"Kuzan, establish a landing zone."
Sakazuki took the Den Den Mushi handed to him by a subordinate and issued orders to Kuzan, who was on another warship.
In war, the worst mistake is letting the enemy dictate the pace.
Sakazuki was a pure and seasoned soldier. He would not make such a basic error.
On the other warship, Kuzan ended the communication and leaped into the air, landing on the sea's surface.
The moment he touched the water, his Hie Hie no Mi powers activated.
"Ice Age!"
The seawater instantly froze, spreading at an unimaginable speed. In no time, the surrounding sea had turned into solid ice.
But it didn't stop there.
Kuzan, also a seasoned soldier, continued to unleash his Devil Fruit abilities.
The ice rapidly rose, forming frozen staircases leading to the floating island. These staircases then merged together.
The floating island became an elevated platform.
The tightly connected ice staircases sealed off the underside of the island, allowing the Marine forces to fully deploy.
Meanwhile, fifty warships anchored on the outer edges of the ice.
Heavy gangplanks were lowered, and Marine soldiers, armed with swords and guns, swiftly disembarked under the command of their officers, stepping onto the landing zone Kuzan had created.
After a brief assembly, the Marines launched their assault on the island.
On the other side, Sakazuki had already ordered Kuzan and ten other vice admirals, along with the Seven Warlords of the Sea, to each guard a sector.
This served both as a means to provide reinforcements and to block any potential escape routes Reddy might take into the sea.
As for the sky... the Meteor Volcano would handle that.
"Going so far as to transport an uninhabited island to replace Loguetown as the battlefield..."
The island where Loguetown was located was quite large, but the current one was rather small. Jinbei crossed his arms, his impression of Reddy improving slightly.
This was for the best. At least it would minimize civilian casualties.
After all, the one leading the charge was Admiral Akainu.
Elsewhere, Crocodile puffed on his cigar, watching the endless stream of Marines charging onto the island with a meaningful smile.
"Perhaps I can cooperate with him."
A flicker of fervor flashed in Crocodile's eyes.
If he could obtain the ancient weapon Pluton, he could rule the seas while Reddy ruled the skies. Their alliance would be invincible.
"I should speed up my plans."
With that thought, Crocodile's mind returned to the kingdom of Alabasta.
Only by seizing Alabasta would he have enough time to patiently search for the lost ancient weapon Pluton.
Aside from Crocodile and Jinbei, the other Warlords also had their own thoughts as they watched the Marines land on the island.
"Thirty thousand men will establish a defensive line here. The rest will immediately search the entire island to confirm whether the target is present."
Seeing that the Marines had successfully landed without encountering the expected resistance, Sakazuki decided to play it safe. He ordered thirty thousand men to remain as reserves while the other twenty thousand spread out to search the island.
The orders were swiftly carried out. Under the direction of several Marine rear admirals, the twenty thousand elite Marines efficiently divided into two hundred squads of one hundred men each, advancing inward from the outskirts in an organized manner.
"Horohorohorohoro!"
Perona's distinctive laughter echoed from somewhere on the island as three Negative Hollows gleefully swept through the Marine ranks.
"I'm sorry for even being alive!"
No matter how elite the Marines were, they couldn't resist the effects of the Negative Hollows. One by one, they knelt on the ground, utterly devoid of motivation, wallowing in self-loathing.
At the same time, doors suddenly appeared in the air.
A figure burst through one of the doors at high speed, knocking out the demoralized Marines with single punches before tossing them inside.
Each time a Marine was thrown in, someone inside immediately tied them up.
"Tch, I'm supposed to be Reddy's number one underling."
Bartolomeo was currently handling the tying-up duties. It was a job he was suited for, and he worked quickly, keeping pace with the clones who were knocking out Marines and throwing them in.
In the blink of an eye, an entire squad of one hundred Marines had been wiped out.
"Horohorohorohoro... This time, I want Kumacy back!"
Perona was ecstatic. As a spirit, she didn't care if she was spotted, floating in the air with her hands on her hips, laughing arrogantly.
When Reddy attacked Thriller Bark, he only took her, Moria, and Absalom.
Her loyal companion Kumacy had been left behind.
With such a huge contribution this time, asking for Kumacy back wasn't too much, right?
With the aid of the Doa Doa no Mi, the laborer-capturing squad progressed with terrifying efficiency.
Six clones with Doa Doa no Mi abilities, including Mon, were each assigned three clone assistants to knock out and tie up targets.
Led by these clones, all with Bloodline Factor ratings of LV13, the Marine squads conducting the island-wide search stood little chance. Soon, they were captured and delivered to the summit at the island's center.
Ten massive iron cages were already set up there.
Each could hold at least a hundred people.
As for whether cramming so many people inside would be uncomfortable, Reddy didn't care.
The delay in arriving had been partly due to the time spent finding a suitable uninhabited island for the hunt, but mostly because forging these cages had taken too long.
By now, the laborer-capturing squad had already wiped out several Marine squads.
Seeing the steady stream of prisoners, Reddy quickly adjusted his strategy, assigning Pyo to transport the filled cages back to Loguetown, floating ten thousand meters above.
A new district was being built beside Loguetown, and there was a severe labor shortage.
Reddy wasn't arrogant enough to think he was invincible. He knew the Marines—or rather, the World Government—would never tolerate Loguetown being taken and would inevitably launch a counterattack.
Now, the labor shortage was being filled, and with the best kind of workers: elite Marines who only needed basic sustenance.
On the outer edges of the ice field.
Sakazuki watched as cages packed with prisoners suddenly rose from the island's central peak. He clenched his cigar, the intense heat of his magma reducing it to ashes in an instant.
In all his years as a Marine, he had encountered countless arrogant pirates, but Reddy was the most brazen he had ever seen.
Openly transporting prisoners... This was a provocation!
"Do you think you've already won?"
Sakazuki removed his glove, his right fist transforming into magma as he launched a barrage of massive magma fists into the sky.
The fists soared like meteors, hurtling toward the mountain at the island's center.
He would rather sacrifice the captured Marines than let Reddy use them to humiliate the Navy.
This was a necessary sacrifice!
Reddy looked up at the raining magma fists, his gentle smile vanishing instantly. With a snap of his fingers, massive slashes suddenly shot up from various points on the island, intercepting the falling magma.
After capturing Shiki, Reddy had obtained the legendary swords Kogarashi and Sakura. Combined with the Sandai Kitetsu and Yubashiri he bought from a Loguetown weapons shop, as well as the Shusui he took from Thriller Bark, he now possessed five legendary swords.
Including the maid who could transform into a longsword, that made six.
Reddy had entrusted these swords to clones like Pyo, who had mastered swordsmanship. This not only enhanced their combat power but also served as a countermeasure against Sakazuki's Meteor Volcano.
The slashes collided with the magma fists midair, triggering massive explosions.
Scorching magma rained down, covering nearly the entire island.
"Retreat!"
Several rear admirals commanding the front lines immediately ordered a withdrawal from the magma-affected areas.
Still, many Marines were caught in the crossfire.
Reddy was furious.
Do not harm my laborers!
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Main Combat Forces:
Pyo: Based on Reddy's Bloodline Factor, fused with Golden Lion Shiki's gene fragment, Float-Float Fruit user, Bloodline Factor rating: Lv13.
Maid: Based on Baby 5's Bloodline Factor, fused with Sea King gene fragment, Weapon-Weapon Fruit user, Bloodline Factor rating: Lv12.
Mon: Based on Blueno's Bloodline Factor, fused with Golden Lion Shiki's gene fragment, Door-Door Fruit user, equipped with exoskeleton, Bloodline Factor rating: Lv13.
Ray 1: Based on Reddy's Bloodline Factor, fused with Rob Lucci's gene fragment, no Devil Fruit ability, equipped with exoskeleton, Bloodline Factor rating: Lv13.
Ray 2: Based on Reddy's Bloodline Factor, fused with Rob Lucci's gene fragment, no Devil Fruit ability, equipped with exoskeleton, Bloodline Factor rating: Lv13.
Shadow: Based on Reddy's Bloodline Factor, fused with Rob Lucci's gene fragment, Shadow-Shadow Fruit user, equipped with exoskeleton, Bloodline Factor rating: Lv13.
Invis: Based on Reddy's Bloodline Factor, fused with Rob Lucci's gene fragment, Clear-Clear Fruit user, equipped with exoskeleton, Bloodline Factor rating: Lv13.
Specter: Based on Reddy's Bloodline Factor, fused with Rob Lucci's gene fragment, Soul-Soul Fruit user, equipped with exoskeleton, Bloodline Factor rating: Lv13.
Secretary: Based on Kalifa's Bloodline Factor, fused with Rob Lucci's gene fragment, no Devil Fruit ability, equipped with exoskeleton, Bloodline Factor rating: Lv13.
Control: Based on Reddy's Bloodline Factor, fused with Rob Lucci's gene fragment, Slow-Slow Fruit user, equipped with exoskeleton, Bloodline Factor rating: Lv13.
These are the main combat forces for now. Other secondary forces can be ignored, as they likely won't appear often. Also, the gene beasts are temporarily omitted, as they will shine in the future.
Currently, the protagonist plans to establish three military branches: land, sea, and air. The land and sea forces are already decided, but the air force is still undecided. If you're interested, you can share your ideas in this section. Love you all.