Once the smoke cleared, the God's Knights' camp realized that things hadn't unfolded the way they'd imagined.
The Marine vanguard caught in the explosions had indeed taken losses, but they weren't nearly as severe as expected. More importantly, after enduring the blasts, they didn't immediately launch an assault on the second defensive line. Instead, they continued in an orderly fashion, clearing the battlefield and removing corpses and debris.
The God's Knights, who had been brimming with excitement just moments earlier, suddenly lost all interest in boasting. Garling's expression turned noticeably grim.
The plan had clearly gone off without a hitch, yet it hadn't achieved the desired effect. That was what made it so irritating.
As the vanguard opened up space, a steady stream of Marine reinforcements continued to land on Mary Geoise.
From dawn all the way to midday, the Navy's fifty-thousand-strong force finally completed its landing, forming a direct standoff with the Holy Land Guard.
Only a small number of makeshift tents had been set up. At this moment, Ortoren stood inside one of them.
Many Marine commanders had gathered there as well, each offering their own opinions.
"The port and this area are completely different zones. We can't treat them the same. We still need proper preparations. The safest approach is to build a camp here first and stabilize the rear."
"That would only waste time. Getting people up here is one thing, but moving supplies is far more difficult."
"I oppose it. We shouldn't build a camp at all. This is exactly the time to burn our bridges. Once we're on Mary Geoise, there's no retreat. Only then will our men fight with everything they have. We should strike in one breath and wipe out all these trash on Mary Geoise!"
After a round of heated debate, Sakazuki made the final call.
No camp would be built.
Today would be the decisive battle.
Ortoren had no objections. This was his own inclination as well. The Navy's greatest advantage lay in its sheer numbers and the strength of its commanders. In both manpower and high-end combat power, they held the upper hand.
Given that, forcing Mary Geoise into a decisive battle as early as possible was the best strategy.
"Strelart," Ortoren called out.
The Vice Admiral commanding the vanguard immediately stepped forward. "Admiral, I'm here!"
"The vanguard is to move out at once and attack the second defensive line," Ortoren ordered.
"Yes, loyalty!" Strelart replied without hesitation.
Ortoren nodded, then swept his gaze over the other commanders in the tent. Every one of them looked eager, barely able to contain themselves.
But when it came to powerhouses like Momonga, Isshō, Yamakaji, Onigumo, and Doberman, Ortoren merely glanced at them and moved on. Those men were being saved for battles between top commanders.
A moment later, Ortoren spoke again, his voice low and firm.
"Stainless, Strawberry. The two of you will each lead your forces. Coordinate with the vanguard and attack from the left and right flanks. Wipe out this so-called Holy Land Guard as quickly as possible, then continue pushing forward. Before the sun sets, I want to see the God's Knights standing in front of our formation."
"Yes, loyalty!" Strawberry and Stainless answered in unison, then left the tent together with Vice Admiral Strelart.
Soon, the army began to move.
The vanguard advanced in an orderly manner, charging into the new battlefield and rapidly piercing the Holy Land Guard's defenses. At the same time, the Marines under Strawberry and Stainless pressed forward with full force.
Before long, the thunder of artillery, the crack of gunfire, and the roar of battle once again echoed across the skies of Mary Geoise.
Inside the tent, Ortoren stood with his arms crossed, as if waiting for something.
About half an hour later, Rear Admiral Smoker lifted the tent flap and walked in, excitement clear on his face.
"Admiral Kuzan and Mr. Borsalino have passed through Fish-Man Island and reached the port. They'll be coming up any moment now."
Sakazuki, Momonga, and the others showed no surprise. Kaisha, on the other hand, looked taken aback.
"Wasn't Admiral Kuzan sent to the first half of the Grand Line to suppress unrest at a Marine base? And wasn't Mr. Borsalino stationed at Headquarters?"
"Just a feint," Sakazuki said with a dismissive wave. "Whether it's their combat strength or their status as Admirals, not to mention that Borsalino previously served as acting Admiral in Ortoren's place, there was no way they wouldn't be brought into the decisive battle at Mary Geoise. Leaving them out would only cause trouble later."
Admirals were simply too special in terms of influence and standing. If those two didn't show up at Mary Geoise, it would reflect poorly on the Marines after the war, making it look as if they'd been deliberately sidelined.
"Just the God's Knights alone are said to have five Grand Knights, plus their commander. That's six fighters whose real strength we don't even fully know," Ortoren said with a laugh. "On top of that, according to Spandine's intel, CP has someone codenamed Night Owl stationed at Mary Geoise. And then there are the Five Elders. As far as I know, every single one of them is an awakened Mythical Zoan user. They're no pushovers. Add it all up and you're talking about more than a dozen high-level fighters. If we didn't call Kuzan and Borsalino in, I'd honestly be worried about holding the line."
In fact, it could have been even more.
Before the Marines fully encircled Mary Geoise, something almost absurd had happened. The Director of CP had fled in fear of punishment, taking a group of CP elites with him. As a result, the only CP member at Mary Geoise who could still be considered decent combat power was Night Owl, and even his current condition was unclear.
The reason the CP Director ran was entirely because of Spandine.
Before Spandine's outright betrayal, the Director had trusted him deeply. He'd repeatedly held Spandine up as a model within CP, promoted him, raised his pay, and even publicly hinted that Spandine was the most likely successor to the position of CP Director.
Under normal circumstances, none of that would have been a problem.
But the moment Spandine defected, everything blew up.
Spandine had run, and that massive mess had to land on someone's head. Who else but the Director himself? The Five Elders would have skinned him alive.
Once he realized the consequences, he didn't hesitate. Before the Five Elders could react or summon him to account, he gathered his closest followers and fled overnight. No one knew where he'd escaped to, and CP's high-end combat strength vanished in one stroke.
"What do these people think Admirals are, anyway?" Isshō said with clear disdain, sharing Sakazuki's view. "One after another, they claim to be on par with Admirals, or even stronger. I don't believe Mary Geoise can suddenly produce a dozen monsters like that."
Ortoren felt the same.
No matter how many supposedly powerful figures had popped up at Mary Geoise, he reckoned that Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Kuzan, three legitimate, full-fledged Admirals, could handle at least half of them on their own.
It was the perfect chance to put the fear of God into the seas.
Letting every stray freak crawl out and boast about being equal to an Admiral was getting ridiculous.
What kind of trash thought it could measure itself against the Marines' Admirals?
As they were talking, footsteps sounded from outside. Moments later, Kuzan and Borsalino walked into the tent together.
And to everyone's surprise, they weren't the only ones.
Zephyr, who had stepped away from the front lines years ago, entered as well. He was once again wearing the Marines' coat of justice, Admiral's epaulets on his shoulders, a cigar clenched between his teeth.
The instant Zephyr stepped inside, the tent buzzed with excitement. Even Ortoren wasn't an exception.
"Teacher, why are you here?" Ortoren hurried forward.
"I may be old, and my body isn't what it used to be," Zephyr said with a warm chuckle, "but I can still be of some use. The Marines have committed plenty of sins over the centuries. As one of them, it's time for me to carry out my own justice and atone a little."
Just like that, the Marines gained yet another top-tier combatant.