A few days ago, Nia and Otohime had already eaten the fruits.
With Nia's assistance, several people rode bubbles and floated toward the Marine battleships.
"They're coming," On the lead battleship, the middle-aged Tsuru said softly.
Next to her, Garp and Kuzan were lounging lazily, Sengoku stared toward Fish-Man Island seemingly deep in thought, while Kong stood beside her, also looking toward Rosse's ship.
"Let them come, even that Highness can't change anything," Kong shrugged, indifferent to the group approaching.
Right now, he only wanted to rise.
Once this mission was completed, he would be fully meritorious.
He would be promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the World Government's three forces, Sakazuki would take his place, and everything would be perfect.
So, he was the person who least wanted anything to go wrong.
"They might not necessarily be here to change anything either," Tsuru smiled.
Since Kong had decided that the five of them would carry out the Buster Call, and then follow up with the encirclement of Whitebeard, the entire atmosphere within the Marine had turned slightly strange.
Kuzan and Garp seemed to be plotting something secretly. Sengoku, though seemingly indifferent to Sakazuki's rise, had noticeably increased the frequency of his visits to him.
He never mentioned the future directly, but it felt as though every sentence alluded to it.
"Let's go. Princess Sora is now a Celestial Dragon. Let's go welcome them," Kong naturally understood the Marine's current state. To put it bluntly, a split could happen at any moment.
But what did that have to do with him?
He was about to get promoted. As long as nothing went wrong during his term, it had nothing to do with him.
Compared to that, welcoming Sora, a Celestial Dragon, was more important.
Even though Sora had only recently become a Celestial Dragon, she was still officially recognized by the World Government.
He had seen situations like this before.
Most people who could later become Celestial Dragons possessed extraordinary abilities.
Soon, the bubble carrying Sora and others reached Kong's battleship and landed on the deck.
"Princess Sora!", Kong and Tsuru stepped forward and bowed slightly.
Only the two of them came. As for the other three, it was already good enough they weren't causing trouble. They didn't expect them to do anything else.
"No need to be so polite. I'm just here to say hello," Sora smiled slightly and nodded at the two, but her gaze unconsciously drifted to the side.
Kuzan and Garp were huddled together on a couch, apparently sleeping with their eyes covered. Sengoku was discussing something with the officers beside him, occasionally pointing toward Fish-Man Island, looking like he was busy with naval matters.
If she were any other Celestial Dragon, even if dissatisfied, she would probably only be able to grumble a few words.
But she wasn't a Celestial Dragon by birth. What she saw were three top-tier combatants drifting apart from the World Government.
No wonder Rosse said that the best future for these three was to stand on the opposite side of the World Government.
Rather than wasting away in the Marine, it would be better to do something more meaningful.
That way, not only would they be happier, but Rosse would be happier too.
"I'll go catch up with an old friend," Zephyr grinned and strode toward Sengoku.
He had nothing to say to Garp, but he and Sengoku still had some common ground.
After intercepting Garp last time, he and Garp no longer had anything between them.
"Marshal Kong, how do you plan to carry out the Buster Call on Fish-Man Island?", Sora asked softly, and Otohime beside her also showed a concerned expression.
"Let Kuzan do it, freeze the entire Fish-Man Island," Kong replied casually.
This was the seafloor; the Marine couldn't easily operate here.
Fortunately, Kuzan's fruit was ice-based. With his strength, once he completely destroyed Fish-Man Island's bubble membrane, he could freeze the entire island, completing the mission.
"How many people are still on Fish-Man Island?", Tsuru asked from the side.
"Roughly between 100,000 to 400,000. Mostly those merfolks and fish-men unwilling to leave. While not necessarily sinful, they're at least quite stubborn," Sora said softly.
Fish-Man Island's situation was different from Ohara's. Not only was it bigger, but the population was also larger.
The entire island of Ohara only had a few tens of thousands.
But Fish-Man Island had five million people.
If they truly wanted to slaughter indiscriminately here, never mind whether Kong and the others could finish, they themselves wouldn't want to.
"That's too many people…"
Before Tsuru could say anything, Kuzan's voice suddenly rang out. No one knew when he had woken up, but he had already walked up beside them.
"Can we evacuate them first before executing the Buster Call?", Kuzan frowned.
According to Kong's plan, he was the one in charge of freezing.
With his stamina, freezing Fish-Man Island using the deep sea was only a matter of time, not very difficult.
But that was hundreds of thousands of people. Even if they were fish-men and merfolks, they were still lives. He simply couldn't bring himself to do it.
"We've tried persuading them. Most chose to leave, but quite a few insisted on staying. For them, leaving Fish-Man Island would mean being homeless, it's better to stay," Otohime sighed softly, showing a helpless expression.
They had already tried. The fact that 3 million people were willing to leave was already the limit of what her influence could achieve.
The rest were beyond what she could do.
Not to mention, Neptune still had many diehard supporters. Those people had also stirred up trouble recently.
Though quickly suppressed, they had been driven into Fish-Man Island's interior and wanted to stay to make their final stand.
Otohime could understand these people's actions, but also chose to respect them.
Since they wanted to be buried with Fish-Man Island, then let them stay.
Otohime explained all this roughly.
"Such a pain…", Kuzan frowned deeply. Just hearing the situation, he already knew how much resistance they would face later.
Although every Buster Call encountered resistance, and some old-timers in the Marine had told him as much, and he had experienced one himself.
But that time, he hadn't really done anything. This time was completely different.
If he really had to wield the butcher's knife, he truly couldn't do it.
"I'll clean it up. Just a matter of spending more time," Kong glanced at Kuzan and immediately saw through his thoughts.
'So hesitant, when will the job ever get done?'
If the operation to encircle Whitebeard got delayed, he'd be implicated.
Without further hesitation, Kong dove straight into the sea and charged toward Fish-Man Island.
"Marshal Kong is still impatient as ever," Sora looked at Kong's back and chuckled.
"He's always been like that," Tsuru shook her head, pretending to be troubled.
From the corner of her eye, she glanced left and saw Kuzan's gloomy expression, and her heart let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Sora was much more difficult to deal with than other Celestial Dragons.
To her, this was an open scheme.
The purpose was to have Kuzan carry out the Buster Call, and those hundreds of thousands of fish-men and merfolks would become his blood-stained credentials.
If Kuzan really did it, then his sense of justice could no longer be pure.
In her heart, Tsuru still hoped Kuzan and the others would follow the justice in their hearts.
Although Kong was a bit too eager for success, in the end, he had taken the burden off Kuzan.
'But... is that really so?'
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