"Those are the guys we encountered at Sabaody Archipelago!" Luffy glanced at the large group of Pacifistas appearing behind them and said, "There are so many of them."
"Pacifistas, huh." Meiser frowned.
Is this the Marines' plan?
Lure all the pirates into the bay, then use these biological weapons to annihilate them... How ruthless!
"Turning Kuma into a biological weapon is bad enough, but they actually replicated so many copies..." Ivankov stared at the Pacifistas with an angry expression. "This is just too much!"
The World Government really deserves to die!
"Never mind these guys, let's charge to the plaza first!" Jimbei said.
"Right!"
After looking at the Marines on the ice surface ahead, everyone immediately shouted and charged forward.
Meanwhile, Meiser narrowed his eyes as he stared at the execution platform high above.
"I wonder where my shadow clone has reached by now," Meiser murmured to himself.
Elsewhere, on the streets of the Marine Headquarters residential area, two figures were moving about.
These two were none other than the long-missing Bon Clay and Meiser's shadow clone!
"Rescuing someone from the execution platform carries great risks, so you must be prepared for the possibility of dying in battle," Meiser said seriously, looking at Bon Clay.
"Don't worry, I've long been mentally prepared for that," Bon Clay, wearing someone else's face, laughed heartily.
What does it matter if there's life-threatening danger? As long as he can help Little Straw Hat rescue his brother!
He's not afraid!
For the sake of his friends, he would go through fire and water!
"Good, I understand."
Meiser nodded, then looked toward the direction of the headquarters building and said, "Alright, next we need to..."
Before Meiser could finish his sentence, he detected a man appearing on a rooftop in the distance.
Looking at that all-too-familiar figure, Meiser frowned and said, "Aokiji?"
Why is this guy here? Shouldn't he be on the main battlefield?
"Marine Admiral Aokiji?!"
Seeing Aokiji standing on the rooftop watching them, Bon Clay's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets in fear.
"Go do what you need to do," Meiser said.
"I..."
Bon Clay instinctively wanted to say he would stay to help, but remembering that the man before him was just a clone, he immediately nodded without hesitation. "I understand!"
Then, Bon Clay fled into the distance without looking back.
A moment later...
"Whoosh~"
"Yare yare~"
Appearing on the rooftop, Aokiji looked down at Meiser and said, "You really made me search for quite a while."
He had searched the entire rear area without detecting the Blood-Eyed Ninja's presence, and only after coming to the residential area did he finally sense the other's existence!
Sengoku was right, Aokiji thought to himself.
He never expected this guy actually secretly released a clone to cause trouble in the rear!
Fortunately, his Observation Haki only detected this one clone, which should be easy to deal with.
"It seems you already anticipated I would come here?" Meiser raised an eyebrow.
"Naturally," Aokiji replied. "We're quite familiar with your intelligence!"
After speaking, Aokiji glanced at the figure desperately fleeing down the street.
'Though I don't recognize him, anyone working with the Blood-Eyed Ninja must be a pirate!' Aokiji thought to himself. 'Then I'll take them both out together!'
With that decision made, Aokiji launched his attack without hesitation.
"Two-pronged Spear!"
"Whoosh~"
Ice spears radiating terrifying cold shot mercilessly toward Bon Clay!
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Rampart!"
"Rumble!"
A massive earthen wall erupted from the ground, blocking the path of the ice spears!
The next moment...
"Boom!"
"Crack crack crack~"
The ice spears struck the earth wall, instantly freezing a portion of the rampart into ice!
Fortunately, Aokiji's attack had been blocked.
Seizing this opportunity, Bon Clay turned a corner into the streets and quickly made his escape.
"Separating to escape, huh."
Scanning the end of the street, Aokiji frowned.
'Whatever, all the residents in this area have already been evacuated anyway. No need to chase after small fry,' Aokiji thought to himself.
Having reached this conclusion, Aokiji turned his attention to Meiser.
Just at that moment, Meiser moved.
The man performed Earth Release Technique at maximum speed, burrowing underground in the blink of an eye before rapidly heading toward the sea to the side.
"Earth Release Technique, I see."
Sensing the trajectory of Meiser's movement, Aokiji looked toward the distant sea and said, "Planning to... launch a large-scale Water Release Technique?!"
"I won't let you succeed!"
With a cold snort, Aokiji quickly gave chase.
Soon, Aokiji followed Meiser to the adjacent sea.
"What's that situation?"
Standing on the sea surface, Meiser frowned while looking at the ocean behind Marineford.
If he wasn't mistaken... that area was frozen?!
"Did you do that?"
"Ah, that was me," said Aokiji calmly as he arrived nearby. "To prevent you from launching large-scale Water Release Techniques from behind, I froze the seas to the left and rear immediately."
"Now... only the front and this area remain unfrozen."
As he spoke, Aokiji placed his hand in the seawater, apparently preparing to activate his Devil Fruit Ability.
"Don't even think about it!" Meiser shouted. "Water Release: Great Violent Water Impact Wave!!"
"Rumble!"
The sea surface began to tremble and churn violently.
Then, a water sphere rose from the sea surface, rapidly expanding at a visible rate!
"This move again."
Watching the growing water sphere, Aokiji said calmly, "But unfortunately, it's useless!"
"Ice Age!"
"BOOM!!"
The Devil Fruit Ability activated, freezing the enormous water sphere into ice in the blink of an eye.
Simultaneously... it froze several kilometers of ocean ahead!
"Haa~"
Exhaling a breath of cold air, Aokiji looked up at the man standing atop the frozen sphere and said, "Now you won't be able to use seawater to launch large-scale attacks against Marine Headquarters."
"Tch, the Ice-Ice Fruit is indeed troublesome," Meiser muttered under his breath.
Glancing at Aokiji's calm expression, Meiser thought to himself: 'I need to buy as much time as possible.'
At the very least... I need to ensure that Bon Clay reaches the target area.
Meanwhile, the very person Meiser was thinking of - Bon Clay - was staring in shock at the enormous ice sphere by the shore while dragging a suitcase.
"What in the world is that?!" Bon Clay frowned. "Is that an attack from Aokiji using his Devil Fruit Ability?"
Facing such an opponent, he wondered how long Xiao Meiser could hold out.
After a moment of silence, Bon Clay turned and headed toward the Marine Headquarters office building.
"Better get to business," Bon Clay said.
Just then, several Marines came running from the distance, seemingly on some mission.
But when they spotted Bon Clay, they froze in their tracks.
One of them approached while the others went about their duties.
"What's your situation?" the Marine asked as he reached Bon Clay. "Why haven't you evacuated with everyone else?"
Weren't all the family members supposed to have left? Why was this person still here?
"I... I went home to get some things and missed the evacuation," Bon Clay replied.
Hearing this, the Marine immediately frowned.
What were those guys doing? They actually left a civilian behind!
At a time like this, a civilian remaining at Marine Headquarters was practically waiting for death!
"Could... could you help me leave?"
The Marine fell silent for a moment before sighing. "Even if we wanted to get you out now, it's impossible."
"Why?"
"We're at war with Whitebeard. There aren't any spare ships to evacuate you."
After a pause, the Marine continued, "But you can come with me to the Marine Headquarters building. There are stationed troops there who can protect you."
While it wasn't completely safe there either, with the risk of pirate invasion... it was still much safer than staying out here.
"Th-thank you very much," the "woman" bowed in gratitude.
"Don't mention it."
Shaking his head, the Marine picked up the luggage and said, "Let's go, we should hurry."
"Yes!"
Following behind the Marine, Bon Clay's lips curved into a slight smile.
Perfect, the plan is proceeding smoothly~
Now I just need to find the execution personnel and get close to the execution platform!
"My clone got destroyed."
Standing on the ice surface, Meiser glanced toward the ice sphere and frowned. "He's really being cautious."
No wonder I hadn't seen Aokiji earlier - the guy had gone to the rear?
But how did he detect that I sent out a clone?
Suddenly, a thought occurred to Meiser.
'Was it because the clone I released in mid-air disappeared?' Meiser wondered to himself.
That must be what made Sengoku, the Marine Admiral, suspicious.
Heh, as expected, he is the Marine Admiral after all.
"But it's fine. With Bon Clay, the Mane Mane no Mi user, getting close to the execution platform shouldn't be a problem," Meiser murmured to himself.
Well, when the time was right, he would take out the executioners, creating an opportunity for Bon Clay to step in!
With that thought, Meiser glanced at the two executioners standing beside Sengoku, a flicker of killing intent in his eyes.
Just then, Meiser noticed a change in Sengoku's expression.
The man looked as if he had heard something shocking, beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead.
"Huh?"
"What's wrong with him?"
"Hey!" Sengoku exclaimed. "Didn't I order all live broadcasts to be cut off? What's with this sudden feed?"
If the live broadcast wasn't shut down, how could they proceed with their next operation?
"Fleet Admiral, it's the prisoners from Impel Down," a Marine nearby said with a grimace. "They've stolen a Visual Den Den Mushi."
"Damn it! How did they manage to steal a Visual Den Den Mushi?!" Sengoku roared. "Take them out, now!"
"Right away!"
The Marine scrambled down to relay Fleet Admiral Sengoku's orders to the artillery units.
"What a disgrace!"
Sengoku gritted his teeth. "To have a Visual Den Den Mushi stolen by pirates at a time like this."
The impact on their plans was far too great!
"Whoosh"
"Boom!!"
A barrage of cannonballs rained down toward Buggy's location, sending several prisoners flying through the air!
But the explosions also shrouded the area in a thick cloud of dust, obscuring the Marines' view of what was happening.
The only thing they could confirm was... the broadcast was still live!
"Damn it, why are these guys so lucky?" a Marine muttered through clenched teeth. "Keep firing! Blast them to pieces!"
"Right!!"
"Whoosh~"
"Whoosh~"
"Boom!!"
"Boom!!"
Cannonballs pounded the area where Buggy was, causing the prisoners to cry out in terror as they desperately fled for their lives.
This time, using the dust cloud as cover, they managed to escape the Marines' line of fire.
"They shouldn't be able to hit us now," Mr.3 remarked.
Glancing back at the dust-covered area, a trace of fear flashed in Mr.3's eyes.
If not for their luck, they would have been blown to bits just now!
At that moment, Mr.3 noticed something happening on Whitebeard's side.
A man had actually stabbed Whitebeard straight through with a sword!
"Wha...?!"
Staring at the shocking scene, Mr.3 froze in place.
Just who was that guy?!
"Whitebeard... got stabbed through the body?!"
Buggy, who also saw it, wore an expression of utter disbelief.
That was Whitebeard, the strongest man in the world!
A man like that... could actually be pierced like that?
"Hey, this isn't a joke, is it?!" reporters watching through Buggy's subordinate's Den Den Mushi screamed in horror. "The strongest man in the world is injured?!"
"This is Whitebeard we're talking about!!"
Could a man standing at the pinnacle of the world really be wounded?
Does that mean... the Marines are guaranteed to win this war?
"Seriously?" Apoo said in shock. "Is this guy really going to bow out like this?"
If he gets killed without even the Marine Admirals making a move... that would be way too dramatic.
"It seems even the Four Emperors aren't invincible," Capone Bege muttered to himself.
At that moment, Capone Bege's ambition rapidly swelled.
He began to entertain the idea of assassinating one of the Four Emperors in the New World!
"After I reach the New World, I'll pay a visit to BIG MOM's Totto Land," Capone Bege secretly resolved.
If the opportunity arises, I'll take that woman down!
Hawkins shared similar thoughts with Capone Bege.
This man also harbored the dream of becoming the Pirate King!
"The Four Emperors..." Hawkins murmured inwardly. "There's no harm in giving it a shot!"
At this thought, Hawkins' eyes lit up with determination.
"Newgate..."
Seeing Whitebeard silently staring at Squard, Rayleigh closed his eyes painfully and said, "We've truly grown old, haven't we?"
In his youth, the other man possessed immense strength—enough to battle their captain for days on end.
But... no matter what, he had aged.
"It seems his physical condition has deteriorated badly," Shakky remarked. "Time spares no one."
Rayleigh said nothing more, merely picking up his gourd with a complicated expression and taking a drink.
Time... truly treats everyone with impartial fairness.
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