"Miss Valentine! Wake up quickly!" Mr. 5 took advantage of the chaos to break free from his restraints, pulling his partner into a hidden corner.
"??" Miss Valentine slowly opened her hazy eyes.
Mr. 5 urged, "Let's hurry and leave, the Marines and Whitebeard Pirates somehow started fighting, now is the best time for us to escape."
Miss Valentine instantly understood the current situation. Without the slightest hesitation, she followed Mr. 5 and slipped away from the Moby Dick amid the chaos.
The two of them really were loyal subordinates, without even getting far from the battlefield, they just found a relatively safer spot and immediately pulled out a Den Den Mushi to contact Mr. 0.
"Boss!"
["Hm? Mr. 5, is the mission complete?"] Crocodile's lazy voice came from the Den Den Mushi.
"... Something a little unexpected happened..." Mr. 5 said timidly.
["You don't need to come back anymore!"]
A murderous aura surged through the line, making cold sweat drip down Mr. 5's back. He quickly said, "Boss, please listen to me, we ran into Whitebeard."
Crocodile had been ready to hang up, but at the words "Whitebeard," his hand froze mid-air, trembling slightly.
["What did you say?"]
Seeing there was still a chance, Mr. 5 forced himself to calm down, and told the entire story of what happened after encountering Vivi without leaving anything out.
["Why would Whitebeard be in the first half of the Grand Line, and why would he help that woman?"]
Crocodile couldn't make sense of it at all.
"Boss, please rest assured, that woman has already left Whitebeard's ship. We'll go catch up to her right away and kill her."
["No need. Compared to that woman's life, my plan is far more important. You and Miss Valentine come back, I'll send the Unluckies to pick you up."]
Crocodile hung up with a cold laugh, ["If that woman dares to show up again, it won't be too late to kill her then!"]
———
Although the Marines had the advantage in numbers, every single member of the Whitebeard Pirates was an elite.
As time passed, the Marines' disadvantage grew larger.
Akainu tried several times to ignore his comrades' lives and go after Jotaro alone, but each time Whitebeard stopped him.
By now, Jotaro had already gone far, and Akainu no longer had a reason to continue fighting Whitebeard.
"Retreat!"
Akainu called off the battle, leading the Marines away in humiliation.
'Damn Whitebeard, one day I'll chop off your head!' He thought furiously.
Following the Eternal Pose's direction, Jotaro and the others sailed west.
Ever since leaving, he had been keeping an eye on Whitebeard's position, without making a move.
He thought things were already settled with Whitebeard, but in the end, he still owed him a favor.
"Yare yare..."
"Though Whitebeard is old and gravely ill, being able to fight him to a draw means you do have some strength."
Pa!
A soft sound.
A tall and beautiful figure landed on the ship.
"Vice Admiral Tsuru said you are an extremely dangerous person." Gion's eyes sparkled as she sized Jotaro up at close range.
"But I honestly can't see what's so dangerous about you."
"Regardless, a mission is a mission. Sooner or later, I must cut you down."
Although she said that, in truth her main goal was to capture Jotaro alive and hand him over to the World Government for judgment.
Only by executing him publicly could they truly intimidate those who had been influenced by Jotaro's ideas.
However, Vice Admiral Tsuru had also made it clear, she had to prepare for the worst.
Gion's hand rested on the hilt of her sword Konpira, her killing intent completely unhidden.
Jotaro was unmoved, silently staring at her.
"You're badly injured, I know it's a bit like taking advantage... but... forgive me!"
With that, Gion vanished from sight, reappearing in the air directly above Jotaro.
'Moonwalk!'
Her blade wrapped in Haki, turned pitch-black, and slashed downward at extreme speed.
Jotaro still stood where he was, seemingly oblivious.
Gion's brows arched, her small nose wrinkling slightly.
'Has his perception really slowed down to this degree?'
'Or... is he ignoring me!'
Either way, the force in her hand suddenly increased. But instead of striking with the edge, she swung with the back of her blade.
"Ora!"
Star Platinum threw a straight punch, sliding along the blade and continuing upward, its target was Gion's face.
Without Haki, Star Platinum was invisible.
But Gion's Observation Haki still sensed danger approaching.
She immediately withdrew her strike.
Unfortunately, her speed could not match Star Platinum's.
The moment she sensed it, Star Platinum's fist was already smashing into her face.
Gion gritted her teeth, pain shooting through her as she fell to the ground, the left side of her cheek swelling high.
"Woman, I'm in no mood right now. Don't provoke me!" Jotaro said coldly, his face dark, his voice chilling.
You don't hit people in the face, hitting the face hurts their pride.
And yet, this man had struck her face right away, and with such force. In that instant, Gion's eyes filled with anger.
Ignoring everything, she raised her sword for another battle.
———
"Ugh..."
Gion let out a faint grunt as she crashed back onto her own ship, her delicate body trembling, blood endlessly dripping from the corner of her mouth.
She had never expected that even with such severe injuries, Jotaro could still unleash such terrifying power.
Then she remembered.
She had always felt she had seen Jotaro somewhere before, now she finally recalled.
Smoker had once sent back a portrait of Jotaro, warning headquarters not to engage this man.
At the time, she had only glanced at it from afar, never taking it to heart.
After all, she was a candidate for admiral, why would she care about the words of some branch vice admiral?
But now...
She stared at the ship sailing away in the distance, her dignity utterly trampled to pieces.
After sailing on the sea for nearly a week, Nezuko's body had fully recovered, no different from before.
Seeing Nezuko's happy smile, Jotaro's mood lightened a little.
During this time, he had been constantly thinking, why had the Marines sent so many people to kill him?
Although he was now officially labeled a pirate with a bounty as high as 100 million Berries, he had no direct conflict with the Navy.
Pirates like him were everywhere on the Grand Line, yet the Marines were hellbent on going after him.
For now, he had no clues, but he was already growing tired of the life of running away.
Jotaro sat at his desk, lost in thought.
Suddenly, Nami and the others' screams cut through his thoughts.
"Look! High West! It's actually a route leading up into the sky."
Everyone's eyes widened, the scene before them was simply too magnificent.
Behind the island, a sea current soared straight into the heavens, vanishing into the clouds.
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