Boom, boom, boom!
That was the sound of shells exploding!
A sea of dark-clad soldiers had completely surrounded an ancient city. Tanks and cannons took turns bombarding the walls, planes filled the sky, and countless soldiers launched an assault on the city.
Yet no one knew what material the city walls were made of. Under such an intense bombardment, they still stood firm. The soldiers on the walls were all exhausted, but they continued firing downward.
Anti-aircraft guns rang out without pause. Planes fell from the sky from time to time, while shells poured both upward and downward. This was no longer the human world. It was a living hell!
Countless cries of agony echoed between heaven and earth, but explosions and gunfire quickly drowned them out. In the face of merciless war, human life and death were nothing more than numbers.
Usopp had not gone deep into the battlefield. He had merely slipped into the rear area, though even that was extremely dangerous. To prevent anyone from launching a surprise attack from behind, the Cartel had set up layers of checkpoints in the rear, where it had ample forces stationed.
Fortresses and patrolling soldiers could be seen from time to time. Usopp had excellent eyesight, so he hid behind a huge rock on a distant mountain and watched them, his heart filled with shock.
Someone like him had experienced countless battles. He had fought ghosts and Hollows. They were all inhuman monsters, but compared with the battlefield before him, how insignificant those battles seemed.
Large-scale group warfare and individual combat were not necessarily superior or inferior to one another. Some powerful people could match thousands of soldiers with their own strength, stand against an entire modern army, or even rival a powerful military nation!
But Usopp had never seen such a scene. All he knew was that the war before him had to be the most terrifying of all.
Every minute and every second, countless people died. Yet even as people fell one after another, countless others still launched attacks without fear of death.
"Th-this is... too ridiculous."
Usopp could not help swallowing. No matter how it had been described before, it had ultimately been nothing more than imagination. Only after seeing the Cartel's attack with his own eyes did Usopp truly understand what terror was.
He had known that the Cartel was a terrifying organization spanning many countries. He had known that it was waging war against numerous nations at the same time, and that it had even entered into a confrontation with the World Government. It occupied more than half of the territory in the first half of the Grand Line!
But all of that had still felt unreal.
Although it sounded frightening and made the organization seem incredibly powerful, he could not help secretly looking down on it. There had been a feeling that he could do just as well if he were in their place. Yet the moment he truly arrived at this battlefield, that feeling vanished without a trace.
Could they really oppose the Cartel?
Usopp could not help wondering. When Igaram had told him about it before, he had already begun to retreat mentally, just like Nami. Now, what he had seen only strengthened his judgment.
To make an enemy of an organization like this was simply to court death! He had to tell Luffy and the others. They needed to leave this place at once.
But before he could act, Usopp was overcome by another wave of dejection.
After spending this much time together, he had come to understand Luffy quite well. How could that idiot back down because of something like this?
If he were really the type to retreat, he would never have faced that fellow Muzan Kibutsuji in the East Blue.
That man simply did not know what fear was. Or perhaps...
He had never encountered anything capable of making him feel genuine fear.
"Honestly, that idiot captain!"
Although Usopp was troubled, he had never considered abandoning Luffy and the others to run away. For some reason, whenever he was with Luffy and the others, he always felt that the idiot possessed a kind of magic.
If Luffy said they would oppose the Cartel, then even with the enormous difference in strength between the two sides, it somehow seemed as though... they really could succeed.
"What am I thinking?" Usopp sighed. Just then, a black shadow appeared before him. It was Ben Tennyson, transformed into Fasttrack.
"Ben... you're back already?!" Usopp said happily when Ben suddenly appeared.
Ben had left too quickly earlier, and he had even gone deep into the Cartel's camp. Usopp had been worried for a while.
But while he was on the mountain, he had noticed that there was not much commotion in the Cartel's camp. He figured Ben had not been discovered. That made sense—at his speed, how could ordinary people possibly notice him?
Who could have known that Ben would shake his head? "It won't work. There's a passage through an electric grid surrounding the entire Alubarna. I can't force my way through it to enter Alubarna."
"Don't think too much about it. The gates of Alubarna are shut tight. Even if you broke through the Cartel's position, you still couldn't get inside," Usopp hurriedly comforted him.
He had seen the Cartel trying every possible way to break into Alubarna. Whether they dug underground, descended from the sky, or tried to fly in using rocket suits, none of it had worked.
The Alubarna defenders were excellent marksmen. More importantly, there was a Warlord of the Sea there. His sand was Alubarna's strongest line of defense. Whenever the Cartel was about to break through, the sand would drain the water from them.
The defenders inside the city did not know that they were Igaram's reinforcements. If they broke in only to be mistaken for Cartel soldiers and killed, it would be an injustice for the ages.
"Looks like it," Ben said with a nod. "Let's go back and regroup with everyone first."
Usopp hummed in response, and he and Ben hurried back. On the way, Usopp hesitated for a moment before saying, "To be honest, Ben... do you think we can deal with those people from the Cartel?"
"Maybe." Ben sounded hesitant. "Actually, it isn't just us. If we can regroup with Alubarna's army, we can borrow their strength too."
Alubarna's army...
Images of the haggard soldiers surfaced in Usopp's mind. They still had plenty of passion, but days of being besieged had kept them in a state of extreme tension. Every one of them was already nearing their limit.
"Are they... really up to it?" Usopp was not optimistic. Using Alubarna's defenses to hold out was one thing, but if they were asked to launch an attack, they probably could not withstand even one round from the Cartel.
Ben fell silent. The two of them barely spoke for the rest of the journey. Only after they regrouped with the others did Usopp tell everyone what he had seen.
After he finished, Ben added, "Besides those soldiers, I also found some modified animals. All of them were gathered in one place and did not seem to have joined the attack yet. I think they may be the key to the Cartel's next offensive."
"Modified animals?" Sanji immediately became interested. Ordinary animals could not satisfy the Gourmet Cells inside his body. Only powerful creatures would do.
Creatures like that were uncommon even on the Grand Line. Or rather, the Grand Line was simply too vast, and such creatures did not appear before them very often.
As a result, Sanji had not been able to fill his stomach properly lately. Most of the time, he had eaten ordinary fish. Now that he heard modified animals were present, he felt they might finally satisfy his Gourmet Cells.
"Yes, and not just animals. Many of the Cartel's soldiers have probably undergone human modification as well. This army is extremely well trained. Even in the New World, it would be a rare sight."
Ben spoke with great seriousness. Everyone knew that he came from the New World, the second half of the Grand Line, so they were all surprised by his words.
Compared with the New World, the waters of the first half of the Grand Line were called Paradise. Pirates from the Four Seas thought they had entered the true world of the strong, without realizing that this place was merely known as Paradise.
The greatness of the Grand Line had been concentrated in its latter half ever since Roger became the Pirate King. Roger's treasure was there, and the strongest people in the world all wanted to obtain it, causing the New World to become increasingly terrifying.
Yet Ben said that the army in Paradise was strong enough to rank among the best even in the New World. That alone showed how terrifying the Cartel was. No wonder it could clash head-on with the World Government.
Then again, the division between Paradise and the New World only applied to pirates. The Revolutionary Army and the Cartel were not pirates.
"The Marine Headquarters also has modified soldiers. That sort of enhancement is not unusual," Igaram hurriedly said.
"But the Revolutionary Army doesn't," Ben said firmly. "And even if it did, it couldn't produce so many. There's even less chance that a new power like the Cartel could do it. How are they enhancing them?"
"The Cartel has more than the Revolutionary Army behind it?" Nami raised an eyebrow.
"Modified soldiers, modified animals..." Ben's expression darkened. "Other than the World Government, the only power in the entire world capable of mass-producing these things is Wano Country. Even if the World Government allowed the Cartel to grow, it wouldn't fund its own enemy."
In other words, the Cartel was connected to Wano Country as well.
The Omnitrix on Ben's wrist had come from Wano Country. If they learned that the watch was on him, Wano Country would stop at nothing to reclaim it.
But to take the Omnitrix, they would have to take his life.
That meant Wano Country was his enemy. It was precisely because he naturally had such a powerful enemy that Ben had not wanted to join Luffy's pirate crew at first. Even after joining, he had made it clear that he could leave at any time.
And now, if they became enemies of the Cartel, the people from Wano Country within the Cartel might discover him. When that happened, Wano Country would certainly send people after him.
Then...
Everyone in the Straw Hat Crew would die!
Wano Country's strength was among the very highest in the world.
The Emperor of the Sea Kaido, one of the Four Emperors, could even be considered a member of Wano Country. That alone was enough to demonstrate its power and influence.
What should he do? Should he leave the Straw Hat Crew now?
Ben was torn. In the end, he still decided to leave.
If it were only the Shadow Soldiers, he could manage. After all, those shadow people seemed unable to remain active outside for very long, so he could still keep them occupied. But Wano Country had no such limitation.
"I don't want to die here with all of you." Ben suddenly spoke. "We agreed on this before, didn't we? If I wanted to leave, I could leave at any time!"
?!
Everyone was shocked by Ben's words. No one had expected him to say something like that so suddenly.
"Ben, you..."
"That's enough. Thank you for taking care of me during this time, but I don't need to accompany you to your deaths," Ben said coldly.
Compared with the Cartel, Wano Country was countless times more terrifying. Luffy and the others might still survive while facing the Cartel, but if Wano Country decided to deal with them now, they would have no chance of survival!
Although he did not know what connection Luffy had with the Marines, would the Marines really go to war with Wano Country for them?
The Omnitrix in his possession was absolutely valuable enough to make Wano Country start a war with Marine Headquarters!
Wano Country...
It had always been a completely insane nation!
"Ben, what are you talking about?" Luffy grabbed Ben's shoulder with one hand and said excitedly, "I don't believe you're leaving because of the Cartel!"
Ben had been the first person Luffy had met after setting out to sea. Although he had not been the first person to join Luffy's crew, he had later proven his courage when they faced Muzan Kibutsuji. He was absolutely not someone who feared death!
"Be realistic, Luffy." Ben knocked Luffy's hand away. "Dreams are important, but life matters more. I've seen the Cartel's strength this time. I don't want to accompany you to your deaths."
He said disdainfully, "All right, don't forget our previous agreement. I'm leaving now."
With that, he turned around and ran. He quickly disappeared into the desert.
"Ben!" Usopp was about to chase after him, but Nami suddenly grabbed him. Usopp was confused, but Nami shook her head.
"Ben isn't that kind of person. He must have discovered something. Don't forget, there's still a group of people hunting him from behind," Nami said.
Women and children tended to get along better, and Nami had a very good relationship with Ben. She knew that he was absolutely not the sort of person who feared death.
Besides, if she and Usopp had not left because they feared the Cartel, would Ben really leave?
"Those Shadow Warriors..." Zoro had always been very interested in the Shadow Warriors Ben had mentioned. Yet ever since Ben joined them, those Shadow Warriors had not appeared again.
That disappointed Zoro somewhat. After all, he had always been extremely interested in Wano Country.
"I'm sorry..." Igaram said awkwardly. He could not find the words. All of this had happened because of him. If not for him, the Straw Hat Crew would not have had to face the Cartel, and Ben would not have left.
"It's nothing, old man. Ben will definitely come back!" Luffy said firmly. "Now, we're going to charge into Alubarna! We'll take down the Cartel first!"
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