated structure at the end of the canyon.
This war had progressed very smoothly. Originally, according to Cross's plan, the large Marine fleet would submerge to the seabed using coating, stealthily arriving in the waters of the Bion Kingdom, and then wait for the opportune moment to strike.
When the operation began, Cross hoped to concentrate the entire fleet's firepower and Sakazuki's Magma-Magma Fruit ability for a saturation strike, completely annihilating all of the Roberts Legion's ships.
However, at the onset of battle, the Marines discovered that most of the Roberts Legion's ships were docked at the port or along the coast, with only a few ships patrolling at sea.
Therefore, Sakazuki temporarily changed tactics, not employing Cross's "saturation strike" strategy. The reason was simple: if over twenty warships recklessly fired with full force, coupled with Sakazuki's Devil Fruit ability, it would be very easy to cause collateral damage to the port.
If the Marines accidentally destroyed Oneway Port or even caused a mountain collapse, it would not only hinder the Marine landing but also cut off the Bion Kingdom's only access to the outside world.
At that point, the Roberts Legion could calmly deal with Bion Kingdom's forces before turning their attention to the Marines.
In that scenario, the Marines would either have to tough it out and continue a direct confrontation with the Roberts Legion, or retreat and declare the operation a failure.
Therefore, Cross volunteered to lead a forced landing at Oneway Port with the Enliven Legion, while the large Marine fleet provided artillery cover to distract the Roberts Legion's fleet.
However, the Roberts Legion had very few troops stationed at Oneway Port. Most ships only had about a dozen people, utterly incapable of stopping the large Marine fleet's surprise attack.
Especially under Sakazuki's command, each Marine warship, relying on its sturdy steel outer armor and the element of surprise, directly charged in front of the ships for precise bombardments.
Often, just one round of shelling was enough to neutralize a ship's resistance.
Thus, the Roberts Legion's large fleet, despite having over thirty ships, had no room to retaliate and was completely annihilated in such a short amount of time.
In fact, the speed of this large fleet's demise could only be rivaled by the Golden Lion's grand fleet, which once encountered a massive storm.
The imagined bitter battle never materialized. Instead, it was a sweeping offensive that greatly boosted the morale of the entire Marine subjugation fleet.
At this point, Cross first dispatched two thousand Enliven creatures to occupy the ruined fortress at the other end of the canyon entrance, preventing a sneak attack by the Roberts Legion.
He then sent another batch of Enliven creatures to clear the port docks, making space for the main Marine force that was about to land. After all, the harbor of Oneway Port was currently littered with shipwrecks and disabled pirate ships.
Furthermore, the four secondary warships led by Cross had smashed through the harbor docks and landed on shore.
Coupled with the surrounding collapsed house ruins and various accumulated debris, it would be impossible for a large force to land without a thorough cleanup, let alone the need to transport military supplies such as ammunition, gunpowder, food, fresh water, and cannons ashore.
On the roof of a two or three-story house, Cross sat calmly in a lounge chair. He directed the Enliven creatures to clear the debris in the port while comfortably petting Bastet. Nearby, his shadow, Scáthach, prepared coffee for him.
Slurp~
Cross picked up a cup of coffee and took a small sip, evaluating with slight dissatisfaction, "It's just average, but given the current situation, being able to drink coffee is already quite good!"
"The first phase of the operation has been successfully completed. Next up is the large-scale second phase. Time to steal a moment of leisure!" As Cross mumbled to himself, several warships offshore not far away lowered some small boats, fully laden with Marines, heading towards the port.
Clearly, some warships that had already completed their missions could no longer wait. Even if the warships couldn't dock, they could use small boats to transport troops, sending them ashore bit by bit.
——————————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my Patreon ——— patreon(.)com/JuanPiece [remove the parenthesis ( )]
There are 100+ advance chapters available for you to read!