At this moment, Nusjuro's body, which was possessed by Imu, suddenly stiffened.
His gaze regained clarity from its emptiness, but the next moment, his expression turned terribly grim.
Because before leaving, Imu had left a message in his mind:
"Return to the Holy Land immediately."
Nusjuro gritted his teeth, glanced at the Marine sitting collapsed on the ground, then at the Roger Pirates locked in the prison cart, and finally at Kong's corpse.
"Clean up the battlefield. Take Kong's remains back to headquarters."
Leaving these words, he turned and walked towards the center of the battlefield.
Then, under everyone's astonished gazes.
A black pentagram appeared beneath Nusjuro's feet.
Light flashed, and Nusjuro disappeared.
Returning to Mary Geoise.
Tsuru and Sengoku came to Kong's remains.
Kong's body had been cut in two, the upper and lower halves lying in two different pits.
Sengoku crouched down, carefully lifting Kong's upper body from the dirt.
Tsuru took the lower body from the other pit.
They placed Kong's remains together on a relatively clean patch of ground.
"Kong-san..." Tsuru's voice was hoarse, barely audible.
Sengoku said nothing, just biting his lip hard.
He was a Marine. He couldn't lose his composure.
Elsewhere, the Giants lifted Harald's body from the pit.
The king's body had been practically flattened by the Complete Body Susanoo.
"Return His Majesty the King's remains to Elbaf," An elderly Giant warrior said in a deep voice, his eyes red.
"Our Giant race will definitely avenge this insult."
The other Giants clenched their teeth, their eyes burning with hatred.
Harald was dead.
They had forged an irreconcilable enmity with Makoto.
But the immediate priority was to return the king's body and inform the elders and princes.
The Giants lifted Harald's body and slowly left Grove 66 with heavy steps.
"Hey—" Roger's voice came from the prison cart again.
"We're still in here."
Finally, someone looked at him.
Sengoku raised his head, glanced at Roger with swollen, red eyes, and said nothing.
Roger: "..."
'Damn it, had these people really forgotten?'
"Hey! Are you deaf?! Let us out already!"
Roger lost it, shaking the cage bars, making a clank clank noise.
But just then—
A familiar voice came from the sky.
"Hey, Sengoku, Tsuru, you two bastards kept this from me."
Roger's eyes lit up immediately.
Sure enough.
A middle-aged, muscular man in a Marine uniform appeared, using the Marine's Rokushiki's Geppo to descend from the sky.
Monkey D. Garp.
Roger's nemesis.
The only Marine he acknowledged.
The operation to ambush Makoto in the Sabaody Archipelago and take custody of the Roger Pirates had been kept secret from Garp.
The reason was simple: they were afraid he'd insist on coming and make a mess of things.
After all, the whole world knew their relationship was unusual.
But looking at the situation now...
They might as well have brought Garp.
Garp had just landed and hadn't even greeted his comrades when his gaze was drawn to a body on the ground.
Garp's smile froze on his face.
His mouth opened, but no sound came out.
"...What happened?" Garp was uncharacteristically serious.
Sengoku and Tsuru remained silent.
"Who did it?" Garp asked again.
"Nishikawa Makoto," Tsuru said softly.
Garp was stunned. He'd never heard that name before.
A few seconds later, his gaze passed Sengoku and Tsuru, landing on the prison cart behind them.
The entire Roger Pirates' crews were locked in a metal cage, looking disheveled and miserable.
"Hey, Garp, come open this cage—" Roger called out.
"Why do you smell so bad..." Garp asked, sniffing.
If their own admiral hadn't just died, he'd be laughing his head off right now.
Roger: "..."
"Just let me out first," Roger called again.
Garp was about to walk over to release them when Sengoku suddenly spoke.
"Who said you could release them?"
Garp stopped in his tracks, turning to look at Sengoku.
Sengoku had already stood up from the ground, though his face was still pale.
"You and Tsuru return to Marine Headquarters to mobilize personnel for the Holy Land," Sengoku said. "I'll take them to Impel Down."
Garp frowned.
"Impel Down? Such a hassle—"
"This is an order." Sengoku cut him off.
His tone was unmistakable. Although his rank was currently the same as Garp's, with Kong dead, Marine Headquarters urgently needed someone to take charge.
And Sengoku was undoubtedly the most suitable candidate.
Garp looked into Sengoku's eyes, which allowed no argument, and was silent for a moment.
Finally, he shrugged. "Fine, fine, you're the boss."
Nusjuro's magic circle light faded, and he appeared among the Five Elders in Mary Geoise.
The other four Elders were taken aback seeing Nusjuro in such a disheveled state.
"What happened?" the one seated at the head, Marcus Mars, asked in a deep voice.
"Did it not go well?"
Nusjuro, his face dark, walked to his seat and sat down.
He didn't answer that question.
"Immediately summon the God's Knights," He said.
"And all available combat forces of the Marine Headquarters."
The other four Elders exchanged glances.
"What happened?"
Nusjuro took a deep breath.
"That guy, Nishikawa Makoto—"
Each word seemed squeezed from between his teeth.
"He's attacking."
Upon hearing this, the expressions of the four Elders changed simultaneously.
The last time a pirate dared to invade the Holy Land was during Rocks' era.
And even Rocks' incident couldn't be called an 'invasion', more like an 'infiltration'.
And now, Nusjuro said—
Makoto was 'attacking'.
Openly and directly attacking.
"What did you say?" Topman Warcury, the bald one with the white mustache, stood up abruptly.
Nusjuro gritted his teeth.
"That bastard is on his way here right now."
Just as the Five Elders were about to discuss further—
Imu's voice echoed in all five of their minds simultaneously.
"Come to the Empty Throne for an audience."
The Five Elders stood up in unison.
They quickly walked out of the room, along the dim corridor, heading towards the deepest part of Mary Geoise.
Simultaneously, Imu's voice resonated in the minds of all members of the God's Knights.
"All units deploy. Defend the Holy Land."
The moment the voice faded, every corner of Mary Geoise erupted in commotion.
The God's Knights.
One of the World Government's strongest military forces, the supreme fighting force directly under the Celestial Dragons… all units deployed.
From various castles in the Holy Land, members of the God's Knights walked out, dressed in ornate knight uniforms.
Tall or short, male or female, old or young, each one emanated a suffocatingly powerful aura.
Leading them was a tall, young man.
His pale yellow hair was slicked back, resembling a crescent moon.
Figarland Garling.
The God's Knights' strongest warrior.
Father of Shanks and Stanks.
"All units assemble."
"Target—"
Before Garling could finish, his pupils suddenly contracted sharply.
And not just him.
At that same instant, every single member of the God's Knights saw it.
At the far end of the sky, a massive gray-black silhouette was rapidly growing larger in their vision.
'Th-That was—'
A gray-black giant, its sky-obscuring wings spread behind it, flying straight towards Mary Geoise.
'Here it comes.'
Garling's expression changed drastically. He gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist.
"God's Knights! Engage!"