"Is this the Holy Land, Mary Geoise?"
The streets were spotless, and luxurious decorations could be seen everywhere.
Every person walking along the road was handsome or beautiful.
Judging by their clothing, even a single outfit would probably be enough to feed an ordinary family for a year.
No matter how one looked at it, this place was worthy of being called a holy land.
If only the Celestial Dragons did not exist here.
Following the arrangement they had agreed on, Shanks and his crew had disguised themselves.
Members of Cipher Pol led them into the interior of Mary Geoise.
And it was here that they saw a reality even crueler than pirates.
Almost everyone in this place was a Celestial Dragon's slave.
The few who were not slaves were mostly government officials or Cipher Pol members who served the Celestial Dragons.
The Hoof of the Flying Dragon branded on the bodies of those handsome men and beautiful women proved everything.
"Tch. If someone tried to make me a slave, I'd rather die."
Yasopp shook his head as he spoke.
Even though he was now disabled, he was still one of the top snipers in the world.
He simply could not move freely anymore and could only snipe enemies from a fixed position.
The Cipher Pol member leading the way acted as if he had not heard such treasonous words.
He knew very well that these pirates were people the Five Elders had personally ordered him to bring in.
Besides, Red-Haired Shanks was standing right behind him. Even if he wanted to do something, he would be cut down immediately.
The Cipher Pol member led the group through the streets and into an alley in the residential district, stopping before a wide, small building.
"The Five Elders have ordered that, aside from Red-Haired Shanks, everyone else is to remain here for the time being."
He coldly carried out the Five Elders' order.
"Are the Five Elders planning to make a move on us?"
Beckman narrowed his eyes.
From the moment they entered the alley, he had been observing their surroundings.
And when they stopped in front of this courtyard, his unease deepened.
Although the courtyard was located inside an alley, there were no commanding heights for them to use.
The surrounding buildings encircled the place completely.
To be honest, Beckman's Observation Haki had already detected the presence of many Cipher Pol agents.
If Shanks had not spoken yet, the Red Hair Pirates would have already fought their way out.
The Cipher Pol member sneered.
"You are nothing more than lowly pirates. The Five Elders have shown you mercy by allowing you to enter the sacred Mary Geoise."
"You should be kneeling in gratitude that you were not locked away with the slaves."
"And yet you still have so many demands? Looks like you truly do not know your place."
Boom!
A powerful hand clamped around the throat of the Cipher Pol member who had just spoken.
Beckman pinned him hard against the wall with one hand.
At the same time, the other members of the Red Hair Pirates drew their weapons.
The Cipher Pol agents who had been hiding around them all leaped out, weapons in hand as they stared at the pirates.
"Red-Hair, is this your answer?"
A powerful figure wearing a CP0 uniform stepped forward and looked coldly at Shanks, who stood at the front.
"Put him down, Beckman."
Facing CP0, Shanks drew Griffin from his waist as he spoke.
Hearing this, Beckman slowly lowered the Cipher Pol member in his hand.
"We do not like being watched."
Shanks forced down the anger in his heart and spoke.
The CP0 member shook his head.
"The fact that you were allowed into Mary Geoise at all is already the result of the Five Elders' mercy."
"Outlaws like you cannot possibly go unrestricted."
"This is where the world nobles, the Celestial Dragons, live. What if lowly pirates like you offend the nobles?"
Neither side backed down.
Shanks seemed to think of something and took out a Den Den Mushi to contact the Five Elders.
After a private conversation, Shanks finally agreed to the Five Elders' conditions.
"I have reached an agreement with the Five Elders. You will lead the Cipher Pol members away from here, and I will restrain my crew so they do not step out of this courtyard."
The CP0 member did not move.
He would not believe Shanks just because of one sentence. He needed to receive the Five Elders' order before leaving.
Less than ten minutes later, another Cipher Pol agent used Geppo to fly over and landed beside him.
The newcomer whispered a few words to the powerful CP0 agent.
"Withdraw."
After receiving the Five Elders' order, the Cipher Pol members left cleanly and decisively, without caring about the opinions of the Red Hair Pirates.
Seeing this, Shanks led the members of the Red Hair Pirates into the small courtyard.
"Captain, what should we do?"
Inside the courtyard's living room, Beckman sat on the sofa and asked Shanks about their next step.
A trace of confusion flashed through Shanks' eyes, but he quickly recovered his clarity.
"Wait."
"The only thing we can do now is wait."
"I will go meet the Five Elders later and continue negotiating some conditions with them."
Shanks rubbed his face, trying to make himself more awake.
The others remained silent.
Years of fighting and living together had made them trust Shanks' judgment and decisions completely.
Even if he had brought them into a place like Mary Geoise, they did not doubt for a moment that Shanks would betray them.
"All right."
Yasopp and the others answered in unison.
After that, Shanks left the courtyard alone.
Guided by a Cipher Pol member, he went to speak with the Five Elders.
...
New World, outside the territory that had once belonged to the Red Hair Pirates.
At this moment, one massive warship after another advanced inward like steel beasts opening their bloody jaws.
The pirates defending the outer perimeter had no way to withstand the Marines' artillery assault.
One after another, they abandoned the islands they were supposed to guard, boarded their pirate ships, and fled toward the central region.
Zephyr looked coldly at the pirates fleeing in panic, but he did not blindly pursue them.
He glanced at the watch in his hand. Only when the hands slowly moved to exactly twelve o'clock did he give the order for the warships to set sail.
Through the transponder system, Zephyr's order quickly spread to every warship.
"All warships, raise anchor immediately."
"All personnel, enter first-level combat readiness."
"Our objective is to form an airtight encirclement and wipe out every pirate in one net!"
Zephyr and the other Marines had not advanced too quickly, because if they pushed too fast, many pirates would not have time to flee toward the center.
Some might end up left behind on the islands.
Therefore, the battle plan given by the Marine Staff Office was to pressure the pirates with artillery fire and drive them into despair.
They would force the pirates to abandon their defended islands on their own and flee toward the center of the Red Hair Pirates' territory.
After all, moving forward meant facing the Marines, while moving backward meant huddling together for warmth.
Under such circumstances, pirates who cherished their lives would definitely flee toward the center first.
As Zephyr advanced, a warship would also set sail roughly every ten nautical miles.
Every warship was equipped with one elite Vice Admiral and one Pacifista.
This configuration already surpassed the firepower of a Buster Call.
On a small island not far from the battlefront, Tsuru was currently leading members of the Staff Office as they moved small flags around on a sand table.
Following Raleigh's instructions, they had not remained at Marine Headquarters.
Instead, they had arrived at the front line of the war to guard against unexpected changes caused by the World Government suddenly interfering.
At this moment, Tsuru and Sengoku were both seated here.
Borsalino and Garp were also present.
Borsalino had originally not wanted to come, but after hearing that Sengoku and Garp were both here, he had come uninvited.
There was no helping it. Although a long time had passed, Raleigh's faction was still wary of these people.
Sengoku also saw through it but did not say anything. He merely held a cup of hot tea and drank it slowly.
As long as neither side intended to completely tear off the mask, playing along was the best option.
A communications soldier walked up to the sand table and loudly reported, "Report!"
"Chief Instructor Zephyr has begun advancing toward the central region step by step according to the agreed time."
After hearing his report, several intelligence officers from the Staff Office began placing new flags on the sand table.
At this moment, the sand table was covered with red flags belonging to the Marines.
Around the black flags representing the pirates, the red flags had formed an array, slowly creating an airtight encirclement that was closing over the final piece of pirate territory.
"Sengoku, the extermination war against the New World pirates is about to begin. How do you feel?"
Perhaps because she could already see the result, Tsuru seemed much more relaxed at this moment.
She half-jokingly looked at Sengoku beside her, his hair already white.
Sengoku drank all the tea in his cup, then sighed.
"No matter what, that brat Raleigh has accomplished the ideal I never managed to achieve in my entire life."
"At first, I was very unconvinced. There was even a period when I hoped he would fail."
"But later, I came to terms with it. With my ability, perhaps pirates would still be the same as before, and the Revolutionary Army would still have risen."
Sengoku could not help but sigh.
At this point, he had no choice but to admit that his ability was far inferior to Raleigh's.
"Forget it. These old bones can still move. Let me contribute to the Marines one more time."
Sengoku no longer felt anger toward Raleigh.
What he felt now was more appreciation, just as he had once appreciated Raleigh in the beginning.
Garp coughed and said, "Let's not talk about that yet. The Marines' current offensive line is too thin. If some pirates break through in the opposite direction, they might actually carve open a path."
The Marines had already transferred all available warships in the New World over, but the battle line had advanced from Totto Land, Wano, and several other sea areas.
In that sense, Garp's concern was indeed reasonable.
Tsuru frowned and said, "Garp is right, so we are actually operating with two forces right now."
"The fleet led by Zephyr is the outer encirclement. Inside, there are assault teams led by Tokikake, Doberman, Onigumo, and the others."
"They will use their heavy firepower advantage to strike the islands guarded by pirates, launch rapid raids, eliminate important targets, and then move on to the next island."
Tsuru's meaning was clear.
Even so, Sengoku and Garp were still somewhat worried.
After all, although Tokikake, Doberman, Onigumo, and the others had already reached the level of elite Vice Admirals, the pirates were not pushovers either.
The defeated Emperor crews, lone fighters, and core members of the Red Hair Pirates were not opponents who could be dealt with easily.
At this moment, neither the Marines nor the pirates knew that the Red Hair Pirates had already left this sea area without a sound.
"What if there are casualties?" Sengoku sighed.
Tsuru said seriously, "Sengoku, how can there be war without deaths?"
"The old you allowed pirates to discover and grow stronger precisely because you were afraid of people dying."
To be honest, with the Marines' current overwhelming advantage, they could have waited a while longer and let Raleigh gather even more manpower and warships to take part in this war.
But Raleigh had not agreed.
They were merely pirates already at death's door.
They were not worth having him reveal all his trump cards.
Especially when the enormous World Government still remained beside them as an enemy.
...
At the front line, aboard one of the ships chosen for the inner assault team.
A young man whose face had shed its immaturity was carefully wiping a military medal.
This was the medal he had received during the battle against the Charlotte Linlin Family pirates.
Slap.
A large hand landed on his shoulder, and the force was so heavy that the medal in his hand almost flew away.
Corentin Cabezas hurriedly clenched the medal tightly to stop it from falling onto the deck.
When he turned around, he finally saw that the person who had slapped his shoulder was Vice Admiral Doberman.
"Please, Vice Admiral Doberman, don't do something so boring."
Doberman laughed loudly and sat cross-legged beside Cabezas.
"Kid, at your age, there's no need for you to participate in the inner assault team. Wouldn't it be better to stay in the safer outer ring?"
Cabezas was not one of Doberman's veteran soldiers.
He was a replacement sent from Headquarters.
Every battle brought deaths and serious injuries.
Only by constantly replenishing troops could they continue fighting on the battlefield.
Cabezas scratched his head and said, "Vice Admiral Doberman, you may not know my background. I became an orphan when I was ten."
"If not for Fleet Admiral Raleigh's worldwide draft, I would be begging somewhere right now, or stealing things."
"At first, I was completely lost. But when I killed my first pirate, I found the answer in my heart."
"I want revenge. I want revenge for everyone I knew!"
Hearing this, Doberman laughed again.
"Then how many have you killed now?"
Cabezas carefully pinned the medal to his chest before answering.
"I have already killed seven pirates! Besides avenging my parents, I also avenged the family of the uncle who lived next door."
"I originally wanted to keep killing them slowly, but it seems there is not much time left. The Great Pirate Era is about to end. If there are no more pirates to kill in the future, then there will be no more revenge to take."
Doberman sighed with emotion.
"I have already avenged everyone from my village. I'm taking part in this battle so I won't leave any regrets."
"If I don't make it back from this fight, then when I meet them down below, I can proudly tell them that I avenged them."
Doberman's large hand patted Cabezas on the shoulder.
"Kid, if both of us survive this battle, I'll take you to the little island where I grew up."