Not long after Sea Calendar 1517 began, the seas welcomed the first major sensation.
At this moment, perhaps no one in the world was more excited than Morgans.
Because the scene he most wanted to see had finally appeared.
He originally thought that after Red-Haired Shanks reached the top, it would take a long time for another person with the potential to become a Pirate Emperor to appear on these seas.
But in the end, not even half a year had passed, and an unprecedented multi-Devil Fruit user appeared out of nowhere.
In Morgans' eyes, "Black Hole" Yami was the future Fifth Emperor of the Sea.
Or rather, with his combination of Devil Fruit abilities and his record of twice challenging Kaido with an unknown outcome, he already possessed the strength of an Emperor.
But compared to the Four Emperor crews, Yami ultimately lacked one thing: the foundation for hegemony—a Grand Fleet.
Even the Red-Haired Pirates plant flags all over the world and have many affiliated territories.
Even the Straw Hat Pirates had a Grand Fleet.
Unfortunately, Yami, known as the most "inescapable" ability user in history, only had a few maids besides himself.
No matter how strong he was, Morgans was too embarrassed to hype him as the Fifth Emperor of the Sea.
Now, with the world-renowned, Haki-powerful nation, Amazon Lily—the holy land in the hearts of countless men—becoming an affiliated territory of the Yami Pirates...
"Black Hole" Yami finally had everything needed to become the Fifth Emperor of the Sea.
However, Morgans still didn't publish the news, using his pen to help Yami ascend to the throne.
Because he felt his pen was not worthy of being Yami's stepping stone.
The next great test was "Black Hole" Yami's moment to prove himself.
The next day, another piece of news attracted worldwide attention.
The headline read—"The Largest-Scale Buster Call, the Wrath of the Rulers of the Sea!"
The news cover was a photo secretly taken from the sky, showing ten warships advancing in a fan formation.
In addition, photos of three major figures caused a worldwide sensation.
The three big figures were Marine Hero Monkey D. Garp, and the two Marine Admirals, Aokiji Kuzan and Kizaru Borsalino.
If the ten warships were truly a Buster Call, then it was indeed the largest-scale Buster Call.
As everyone knows, once a Marine ascends to the Admiral rank, they are somewhat detached from the Marine command structure, a special existence that half-belongs to the World Government and half-belongs to the Marines.
Unless the Fleet Admiral is away on a long trip, no matter what major event occurs, Marine Headquarters must be guarded by the Fleet Admiral and at least one Admiral, ready to coordinate, support the Holy Land Mary Geoise, and guard HQ.
Therefore, no matter how massive the operation, Marine Headquarters can dispatch two Admirals at most.
Below the Admirals, the person with the highest status and prestige is naturally the Marine Hero who has repeatedly refused promotion to Admiral.
The Marines dispatching two Admirals and the Marine Hero at once proves the World Government is truly enraged.
So... facing the Marines' strongest expeditionary lineup, will "Black Hole" Yami fight or flee?
"That bird-man, he really dares to report anything. He actually exposed our lineup in advance."
On the vast sea, aboard one of the Buster Call warships, Aokiji looked at today's news and said helplessly: "If 'Black Hole' Yami sees today's news and moves all the gold away in advance, this operation of ours will really become a joke."
"Ooh, I have a bad feeling."
Kizaru, who was trimming his nails, pouted his lips with his signature annoying expression: "It seems like trouble is about to find its way to me."
"Buru buru... buru buru..."
Almost as soon as Kizaru's words fell, the special Den Den Mushi he carried began to ring.
Kizaru couldn't just play dumb and not answer.
Helpless, Kizaru could only answer the call: "Moshi moshi... Kizaru here."
"Borsalino, you've seen today's World Economic Journal, I presume."
The voice of one of the world's highest authorities came from the Den Den Mushi: "Morgans exposed the lineup. 'Black Hole' Yami might choose to avoid the battle. To prevent him from using the Doa Doa no Mi or the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi to take all of Gran Tesoro's gold, go now at your fastest speed and stall him. If necessary, you may destroy Gran Tesoro, or destroy Amazon Lily."
"Making me face such a monster alone... ooh, you really overestimate me."
Kizaru complained bitterly: "But that's the most 'inescapable' ability user in history. He even has a Logia Rumble-Rumble Fruit user under him. I might not even be able to beat that little girl."
"Just stall him. That is an order," the person on the other side of the Den Den Mushi said in a deep voice.
"Very well... I can only try my best, I suppose."
Seeing he couldn't delay, Kizaru could only helplessly accept the order.
Immediately, the oldest and also the most inscrutable of the three Admirals, reluctantly stood up, took the Gran Tesoro Eternal Pose from Aokiji, and said helplessly: "Well then, I'll be going on ahead. If you'd rather not collect my corpse, I hope you'll speed up a bit."
Fwoosh—
After speaking, Kizaru's over-three-meter-tall body immediately turned into dazzling golden light, shot out like a laser, and like a meteor, vanished from the sight of Aokiji and the other Marines in an instant.
"Master, are we going to fight?"
At the same time, aboard the Pegasus, Carina and Nami were also asking Yami.
"Of course we'll fight. This battle is unavoidable."
Yami grinned: "So next, it's time to test your growth."
Every world has its rules. Some battles must be fought, and some battles cannot be avoided.
For example, this Buster Call—the World Government must launch it.
Otherwise, their prestige would be severely damaged, making the world think these Rulers of the Sea bully the weak and fear the strong, that anyone can just slap them in the face.
At that time, the Revolutionary Army and other forces would definitely be stirred into action. The consequences, a chain reaction, would be far more severe than losing the cash cow Gran Tesoro.
That's why for this Buster Call, the World Government directly dispatched the anti-air specialist Kizaru and Aokiji, who can create favorable terrain, rather than the strongest attacker, Akainu.
Unless Yami abandons Gran Tesoro, or moves it into another dimension, even if he raises the Golden City 10,000 meters into the sky, Kizaru will use the Eternal Pose to find its location.
The World Government would rather destroy the Golden City than let Yami have it.
Similarly, if Yami wants to become the Fifth Emperor of the Sea, this battle cannot be avoided.
As long as he clashes with the Marines' largest-scale Buster Call, even if he ultimately loses, his prestige will soar once again.
If he wins, not only will Gran Tesoro completely become his spoils of war, but no one in the world will question his status as an Emperor of the Sea.
Therefore, this battle must be fought!
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