The Grand Line, Calm Belt, Impel Down.
At this moment, over a dozen Canglan warships had formed a circle, surrounding Impel Down in the center.
Since they knew the Whitebeard Pirates would definitely come, they naturally had to make some preparations.
However, the Marines didn't just have these dozen or so Canglan warships; after all, three years had passed.
Moreover, the Marines didn't have to worry about military funding, they only needed to request it from the World Government.
But the number wasn't that high either, probably only around thirty ships.
The reason only a dozen or so had been deployed was that most of the other Canglan warships were currently on missions and couldn't return within a short time.
However, a dozen or so ships were already more than sufficient.
Each Canglan warship's firepower coverage could reach a radius of over ten thousand meters, several times that of the Marines' original strongest warships.
The most critical point was that this was the range for precision strikes.
If the target was larger and precision strikes weren't necessary, this distance could be even greater.
It could only be said that Kyle's decision back then to recruit Franky as the chief designer of the warships was truly very wise.
That guy Franky's talent for building warships really wasn't just for show.
In the original story, his talent was somewhat wasted, but now his talent was being fully utilized.
Moreover, according to what Franky had told him during their chat a while ago, it wouldn't be long before the Canglan warships could be upgraded again, and they would become even stronger then.
Kyle even suspected whether this guy had secretly studied the Pluton blueprints and incorporated some of the concepts and technology from them.
With the Canglan warships constantly upgrading, was there a possibility they might one day reach the level of Pluton?
One Pluton was enough to throw the world into great turmoil; if it could be mass-produced...
Ahem...
He was thinking a bit too far ahead!
Although the current strength of the Canglan warships was considerably stronger compared to ordinary warships, if you wanted to compare them to Pluton, the gap was still too great.
Pluton was one of the Three Ancient Weapons, a thing capable of raising the sea level of the entire world.
There was still a whole world of difference between the Canglan warships and Pluton!
But that wasn't the issue; the Canglan warships were continuously iterating and becoming stronger, and that was enough!
On board one of these Canglan warships, all the members of the Dawnblade Squad had gathered at this location.
That is, Kyle, Luffy, and the others.
The Canglan Fleet could have other Marines, but the Dawnblade Squad currently still only consisted of Kyle and these people.
Kyle would not select people from the Marines to join the Dawnblade Squad.
He would only recruit those he deemed worthy, or those the system deemed worthy.
Speaking of which, that bastard system hadn't made a peep for over three years now, the longest it had ever been.
But Kyle was used to it by now; with the talents he currently possessed, even if the system disappeared now, as time passed, he would eventually become the strongest!!
"By the way, are you guys really just going to wait here doing nothing? Not going on missions?"
"We don't know when those Whitebeard guys will even show up!"
On the warship, Kyle lay on a recliner, speaking to the others beside him.
It had been half a month since Sachi and Cracker were imprisoned in Impel Down, and Kyle had already deployed all the Canglan warships here to guard the place since half a month ago.
Anyway, he had nothing to do, staying here was the same as anywhere else.
The consumption of the Canglan warships stationed here wasn't significant; he had time to wait here for Whitebeard and the others to come.
And they were considered the vanguard force; once the Whitebeard Pirates or the Big Mom Pirates attacked, they would immediately notify Marine Headquarters, and then others would provide support from Marine Headquarters.
During the time it took for the others to provide support, even if facing three Yonko crews, Kyle was confident he could hold them off for that while.
He just hadn't expected that Luffy and the others would also be staying here.
Kyle, Zoro, and Ace were the first to arrive, having come half a month ago.
The other squad members also rushed over immediately upon their return and had been staying here ever since.
"Missions? How could missions be more important than fighting the Yonko crews?"
Ace curled his lip.
"That's right, that's right! Not going on missions is a small matter; fighting the Yonko crews is the big matter. If we missed the fight with the Yonko crews because we were on a mission, wouldn't we regret it to death?"
Sanji chimed in.
The thoughts of the others were mostly the same.
Although they didn't know when the Whitebeard Pirates would come, they were very willing to wait here.
If the Whitebeard Pirates didn't come even after waiting for half a year or a year, they could just leave then.
Consider it a vacation for themselves!
Otherwise, if they missed this foreseeable world-shattering war, they would have to wake up and slap themselves twice even while sleeping at night.
"I can understand your thoughts, but I have to remind you, this war won't be like the ones before; it might be extremely dangerous, and the probability of death is very high!"
"And when things get intense, I might not be able to keep an eye on you. That is to say, even if you're in danger, I can't guarantee I'll be able to save you!"
Kyle's expression suddenly turned serious as he looked intently at everyone and spoke.
However, upon hearing Kyle's words, none of them showed any fear; Luffy even picked his nose with a disdainful expression.
"Who do you think you're looking down on, Kyle! As long as we're not up against a Yonko, it's not that easy for others to kill us!"
"Besides, we have Law with us. As long as we're not killed instantly, Law can save our lives, right, Law!"
Luffy turned his gaze towards Law, who was leaning against the mast with his eyes closed.
Law slowly opened his eyes, glanced at Luffy, then swept his gaze over the others around him, and spoke calmly:
"If the injury is severe, I can keep you from dying. If it's not severe, a little treatment and you're as good as new!"
"But like Luffy said, as long as it's not a Yonko, it's not that simple for others to kill us!"
"If the captain really lets a Yonko break through his line of defense and come after us..."
"Then there's nothing more to say. We'll just have to accept our fate and put on a show of the incompetent captain!"
Kyle: "..."
"You sure know how to talk, Law!!"
Kyle glared at Law, waved his hand, and a drink appeared in it. He took a sip and said:
"Since you guys are all so confident, I, as your captain, naturally can't fall behind!"
"Rest assured, one hundred percent. Even if I have to face two Yonko at the same time, I will absolutely never give them the slightest chance to come after you!"
Kyle's tone was extremely calm, but the deep confidence contained within it was clearly audible.
"But speaking of which, when will this Whitebeard Pirates actually come?"
"There hasn't been any movement for half a month. Don't they want to save their sons anymore?"
Sabo couldn't help but complain.
And just as he finished speaking the next second, a slight tremor came...
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