The moment Shirokawa made his move, the situation shifted. The rear admiral who had been fighting Jora and Yurisutin broke off and turned his focus to Shirokawa.
The Navy's current setup against Shirokawa was three rear admirals plus several ranking officers. Against your average pirate, that kind of lineup would be despair-inducing, but for Shirokawa, it wasn't nearly enough.
To Shirokawa, those half-hearted officers were just kids to be cut down one by one. Only the rear admirals could last a few exchanges against him while he was still going easy. And that was entirely because he wasn't using his full strength.
He wanted to use these vice admirals to properly train his crew. Otherwise, his crew had far too little experience fighting high-level opponents.
Even among them, Kurolkam's lack of combat experience had already shown while fighting that vice admiral. He could have ended the fight earlier, but he dragged it out to this point.
Still, even with Shirokawa stalling the fights again and again, the Navy vice admiral battling Kurolkam had already been defeated. When he unleashed those twin hammers, the vice admiral's arms were broken by the impact, and he lost all fighting ability instantly.
At this stage, the outcome was clear. With Kurolkam freed up, joining any single fight would end it in moments.
"Looks like the result is pretty obvious."
Shirokawa swept his blade in a wide arc, forcing the Navy soldiers to keep their distance. He was going to wrap up his side of the battle too. With his focus fully sharpened, these rear admirals couldn't hold him off for long.
What's more, all three rear admirals were swordsmen. Shirokawa could effortlessly spot the flaws in their swordplay. After a few more exchanges, the three rear admirals, too, were out of the fight.
Soon after, with Shirokawa and Kurolkam pitching in, the Navy forces collapsed across the board. Every Marine still conscious stared at the Silver Pirates with undisguised bitterness.
By then, the Silver Pirates had already withdrawn to their ship. Shirokawa intended to slice all three warships and send them to the bottom of the sea, leaving the survivors to their fate.
Just as Shirokawa was about to strike, a sudden premonition hit him, and he instantly deployed his protective barrier, enveloping the entire ship.
In the next moment, hundreds of light bullets materialized around the barrier, slamming into it and detonating.
"What the hell is this?!" Riddle, caught in the midst of the explosions, had completely panicked. He'd never seen anything like it. If Shirokawa hadn't reacted in time, as a Devil Fruit user he'd have plunged into the sea—consequences too horrible to contemplate.
The rest of the crew on the ship looked up at the sky with grim expressions; some had already sensed the attack came from above.
"Captain, that's...?" Kurolkam asked Shirokawa, the threat he felt from that figure in the sky unmistakable.
"Navy Headquarters Vice Admiral. Borsalino. Logia-type Devil Fruit user, Glint-Glint Fruit. Looks like the Navy's reinforcements are here."
Honestly, Shirokawa was a bit surprised by Borsalino's arrival. What Shirokawa didn't know was that the moment Kurolkam unleashed Conqueror's Haki, someone had already called for backup from Navy Headquarters. Given the distance, the Navy had dispatched their fastest asset, Borsalino.
After all, these rear admirals and vice admirals had been painstakingly cultivated by Headquarters. They couldn't afford to lose more of them at Shirokawa's hands.
The light bullets kept coming. The explosions kept raging.
"Looks like Borsalino doesn't actually need that long to charge up his techniques."
If Shirokawa wasn't mistaken, this move was called Yasakani no Magatama. Every time he'd seen it used before, the buildup took ages. Why was it an instant-fire this time?
Finally, the light bullets ceased. The explosions ceased. The blinding glare that had obscured the Silver Pirates' vision faded, and Shirokawa dropped the barrier.
Borsalino had already moved to the warship, standing before the defeated Marines.
"Vice Admiral Borsalino, you made it."
Gazing at the man in the yellow-striped suit, Navy cloak draped over his shoulders, the Marines all let out a collective sigh of relief. With him here, their safety was assured.
"Borsalino, huh? Didn't expect you to show up." Shirokawa knew him fairly well. Back when he'd been with the Roger Pirates, they'd crossed paths a handful of times.
Now, facing him, Shirokawa wasn't the least bit flustered. If Borsalino had appeared mid-battle earlier, Shirokawa might have been forced to take things seriously.
Because if Borsalino had stalled him, their side would have started crumbling from Riddle first, and then the entire line could have collapsed.
But now it was different. He'd arrived only after the battle had ended. Even if Shirokawa didn't lift a finger, Kurolkam, Salar, and Yurisutin teaming up could still give him a hell of a time.
"I really didn't want to run into you... Captain of the Silver Pirates, Adolf K. Shirokawa."
"You think I wanted to see you, Borsalino?"
Meanwhile, in the self-styled Avengers alliance lurking behind Shirokawa's position, those pirates had been watching the battlefield intently. The moment Borsalino appeared, pure panic set in.
"C-C-Captain, that Marine is here!"
"Quit panicking. Be clear. Who's here?"
"The one who almost wiped us all out. He's here."
"What?" Hearing that, the pirate captain went white. The trauma Borsalino had left them with was far from faded.
"We're leaving. Move, now. The further, the better."
They had been hoping to wait until both sides were battered and bloody, then swoop in and reap the spoils. But as things stood, staying out of Impel Down was already the best outcome they could hope for.
So the moment they confirmed Borsalino's arrival, those captains ordered their crews to turn the ships around and flee without a moment's pause.
"They ran, huh? Those guys." Yurisutin had noticed their presence the instant the fighting started, but there'd been no time to deal with them.
Now, all their attention was locked entirely onto Borsalino.
"You think you can capture us all by yourself?" Shirokawa asked Borsalino.
"Of course not. I'm not that arrogant."
"Then we'll be leaving now." This wasn't the moment to clash with the Navy's high-end fighters, and Shirokawa had no intention of doing so.
"By all means."
"Vice Admiral Borsalino!" The Marines behind him immediately protested.
"If you were all still in fighting shape, sure, we might have been able to keep them here. But with just me right now... that's a no-go."
"Dammit." Hearing Borsalino's words, the Marines behind him wore expressions of bitter frustration. If only they could have held on just a little longer, the outcome might have been different.
"Alright. We're setting sail."
/-\
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