Marine Headquarters. Marineford.
At this moment, Sengoku was utterly stunned.
On the other side, Whitebeard was equally bewildered.
More than an hour had passed since the war began, but what were the results?
Out on the open sea, over thirty allied pirate crews had been torn to shreds. Aside from the captains and a few powerful executives who were still struggling to hold on, the vast majority of the pirates lay scattered across the ice, their fates unknown.
Meanwhile, in the inner bay, the pirates remained trapped on the frozen surface, unable to break through the defensive line to reach the plaza. If they couldn't even storm the plaza, how were they supposed to reach the execution platform and rescue their comrade?
The most critical point was that, up until now... aside from the initial freezing of the sea, none of the three Admirals had even made a move.
Even the Admiral Candidates, Gion and Tokikake, had remained idle, to say nothing of Garp.
A mere ten thousand Marines, supported by a dozen Vice Admirals, had successfully blocked the frantic onslaught of the Whitebeard Pirates. It was completely absurd.
As for why this was happening, the reason lay in the events of an hour ago.
'''
One hour ago.
Battles had erupted almost simultaneously across the outer sea and the inner bay's ice.
To any observer, the first Marine line of defense on the plaza should have been unable to stop the Whitebeard Pirates. After all, it consisted of only ten thousand Marines and ten Vice Admirals.
The situation in the outer sea was similar. How could a few hundred Marines possibly stop a pirate force of over eight thousand? Not to mention that among them were over thirty captains and hundreds of executives. While these captains and officers might have been slightly weaker than the direct Division Commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates, they weren't far off.
Consequently, a Marine defeat seemed inevitable. At least, ninety-nine percent of the people expected it to end that way.
However, reality delivered a harsh slap to everyone's face.
The eleven Steel Warships frozen in the ice opened fire first, their main batteries relentlessly pounding the pirate army. As the pirates drew closer, the secondary batteries joined in. Even when the two sides were on the verge of clashing, the ships' anti-aircraft guns were leveled and fired directly into the crowd.
The firepower was ridiculously overwhelming, causing hundreds of casualties among the pirates.
Of course, a few hundred losses meant little to a force of eight thousand. Eventually, the pirates managed to close the distance to the 16th Branch Marines, leaving only two hundred meters between them.
At that moment, four hundred Marines raised their rifles and fired.
The pirates looked on with disdain. Firearms? Those were for dealing with weaklings from the four blues. Forget the New World—even pirates in the first half of the Grand Line, in Paradise, wouldn't fear such things.
But in the next instant, as hundreds of bullets screamed toward them, the pirates at the front of the charge suddenly stiffened and collapsed.
Before the others could react, a second volley erupted!
This time, it wasn't just the front line falling; several pirates in the middle of the charging ranks were also struck down. More importantly, those killed weren't mere fodder—they were executives and Devil Fruit users!
It was only then that the captains noticed dozens of figures stationed at the bows of the warships, wielding strange rifles and picking them off with precision.
That was the sniper squad commanded by Usopp. Their weapons were different from those of the standard Marines; they were all high-powered sniper rifles. Their sole mission was to eliminate the ability users within the pirate ranks. The moment a pirate utilized a Devil Fruit power, they were targeted and eliminated.
Between the heavy ordnance of the warships and the light fire of the Marines, those final two hundred meters became a literal death zone.
Only after suffering over a thousand casualties did the pirates finally break through and lock into a brutal melee with the four companies of Marines.
Despite the horrific losses, they had made it. With six thousand pirates against four hundred Marines, the pirates believed the advantage was finally theirs.
But once again, reality slapped them across the face.
Despite there being only four hundred of them, every single one of these Marines fought like a monster. Beating the pirates was almost effortless for them. Only the high-ranking executives of the various crews could hold their own, with some of the stronger ones managing to fight off two or three Marines at once.
As for the captains, the pirates initially held a numerical advantage. Between thirty crews, there were nearly two hundred executives and thirty-plus captains. These weren't ordinary crews; they were all famous names from the New World, and their strength was formidable.
However, as the ordinary pirates were mown down like wheat, more and more Marines were freed up to join the fight against the executives and captains. The tide quickly turned.
Ace, Sophia, and the former CP9 members each took down a captain in rapid succession, forcing other captains to divert their attention to deal with these powerhouses. This created a vicious cycle, and the scales of victory continued to tip heavily toward the 16th Branch.
'''
While the battle on the outer ice was in full swing, the conflict in the inner bay had also reached a fever pitch.
Admittedly, the combat power of the direct Division Commanders was a tier above that of the allied crews, especially those in the top-ranking divisions. However, the Marines they faced here were far superior in both number and strength compared to those in the outer sea.
The pirates didn't care much about the number of ordinary Marines. Upon initial contact, the pirates had suppressed the Marine line; as previously mentioned, the individual strength of a pirate far exceeded that of a baseline Marine.
But very quickly, the situation shifted with the arrival of a new unit.
Lucci, Kaku, and Jabra entered the fray, leading two hundred Marines and splitting into three groups to carve through the battlefield.
Lucci, in particular, struck with blinding speed. Before anyone could react, he unleashed a Rankyaku that sent Izo, the Division 16 Commander, flying.
"Commander Izo!"
"Damn Marines! Everyone, attack! Kill him!"
The members of the 16th Division roared, charging toward Lucci. However, the first dozen who reached him were knocked unconscious instantly. This sudden display of power caused those behind them to hesitate, instinctively slowing their pace.
Suddenly, Lucci sensed something and stepped sharply to the side.
In the next heartbeat, as Lucci evaded, a massive black object slammed violently into the spot where he had been standing.
'BOOM!'
The ground vanished into a massive crater, sending shards of stone and clouds of dust billowing into the air.
A moment later, the others realized exactly what had crashed down from the sky.
It was Marco. He had coated his right foot in Armament Haki and delivered a devastating diving kick.
"Commander Marco!"
"Izo is slightly injured, but he's okay. Leave him to me; the rest of you keep moving forward!"
"Yes, Commander Marco!"
The surrounding pirates shouted their acknowledgement and charged once more toward the Marine defensive line.
Marco, meanwhile, looked at the man before him. He had no recollection of him—none at all. Who on earth was this guy?
"Marco the Phoenix, is it?"
"You're lucky. You're on Vice Admiral Sean's 'do not kill' list!"
Lucci spoke indifferently. Then, with a shout of "Soru!", he blurred forward, closing the distance to Marco in an instant.
Simultaneously, on the left side of the line, Kaku clashed with Curiel, who was leading the 10th Division's assault. On the right, Jabra faced off against Halta of the 12th Division.
While they hadn't neutralized their opponents as swiftly as Lucci, both were clearly dominating the fight, driving their enemies back. It seemed only a matter of time before they secured victory.
Naturally, the Whitebeard Pirates wouldn't just stand by and watch.
Rakyo of the 7th Division, stationed next to the 10th, immediately rushed to Curiel's side to double-team Kaku. Meanwhile, Namyul, a fish-man from the 8th Division, arrived to support Halta against Jabra.
As for the other Division Commanders, except for Jozu, who remained guarding Whitebeard, everyone else had engaged in combat with a Vice Admiral from Headquarters.
For a moment, the battle line... reached a stalemate!
But this deadlock wouldn't last long. Both Kaku and Jabra's opponents were already beginning to falter.
As for Lucci... in less than ten minutes, he had completely suppressed Marco!
The man standing before Marco now was neither Lucci in his base form nor in his Hybrid Form. He was... Lucci in his Awakened state.
His physique was leaner than in the Human-Leopard Form, with black flame-like clouds swirling around his shoulders. It was a truly surreal sight!