Chapter 98 Behind the' Hero'
Above the ruins of Marineford, the smoke of gunpowder has not yet dissipated, and the smell of blood and fire is still burning every inch of the air.
Among the broken walls and ruins, the blood-red setting sun cast three god-like figures.
On one side, Akainu Sakazuki's fists burned like lava, his body covered in blood. The power of the Lava-Lava Fruit had diminished due to the fierce battle with Whitebeard, but his eyes were still as ferocious as a demon's.
On one side, Enel was surrounded by lightning. Although he was not seriously injured, most of his lightning power had been used up in saving the Marines. Although the arc was weak, he still looked like a god descending to earth.
But facing them head-on is a man dressed in rags, but still as tall as a towering iron tower - Monkey D Garp!
The tattered Marine cloak had long since turned into rags, and his exposed upper body was covered with scorch marks and hideous wounds from the flames of war, but his aged muscles seemed to still roar with an unyielding will.
"Buzz!!"
The air twisted, Garp's right fist was as black as ink, and the Armament Haki was so violent that it almost materialized, and there was even a hint of the long-dormant power of the Overlord in the Haki!
Sakazuki roared, and his fists turned into giant fists of blazing lava, rushing forward with a heat wave that could destroy the world!
"Dark Hound: Double Roar!!"
"boom!!!"
Garp roared and punched out, his old but iron-like fist colliding with the giant lava fist!
The hot magma exploded and lava splashed everywhere, but Sakazuki was shocked and retreated repeatedly, and the scorched earth under his feet cracked into deep cracks!
"...Old thing, you're really ridiculously hard!!" Sakazuki gritted his teeth and spat out blood, his face looking extremely ugly.
In the sky, a golden lightning streaked across the sky. Enel's golden pupils condensed slightly, and he swooped down with Thor's Scepter in his hand!
"Two Hundred Million Volts Judgment!"
The lightning turned into a thousand-foot-long lightning pillar and smashed towards Garp!
However, Garp stood still, and the moment he looked up, Haki in his eyes surged like a tsunami.
"How dare a mere thunder light talk about gods in front of me?!"
——Conqueror's Haki soars into the sky!
Garp roared and punched the sky, directly confronting Thunder!
"Iron Bones·Breaking the Sea!!"
"BOOM!!!!"
The thunderclouds exploded, and the power of the Thunder God in the sky was shattered!
Enel's golden body was shaken and sent flying backwards a hundred meters, his eyes filled with horror. "This old fellow...his body is like a monster forged from seastone!"
The earth was silent and the smoke and dust had dissipated.
Garp was seen standing alone on top of the ruins, supporting himself on the ground with one fist, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes were still burning with rage.
He grinned slowly, his voice hoarse and firm:
"Come on...you two, it's not enough!!!"
Sakazuki wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, suppressed the pain surging in his chest, and his face was as gloomy as the flames of hell: "You old immortal... How long can you hold on!!"
Enel's golden eyes were cold, and he pointed his staff to the sky: "Sinners who blaspheme the gods... I will personally judge them!!"
Garp grinned, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. "Then let's see if you can kill me!"
As the fierce battle was in full swing, Rogge slowly stood up from the ruins, wiped the bloodline from his face, and suddenly——
He smiled.
The cloak fluttered in the wind, and the bloodline on his body had not dried yet, but it could not hide his kingly demeanor.
He chuckled, his eyes filled with sarcasm and coldness, and his voice echoed through the global live broadcast of the Den Den Mushi to every inch of the world.
"Monkey D Garp—'Marine Hero'?"
Rogge's sneer cut through the silence like a knife. "Today, let me uncover the abscess behind this so-called 'hero'."
He waved his hand, and the images from the World Government intelligence agency were projected onto a huge screen in the air:
——Screen 1: Video footage of the Revolutionary Army headquarters. Monkey D. Dragon's familiar and majestic figure slowly comes into view.
"Your biological son—Monkey D. Dragon!"
"The World Government is offering a bounty on the highest-paid criminal, the biggest rebel who openly subverts the world order, and you... never reported it!"
The young Marines gasped and looked at Garp in disbelief.
The older generation of generals kept their heads down and remained silent, no one dared to speak.
——Screen 2: Images of Portgas D. Ace's childhood, and the cruelest reappearance of history.
The flames lit up the sky, and the tragic scene of South Blue's "baby purge" was revealed to everyone:
Mothers desperately protect their babies, while World Government agents draw their guns indifferently;
The cries of newborns were drowned out by the gunfire, and blood stained the waters of South Blue;
Countless villages were burned down, and the square filled with corpses became a "warning monument"!
Rogge's voice suddenly rose. "Just because you knew the truth but concealed it, the World Government carried out a brutal purge of pregnant women in South Blue for a year and three months in order to completely wipe out Roger's bloodline!"
"Tens of thousands of innocent babies died tragically! Thousands of villages were reduced to ashes!"
"Under such circumstances, you actually dared to take in Roger's orphan, raise him to adulthood, and then let him go out to sea as a pirate!"
Unprecedented outrage among countless survivors around the world
South Blue——
The woman who survived the incident had tears and blood in her eyes as she cried heartbreakingly, "Garp! Give me back my child's life!!!"
Grand Line——
Angry citizens raised their fists: "Is this what the so-called Marine 'heroes' do?!"
Sabaody Archipelago——
The noble frowned slightly and muttered, "...This old guy is such a loser."
Rogge pressed on, his eyes sharp as a knife: "And your 'grandson', Monkey D. Luffy!"
The live broadcast screen switched to a replay of the Enies Lobby's sudden collapse.
"For the sake of Nico Robin, the son of the devil, he led the crowd to break through the Tower of Justice, challenged the laws of the world, and became the enemy of justice!"
"And you, Marine's 'hero', allowed your own grandson to openly rebel without stopping him—!"
The young soldiers clenched their fists and looked at Sengoku and Kizaru with complicated eyes, but saw that the two had heavy expressions and did not say a word.
"So... you already knew..."
Some soldiers' eyes were shaken, while others were trembling all over and their faces were pale.
Wanguo·Charlotte Linlin: "Mamama... Hahahaha, is this the 'righteous' Marine hero? This is ridiculous!"
Onigashima Kaido of the Beasts: "Hahahahaha, this old b*****d deserves to lose his reputation in his later years!"
[Marineford Justice Square]
Garp stood on the ruins, his shoulders trembling slightly. He let Rogge's questioning pierce his heart like a sharp knife, and did not argue for a long time.
Suddenly, he laughed out loud!
The laughter was hoarse and desolate, with a heart-wrenching sadness.
"That's right...I am indeed guilty!"
He walked forward step by step, his old body as majestic as a mountain.
He punched the ground, and the battlefield shook violently again!
"Monkey D Garp, today I will no longer bear the name of hypocrisy!"
His figure stood in the smoke and ruins, even though he was bleeding profusely, he held his head high with no regrets.
Rogge sneered, his eyes filled with murderous intent, "So, 'Hero', are you ready to atone for your sins today?"
Just as Rogge opened his hands slightly and was about to attack Garp——
An extremely sharp aura suddenly tore through the dead silence of the battlefield!
——"clang!!!"
An invisible sword energy came from the distant sky, extremely sharp, carrying the top-level killing intent, and accurately slashed towards the air area in front of Rogge, directly splitting the air compression that was ready to be released!
A sudden strong wind blew up, and amidst the raging flames, a red-haired figure walked slowly towards them!
The Red Force's battle flag fluttered in the distance in the ruins, and the powerful Red Hair Pirates gathered at the edge of the battlefield.
Shanks' cloak fluttered among the ruins, and his footsteps were steady, each step seeming to touch everyone's heart.
He was about to shout:
"Give me a—!"
However, before he finished speaking——
Rogge's eyes flashed with coldness, and he interrupted with a roar:
"I've been waiting for you for so long!!!"
A violent atmosphere swept across the entire venue, and the fighting spirit was completely boiling!
On the platform, Kizaru stood up lazily and sighed slightly:
"Oh my... young people, why do you like to torment the elderly so much..."
The figure that turned into thousands of golden light particles disappeared in an instant!
The next moment, the light gathered together, and a golden beam of light rushed towards Shanks like a meteor!
[Recall: Pre-war Supreme Strategic Meeting]
When Rogge asked Kizaru and Enel to prioritize rescuing the Marines, no one noticed. Rogge left Kizaru alone and whispered:
"Admiral Kizaru, the red-haired man may come before the war is over... I hope you, when the time comes, will not hold back."
Kizaru rarely took off his sunglasses, half-closed his eyes, and raised the corner of his mouth:
"Oh, this is such a troublesome job. I don't really like it..."
But at that moment, Rogge saw a gleam in Kizaru's eyes that he had never seen before.
[Battlefield Returns]
The air exploded, and the peak showdown between Kizaru and red-haired Shanks instantly detonated!
The golden light and the scarlet sword intent intertwined, and the battlefield of hundreds of meters was reduced to ruins during the confrontation between the two!
Shanks placed one hand on the hilt of Griffin's sword, a long-lost seriousness flashing in his eyes: "It seems... I have to find a different way to break through this time."
Kizaru waved his hands lazily, but his aura was more focused than ever before: "Alas, it's not the Pirates' place to dictate Marine affairs..."