The sea wind blew cold and sharp. Sunlight fell from the sky, shining upon this stretch of ocean.
And yet, despite the warm sunlight bathing their bodies, the Marines aboard the large warship could not feel the slightest warmth.
An icy chill surged across the deck, forming a layer of white frost close to the ground.
The Marines carefully stepped over that frost, slowly adjusting the cannon equipment aboard the warship.
Occasionally—or rather, while pretending it was accidental—they would cast their gazes toward the tall man standing at the bow.
The source of the cold air. The supreme commander of this large warship. And one of the three main forces of this Buster Call—
Aokiji, Kuzan!
This is wrong.
Kuzan faced the sea wind, his eyes surging with something deeply suppressed.
Ever since he had learned of that plan—or rather, that Buster Call—he had remained in this state, repeatedly questioning the justice of the Marines.
As one of the plan's executors, he understood very clearly what the essence of this Buster Call truly was.
It was not to eliminate something capable of endangering the world. It was an indiscriminate massacre carried out by the World Government to establish its authority.
Among those enemies, there were indeed genuine enemies.
But judging from the scope of the strike, far more of them were innocent civilians.
Being sheltered beneath a pirate flag should not be the fault of those born in the New World.
The very reason the New World existed was because the World Government had deliberately left behind a land for raising venomous creatures.
It was true that those people were all citizens of Non-Member Nations. It was also true that they formed the foundation of pirate rule.
Even so, Kuzan still could not convince himself.
But at the same time, he also could not face Tsuru's plea.
There were no small number of people within the Marines who had realized the problem, but those capable of changing anything were few and far between.
He was the choice of those who wished for change, a slight shift in the direction of justice.
If he refused here, it would be equivalent to killing his own future.
Because the ones who had truly made this decision were still the Five Elders of the World Government.
In the end, the Marines were still a violent organization subordinate to the World Government.
If… if there was still some chance.
A chance to carry out the order properly, but not carry it out quite so thoroughly…
"Would you stop me?"
Once again, Kuzan placed his hopes on that man who should have been his enemy, indulging in a hypothetical so absurd that even he himself found it ridiculous.
That man cared about civilians. Although he would not stop for the sake of civilians, under most circumstances, he would still take the civilian factor into account.
Based on Kuzan's understanding of Ren, Ren would inevitably intervene in this Buster Call.
Under these circumstances…
If it were you, you would definitely stop me, right?
He still could not help thinking that.
The problem was… before this lineup, what could Ren, who had already accomplished so many unbelievable things, actually do?
At the exchange location, there was Fleet Admiral Sengoku, as well as Saturn, one of the Five Elders.
He knew the latter possessed combat power too, and might even be extremely strong.
Outside Whitebeard's territory, there were three main forces led by the Three Admirals, along with a massive number of warships commanded by Marine vice admirals, surrounding the area like vassals.
On the surface, it did not seem much different from the Marineford War, but that was only because the Marineford War had never truly become a fight to the bitter end.
Even if Ren himself was very strong, and even if he excelled at borrowing strength and weaving schemes, it was still impossible for him to properly account for every step under such circumstances.
Surely he could not bring Kaido and Big Mom into this, right?
Not only did those two have grudges against Ren, they would also be happy to see Whitebeard fall.
If there was any possibility at all, it would probably be someone like Mihawk, whose stance had begun to waver.
But who could possibly command that proud and unruly swordsman?
At the very least, Kuzan did not believe Ren had that ability.
As he thought, time passed little by little.
The outline of the island gradually became clear. No matter how slowly the Marines moved, their movements could not truly be that slow.
The justice of the Marineford War had been a kind of screening process. Those who truly could not endure it had already left with Zephyr.
Those who had come here were all Marines who had chosen to stay and carry through the World Government's justice.
The cannon batteries aboard the large warship rotated, their dark muzzles aiming at the island protected by Whitebeard.
"Admiral, please give the order!"
The adjutant braced himself and walked over. After saying that, he lowered his head and fell silent.
Kuzan remained silent, clenching his fist. The moment of choice had already arrived before him.
The bombardment was only the beginning. The warships led by the Three Admirals would pierce in from three directions like sharp knives, breaking through all the way toward Whitebeard's hometown.
Along the way, they would draw the strong fighters of the Whitebeard Pirates to intercept them, thereby weakening the defensive strength of the islands in other positions.
Then the other warships would carry out the destruction, until all life was thoroughly eradicated.
And now, as the knife, he had to carry out the order—
To pierce in!
Amid the silence, the adjutant, still bowing his head, spoke again.
"Admiral, please give the order."
"If I don't agree, are you going to say next, 'By the admiral's order, open fire'?"
Kuzan suddenly said that.
The adjutant did not speak. He merely kept his head lowered.
Silence spread at this moment. Kuzan took a deep breath and had just been about to say something when he abruptly turned toward the island.
Within his Observation Haki perception, an incredibly sharp aura shot into the sky, cold and keen like a blade.
"This aura…"
The adjutant raised his head in shock, looking out over the sea together with Kuzan.
A unique black ship appeared upon the blue sea.
Its entire body was hexagonal, its base pitch-black, and its mast resembled a cross. From afar, it looked like a throne.
Eerie green candle flames burned around it, as though the god of death himself were arriving by boat to deliver death.
Are you serious?!
Kuzan's eyes widened. He pushed his Observation Haki to the utmost limit, and then he saw an unbelievable yet pleasantly surprising scene.
Ren.
Do you have some kind of magic?
Why would Mihawk—
Make a move!
"What a curious development. I never expected there would come a day when I would cross swords with the Marines."
Mihawk rose from his throne, slowly drew the black blade from his back, raised his hand—
And slashed down!
A violent green flying slash rose from the sea, charging forward like a furious dragon. Wherever it passed, the ocean sank, revealing an abyss.
At this moment, heaven and earth were filled with pure green light. Killing intent spread through the trembling air—
Toward the distance!
"It's the Warlord of the Sea, Hawkeye Mihawk! He's attacking!"
The lookout's warning arrived late, mainly because the sight was simply too unbelievable.
At this moment, Mihawk still retained his status as a Warlord of the Sea. When he appeared, no one had imagined he would brazenly attack the Marines, without even the process of communication.
Perhaps it was precisely because of this that, when the flying slash cut open the large warship and nearly split it in two, Kuzan only barely reacted.
A vast amount of cold air spread out and froze the warship that was about to sink into the sea.
But Mihawk's attack was not limited to a single slash. Chaotic flying slashes almost simultaneously cut open the other Marine warships.
The large-scale bombardment that had been ready to launch, along with the screaming Marines, capsized amid the roaring sea.
Waves surged violently. The swordsman on the black boat waited calmly.
In the distance, cold air spread out and froze the sea across a range of ten kilometers, preventing those Marines from dying in the ocean's embrace.
After finishing this, Kuzan's figure emerged, staring gravely at the enemy.
"Mihawk, do you intend to make an enemy of us?"
"I merely made a choice in advance out of consideration for the future.
"The Seven Warlords system is no longer reliable. The World Government will no longer trust third parties.
"Since I will have to return to the position of being hunted no matter what, I might as well place my bet now."
"Whitebeard?"
"No."
Mihawk gripped Yoru with one hand. With the other, he brushed at his chest, revealing a badge shaped like a cross-star.
"Allow me to introduce myself. Cross Guild honorary hunter—Hawkeye."
"…"
Although he had somewhat expected it, Kuzan's eyes still slowly widened. Out of excessive shock, his mouth opened subconsciously.
"Oh, right. Before we begin, there is something someone asked me to tell you."
The corners of Mihawk's mouth curved upward.
"What you were waiting for has already arrived."
Whoosh—!
A cold, sharp sword light crossed over a thousand meters in the next instant, arriving before Kuzan.
The blade light slashed through a cloud of ice mist. Kuzan had elementalized in advance and dodged, while at the same time opening his mouth and exhaling cold air, transforming it into a sharp ice blade.
The clash of blade against blade erupted in the next instant.
"Mihawk betrayed us?!"
"Yes, Akainu."
"Hmph. Not a single one of these lawless pirate scum is worth trusting.
"The resources invested into the Seven Warlords of the Sea system would have been better invested into the Marines."
"In any case, you must be more cautious on your side."
"Cautious?"
"This Buster Call has encountered many accidents.
"Marco and the man who kidnapped the Celestial Dragons are currently entangling Kizaru.
"That was actually still within expectations, but Mihawk making a move truly exceeded predictions.
"In theory, that man should not have made such a choice. But since the incident has already occurred, we must prepare accordingly.
"Judging by the current situation, Kuzan and Mihawk's battle cannot possibly be decided in a short time.
"The only one who can head to the target location now is your side. But… I feel that this incident will not be that simple."
On the other end of the Den Den Mushi, Tsuru narrowed her eyes. Before Sengoku departed for Whitebeard's hometown, he had once spoken with her.
It concerned the reason why the Marineford War had ended in such failure.
Of course, there had been all kinds of accumulated unexpected factors that caused the situation to spiral completely out of control.
But the true root cause had been a great hand manipulating the direction of events from behind the scenes!
Sengoku believed that person was Ren. He judged that Ren had done many things in the dark.
Therefore, no matter what it was, they had to consider that man as a factor in all aspects.
Yet even without that judgment, they could not possibly take Demon Ren lightly.
Because the other party was the strong man who, after the Marineford War, was suspected to have single-handedly destroyed the entire Big Mom Pirates and Totto Land.
The one who had forced Big Mom to flee and form an alliance with Kaido!
But now, it seemed that no matter what arrangements they made, it was difficult to avoid the influence of that great hand.
Or rather, because they could not imagine it, they had no way to guard against it.
Who could have imagined that the proud and unruly Mihawk would actually join Cross Guild and personally move to obstruct Kuzan?
However, Akainu did not think much of it.
"No matter what it is, I will burn everything that stands in my way to ash."
Akainu coldly hung up the Den Den Mushi, walked out of the captain's cabin, and came onto the deck. As his gaze looked far into the distance, he stared at the island that was about to draw near.
(End of Chapter)