"Fleet Admiral Akainu! A large fleet of ships has been detected a hundred miles offshore, numbering at least over 200!"
"Fleet Admiral Akainu! The weather monitoring station on Skypiea has detected traces of a massive floating island moving! Direction: G1 Base waters!"
"Fleet Admiral Akainu!..."
On the tall concrete platform at the harbor, each piece of news delivered to Akainu and the others struck like heavy hammer blows, weighing down the atmosphere with tension and killing intent!
"Continue monitoring! Gather accurate numbers on the enemy! Confirm the location of the Beast God Pirates' main force!"
Akainu barked orders.
"Yes, sir!"
"Buru buru buru buru!"
The urgent ringing of a Den Den Mushi suddenly erupted!
Akainu frowned slightly, retrieving the Den Den Mushi from his pocket and answering.
The Den Den Mushi's appearance rapidly shifted, morphing into a face he would never forget.
"Caesar!"
The name was forced through Akainu's gritted teeth, spoken with barely contained fury.
The row of officers beside him immediately pricked up their ears, their gazes snapping toward him.
"Bororororo! Akainu! Are you ready? We're coming for you!"
The voice from the Den Den Mushi brimmed with arrogant dominance, infused with a boundless, ferocious spirit.
Every officer who heard that deep, resonant voice wore a grave expression, their muscles tensing.
On the vast ocean, countless pirate ships surged forward in a mighty fleet, making no attempt to conceal their movements.
They charged ahead at breakneck speed, cutting through the waves as they headed straight for Marine Headquarters!
At the forefront were ten exceptionally massive pirate ships!
These ten ships, each 300 meters long, were all constructed from the wood of the Treasure Tree Adam, making their hulls incredibly sturdy.
At the bow, two enormous curved horns protruded prominently.
The massive sails, billowing in the fierce wind, were emblazoned with the emblem of the Beast God Pirates!
A giant skull with wings spread wide on either side, waves surging below, and crossed swords behind it!
On the central flagship, Caesar stood on the deck at the bow, holding a Den Den Mushi in his hand, a fierce grin plastered across his face.
"Come at me with all you've got! I'll bury you in the sea before Marine Headquarters with my magma!"
"Borororo, excellent! Then you'd better hold your ground at this new Marine Headquarters!"
From behind, Linlin approached holding a large black cloak, making a move to drape it over Caesar's shoulders.
"Linlin, what's this for? You know I've never liked wearing such cumbersome things!"
Caesar spread his hands in amusement.
Linlin retorted with a scowl, "This isn't about being cumbersome. As the captain of the Beast God Pirates, you need to project an imposing presence. Rocks back in the day, Roger before, and even Whitebeard all wore cloaks like this. Besides, don't you think it looks cool?"
Caesar's mouth twitched. "Cool? Seriously, Linlin? I think it's a bit cringe."
In a fight, clothing should be simple and lightweight to allow for full mobility.
Just imagine—if an overly large cloak suddenly blocked your vision during combat, leading to a hit from the opponent, wouldn't that be a ridiculously unfair way to die?
Moreover, if a battle dragged on and you exhausted your stamina trying to escape, only to trip over the cloak trailing behind and miss the best chance to flee, it wouldn't just mean death—it'd be social suicide too.
Most importantly, unless you were a Logia user or a special Paramecia ability user like Doflamingo, your clothes wouldn't withstand the residual forces of a fierce battle.
Thus, in Caesar's view, the Marines' justice cloaks were good for nothing but showing off.
He had no idea when it started, but even pirates like Rocks began copying the Marines' style, with every captain sporting a grand cloak.
Caesar wanted to refuse by raising his hand, but Linlin's stern expression intimidated him.
He immediately raised his hands in surrender.
"Linlin, you're really scary when you look like that..."
In the end, Caesar had no choice but to obediently let Linlin drape the enormous black cloak over him.
The cloak was a full eight meters long, wide and thick, so heavy that even the gusting sea breeze couldn't lift it.
What made Caesar even more speechless was that emblazoned flamboyantly across the black cloak were the characters for "Evil."
He immediately lost his composure, lifting the cloak to show Linlin as he asked.
"Hey, hey, Linlin, what the hell is this 'Evil' supposed to mean?"
Linlin rolled her eyes in exasperation. "The Marines' cloaks bear the word 'Justice,' while you're an evil pirate, so of course you should have 'Evil' tattooed on you!"
Caesar's cheek twitched, leaving him speechless.
He then glanced around at the ships slightly behind his own.
"Damn it! I worked so hard to establish the Ten Legions, so where have those bastard legion commanders gone? Why aren't they properly leading their fleets?"
Linlin chuckled lightly.
"Heh, where else could they be?"
As she spoke, she raised a finger and pointed toward the sky.
"Every single one of them is so troublesome!"
...
Marine Headquarters G1 Base!
On the stone platform, Momousagi suddenly drew the Konpira from her waist and gazed at the distant horizon, where countless shadows had appeared.
"They're here!!"
Smoker's pupils slightly contracted as he fixed his eyes on the distant sea.
The ground beneath Fujitora's feet suddenly cracked, lifting him into the air.
He drew his cane sword and shouted loudly.
"Attention!! All forces, prepare for battle!!"
Fujitora's voice, amplified by the Den Den Mushi speaker pinned to his collar, echoed across the vast G1 Plaza.
Instantly!
Clatter, clatter, clatter—countless Marine soldiers drew their swords.
The already grim atmosphere in the plaza grew unbearably tense.
Everyone nervously stared toward the port.
On the open sea, countless ship shadows began to loom faintly.
Clank, clank, clank.
On the stone platform, coastal defense cannons rapidly adjusted their barrels.
"I'll head over to command the front lines now."
Kizaru suddenly stepped forward, his body dissolving into countless golden particles that whooshed across the sky, landing on a massive warship offshore.
On the deck, Sentomaru, holding a giant battle-axe as large as a door, shouted loudly, "Old man, you're finally here! Do you have any idea how nervous I was without an Admiral guarding this first line of defense?"
Behind him stood Drake, dressed in combat attire.
After Luffy and the others defeated Kaido in Wano Country, Drake's undercover mission ended, and he immediately returned to the Marines.
Fortunately, he escaped quickly; otherwise, he might have encountered the awakened Caesar.
Countless golden particles converged, and Kizaru's figure materialized.
He scratched his head. "Sorry, Sentomaru. I needed to boost everyone's morale earlier!"
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