The New World.
The former G5 Branch.
The Marines stationed here were less like soldiers and more like a gang of pirates, both in their spirit and their daily conduct.
At this moment, inside the Branch Commander's office, Vergo sat with a deep frown. He had received word that Sean had convened a meeting three days ago—a meeting so critical that every Vice Admiral on outside assignments had been recalled.
Yet, despite being a Vice Admiral under the New World Marines, Vergo had received no notification to attend.
This was bad. Extremely bad.
'Could it be... that Sean has discovered something?'
'Bang!!!'
The office door was slammed open. Vergo didn't say a word, however, because the man who entered was one of his trusted confidants.
"Vice Admiral Vergo, we have a problem! An ironclad fleet has been spotted approaching the branch. It's likely the fleet rumored to be under Sean's command. After all, besides him, even the Headquarters Marines only have a few ironclad warships!"
"Hmm? Did we receive any word from Headquarters recently saying they were coming?"
"No, sir! I'm certain of it!"
"Sound the alarm. Have all Marines stand by at their combat stations!"
"Vice Admiral?"
Guotou paused, stunned. Although he was Vergo's right-hand man and had helped him with countless clandestine operations, sounding a general alarm for the arrival of Sean's fleet seemed... drastic.
Did Vergo really intend to tear off the mask and defect from the Marine right now?
"Stop questioning me and just do it!"
"Yes, Vice Admiral!"
Startled by Vergo's roar, Guotou stopped talking and immediately left to execute the order. Once he was gone, Vergo produced a specialized Den Den Mushi from his coat.
'Purupurupurupuru...'
"It's me," Vergo spoke. "Doffy, it's Vergo."
"What is it?"
"Sean's Ironclad Fleet is heading my way. I suspect they aren't coming in peace; I may have already been exposed!"
There was a long silence on the other end of the line. After a full minute, Doflamingo finally spoke.
"Deal with them for now. If you haven't been exposed, all the better. But if you have, you must hold out for at least an hour. I'm on my way."
"Understood."
Vergo nodded and hung up. He grabbed his Marine "Justice" coat from the chair and strode out of the office.
'''
A few minutes later, at a coastal artillery bunker outside the branch.
"Reporting, Vice Admiral! The Headquarters fleet is two miles away!"
"No, they aren't a Headquarters fleet," Vergo replied.
"Vice Admiral?"
The Marine was bewildered. If they weren't a Headquarters fleet, then who were they? Only the New World Headquarters had that many ironclad ships, and the flags they were flying were correct.
"If a Headquarters fleet were coming, they would have contacted me first. I haven't received a single notification in days," Vergo explained. "Therefore, I suspect these are pirates impersonating the Marine."
Vergo's eyes flashed with a sharp light. "Immediately send signal flags. Ask who they are and what their business is here!"
The Marine thought this made sense and quickly ordered the signalmen to carry out the request. A minute later, the Marine rushed back into the bunker.
"Vice Admiral, the other party responded! They claim to be the First Fleet of the New World Headquarters, acting on the orders of Fleet Admiral Sean. Furthermore, they stated..."
"Stated what?"
"They said that you, Vice Admiral Vergo, are a pirate spy! They've ordered all Marines of the G5 Branch to arrest you immediately, otherwise, everyone will be treated as traitors!"
"A pirate spy?"
Vergo was momentarily stunned. He had suspected his cover might be blown—the exclusion from the meeting and the arrival of an entire fleet were huge red flags—but hearing it explicitly still caught him off guard.
Had he really been exposed? He had tied up every loose end; logically, there should have been no leaks.
"Vice Admiral?"
"Ignore them. They are clearly pirates impersonating a Headquarters fleet," Vergo commanded. "Continue signaling. Demand that they cease their advance until we can contact Headquarters to verify their identity."
"Vice Admiral, what if they ignore the warning and keep coming?"
"Then it only confirms my suspicion that they are pirates. The moment they do, open fire immediately!"
"Yes, Vice Admiral!"
'''
Meanwhile, aboard the flagship of the New World Marine's First Fleet.
"Admiral, the G5 Branch has sent signal flags demanding we stop our advance," a Captain reported, saluting Akainu on the bridge. "They claim they received no prior notification of our arrival and cannot verify our identity. They've threatened to open fire if we don't stop."
"Keep moving," Akainu replied coldly. "The G5 Branch is equipped with old-standard Marine cannons. Their effective accurate range is only about 300 meters. While their maximum range can reach a kilometer, they have almost no accuracy at that distance."
"Furthermore, with those obsolete shells, even a direct hit wouldn't do much damage to our ironclad ships."
Akainu glanced at the horizon. "Sound the combat alarm. All personnel to their stations. The moment the G5 Branch dares to fire, wipe out every single one of their coastal artillery batteries."
"Yes, Admiral!"
Truth be told, if Akainu really wanted to end this, he could have simply used Moonwalk to fly over to the G5 Branch and slaughter everyone himself. However, this was his first time commanding such a massive ironclad fleet, and he wanted to experience the sheer power of these giant ships and their cannons.
To Akainu, there was something far more satisfying about directing the overwhelming firepower of a fleet to cleanse a base than simply crushing it with his own strength.
Soon, the fleet closed in to within one kilometer. At that exact moment, the G5 Branch opened fire.
Though the technology was outdated and they were using spherical round shot, the G5 Branch was one of only two Marine bases in the New World; they possessed a staggering number of cannons—over two hundred in total.
The resulting volley was visually imposing, a wall of smoke and fire.
However, as Akainu had predicted, these were muzzle-loading smoothbore cannons. Between the obsolete design and the spherical shells, the accuracy was pathetic.
Out of two hundred shells, only one landed within ten meters of the warships. And even that single shell was intercepted and blown apart mid-air by a Captain on a destroyer, posing zero threat.
The next moment, the fleet's guns—already calibrated to every single coordinate of the G5 Branch—roared to life.
Wipe the G5 Branch Off the Map
The ships stationed at the artillery positions immediately launched a counter-barrage.
Since the G5 Branch was a Marine base, Sean had ready access to its architectural blueprints and the deployment layout of the coastal artillery batteries.
'Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!'
'Boom! Boom! Boom!'
Following the first wave of strikes, over thirty percent of the coastal artillery batteries were hit directly. As for the remaining positions, while they avoided direct hits, more than half were caught in the blast radius of the massive caliber naval guns, leaving them nearly destroyed.
Within the few remaining batteries that were still operational, the Marines of the G5 Branch were working frantically to clear their cannon barrels in preparation for a second volley...
However, the fleet on the horizon beat them to it, unleashing a second round of fire.
The personnel of the G5 Branch began to question their very existence.
'We were the ones who fired the first shot, so how is it that you're the ones firing the second round first?'
'Based on this interval, they can probably fire three or four times for every one shot we manage to get off!'
The range, the accuracy, and the sheer power were already overwhelming, but the rate of fire was simply absurd. It left them with no room to breathe.
In an instant, the surviving Marines along the coast broke rank. Panic surged through the lines as they abandoned their positions and retreated toward the branch headquarters.
"Dammit!"
"Everyone, fall back into the branch! Prepare for urban warfare!"
Vergo knew that the situation was already beyond his control. With a thunderous roar, he led the retreat.
While Sean's warships were incredibly powerful, Vergo reasoned that once everyone retreated inside the branch fortress, the fleet would be unable to continue bombarding them. After all, there were only two Marine branches in the entire New World; each was far too precious to simply wipe off the map.
His plan was simple: retreat into the fortress, stall for time through street-to-street fighting, and wait for the Young Master to arrive.
However, in the eyes of both Sean and Akainu, the G5 Branch was now nothing more than a nest of traitors that needed to be completely exterminated.
They didn't care about "innocent" Marines. In a cesspool like this, any Marine who clung to true justice couldn't survive. You either joined the corruption or died in an "accident."
Consequently, Akainu felt absolutely no hesitation. Furthermore, he had given them a chance earlier, telling them that if they handed over Vergo, he would handle the aftermath personally.
Clearly, none of them had listened.
"Signal the fleet! All guns, aim for the G5 Branch!"
"Wipe it off the island!"
Watching the mass of G5 Marines retreating into the fortress, Akainu gave the order with a sweeping wave of his hand.
Was it a waste to destroy the fortress?
Perhaps Akainu would have considered that in the past. But ever since he witnessed how Sean coordinated so many companies to complete the colossal project of the New World Headquarters in just two and a half months, that concern had vanished.
It was just one branch. What did it matter if it were erased? Even if he didn't destroy it now, Sean would likely bulldoze the entire place to rebuild it anyway.
So... why worry?
"Fire!"
'Boom! Boom! Boom!'
On the other side, Vergo had just pushed his way into the branch fortress. As he looked up to see the sky filled with descending shells...
His face turned pale with shock.