Looking at Luffy, oh no, Nika, laughing heartily like that, all the players from the real world were completely dumbfounded.
Airi, who was about to transform into her black dragon form, tugged at her sister's clothes and whispered, "Has this guy gone crazy?"
Marina shook her head, also looking confused.
They had also heard from Makoto about the relationship between Shanks and Luffy.
'But your benefactor is dead, you should be sad, right? Why are you laughing?'
Even Sabo, his adoptive brother, looked at Luffy in this state with confusion and asked blankly, "Luffy, what's wrong with you?"
It had to be said, this scene was a bit hellish.
Makoto looked at Nika, who was unbelievably foolish, and said with a smile, "Happy, are you? Don't worry, something even happier is coming for you right away."
Then, Makoto raised his Flying Thunder God kunai. He swung his kunai, ready to send the [Effort King] to the afterlife as well.
However, Nika suddenly raised his right hand, gathered lightning in his palm, and threw out a blue thunder spear, shouting, "Gomu Gomu no… Lightning!"
Seeing this, Chika, the user of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, was shocked.
"Wait, aren't you a Gum-Gum Fruit user? Why can you use lightning?"
The thunder spear fell. The Susanoo rose out of thin air, let out a roar, and used its giant bone arm as a shield to block the attack for Makoto.
And Nika could only watch helplessly as Makoto cut off Koby's head.
Slash—
A blade flashed. Koby's head flew into the air, his eyes full of unwillingness.
"Hahaha! Koby is dead too! Koby is dead too! Hahahaha!"
Nika let out another heart-wrenching laugh. No one knew what was wrong with him. His own crew member had just died in front of him, yet he kept laughing.
Yukino, at this moment, felt her spirit completely shattered.
Watching Nika, who seemed like a down syndrome child, she felt a sense of utter despair. She had invested so much effort into the Revolutionary Army, all to save this... this thing, and had sacrificed so many people?
Yukino felt that twenty years of hard work had been thrown to the dogs.
Yu, annoyed by the grating laughter, showed impatience on his face. He transformed back into his Gun Devil form, his arm turning into a heavy machine gun aimed at Nika.
An armor-piercing round shot out.
However, Dragon suddenly waved his hand, creating a giant gust of wind that altered the bullet's trajectory, making it whiz past Nika.
Yu looked coldly at Dragon and sneered.
"Can I consider this action of yours as hostile towards us?"
Hearing this, Ace, Beam, Four Gay Bros, and others also directed dangerous smiles toward the Revolutionary Army.
They had simply been following Makoto's orders. Wherever Makoto fought, they would follow. And now, Luffy, who had transformed into that down syndrome child, was clearly hostile to Makoto.
If Dragon still chose to side with his son, they would definitely have to deal with the Revolutionary Army as well.
Just then, Garp, who had barely fought his way out of the encirclement of the God's Knights, questioned Makoto's group: "Luffy is just a child. Why are you targeting him like this?"
Hearing this, Yukiko laughed directly. She questioned Garp: "Twenty years ago, after Roger was executed, so many children died because of your decision. How come you never cared about them?"
At these words, the Marine soldiers looked confused, not understanding at first. But Garp's expression changed drastically, and he immediately understood that Yukiko was referring to the pregnant women and infants who had been taken away and secretly executed by the World Government twenty-two years ago.
And he, Garp, could have prevented that from happening, but he had chosen to ignore it.
Yukino immediately announced: "From now on, the Revolutionary Army's West Army is formally seceding from the Revolutionary Army. Anyone who doesn't want to participate in this war, come behind me."
Originally, she had only participated in this battle because she had no choice.
After the Red Hair Pirates joined, over eighty percent of the Revolutionary Army's members had expressed willingness to fight. It wasn't something she could stop.
But now things were different.
Yukino could also see that if the Revolutionary Army continued to follow Dragon, the only outcome would be self-destruction.
Moreover, she had seen through this man.
To put it bluntly, he was outwardly strong but inwardly weak, with great ambition but little talent.
Although he had founded the Revolutionary Army, when it came to major issues of right and wrong, he always made the stupidest decisions.
Not to mention the matter of 'using public resources for private gain'.
At these words, many in the Revolutionary Army chose to follow Yukino in seceding. Haruno and Koala went without saying.
Smoker and Issho, after thinking it over, also sided with Yukino.
They had already been quite unhappy with Dragon's decision to stake the entire Revolutionary Army on saving his son, but had agreed to fight because the Red Hair Pirates had agreed to an alliance.
But now, with Makoto clearly determined to kill Luffy, continuing to follow Dragon would be tantamount to seeking death.
Watching their former comrades, one after another, choose to withdraw from the war, Sabo, Luffy's adoptive brother, and Ivankov and others, looked utterly incredulous.
Instantly, the situation descended into chaos.
Makoto suddenly announced, "Anyone who doesn't want to participate in this war, I'll give you five minutes. Leave."
At these words, Yukino quickly waved to those who had switched to her side, telling them to quickly withdraw from the battlefield and return to the ships.
Issho, though he hadn't joined the Marine due to the butterfly effect, also knew that there were still many righteous people within the Marine. He also shouted to them:
"Everyone in the Marine, don't sacrifice your lives anymore for this kind of false justice. Leave quickly."
Hearing this, a large number of Marine soldiers showed hesitation. Many Marine officers also wavered.
Just then, Shamrock shouted, "Have you forgotten the contract with Imu-sama?"
At these words, a huge black magic circle appeared out of thin air on the ground of Marineford.
Instantly, several Marine officers who were about to flee let out cries of pain. Then, their bodies visibly turned into piles of skeletons, white bones clattering to the ground, their uniforms lying empty and flat.
"Aaaaaah—!"
Accompanied by screams rising one after another, Marine officer after Marine officer who tried to flee fell and turned into white bones.
Only then did many Marine officers remember… they had signed that strange contract. Their lives were still in Imu's hands.
This move instantly frightened both the Marine and the Seven Warlords.
Shamrock raised his sword and shouted, "Fight to the last moment!"
How loyal Shamrock actually was to Imu was hard to say. After all, the original work hadn't really shown this.
But for those who had signed the contract, their lives were in Imu's hands.
Apart from holding onto the last shred of hope that they could help Imu defeat Makoto, they had no other choice.
"Scary, scary..."
Kizaru sighed.
"Good thing I didn't sign that strange contract. Otherwise, I might be dead by now."
With that, Kizaru directly activated his Devil Fruit ability, turning into a golden light and fleeing at high speed. This was consistent with his lazy personality.
Many lower-ranking Marine soldiers, who hadn't signed the contract, didn't have to fear being executed by Imu. And now, seeing that one of the Admirals, Kizaru, had also fled, they felt no psychological burden and quickly ran away as well.
Instantly, the forces of the Marine and the World Government began to collapse.
"Halt! Halt!"
Sengoku shouted sternly, but he was powerless to stop the mass desertion of soldiers.
Zephyr, watching his old colleague's furious expression, sighed, "Sengoku, you bet on the wrong horse."
Zephyr knew that Sengoku had his own ideas.
He also wanted to change the current situation of the Marine being controlled by the World Government, but he didn't have the ability, so he compromised most of the time.
And this time, facing the allied forces of the Revolutionary Army and the Red Hair Pirates, he had once again compromised and signed the contract with Imu.
But unfortunately, he had chosen wrong.
But what truly broke Sengoku's spirit was that his most favored successor, Aokiji, had also signed the contract with Imu.
Sengoku, his spirit broken, turned to look at Akainu, who was standing in place, momentarily hesitant, and ordered, "Akainu, execute those deserting soldiers!"
However, Akainu did not immediately carry out Sengoku's order.
In a normal war, Akainu would be absolutely merciless towards deserters. But the problem was, at this point, even Akainu wondered… was there any point in continuing the war?
Just then, Yukino came before Akainu.
"Akainu, no, Sakazuki-san, I hope you will join the New Revolutionary Army."
Yes, just now, Yukino had made a decision. She would no longer follow Dragon. She was going to start a New Revolutionary Army!
Akainu raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected her to invite him, but he was nonetheless a little interested.
"What do you plan to do after the war ends?"
Yukino took a deep breath and laid out her vision.
"I plan to first erase all pirates from this world."
Akainu's eyes lit up.
"Then, change all monarchies into presidential systems. The president's power will be limited by a parliament. A new president will be elected every four years. This way, excessive concentration of power can be avoided."
She had had this idea not long after joining the Revolutionary Army.
To be honest, Yukino had only provided an outline for a new regime. There were still many details to be worked out in implementation.
But in this messed-up world of pirates, such a system was already a dimensionality reduction strike.
Akainu's eyes lit up as he listened. He thought this system was indeed quite good.
And just the phrase 'erase pirates from this world' from Yukino was enough to suit his taste.
"Hmm," Akainu began.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
The Drums of Liberation sounded again.
Everyone's attention was once again drawn to Nika. He bounced in mid-air, white smoke and clouds rolling over his body, his laughter echoing across the battlefield.
"Hehehehehe! Shanks is dead! Koby is dead too! Hahahaha! Ahahahaha!"
Yukino looked at that 'down syndrome child', the corner of her mouth twitching. Then, she withdrew her gaze and looked at Akainu.
"So, what is your decision?"
Akainu was silent for a moment. Then, he sheathed his sword, representing his answer.
It could only be said that after nearly forty years in this world, Yukino's personality had also changed quite a bit.
In the past, she would have disdained to associate with someone like Akainu.
The man who, during the Ohara incident, hadn't even spared the civilian evacuation ships. The man who would stop at nothing for the sake of 'Justice'.
The Yukino of the past would have felt her mouth dirtied just by speaking to him.
But now she also understood the principle that in extraordinary times, one must use extraordinary people.
Although Akainu had many flaws, if she wanted to erase the pirate population, she had to rely on his power.
She absolutely could not let children develop that kind of admiration for pirates.
This was the first step for her [New Revolutionary Army].
Then, Yukino led her New Revolutionary Army to begin withdrawing from the battlefield.
Although she had parted ways with Dragon's old Revolutionary Army, she wouldn't kick them while they were down and attack her former comrades.
"Yukino!"
"Yukino-girl!"
Sabo and Ivankov called out from behind.
"Are you abandoning your comrades?"
A low voice came.
Dragon stood on the rubble, his hood blown off by the sea breeze, revealing a face that bore no resemblance whatsoever to his son Luffy.