Once the war began, the World Government side fell into a disadvantage without any suspense.
The black cannon muzzles had long been aimed at the World Government's remaining troops. The moment the horn of war sounded, the first response was the grand fireworks of ten thousand cannons firing at once.
Cannons had little effect on the truly powerful, but there were equally few strong enough to completely ignore their firepower.
The government agents and Celestial Dragon guards present were all elites selected from within that decaying giant, yet eighty or ninety percent of them still could not withstand the barrage of cannon fire and all-encompassing bombardment.
The instant the cannons roared, dazzling flames blossomed across the World Government remnants' positions.
The cannon fire, the trembling earth, the soldiers' roars, the wounded's wails.
When all of it reached the ears of the Five Elders and Kong, their hearts, already sunk to the depths, grew even more anxious.
The situation was worse than they had imagined:
Garen had not charged in recklessly for a king-versus-king showdown as they wished. Instead, he led his subordinates alongside the Marines, doing everything they could to surround and annihilate the World Government remnants, using their numbers to brutally overwhelm Solaris, the CP0 Chief, and another top CP0 agent.
Under such an overwhelmingly unfavorable situation, they had to end this quickly. They had to take Garen's head amid the army as soon as possible.
There were roughly two or three kilometers between the execution platform and the harbor square where Garen stood, but the path between them was far from clear.
Standing in the way of the Five Elders and Kong were the Marine officers led by Garp, Sengoku, Blue Pheasant, Fujitora, and Tsuru.
These pillars of the World Government had now become the pillars of the