"Marshal, why are they all fighting to be Aqua's mama?"
Morgans, walking closely beside Orion, kept glancing back at the warship, his face full of confusion.
"They wouldn't actually think that becoming Aqua's mama means they can smoothly become the Marshal's wife, would they? Women really are cunning. Marshal, you mustn't fall for their tricks!"
Orion nodded seriously. "Don't worry, I'm fully aware."
"Heh, as expected of you!"
Morgans chuckled twice, then looked up at the sky.
Spotting a black dot hovering above the Holy Land, he quickly changed the subject.
"Is that the Ark Imu mentioned? It really is flying high. How do you plan to deal with them, Marshal?"
Hearing this, Orion stopped and tilted his head, narrowing his eyes at the faint outline of the Ark high in the sky.
.....
At the same time.
On the Ark, Enel, who had been lounging on a tatami mat, suddenly opened his eyes and lazily said.
"Shiki, isn't the Marine Fleet Admiral named Orion? It seems he's returned to Marine Headquarters!"
"Hm?"
Shiki, who had been drinking alone while waiting for nightfall, narrowed his pupils slightly before immediately standing up in urgency.
"You heard his thoughts?"
Enel shook his head. "Not his thoughts—a Marine's. Based on that Marine's thoughts, Orion must have just returned to Marine Headquarters!"
"Go, go, go!"
The moment Enel finished speaking, Shiki didn't hesitate in the slightest, immediately maneuvering the Ark to ascend even higher into the sky.
"What are you doing?" Enel frowned, his voice low and commanding.
"It's just a mere Fleet Admiral. This god orders you to lower the Ark at once!"
"Are you sure?"
Shiki turned to look at Enel, his expression grave.
"Though part of the plan was for you to go to Marine Headquarters and distract all the Marines, that was under the assumption Orion was stationed at the Holy Land. Now that he's returned to Marineford, the danger level for you going there has multiplied exponentially."
"How dare you underestimate a god!" Enel shot to his feet, his blazing gaze fixed on Shiki as he issued an unyielding command.
"Lower the Ark—now!!"
"Enel, acting this recklessly will get you killed!"
Shiki's expression remained serious. "Never mind that you and I are both just Devil Fruit users—even if you were a god, Orion could still take you down!"
"Outrageous!"
Enel completely lost his composure.
In a flash, he appeared before Shiki, grabbing him by the collar and lifting him high, his voice sharp with fury.
"Lower the Ark now, or I'll kill you where you stand!"
"Don't be impulsive, Enel! I'm doing this for your own good!" Shiki pleaded earnestly.
"Orion's strength is far beyond what you can imagine!"
"You—" A glint of killing intent flashed in Enel's eyes.
Before he could finish, Shiki hastily nodded.
"Fine, fine! Since you're so determined, I won't stop you!"
Hearing this, Enel wasted no time, flinging Shiki away with a flick of his wrist.
Shiki, relying on his Float-Float Fruit ability, executed a mid-air flip and landed steadily on the Ark.
Immediately, the ascending Ark began to descend, shifting its course towards the skies above Marineford.
Since the Holy Land wasn't far from Marineford, the Ark soon arrived overhead.
"Wait here for me!"
With the Marine Headquarters building now clearly in sight, Enel didn't hesitate.
His body transformed into a bolt of lightning and vanished.
When he reappeared, he hovered in the air above Marineford Square.
Activating the unique power of his Rumble-Rumble Fruit, arcs of lightning crackled across the sky, and the piercing wail of alarms erupted across the plaza.
"Jihahaha! Now that's what I call enthusiasm!"
Watching the figure he had successfully provoked now hovering above Marineford Square, Shiki let out a sinister laugh from the Ark's deck.
He then shouted to Enel, "Enel, remember our plan! If I succeed in finding new allies, I'll rush back to help you immediately!"
With that, Shiki decisively steered the Ark, speeding off in another direction.
Ignoring Shiki, Enel loomed over Marineford like a thunder god gazing down upon mortals.
His voice was cold as he called out, "Where is Marine Fleet Admiral Orion? Come out and face your death!"
"What's going on?"
Morgans, standing beside Orion, looked up at the sudden intruder, his eyes wide.
"Sir, who the hell is this guy?"
"Bold indeed."
Orion didn't answer Morgans.
Instead, he calmly raised his head to observe the hovering figure.
"I don't know what sweet talk Shiki used to lure you away from Skypiea to the Grand Line, but since you've dared to come to Marine Headquarters, I assume you're prepared to die."
"So, you're Fleet Admiral Orion?"
Enel's gaze bore down from above.
Despite the alarms blaring across Marineford, not a single Marine seemed to be scrambling for battle.
This puzzled him greatly.
He had invaded Marine Headquarters—why weren't the stationed soldiers reacting?
What baffled him even more was the sight of several women on the deck of a docked battleship, playing with a little girl as if nothing had happened.
None of them showed the slightest sign of alarm at his arrival.
Most infuriating of all, the soldiers stationed at various Marine fortifications weren't panicking.
Instead, they were dragging out stools, grabbing snacks, and settling in as if waiting for a show.
"Damn, who is this guy? He actually came to Headquarters and called out the Fleet Admiral by name?"
"Looks pretty tough. Wonder how long he'll last against the Fleet Admiral?"
"One minute, tops!"
"One minute? You're underestimating him! He's challenging the Fleet Admiral now—ten seconds at most!"
??
Enel's head kept sprouting question marks as he overheard the Marines' conversation.
Immediately, his fury was ignited!
He was a god!
And they claimed he could only last ten seconds at most?
At this thought, Enel, who had precisely located the 'insolent' Marine soldier with his Mantra, saw him standing leisurely at one of the fortresses, casually munching on sunflower seeds.
Enel's anger flared, and without hesitation, he raised his hand toward the fortress where the soldier stood, enunciating each word clearly.
"One Million Volts: Discharge!"
"Whoosh—"
Just as Enel was about to punish the insolent Marine soldier, a sharp sound of something cutting through the air suddenly rang out.
In the next moment, Orion, who had been in the plaza moments ago, soared into the sky in the blink of an eye, now wielding a longsword shrouded in Conqueror's Haki.
"Daring to let your guard down in front of me!?"
Before the words even finished, the longsword wrapped in Conqueror's Haki slashed toward Enel's chest like lightning.
"Thud—"
The blade carved a grotesque gash across Enel's chest, and the Conqueror's Haki enveloping it sent him flying, crashing heavily into Marineford Plaza from high above.
"!!!!!"
The moment he hit the ground, Enel's pupils dilated in shock as he stared at the wound on his chest in disbelief.
******
Meanwhile.
At Marine Headquarters, standing before the floor-to-ceiling window of the Fleet Admiral's office, Garp couldn't help but chuckle as he watched Enel get sliced down from the sky.
"He didnt even dodge. Are kids these days really that bold?"
"What are you staring at? Nothing to see here! Come help me with these documents!"
Vice Admiral Tsuru, seated at the Fleet Admiral's desk handling Headquarters affairs for Orion, tossed a stack of files at Garp with a huff.
"At your age and you still running off to gawk at the spectacle!"
Hearing this, Garp turned away from the window, caught the files, and went to work at the side.
.....
"How is this possible!?"
Enel, still reeling from Orion's slash, looked at the blood gushing from his chest, his face twisted in horror.
"I didn't even... last ten seconds!"
Before Enel could recover from his shock, a flood of voices from all around assaulted him, shattering his confidence.
"Tch, I thought we were in for a show. Turns out he's just a weakling!"
"Pfft—haha! With strength like this, he dares challenge the Fleet Admiral?"
"What's going on here? Everyone, get back to your posts!"
"Move along, nothing to see here!"
As the voices gradually faded, Enel's vision darkened and he nearly vomited blood on the spot from sheer humiliation.
In that moment, he finally understood what Shiki had meant when he said Enel and Orion weren't on the same level.
-----------------------------
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