Sengoku had no concrete evidence, nor had there been any sign of this beforehand.
In his view, the Marines, the World Government, and the Celestial Dragons were still supposed to be on the same side.
That was why he had never expected to truly be stabbed in the back, especially in a way that could cause the Marines enormous losses.
The Marine side quieted down, and the chaos caused by the fallen spire top at Impel Down also slowly began to settle.
Vice Admiral Momonga stepped forward and reported everything that had just happened to Sengoku with a grave expression.
"So their target this time was Nico Robin on Cyrus's ship?"
Sengoku froze.
"Judging from the situation, yes."
After hearing Momonga's report, Vice Admiral Tsuru frowned.
"It seems they couldn't deal with Cyrus directly, so they targeted someone close to him instead. Nico Robin has followed Cyrus the longest, and their relationship is far from ordinary. It doesn't seem like a simple partnership. We also considered such a plan before, but the risk after failure was too great."
Tsuru's face wrinkled deeply. Clearly, she also felt this matter was extremely troublesome.
"Then the situation this time is bad. With Cyrus's personality and his strength, he absolutely won't let this go. He may cause a huge scene. It might even become an all-out war." Garp spoke.
"That is very possible."
Sengoku paused, then agreed with Garp's statement. Clearly, he also believed such a situation could happen.
But after his words fell, Tsuru shook her head again.
"It's only possible. The probability isn't that high. But one thing is certain—Cyrus will not let this matter end quietly. He will likely climb Mary Geoise again.
"After all, according to the information we have, there aren't many people connected to Cyrus, but there are still several. He must now show his anger.
"Only by doing so will others think carefully about the grave consequences of facing an enraged Cyrus before they try to attack the people around him."
Sengoku subconsciously raised a hand and rubbed his brow.
"Prepare yourselves. We'll probably be summoned afterward. This time, we may have to face Cyrus. Even if it's only him alone, he will be difficult to deal with."
"Bwahahaha!"
The moment Sengoku finished speaking, Garp suddenly threw his head back and burst into laughter.
"Come on. With Cyrus's speed, our ships won't even get far before he reaches Mary Geoise.
"By the time we arrive, everything will probably already be over. Stop pretending! You'd be better off thinking about how to gather enough bounty money and send it to the Hunter Guild."
The moment Garp said this, Sengoku's face darkened completely.
'This bastard.'
Even if he had thought of it, he did not need to say it out loud.
What a damned bastard!
Suppressing the urge to punch Garp down, Sengoku pretended not to hear him and turned to order the Marines to begin moving.
At the very least, they had to put on a show.
In any case, the fault this time did not lie with the Marines. The Marines had already done their best.
"Magellan, I'll leave Impel Down to you. Stay fully on guard during this period. Although Whitebeard's crew and Big Mom's crew appear to have been scattered and absorbed by Cyrus, there may still be people who left and will try to rescue them."
"Understood!"
Magellan pressed a hand against his stomach and nodded, though his expression looked somewhat strained.
Accidents had happened one after another, and he had not even had time to purge the poison from his body. He was already on the verge of being unable to hold it back.
Seeing Magellan's predicament, Sengoku waved a hand and let him leave.
The towering figure disappeared from everyone's sight at what was probably the fastest speed of his life.
Then, from inside Impel Down's entrance, a roar rang out, followed immediately by the terrified screams of the jailers within.
"Antidote! Antidote!"
Their voices were filled with panic.
The people outside tightly pressed their lips together, refusing to let themselves laugh.
Even though they knew that something huge, something the Marines might not be able to handle, was about to happen next, the scene before them was still hard not to laugh at.
"Enough! Everyone prepare immediately. Don't waste time."
Sengoku coughed lightly and spoke loudly.
The Marine officers and soldiers quickly began moving, while the warships on both sides slowly started up.
…
A trail of flame cut across the sky, dragging a long fiery tail behind it. In the blink of an eye, it crossed the horizon.
"Caught you."
A moment later, the flames suddenly stopped, and Cyrus's fire-wreathed figure appeared. His eyes fixed on the ship sailing across the sea ahead.
At this moment, the ship was sailing at its highest speed. It looked highly advanced and incredibly fast.
But none of that meant anything before Cyrus.
His eyes were fixed on a red-haired figure aboard the ship.
As for the others on board, all of them were busily panicking.
Perhaps they had already predicted what was about to happen.
The people on the ship had already seen Cyrus wrapped in flames.
Cyrus raised a hand and pressed it against his sword hilt, then drew his blade.
He had no intention of wasting time.
Although the person below held a high status among the Celestial Dragons, Cyrus had no interest in questioning him.
Although he felt that a death-fearing person like Imu would not do something like this, since the Celestial Dragons had done it, then going to Mary Geoise and finding Imu was perfectly reasonable.
Swish!
Black lightning suddenly flashed. Within that lightning, the flames were dyed black by the dark thunder of Conqueror's Haki.
A slash flew from Cyrus's blade.
Then the hand holding his sword blurred into countless afterimages.
In the blink of an eye, hundreds, even thousands of slashes flew out.
Cyrus knew his talent in swordsmanship was not good.
Although he had never cared too much before, he had still been searching for his own method.
Overwhelming force was the solution he had come up with.
'Your swordsmanship may be refined, but if I cut hundreds or thousands of times in an instant, what can your refinement do?'
The slashes instantly covered an enormous area, as though the world had fallen into night in a single moment.
The flame slashes wrapped in Conqueror's Haki seemed to absorb the surrounding light as they flew toward the ship below.
On the ship, Saint Figarland Garling raised his head and looked at the slashes covering the entire sky. He drew his own sword as well.
But even he could not block such an attack.
Resistance was futile!
Swish, swish!
The slashes descended.
Saint Garling only managed to break apart the ones aimed directly at him. Against the rest, he was powerless.
The instant the slashes fell, space itself seemed to freeze for a moment.
Then the ship shattered completely. Under the slashes, it could not withstand even a single second.
The surrounding sea surged violently, and countless trenches were cut open across the ocean's surface.
Saint Garling's face turned pale.
In the air beneath his feet, a teleportation array appeared.
"Did you think I'd act without certainty?"
Cyrus's voice abruptly sounded behind Saint Garling.
Then Cyrus's hand seized him by the neck, and the moment the teleportation array activated, Cyrus dragged his entire body out of it.
"You can't escape. Even if you flee back to Mary Geoise, you'll still die."
Cyrus looked at the figure he was holding, his tone calm.
He was merely stating a fact.
"Heh. Then kill me."
Saint Garling spoke with difficulty. The hand around his neck had already crushed his cervical spine.
"Sure."
The corner of Cyrus's mouth lifted. With a swing of his sword, Saint Garling's left arm flew off.
Saint Garling froze.
His expression instantly became extremely ugly, and beneath that ugliness was the unmistakable scent of fear.
"Scared now?"
"You looked so ready to die a moment ago. Or did you think I really didn't know the secret behind your resurrection and rebirth? Old bastard."
Enduring the severe pain, Saint Garling twisted his neck, seemingly wanting to speak.
But Cyrus no longer wanted to listen.
Flames rose from the hand gripping Garling's neck.
Without even a scream, the figure in his grasp completely vanished within the fire.
"Hm. The next time I meet Red-Hair, I can greet him by saying I killed his dad."
Cyrus suddenly raised a hand to rub his chin and blurted that out.
However, as for whether this had truly killed the man, Cyrus actually could not be certain.
But it did not matter.
He had to make a trip to Mary Geoise this time anyway, to stop every little thing from thinking it could jump out whenever it pleased.
After causing such a huge incident this time, even if Garling truly had not died, Imu would send him on his way.
After all, in Imu's eyes, these Celestial Dragons were no different from how Celestial Dragons viewed everyone else on the sea.
They were all people who could be killed at will.
Swish!
With a flash of flame, he vanished.
…
Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
A teleportation array appeared, and Shamrock's group emerged from within it.
Their faces still carried traces of lingering fear.
"I told you long ago. This plan was too crude."
A voice sounded.
Shamrock turned his head when he heard it and saw Aramaki leaning lazily against the wall nearby.
"If I hadn't left a seed here, I would have been dead this time! That guy is far too dangerous. He counters my ability too severely."
Aramaki was trying to save his dignity.
As if he could have blocked Cyrus even if his ability had not been countered.
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