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Kaito sat on the execution platform and looked out toward the horizon.
A massive fleet was emerging from beyond the coastline, slowly and steadily, the way inevitable things tend to arrive. Sunlight scattered across the water and broke into dazzling fragments along the hulls, making the whole formation look almost beautiful.
Kaito felt the sea breeze on his face, stood up, and stretched with great unhurried satisfaction.
Then he said the thing he had been saving for exactly this kind of moment.
"Gentlemen, I love war!"
His voice rang out across the platform and carried far.
The army below erupted.
"Oh oh oh oh!!!"
Weapons went up, voices went up, and the whole formation shook with it. Some of the Goblin soldiers were actually crying. Not from fear. From something closer to pride.
Kaito-sama had said he loved war. He was growing up right before their eyes.
"I want to shout something too, that sounded amazing!"
Milim watched Kaito hold his pose with stars in her eyes, already picturing herself standing there.
"Hahaha! Don't even think about it, Milim! If anyone gets to shout something it's me!"
Ramiris, tiny in her miniature Do-Nothing cape, pointed at Milim with the absolute certainty of someone who has thought about this more than once.
"Neither of you can do it. Obviously it should be me."
Veldora offered this without looking up from his manga.
"He already finished shouting. Is there really any point arguing about this now?"
Rimuru looked at the three of them with the expression of someone who had long since run out of the right reaction to these situations.
"Uh..."
'System, what do you think of the formation down there? Pretty impressive, right?'
[It's fine. What are you getting at, Host?]
'Do you think this war is going to be completely one-sided?'
[It... should be?]
'And do you think...'
[Host. What is it you actually want to say?]
'Hehe. I just want to sign in.'
[Then sign in. Why all the buildup? Are you padding your word count?]
'...'
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have acquired God Transformation Pill x1 (Red).]
God Transformation Pill: One pill to reach the peak of God Transformation. Mom no longer has to worry about me being stuck at Nascent Soul!
'Nani?! System, have you finally noticed I'm just a small Nascent Soul cultivator?!
[Didn't you claim to be a Nascent Soul Grandmaster?]
'Tch!'
Leaving Kaito and the System to their word count padding, let us turn our attention to the approaching Marine fleet.
"Hahaha! Did Sengoku actually say that?"
Garp was picking his nose and looking sideways at Aokiji, who was horizontal on a beach chair nearby.
"Word for word. His exact instructions." Aokiji adjusted his eye patch lazily. "Apparently, outside of our ship, most of the other vessels have been quietly stocked with the problematic officers and soldiers they've been wanting to get rid of. People transferred from postings all over the world."
"Parasites." Akainu was standing at the bow with his arms crossed, facing forward, and did not turn around when he spoke. "If you want to clean out the ones who collude with pirates, just execute them. That's the appropriate end for traitors."
"It's a question of scale," Aokiji said. "Too many at once would cause instability."
Akainu snorted and said nothing further.
"I will say, Sakazuki, you're the last person I expected to be relaxed about not rescuing the Celestial Dragon." Garp popped another donut into his mouth and studied him with open curiosity. "That doesn't really seem like you."
"What does a Celestial Dragon have to do with me?" Akainu said. "The Jura-Tempest Federation isn't a pirate organization. From what I hear, they actively suppress piracy."
That last sentence came with something rare: the faint, brief outline of a smile on Akainu's face.
The senior officers nearby all looked at him as though seeing him clearly for the first time.
"Aren't you usually the first one to follow orders from above?" Aokiji asked, something dancing at the edge of his expression. "How is it that you're the one not following orders this time?"
"I am following orders," Akainu said flatly. "The orders of Fleet Admiral Sengoku."
"You really are something, you know that—"
A messenger came running, saluted sharply, and cut in before Aokiji could finish.
"Vice Admiral Garp, Admiral Akainu, Admiral Aokiji. Our forces have reached the Crescent Port of the Jura-Tempest Federation. The enemy has not sealed the port. The gates are open. Vice Admiral Smoker is requesting confirmation to advance."
"We've come this far." Akainu didn't hesitate. "Advance."
"Yes, sir!"
The messenger saluted and moved off.
"What about the CP0 agents?"
"Leave them. The Jura-Tempest Federation will deal with it."
"Understood."
The Marine fleet passed through the harbor gates and entered the crescent-shaped bay.
For a moment, the Jura-Tempest Federation did nothing.
Then Benimaru was gone from his chair.
He reappeared on a warship anchored in the port, and the Marines who had spotted him responded in kind: Aokiji activated his ability before anyone had to give the order.
"[Ice Age!]"
The entire surface of the bay locked over in an instant, turning the water into a flat, frozen field that stretched between both sides. A battlefield the old-fashioned way, where you walked toward each other and found out.
Benimaru leaped down to the center of the ice and looked out at the Marine fleet.
"Welcome to the Jura-Tempest Federation. We're glad to have you." His voice carried easily across the frozen bay. "Though I do wonder how many of you will be leaving."
"If you've come for that fat pig, come and take him."
The crowd followed where he was pointing.
On the platform, Saint Smulet knelt between two guards, stripped bare, face a map of cuts and bruises, everything about him the opposite of what the title World Noble was supposed to suggest.
The reporters turned their Den Den Mushi on him immediately and got the close-up.
Reactions came in from across the world.
"So that's a Celestial Dragon. They look pretty ordinary to me."
"Hahaha! Finally. Someone is giving them what they deserve. My daughter. Someone is finally doing it for you."
"This is what they call a god? If this is divinity, then divinity doesn't count for much."
Everyone had something to say. What nobody had, in any corner of the world watching, was sympathy.
Bang.
In Mary Geoise, a fist came down on the table.
"How dare the Jura-Tempest Federation humiliate a World Noble like this!"
"And that useless Smulet, he has completely embarrassed the Celestial Dragons name."
"When he's retrieved, he doesn't leave the house again. Ever."
The Gorosei went back and forth, all of them fully confident that retrieval was simply a matter of time.
"Tell Sengoku we want the senior leadership of the Jura-Tempest Federation taken alive. We'll make a public example of them."
"Yes, that should be done."
Somewhere in Marine Headquarters, Sengoku received that order and stared at it.
Taken alive.
They say that so easily. Why don't you come down here and try it yourself.
Truly: those at the top give the orders, those at the bottom wear their legs out. He... tui (`-д-;)ゞ!!!