Hearing the order to retreat, a wave of dejection washed over the Marine forces.
They had been so close to a decisive victory, and now the situation had collapsed into a complete rout.
Rocks, however, was savoring his triumph.
His eyes, burning with malice, locked onto Sengoku. In a flash, he was gone, reappearing in front of the Fleet Admiral.
He flicked a single finger.
Sengoku felt a sharp, cutting pain in his arm, as if he'd been slashed by an invisible blade.
"A sound strategy, Sengoku," Rocks sneered, landing gracefully on the bow of the warship.
"But did you really think I would let any of you escape?"
Before Sengoku could react, Rocks raised his left hand and brought it down in a vicious chop.
CRUNCH!
A wave of agony shot through Sengoku as his arm was severed at the shoulder.
The pale-faced Fleet Admiral bit back a scream as a strangled gasp escaping his lips.
He desperately tried to call upon the power of his Devil Fruits, but it was just as Garp had said.
The connection was dead.
The power within him was deep asleep, deaf to his calls.
It was true.
This monster, Rocks, had somehow acquired technology that could completely block their greatest strength.
Sengoku threw himself to the side a split second before Rocks brought his hand down again, cleaving the entire warship in two.
He stared up at his old nemesis, a profound loneliness creeping into his heart.
He had failed.
Without their powers, they were helpless against pirates who wielded three Devil Fruits at once.
They couldn't even mount a proper defense.
"Hahahahaha!" Rocks's laughter boomed.
He knew he was on the verge of decapitating the entire Marine leadership in one fell swoop.
With them gone, no force on the seas could ever stand in his way again.
He strode toward the fallen Fleet Admiral, his expression a mixture of pride and pure, vindictive pleasure.
He raised his hand to deliver the final blow.
Suddenly, a brilliant beam of yellow light shot past, striking Rocks's hand and deflecting the fatal attack just enough to miss.
"Yooooo... looks like as long as I don't get poked by that little toy of yours," a lazy voice drawled, "my powers still work just fine."
Admiral Kizaru stood a short distance away, light shimmering from his fingertips.
"Kizaru," Rocks snarled, a red glint in his eyes.
"You honestly think a brat like you can stop me?"
He swung his hand down again, determined to kill Sengoku on the spot.
But in a yellow flash, Kizaru was there, grabbing his wounded commander and zipping away.
Rocks, having missed again, remained calm.
He watched as Whitebeard and Shanks broke off their own engagements to give chase, their attacks narrowly missing Kizaru as he fled.
The Admiral broke out in a cold sweat.
Escaping alone would be easy, but carrying the grievously wounded and powerless Sengoku was a different story entirely.
He had to be perfect.
Seeing Kizaru occupied, Rocks turned his attention back to the battlefield.
He walked slowly toward the motionless forms of Garp and Akainu, planning to finish what he started.
As his attack was about to fall, three distinct BOOMS of displaced air echoed across the battlefield.
Three identical Seraphim appeared in a flash, landing between Rocks and his targets.
The lead unit, PX-000, simply raised its arm and blocked Rocks's full-powered strike without moving an inch.
They had formed a perfect, impenetrable wall.
"You're... Seraphim?" Rocks stared, a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes.
These were different from the ones he'd heard about.
They used no Devil Fruit powers, relying only on their impossibly durable bodies.
How could a mere machine, no matter how advanced, take a direct hit from him and come away without a scratch? It made no sense.
He launched another, more ferocious attack, but the Seraph blocked it just as easily.
Rocks unleashed a furious, impenetrable barrage, but the lead Seraph met every single blow without flinching.
"MOVE!" Rocks roared, his frustration mounting.
But no matter what he did, he couldn't break through the machine's perfect defense.
After ten minutes of all-out assault, Rocks was beginning to feel the strain of the battle, while the Seraph in front of him had only sustained a few superficial scratches.
It was a flawless fighting machine.
Suddenly, a childish voice crackled through a small earpiece on the Seraph's head.
"PX-000, coordinate with PX-001 and PX-002. Your new primary objective is asset retrieval. Bring the targets back to the designated location. Immediately."
Hearing the voice, Rocks's eyes widened.
"You! Are you the one who created these things?!"
"..."
There was no response.
On the other side of the line Leon just stay silent, he wasn't interested in talking to pirates.
He was in the middle of a full-blown scientific crisis, anxiously running his hands through his hair as he stared at a dozen different monitors.
The news that the enemy possessed Devil Fruit-nullifying technology had completely consumed him.
Food, sleep, the battle itself—none of it mattered.
A massive technological gap had just been revealed, one that allowed the enemy to completely neutralize the Marines' strongest fighters.
Garp and Sengoku, two of the most powerful men in the world, had been crippled.
This wasn't just a battle anymore. It was a race.
And Leon knew he had to win it.
With three of their strongest fighters neutralized, the Marines' overwhelming advantage had evaporated.
The tide of the battle had not just turned; it had become a tidal wave threatening to drown them all.
The momentum they had painstakingly built was shattered, and they were now the ones being hammered into the ground.
Fortunately, Leon had dispatched his three Adamantium Seraphim.
Without their timely intervention, the battle would have been a massacre.
Two of the Seraphim engaged Whitebeard and Shanks, their perfect coordination and unbreakable defense holding the two Emperors at bay long enough for Kizaru to escape with the critically wounded Sengoku.
At the same time, Aokiji, Fujitora, and Ryokugyu used the last moments before the enemy could regroup to rescue the powerless Garp and Akainu.
Under the watchful guard of the three stoic machines, the battered survivors of Marine HQ boarded their single remaining warship and began a painful, humiliating retreat from the New World.
Rocks did not laugh.
He stood silently, his eyes fixed on the three Seraphim flying escort behind the Marine vessel.
A deep sense of dissatisfaction gnawed at him.
He didn't know who had created these things, but a cold premonition settled in his gut.
The scientist behind these mechanical angels would be the greatest obstacle to his conquest of the world.
He finally gave up the idea of pursuing the fleeing Marines.
They were no longer a threat.
What could they possibly do against his new power?
His real priority was right here, in front of him.
He needed to consolidate his power.
Rocks slowly turned to face the assembled pirate crews.
"Newgate. Red-Hair. Dragon," he said, his voice carrying across the silent battlefield.
"We need to talk."
He nodded towards them with a predatory smile on his face.
"I believe we are all allies here. And I'm sure you're all eager to experience the more... profound technologies my benefactors have to offer."
His tone shifted, the friendly veneer dropping to reveal the cold threat beneath.
"Of course, if you choose not to cooperate, I can only assume you are enemies, standing in the way of a grand and glorious future. And as for my enemies... well, you must remember that most of the power you wield comes from your Devil Fruits. And I just so happen to have the cure for that."
He let the threat hang in the air for a moment before smiling again.
"But I truly don't want any conflict. To conquer the world, I will need your strength."
The three pirate captains looked at each other.
They heard no offer of cooperation in Rocks's words
. They heard an ultimatum.
The meaning was brutally simple: kneel, or be broken.
The image of Garp and Sengoku—legends of the sea—being swatted aside like children after their powers were stripped away was seared into their minds.
They had no other choice.
With Rocks holding the key to neutralizing any Devil Fruit user, he held the key to absolute power.
Anyone who defied him would be rendered helpless.
Shanks stepped forward, his expression was carefully neutral.
"We would be honored to serve you and the powerful figures you represent, Rocks-san. Technology as advanced as yours is a rare and wonderful thing."
Rocks's grin widened. "Then I'm glad we could come to an agreement."
"A pleasure doing a business with you," Shanks replied, the words tasting like ash in his mouth.
In that instant, a new, terrifyingly powerful pirate alliance was forged.
Rocks turned his gaze toward the horizon, in the direction the Marines had fled.
The fire of ambition in his eyes burned hotter than ever before.
...
On the deck of the battered Marine warship, the groans of the wounded were a constant, grim chorus.
Sengoku, his torso wrapped in bandages and his right sleeve pinned empty to his uniform, sat slumped against a railing.
Clutching his one remaining arm, he managed to form a weak wry smile while he talk.
"Heh. I never thought I'd end up matching your look, Shanks. Life is full of surprises."
"Stop your whining, you old fool," Garp grumbled from nearby, wrapping a fresh bandage around his own crushed arm.
"You're only alive to complain thanks to Leon new Seraphim."
He was right.
If those machines had arrived just a few minutes later, most of them would be at the bottom of the ocean.
Sengoku let out a long, weary sigh.
The memory of the battle was a waking nightmare.
That feeling of complete powerlessness, of being unable to even raise a hand in his own defense, would haunt him forever.
"Garp," Sengoku asked quietly, "do you think we still have a chance?"
He didn't need to elaborate.
Garp knew what he meant.
"The only reason that bastard Rocks didn't chase us down is because he no longer sees us as a threat. He's more interested in absorbing Whitebeard and the others into his own forces."
Garp didn't reply, focusing on his bandages.
They both understood the grim reality of their situation.
Their injuries were too severe; it would be weeks, maybe months, before they were fit to fight again.
And they didn't have that kind of time.
Once Rocks finished consolidating his new grand fleet, he would undoubtedly strike at the heart of the World Government: Mariejois.
And in their current state, the Marines would be powerless to stop him.
"Hah..." Garp finally let out a breath, his voice heavy.
"Then we can only put our hopes in one place."
Sengoku nodded, his gaze distant.
"Only Leon, and those new Seraphim of his, have any hope of standing against Rocks and his madmen now."