Crisis! Momonga Arrives!

"How are your preparations coming along?"

A raven fell from the sky, then more ravens flapped their wings and converged, forming Lowett.

Glancing at the Black Knight commanding the undead to haul the corpses, Lowett asked.

"Roar!"

"Faster, before Momonga arrives, seize the time."

"Roar roar!"

The Black Knight received the order and let out roars that shook people's hearts. Under the natural pressure at the soul level, the speed of each undead increased again, and they went from jogging with corpses to sprinting.

"It wasn't a wasted effort."

Looking at the corpses being loaded into the ship's hold, Lowett's lips curled up.

Wallace was not very useful. He was fine running around the East Blue, but the Grand Line was out of the question. If he dared to go, Lowett wouldn't believe it.

If he had enough time, he wouldn't mind playing the savior, imitating everything Luffy did, from understanding to familiarity, then to saving, and finally recruiting Nami.

But clearly, with Momonga hanging around behind him, time was clearly insufficient.

Nami blinding herself caught him off guard. What kind of determination and willpower did it take to dig out her own eyeballs?

Fujitora had only cut himself twice!

Having lost this opportunity, Lowett knew very well that the possibility of recruiting Nami again was almost zero.

By the time he recovered to being a formal Mage, or waited for Nami's eyes to heal in a year, his threat level would definitely skyrocket. The Navy would not allow him to return to the East Blue so easily, and a great battle would be inevitable, making him lose sight of the main goal.

But he didn't regret it.

Witnessing how dazzling a powerful and brilliant soul could be, especially from a slender girl equated with "fragility," this scene was worth the price of admission.

Man's greatest fear is death, and his greatest courage is facing death!

As a Necromancer who dealt with death, denying someone's courage, denying their spirit of facing death head-on, was denying themselves.

On the sea, how many people were like this?

Lowett looked forward to the future more and more.

"If I said I wasn't a pirate, would you come with me?"

Remembering Nami's last words, Lowett smiled.

That was probably the effect of something called "a maiden's pride."

But it wasn't what he wanted.

Smiling, smiling, suddenly, Lowett couldn't smile anymore.

"Roar!!!"

The Black Knight flashed in front of Lowett, quickly lowered itself, its ribs opened and turned outwards, transforming into a uniquely shaped black spider with wings, three faces, and a human torso.

"Did I miscalculate somewhere again?"

Looking at the white troop marching towards them at the end of the street with the rising sun, Lowett's expression was solemn.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The troop was not large, less than three hundred, but their imposing aura was comparable to thousands of soldiers!

Soldiers wearing thin T-shirts and baseball caps held their guns diagonally towards the sky, marching in neat steps, with no deviation.

Elites!

Without a doubt, this was a true elite force!

If "soldiers" and "farmers" were classified into two combat power levels, then there was another chasm between "elites" and "soldiers."

Elites forged in iron and blood were no joke when it came to fighting one thousand against a hundred.

"Roar!!"

The Zombie Puppets let out low growls. The vitality of Fishmen far surpassed that of ordinary humans, causing the Crimson Fury to not dissipate yet.

But the usually violent and bloodthirsty Zombie Puppets showed a moment of chaos when facing this human troop.

Lowett knew that this group of soldiers alone could not achieve this. What truly made the zombies feel fear was the tall, upright man walking at the front of the formation, whose imposing demeanor radiated even without anger.

The cloak of Justice fluttered in the wind, its cuffs adorned with red silk, the sea-blue shoulder insignia pushed up by his shoulders, and two golden medals symbolizing honor hung on his chest, shining brightly in the sun.

He wore a light purple striped suit and a dark blue shirt, a tie, a mohawk, a beard, and his hair and beard were dark purple. A slender samurai sword with a plum blossom engraved on its hilt hung at his waist.

The visitor was none other than the one who made pirates in the entire East Blue dare not provoke him, the visiting Vice Admiral, Momonga!!

That vast and brilliant life aura, like the sun melting ice, made the zombies instinctively keep their distance, not daring to approach.

"Atten-HUT!!!"

Thump!!

The soldiers stomped their feet in unison, letting out a dull thud, and stopped less than fifty meters from Lowett.

From beginning to end, their eyes never glanced at the ferocious and terrifying undead surrounding them, and from beginning to end, their eyes never showed a trace of fear at the sight of the Black Knight's appearance.

To this extent, orders were followed without question...

A terrifying army!

Lowett knew that the undead's greatest weapon, fear, would be difficult to wield this time.

With a grave look in his eyes, Momonga's knife-like gaze swept over the Fishman corpses, then over the undead, pausing on the Black Knight before turning to the main culprit.

"I never expected it to be you... Triangle Spellbreaker, Lowett!!"

He had made many speculations before coming. He suspected every pirate whose name was known in the East Blue, from Krieg to Kuro, even Buggy, but he never expected it to be Lowett.

And Lowett was the one he least wanted to see.

...In just two to three months, from a rootless repairman to a powerhouse capable of challenging the Fishman Pirates. Momonga had only seen such growth rates among the pirates in the New World.

Every single one of them was a scourge that wreaked havoc on the seas!

Facing Momonga's threatening gaze, Lowett signaled the Black Knight to retreat and faced Momonga directly, saying.

"Triangle Spellbreaker is dead, Vice Admiral Momonga... The one before you now is the pirate, Black Count!"

This was a matter of principle, not open to debate.

"Is that so..."

Momonga's face twitched, and his eyes dimmed for a second.

"Yes, Triangle Spellbreaker is dead... along with the crimes he committed, they have all vanished into thin air."

No, I really didn't mean it that way.

Lowett's mouth twitched.

Don't overthink it!

"But if he's dead, why crawl out of the grave?!"

Momonga took a step forward, his dry, long fingers touching the hilt of his sword.

Danger!

Lowett's brow stung, and a terrifying killing intent made his breathing quicken.

"As expected of a Marine Vice Admiral, just your aura is this intimidating!"

Silently mobilizing his mental power, Lowett's slightly small figure stood tall before Momonga, his voice resonating.

"Because the dead also have their own justice!"

"You...!"

Momonga's pupils contracted.

"The false justice of the living disgusts the dead, so I crawled back from hell, bringing the justice of the dead with me."

Momonga's expression turned grim.

Yes, their justice was too false.

Lowett had been forced into this situation from the beginning – setting sail, fleeing, being arrested, being abandoned along the way, being silenced, being ignored.

Justice that cannot uphold fairness is itself devoid of any justice.

"Well, that being said, dead people are best left in their coffins and shouldn't come out to bask in the sun."

Suddenly, a nonchalant voice came from the rear of the troops. Lowett's eyes focused, and he suddenly understood.

"So I underestimated you."

"White Hunter," Smoker!

Standing at the rear of the troops was the Loguetown garrisoned Loguetown, a Logia-type Smoke-Smoke Fruit user, Captain Smoker.

There was no rule stating Momonga had to bring all his soldiers when he went out, nor was there a rule preventing Smoker from stepping outside his jurisdiction.

Combining this with the sea chart, a clear route appeared in Lowett's mind.

It was true that Momonga only had one warship, but the troops could be split up.

So he left some elites in Loguetown as a contingency.

Long before the Mouse led his men to block the door last night, this portion of the troops, led by Smoker, had already set out and arrived in the nearby waters.

Then the Mouse's entire army was annihilated, and Momonga urgently mobilized, using the Rokushiki technique "Geppo" to break away from the main force and accelerate alone.

With his strength, it was naturally impossible for him to cross the ocean, but merely crossing a portion and transferring to Smoker's ship was not a miracle.

Then the two sides rendezvoused and pursued at full speed.

This way, not only were there sufficient troops, but it also saved several hours, allowing them to land and intercept Lowett perfectly.

"This is a bit tricky!"

Lowett didn't understand the structure of Logia-types, and coupled with such a cunning Momonga, he couldn't handle it alone.

It was very difficult!