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On the eve of Sadgeo's departure from Fish-Man Island.
At the foot of the Red Line, near the New World side, the atmosphere was growing heavier by the moment.
Rows of soldiers stood on the decks, their backs straight as they kept watch. Yet the confusion on their faces showed that they were far less calm than they appeared.
Among them was a young Marine participating in war for the first time.
He had heard of the brutality of the Summit War before, and now cold sweat could not help dripping down his face.
Suddenly, a shadow fell over him.
He looked up and saw a tall man walking over with his eyes closed, dressed in a purple robe.
The epaulettes on the justice coat draped over his shoulders symbolized the highest combat force of Marine Headquarters.
A Marine admiral.
"You're nervous, aren't you?"
"A... Admiral, sir!"
The admiral known as Issho patted him on the shoulder and looked into the distance as well.
"No need to be so tense. Truth be told, this is also this old man's first time commanding a Buster Call, and my first time participating in a war of this scale."
Fujitora was a civilian powerhouse selected during the World Military Draft and promoted directly to admiral.
This time, when Akainu chose an admiral to carry out the mission, there was likely some intention of letting Fujitora make his debut before the world.
But Fujitora himself was not particularly eager for that.
In fact, he did not even understand why the Marines and the World Government were mobilizing such a force to surround and kill a pirate with no criminal record.
Even if that pirate did have a bounty as high as 1.1 billion berries.
"War is always so cruel..."
There had to be some hidden truth behind this, or something even more complicated.
But he did not wish to see such things.
That was why he had blinded himself.
With his powerful Observation Haki, it did not affect his daily life or combat.
Among the few true masters of Observation Haki in the world, he excelled in range.
Some experienced Marine veterans had even speculated that in terms of distance alone, Fujitora's Observation Haki might be comparable to the man publicly recognized as the strongest Observation Haki user in the world today.
Black Gun, Ozz.
Soon, a Marine messenger came running over, panting heavily.
The nearby recruit immediately straightened his posture.
He could chat with the easygoing admiral, but that did not mean he could act freely in front of a direct superior.
After all, even the "ordinary soldiers" beside Admiral Fujitora were minor powerhouses who had at least mastered Armament Haki.
"Report, Admiral Fujitora! We have entered the operational area!"
Fujitora's tightly furrowed brow relaxed slightly.
"I see."
He then followed the messenger to the bow of the ship.
What appeared before them was an extremely vast archipelago.
"This is where we're making our preparations?"
"That's right."
At that moment, a man dressed entirely in white appeared. He wore a tall white top hat, and a pigeon stood on his shoulder, dressed in the same style.
It was Rob Lucci.
The man once defeated by Luffy's crew two years ago, who had since become a member of CP0.
The strongest genius the World Government had produced in eight hundred years.
"CP0... what business do you have here?"
A righteous man like Fujitora had little fondness for the government's claws, the agents who handled its dirty work. His tone was indifferent.
"No need for that attitude. This time, we are equals."
"This Buster Call operation does not involve only the Marines. We CP0 will also be participating. The Five Elders have deployed a large number of intelligence agents for the sake of capturing Dark Sun."
Fujitora fell silent for a moment, then raised his head.
Though he could not see, he could sense just how many soldiers and fleets were taking part in this operation.
After a long while, he slowly spoke.
"Although this may not conform to military discipline, this old man is still rather curious. What exactly is the purpose of this war?"
By all rights, although the World Government had always acted tyrannically throughout history, often treating the Marines as a tool of violent rule to be commanded at will, such as during God Valley or the Ohara Buster Call, the Marines themselves had no real choice. They could only obey orders.
But Marines were Marines.
Marine admirals were different.
Even the Five Elders would not casually humiliate the highest level of Marine combat power.
They might scold the Fleet Admiral whenever they pleased, but admirals were different. Even the Five Elders had to give them some measure of face.
For example, a certain acting monkey often put on performances, but no matter how displeased the Five Elders were, they still would not impose any real punishment on him.
So before such a large-scale war began, even if the soldiers were expected to risk their lives in confusion, a Marine admiral would at least be told some inside information, or at minimum be given a reason.
For example, protecting the Celestial Dragons, or the target researching dangerous Ancient Weapons.
But this time was different.
The Five Elders had given no reason or excuse.
They had only urgently demanded that the Marines deploy the greatest combat force they could currently spare.
The target was an obscure pirate?
Fujitora could not understand it.
But in the face of his question, Rob Lucci only remained silent for a moment before speaking coldly.
"You do not have the authority to know. You only need to complete the mission."
As expected of a fierce man who dared to argue even with Fleet Admiral Akainu, Rob Lucci had no intention of indulging Fujitora.
"Eliminating pirates is the duty of you Marines, is it not?"
After saying that, without waiting for Fujitora's reply, he activated Soru underfoot and appeared on the railing at the bow. Then he jumped down and landed on the archipelago.
Fujitora sighed inwardly, then helplessly followed him.
He led the Marine soldiers off the warships and onto the enormous archipelago.
The moment he stepped onto the land, he noticed something was wrong.
"The layout of this archipelago does not seem natural. It is almost as if..."
"As if it was smashed apart, yes?"
Lucci had his hands in his pockets. His gaze looked out over the vast archipelago, his eyes narrowing slightly like a beast's.
"Many years ago, as the island closest to the New World side of the Red Line, this place used to be a supermassive island several times larger than Marineford."
"The reason it became like this is because two powerful men fought here and shattered it by force, turning it into an archipelago."
"A battle?"
Fujitora's pale, sightless eyes opened slightly, revealing a grave expression.
Even with his Paramecia-type Gravity Fruit, a power that could be called a natural disaster, he could only drag down small meteorites or lift large sections of buildings from an island.
Even natural disaster-level Logia users like Akainu and Aokiji could only change an island's natural environment.
But to completely shatter a supermassive island from its foundation and turn each fragment into an independent island...
"What kind of monsters were they...?"
Lucci's gaze darkened.
"The ones who caused all of this were Black Gun in his younger days..."
"And Whitebeard."
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