"Captain, a large fleet is approaching Marineford!"
In the brief ceasefire, Van Augur, who had been acting as an automatic lookout from a high vantage point, suddenly rushed to Adrian's side, his expression flustered. "There are around hundred of warships carrying the flag of the World Government! And the one leading them, if I'm not mistaken, is Kong, the former Fleet Admiral of the Marines and current Commander-in-Chief of the World Government!"
The news sent a shockwave through Adrian's crew.
Shiryu of the Rain proudly puffed on his cigar, his expression saying, Looks like I'm about to become famous!
Even Adrian's face showed a flicker of surprise. This was truly a grand spectacle. Marines, Pirates, the Revolutionary Army, and now the World Government itself. It seemed this War had brought together every major power in the world of One Piece.
Adrian's Observation Haki, which already covered all of Marineford, expanded outward again. Soon, he spotted a cluster of mysterious light spots less than ten nautical miles away. The largest and brightest among them had to be Kong himself.
"Sure enough, he's a Fleet Admiral-level monster… It seems today's battle is about to come to an end," Adrian murmured to himself. While Kong's arrival was unexpected, it made perfect sense. The chaos was too great; even the Marine Fleet Admiral had been killed. There was no way the World Government wouldn't intervene.
"There's no need to stay here. Let's go!" Adrian made a decisive call, giving the order to retreat.
"Such an unprecedented battle will be recorded in history, Adrian," the Empress said, holding her cheeks and looking at him with adoration.
Behind her, her little follower Betty was practically drooling.
"Jie hahaha, Captain, you wait here for me, I'll grab a ship and turn it into a submarine!" Bullet cackled, turning to leave. His Clank-Clank Fruit allowed him to fuse inorganic objects with himself and rearrange them into new shapes. He could build a submarine or weapons with just scrap metal and rubble.
But Adrian stopped him. "Don't bother. We have better options." A mysterious smile touched Adrian's lips as he glanced into the depths of the sea. "Just wait a minute, it's already on its way!"
"Huh?!" everyone was taken aback.
"Hey, Captain, it looks like something big is coming up from the bottom of the sea." Bullet, the one with second best Observation Haki after Adrian, pointed at the water in disbelief. "That size… is that a giant Sea King?"
At the same time, on the other side of the battlefield, Yasopp reported the news of the World Government Grand Fleet's arrival to Red-Haired Shanks.
"So you've come. Do these Five Elders not believe in my strength?" Shanks's face darkened upon hearing the news.
"Captain, that boy Luffy was secretly taken away by Jinbe and the Revolutionary Army!" Yasopp added in a low voice.
Shanks's eyes lit up. He had finally heard some good news today. Without a moment's hesitation, he returned his famous sword, Gryphon, to its scabbard, raised his arms, and shouted, "The war is over! Let's go!"
Zheng!
A fierce and terrifying wave of Conqueror's Haki burst from his body, forming a visible ripple in the air that spread outward.
Plop, plop, plop…
In the blink of an eye, thousands of Marine soldiers on the ice fell to the ground unconscious, foaming at the mouth.
"Whitebeard, I've done all I can. Whether your sons can survive aftermath is up to them." Shanks glanced at the defeated Whitebeard Pirates, then led his crew back to the Red Force without looking back.
"Adrian, our business isn't over yet. I know you'll go to the New World… I'll be waiting for you there!" he thought.
At the harbor, Kizaru squeezed his chin and glanced around the water with a lecherous expression. "Oh yo yo, is that Red-Haired brat's Conqueror's Haki so powerful already? That's scary~~"
The Marines' most handsome Admiral was finally back to duty. But Kizaru now had a thick layer of gauze wrapped around his head and his sunglasses were crooked and shattered. He looked both embarrassed and wretched. He had obviously taken a lot of damage from Blackbeard's earlier blow.
"His Conqueror's is widely recognized as the strongest in the world," Aokiji said, walking side by side with him.
Thousands of Marine elites on the ice had been brought down by Shanks's Haki, while the Whitebeard Pirates at the edge remained unaffected. This large area of effect and precise control showed that Shanks's Conqueror's Haki had reached the highest level. His title of Yonko was well deserved.
"However, Mr. Garp, that guy Blackbeard seems to have escaped successfully," Kizaru added.
"Hmph, Borsalino, with your speed, you should be able to catch up with him easily, right?" Garp mercilessly exposed him.
"That guy's ability is terrifying. I'm afraid I can't do it alone~~" Kizaru said, spreading his hands with a look of resignation. He seemed genuinely afraid of being beaten again. Blackbeard's blow had almost broken his old back.
Kizaru's lack of skill in martial arts and his weak Armament Haki made him the weakest of the three Admirals. Zephyr had once said he was too dependent on his Devil Fruit ability, but who could blame him when the Glint-Glint Fruit was so powerful? He could even hold his own against a Four Emperor. But who would have thought that a dignified Admiral would be defeated by a small fry like Blackbeard?
Blackbeard's ability to nullify Devil Fruit powers, combined with his excellent stamina and the terrifying destructive power of the newly gained Buddha Fruit, made Kizaru a sitting duck. He wasn't about to chase him alone. It was okay to lose as long as he wasn't embarrassed. Akainu's an idiot, he was blown away too! Mr. Garp, you were slapped around a few times by that fat Blackbeard. We're all in the same boat.
As the three of them slowly entered the arena with nearly ten thousand Marine elites, the situation outside the harbor shifted again. With their forces now integrated, the Marines were once again the strongest side.
"Hey, there seem to be a lot of amazing characters here in Marineford," Kizaru's pupils shrank as he noticed Adrian's group.
"Such a gorgeous lineup is indeed… gorgeous. If we try to make them stay, it will cause a lot of casualties," Aokiji said thoughtfully.
"Ace…" Garp fell silent again, his eyes on the thin, scarred figure, which touched the softest part of his heart.
"Damn it, I can't believe Dragon and the Fire Fist got away…" At that moment, an extremely discordant and violent voice came from the ruins. Akainu stormed out, his face filled with fury.
He was only halfway through his sentence when he met Garp's fierce, cannibalistic gaze, which seemed to say, Don't you dare speak. I'm furious today, so don't force me to kill you!
But Akainu was not afraid. He raised his head and gave a cold snort, as if to reply, For justice!
Garp: Bastard, I don't care about justice when I'm angry. Just tell me, will you shut up or not?
Akainu: For justice!
"Sakazuki, the war… it's time to end it," an old voice said from behind them. It was Tsuru, the Marine Headquarters Chief of Staff.
"Vice Admiral Tsuru, this is a heaven-sent opportunity to wipe out the Red-Haired Pirates and Adrian's group in one swoop! If we don't seize it, we might not get another chance in the future!" Akainu's tone softened slightly, showing his respect for Tsuru. But his eyes, full of justice, kept moving between Adrian and Shanks. Even if he couldn't keep all of them, he could at least damage their morale.
"That's not necessary," Tsuru said with a look of emotion. "Looking at the current situation, letting them leave is the most sensible choice, even though they are extremely dangerous. Enough people have died today. It's time for everyone to relax a little."
Akainu fell silent.
"Those who surrender live. Those who resist… die!" A thunderous shout rose from the Marine camp.
Soon, more and more Marine soldiers joined in. The sound echoed throughout Marineford.
"Don't… don't kill me, I surrender…"
"Father is dead, the commanders ran away… I… I surrender too…"
Nearly 1000 remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates wept bitterly and threw away their weapons, kneeling helplessly on the ice. Even with Shanks creating a chance for them to escape, these pirates, whose squad leaders had deserted and who had lost their faith and direction, could no longer muster the courage to run. They just wanted to live, even as prisoners.
Who would have thought that these pirates, who had crossed the New World with Whitebeard, would now be like a group of stray dogs, actively disarming and trembling as they awaited Marine's judgment?
"Huh, why did Whitebeard raise such a group of gutless wastes? I thought some of them would be stubborn enough to fight to the end… a complete waste of my time," Akainu snorted with disdain.