"Whitebeard and Red Hair are one thing. Given their personalities, they generally won't take the initiative to start a war with the Marines. But Kaido is a warmonger. He's been circling overhead this entire time, and there's no telling when he might decide to strike."
"And judging by the current balance of forces, if a war breaks out, the situation will be extremely unfavorable for us!"
"I've already contacted Fleet Admiral Sengoku. He's leading reinforcements and is on his way here. His orders are for us to maintain the standoff for as long as possible!"
"But how exactly are Kuzan and I supposed to maintain a balance against three Yonko crews?!"
"So I don't care what situation you're in right now. Find a way to get back here and support us immediately!"
Hearing the unusual seriousness in Akainu's voice and considering that he was facing the combined pressure of three Yonko crews, Kizaru finally put aside his usual carefree attitude.
"I'll find a way to return as quickly as possible. By the way, didn't you bring a large number of CP0 agents this time? Shouldn't that have reduced the gap in combat power?"
Kizaru reluctantly finished the last sip of black tea, stood up, and stretched.
"Who told you it was CP0 that came with us?!" Akainu roared.
"CP0 was just a cover. Those bastards claimed they were special envoys from the World Government, but they were actually members of the God's Knights!"
Kizaru's pupils narrowed slightly.
"With those people present, you should at least be able to maintain a stalemate. How did things end up like this?"
"Because those bastards discovered they were surrounded by three Yonko crews and immediately used the World Government's authority to order us to hold the line. Then they escaped using some kind of strange method!"
Sakazuki could no longer suppress the fury boiling inside him.
He could accept defeat.
He could barely tolerate the World Government's orders not to provoke the Yonko.
But he absolutely could not accept the God's Knights abandoning their posts while the two sides were locked in a military standoff.
"What God's Knights? What Celestial Dragons? They're nothing but a bunch of useless cowards and trash!"
Sakazuki cursed the Celestial Dragons countless times in his heart, yet he still had no choice but to obey their orders.
With the entire God's Knights force having disappeared, maintaining a deterrent capable of matching three Yonko crews became impossible.
As a result, Sakazuki had been forced to call the perpetually slacking Borsalino once again.
Seeing Kizaru hesitate and look somewhat reluctant to leave, Saff smiled, took a box of black tea she had personally stir-fried from Kirk, and handed it to him.
Kizaru's eyes immediately curved into crescents.
Even the wrinkles on his old face seemed to soften.
"A beautiful and kind-hearted young lady with such excellent cooking skills is certain to have good fortune."
The moment he finished speaking, his body transformed into a flash of light and vanished.
His departure speed was noticeably faster than when he had arrived.
...
Ash paid little attention to Kizaru's departure.
After all, the current standoff between the Marines and the so-called Yonko alliance was something he had deliberately arranged.
The situation of three Yonko crews surrounding two Marine Admirals was merely a performance.
A real battle was impossible.
For both sides, continuing to waste time in a prolonged standoff at sea was the ideal outcome.
Since everything was proceeding according to his plan, there was no need for him to concern himself further with the matter.
What interested Ash far more was the information Akainu had revealed regarding the God's Knights.
Those people had concealed their identities and accompanied the Marines all the way to Hachinosu.
Their target was obviously him.
Ash was now extremely curious about where they had gone after using that teleportation method.
More importantly, he was curious about the so-called immortality possessed by the God's Knights and the Gorosei.
He didn't believe it.
Not at all.
When he had previously used the editor to design Ancestral Witch-type Devil Fruits, he had once considered creating a true immortality ability, one that could regenerate from a single drop of blood.
The editor had rejected the concept outright.
The reason given was simple.
The ability was too overpowered.
If even the editor could not create a Devil Fruit capable of granting true immortality, then how could naturally existing Devil Fruits possess such absurd power?
Therefore, the immortality displayed by the God's Knights and the Gorosei had to contain limitations, weaknesses, or hidden conditions.
For perhaps the first time in a long while, Ash's curiosity had been thoroughly piqued.
He wanted to personally uncover the truth behind that mysterious power.
The process promised to be interesting.
It might even provide inspiration for designing new and unusual Devil Fruits in the future.
Just as those thoughts crossed his mind, Ash suddenly raised an eyebrow.
Almost simultaneously, Kirk and Pini turned their heads in the same direction.
Far beyond the coastline, right at the outer edge of their Observation Haki range, a strange fluctuation of energy suddenly appeared.
Moments later, several powerful presences abruptly materialized within their detection range.
Something had arrived.
...
Ten seconds earlier.
On a massive reef not far from Hachinosu.
A strangely dressed woman stood before a faded black pentagram array carved into the stone.
She wore a military cap fitted with goggles, a military jacket over her upper body, and extremely short bottoms. Bandages covered the lower half of her face from the bridge of her nose downward.
Extending one hand toward the array, she activated a summoning ritual.
Seven pillars of black lightning mixed with dark flames descended from the sky and struck the pentagram.
The next moment, the lightning dispersed.
The flames vanished.
One by one, seven figures wearing black hooded cloaks emerged from the magic circle.
They were the God's Knights.
At their head stood Saint Fingarland Garling.
"Cough, cough, cough."
Saint Shepherd Sommers waved away the dust stirred up by the activation of the ancient array.
"How many years has this broken thing been sitting here? It's a miracle it still works."
Saint Garling looked over the gathered God's Knights before nodding toward the woman who had activated the array.
"You've worked hard, Junko."
"To think that the teleportation array prepared long ago for dealing with the Rocks Pirates could still be used today."
Saint Qilin Gamu glanced at the heavily damaged formation beneath his feet.
"This array is far too damaged to repair. Commander, what is our next objective?"
Before Saint Garling could answer, his son, Saint Figarland Shamrock, spoke first.
"You don't even know the mission objective?"
"Were you sleeping during the briefing?"
Qilin Gamu looked genuinely shocked.
"Oh no, was I discovered?"
Shamrock stared at him.
"You were actually asleep?"
Saint Shepherd Sommers burst into laughter.
"Wahahaha! I thought you were just resting your eyes like usual!"
Saint Garling raised a hand and immediately silenced the banter.
Pulling a bounty poster from his coat, he held it up before the group.
The image on it was Ash.
"Our target is the former Warlord, Heavenly Emperor Ash."
"The people at the top do not wish for the Dawn to continue existing."
"Our duty is to extinguish this flame."
He paused before continuing.
"However, Big Mom is currently on Hachinosu as well."
"That monster's mental state is unstable. If she enters one of her rampages, she won't distinguish between friend and foe."
"Do not attract her attention unless absolutely necessary."
"Now confirm your assignments. If there are no issues, we depart immediately."
"There is nothing to prepare."
"We can leave at any time, Commander."
"Ash's head belongs to me. The honor of the kill will belong to the Manmayer family."
"Gamu, wake up. We're leaving already! Wahahaha!"
Seeing the confidence displayed by every member of the God's Knights, Saint Garling offered no further comments.
Instead, he turned toward Junko.
"Conserve as much energy as possible before the battle."
"Use your ability to fly us to Hachinosu."
"Understood."
===
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