"What? The Red Hair Pirates are attacking the G1 Base?!"
As soon as the battle on the other side began, Steel Bone Kong, separated by an entire Red Line, received the news.
He really hadn't expected that the Red Hair Pirates would actually dare to do something like this!
They directly intercepted Sengoku at G1 Base!
How arrogant.
How bold.
How utterly overconfident.
But they truly did it!
And Sengoku had indeed been held back, unable to assist Garp!
"Who else in Marineford can still move?!"
Kong had no choice but to dispatch more forces.
But at this point, the Navy had no one left to send.
Kizaru was still recovering from his injuries, and Akainu was responsible for guarding Mary Geoise during the Reverie.
Under normal circumstances, Akainu would already have been officially recognized as an admiral, but Malverick's sudden appearance had thrown everything into chaos!
"Fleet Admiral Kong, it's pointless!"
"Even if someone could be mobilized, there's no way they can reach Garp before the Reverie."
"In the end, it all depends on whether Garp can capture the target.
If he can't, then the Navy has truly lost."
Vice Admiral Tsuru sighed helplessly.
In the end, Kong had no choice but to face reality.
He truly had no solutions left.
Everything depended on Garp now.
In fact, it wasn't just Kong—
even the Five Elders were troubled.
They did not wish to take action against Shanks.
Not because of Shanks' or the Red Hair Pirates' strength—
But because of the Figarland family behind him!
Even the Gorosei had to give Shanks face.
…
Meanwhile, Malverick—who was heading for Punk Hazard—stopped again.
Not because Garp caught up,
but because he encountered someone.
Caesar Clown!
Like Judge, he was once one of Vegapunk's partners, and also a member of MADS!
His specialty was the artificial Devil Fruit technology.
And what is most precious in the pirate world?
Talent!
By coincidence, Caesar was indeed a talent!
Unfortunately, most talented people lacked common sense.
So Malverick simply "persuaded" him to behave.
"Grandpa! Grandpa, stop hitting me, I was wrong!"
On the deck, the black-and-blue Caesar had become much more obedient after the beating.
Seeing this, Malverick grabbed his throat and lifted him up.
"You won't drink a toast, but you'll drink a forfeit.
Judge was like this.
You're like this too.
All of you are the same—masochists."
"Ahhhhhh!"
Suddenly, Caesar screamed loudly—
Because Malverick had once again used the power of the Fruit-Stripping ability!
Caesar was a Logia Gas-Gas Fruit user—Logias were rare.
After several seconds of screaming, Caesar collapsed like a dead dog.
A pink light sphere appeared in Malverick's hand.
"Reiju, it's yours."
Malverick called Reiju over and directly fused the light orb into her body.
The Gas-Gas Fruit matched Reiju very well—
she used poison, the Gas Fruit had toxic properties,
and the pink color even matched her!
Since that was the case, he simply gave it to her.
"Thank you, Captain!"
"Go familiarize yourself with the ability.
You'll need it in the coming battle."
"Yes!"
Reiju left to practice.
As for Caesar, he was destined to work for Malverick from now on—
staying quietly in the lab was the best path for him.
Scientists only needed to focus on research;
nothing else required their concern.
"You all wait here. I'll go ashore alone."
Seeing Punk Hazard in the distance, Malverick made his decision.
Punk Hazard was currently an extremely important location—
because this was Vegapunk's laboratory!
If no accidents happened, years later there would be a major incident that would fill Punk Hazard with toxic gas, forcing Vegapunk to relocate.
A few years later, Akainu and Aokiji would fight here for the position of Fleet Admiral, and Punk Hazard would become a frozen-and-scorched island.
But for now, Punk Hazard was still fully a laboratory.
Even though Vegapunk was far more valuable than Judge or Caesar—
Malverick did not yet have the ability to openly confront the World Government.
If he kidnapped Vegapunk, everything would collapse!
So for the time being, this was a place he had to avoid.
But since Tiger's group was here, he had no choice but to go.
"Oh? Then be careful!"
"Don't worry. If I'm alone, no one can keep me."
If Malverick acted as a lone wolf, he could go anywhere and do anything.
"Fine, fine. You're amazing.
We're all weaklings, we're all idiots."
Robin kicked him in annoyance and then ignored him.
Malverick laughed, then flew toward Punk Hazard.
As soon as he landed, he saw a massive laboratory!
The entrance had the World Government's insignia, and CP agents guarded it everywhere.
Vegapunk was Government property, a man the Gorosei valued immensely, so of course security had to be heavy.
"Five-Sight Omniscience!"
Malverick immediately activated his Imperial Arm's ability, searching for the Fish-Man Pirates' location.
One minute later, he located Tiger at the northernmost part of Punk Hazard—
beside a round, blue fat man.
That was Jinbe, Knight of the Sea!
After the recent split, only about twenty fish-men remained in the Fish-Man Pirates.
Since Tiger had faked his death, these were his loyal crew—completely trustworthy.
When they learned Tiger was alive, they were all overjoyed!
They even teamed up and beat Jinbe up!
Such a big event—
he didn't believe them?
Of course he deserved a beating!
So when Malverick arrived, Jinbe's face was already swollen and bruised.
He didn't fight back.
Jinbe accepted the beating.
"Come, I'll introduce you.
This is the man who destroyed the slave prison with me!"
"No, no—
to be accurate, I followed him.
Most of the credit was his!"
Tiger hurried to introduce him.
None of the fish-men present had extreme views anymore.
They believed some humans were indeed different.
Two or three of them had even been rescued from the slave prison— naturally, they didn't hate Malverick.
They were grateful.
"Hello, everyone."
"Let's change locations.
Punk Hazard is not a place to stay for long."
Malverick said firmly.
Tiger was confused.
He had only just discovered the massive building on the island—
and the sheer number of guards around it.
Malverick didn't explain.
He quickly led them away from Punk Hazard.
—------------------------------
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