The second half of the Grand Line.
The New World.
The Marine G1 Branch.
The roar of cannons echoed incessantly.
As the front-line branch tasked with containing the Four Emperors, the G1 Branch was not only heavily fortified with a massive number of troops but also served as the permanent station for at least one Admiral and five Vice Admirals.
Under normal circumstances, thirty-seven pirate crews—none of whom were affiliated with the Four Emperors—would never dare to storm this place.
However, due to the Paramount War, all the high-level combatants had been deployed to Headquarters. Even the permanent garrison had been largely stripped away, leaving only 12,000 marines.
Crucially, the elites had been the first to leave; the remaining 12,000 possessed very limited combat strength.
While the base was equipped with powerful artillery, such weapons posed little threat to pirate crews of the New World. After only managing to damage two pirate ships, the remaining hundred-plus vessels smashed right onto the shore.
Tens of thousands of pirates surged forward with savage roars.
Soon, brutal skirmishes broke out across every corner of the branch. The result was obvious: the Marines were at an absolute disadvantage.
"What's the status? Did Headquarters say when reinforcements will arrive?" the commanding Captain asked, his face etched with anxiety.
"We've sent the notice, but there's no reply yet! Even if Headquarters dispatched support immediately, it would take days to reach us!"
"Dammit! What about the G5 Branch?"
"No luck. They claim their men are in the same boat as us—almost everyone was drafted to Headquarters for the war, and the remaining units are out on missions. They're currently unable to provide support!"
"Bullshit! Only a thousand of them went to Headquarters! And Vice Admiral Vergo didn't even participate in the war, using an injury as an excuse!"
"Captain, even if we know that, there's nothing we can do if they insist on that story!"
"Those bastards at the G5 Branch... What about Tore? How are the preparations coming along?"
"Deployment is underway. It should be complete in an hour. But Captain... do we really have to do this?"
'If there were any other way, I wouldn't want to,' the Captain sighed softly.
The moment he spotted the massive pirate fleet, he had predicted that his forces wouldn't be able to hold them off, and that the distant help from Headquarters would be too late to put out the fire at the G1 Branch.
Therefore, the Captain had devised a desperate, mad plan.
Even if the G1 Branch fell to the pirates, he would ensure they didn't leave with a victory.
He had ordered every single ammunition reserve in the branch to be hauled out and piled together. Tens of thousands of ordinary shells, naval gun rounds, and even fortress shells—totaling over twenty thousand projectiles.
And then...
They would detonate them all simultaneously, delivering one final, cataclysmic blow to the invading pirates. They would take them all down in a mutual suicide strike.
These marines, who had been stationed on the front lines of the New World for years, were not the sheltered flowers of Headquarters; they were hard-boiled and gritty.
"Tell the brothers outside to hold the line! Do not let those pirates break through until we are ready!"
"Yes, Captain!"
'''
At the harbor of the G1 Branch, dozens of pirate captains stood in a row, watching the slaughter unfold before them.
"These Marines are pathetic. It takes at least two of them to match a single one of our men. This is a guaranteed win!"
"Hahaha! The G1 Branch—a place where even the Four Emperors didn't dare cause trouble—is going to be wiped out by us today!"
"Exactly! To hell with the Four Emperors—or rather, the Three Emperors now. Once we take this place, our prestige will skyrocket. With that reputation, we can recruit in droves and finally go toe-to-toe with an Emperor's crew."
"Couldn't agree more. We can't beat an Emperor's crew one-on-one, so we'll do it as an alliance. The New World will still have Four Emperors, but one of those seats will belong to our alliance!"
The pirate captains were visibly ecstatic, as if a golden future had already arrived.
To be fair, the strength of this newly formed alliance was not weak. All thirty-seven captains had bounties exceeding 100 million Belly, with seven of them over 300 million, and one even reaching 500 million.
Including their respective officers, there were a total of 97 pirates with bounties over 100 million. In terms of mid-to-low tier combat power, they truly weren't inferior to a Four Emperors' crew.
However, the reason a Four Emperors' crew is called such is never based on their mid-to-low tier strength. The fundamental reason is...
Every one of those crews possesses a monster.
Whitebeard, Edward Newgate.
Big Mom, Charlotte Linlin.
Beast, Kaido.
And Red-Haired, Shanks.
Any one of them possessed the power to effortlessly annihilate this entire alliance single-handedly. The captains were clearly dreaming if they thought they could compete with them.
"Wait, what's happening over there?" one captain suddenly shouted, pointing in a specific direction.
The others quickly looked over.
Unlike the other areas of conflict, the pirates in that sector were suddenly routed in a total collapse. Then, a terrifying sight emerged.
Countless giant magma fists were raining down from the sky. Faced with this apocalyptic power, the pirates were being slaughtered in heaps.
"That technique... Dammit! I received word just this morning that Akainu was still at Headquarters! Why is he here now?!"
"Look! It's not just Akainu! There are several Vice Admirals, and... damn it, that's Sean! Sean Campbell, the man who seized the title of the world's Great Swordsman from Hawkeye at Volcano Island and single-handedly took down Whitebeard during the Paramount War!"
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Where the hell did they come from?"
"Forget whether it's possible or not! Shouldn't we be retreating right now?!"
"Yes, yes! Retreat! While we still can!"
The pirate captains spiraled into panic.
However, among them, one man remained calm, though he frowned slightly. He was the captain of the Brown Bear Pirates, known as the "Bloody" John, a user of the Paramecia-type Magnet-Magnet Fruit.
With a bounty of 558 million Belly, he was the highest-valued member of the group and the leader of the alliance.
"Don't panic! We have nearly a hundred powerhouses with bounties over a hundred million here. There's nothing to fear!"
"So what if Akainu and Sean are here?"
"If one man can't beat them, ten of us will! If ten aren't enough, twenty of us will charge together!"
"They aren't invincible! We have the quality and we have the numbers. There is nothing to fear!"
Chapter: The Plan
"As for those three Vice Admirals, three to five people working together will be enough. Even if we can't take them down, we can certainly keep them pinned!"
Hearing this, the captains began to calm down.
It was true—while swarm tactics were virtually useless when facing the truly powerful, that only applied to ordinary people.
But what about them? Were they ordinary?
Clearly not. Among their group of nearly a hundred, even the weakest possessed a bounty of 100 million Belly. Not to mention there were far more with bounties ranging between 50 million and 100 million.
Just as John had said, they had both the quality and the numbers. There was nothing to fear.
"Alliance Leader, you make the arrangements!"
"Fine. Fifteen of you—split into groups of five—will tie down the three Vice Admirals. The rest of you will follow me. Together, we will corner and kill Akainu and Sean!"
"Yes, Alliance Leader!"