Shelling the Refuge Ship

"What... what terrifying brute strength!"

Yaen's lips twitched slightly as he looked at the shocking scene before him, instinctively holding his breath.

One must remember that a standard Marine warship, considered a "steel behemoth," was crewed by a full thousand Marines.

As for the exact tonnage of a Marine warship, Yaen wasn't sure, but purely in terms of volume, a Marine warship was several times larger than Sauron.

And Sauron, who was already a giant, had lifted a steel creation several times his own size. This physical structure instantly reminded Yaen of a creature – an "ant."

One could only say, as expected of the Giant Race.

This innate physical advantage truly made the frail Yaen envious.

In the next moment, under Yaen's astonished gaze, Sauron, holding the entire Marine warship aloft, hurled it violently towards another Marine warship that was continuously firing at him.

If these two warships collided, it would inevitably lead to the deaths of a large number of Marine soldiers.

Almost instinctively, Yaen wanted to intervene and stop the collision of the two warships, but at the critical moment, he forcibly stopped himself.

The credit for saving the lives of over two thousand soldiers and preventing the collision of two Marine warships was something he wanted to avoid if possible...

With his thoughts racing, Yaen quickly reached out and tugged at Kuzan beside him, reminding him.

"Vice Admiral Kuzan, do something..."

Kuzan, who had been stunned by Sauron's appearance, instantly reacted. With a flash, he appeared directly in front of the warship that was falling like a meteor.

"Ice Age!"

An unimaginable chill spread from Kuzan's outstretched hands, engulfing most of the warship's hull in an instant.

Beneath the hull, the sea surface rapidly froze, and several ice pillars appeared out of nowhere, supporting the massive warship in mid-air.

The soldiers, who had been terrified, looked at the warship frozen in mid-air and soon noticed Kuzan, whose body was half-covered in ice, and they cheered.

"Vice Admiral Kuzan!"

On the coast of Ohara, Sauron looked at the familiar figure and the vast expanse of ice, his expression becoming extremely solemn. He murmured.

"Kuzan, you came too?"

Immediately, Sauron, who had reacted, turned around without hesitation and took Robin, attempting to escape!

As Kuzan's friend, Sauron was acutely aware of how terrifying Kuzan's strength was. Pure brute force was meaningless in front of that man.

However, in the next moment, Sauron's footsteps halted as he stared at the figure that suddenly appeared before him.

Compared to his usual passionate demeanor, Kuzan's current expression was like eternally unmelting ice, and in his hand, he held a handsome, unfamiliar young man.

"Kuzan..."

Seeing this, Sauron couldn't help but slowly take a few steps back.

"Sauron, as a former Marine, it would be too embarrassing if you disrupted the Buster Call. Surrender now," Kuzan said coldly, as if they had no prior relationship.

This made Yaen glance at Kuzan, his lips curling slightly as he thought.

This guy Kuzan, he was just feeling down about his friend Sauron's defection, is he the tsundere type, cold on the outside but warm on the inside?

However, Sauron, seeing his old friend again, couldn't help but become agitated and shouted.

"Kuzan, are you proud of the Buster Call's attack? You've got it backward. You should understand, the World Government is making an example of them, sacrificing the entire Ohara to achieve their goal."

Facing Sauron's questioning, Kuzan's expression remained unchanged as he said.

"For the development of the world and the stability of the sea, this is unavoidable. Besides, the scholars did violate the World Government's ban, didn't they?"

He paused, then looked at Sauron's expression, which showed no hint of regret.

"Actually, I understand too. Justice changes its form depending on one's stance. So, I don't intend to criticize your justice. But if you obstruct the Marines' justice, then I can only..."

Just then, Yaen, who was almost constantly maintaining his Observation Haki, suddenly sensed that the trajectory of one cannonball was completely different from the others. Its target was heading directly for the evacuation ship carrying the civilians of Ohara.

Given the power of a Marine warship's cannonball, if it hit that evacuation ship, it would instantly turn into a fireworks display on the sea, and the civilians of Ohara would be forever buried at sea.

"Sakazuki, you still made that choice?"

Witnessing Sakazuki's act, which was both iron-blooded and cold-blooded, Yaen felt a strong sense of disapproval.

This evacuation ship was arranged by the World Government's CP9 organization, and the civilians on board were selected by CP9.

To put it bluntly, Sakazuki was acting like a rabid dog. The World Government, their master, hadn't even ordered him to bite this evacuation ship, yet Sakazuki had pounced on it himself.

Instinctively, Yaen wanted to tug at Kuzan beside him...

However, the speed of the cannonball was far beyond what the previously thrown warship could compare to!

It was too late...

"Scatter, Senbonzakura!"

For a moment, it was as if a pink stream of light appeared on the sea surface. A large number of cherry blossoms, dreamlike and beautiful, flew past, blocking the path of the evacuation ship.

"Boom!"

In the next instant, the cannonball collided with the cherry blossoms, instantly triggering a massive explosion that caused ripples on the sea surface.

The appearance of this cannonball completely stunned Kuzan, the civilians on the evacuation ship, and the soldiers on the other Marine warships.

Amidst the terrified screams of the numerous civilians on the evacuation ship, who had narrowly escaped death, and the murmurs of the Marine soldiers on the nearby warships, Kuzan's expression grew particularly grim, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Clearly, Kuzan had never imagined that the righteous Marines would open fire on an evacuation ship filled with civilians screened by CP9.

Sauron, who harbored compassion for the weak, was evidently even more agitated and questioned Kuzan.

"Kuzan, is this the act of Justice you speak of? Are these civilians guilty? To slaughter innocent civilians like this."

Kuzan instinctively retorted, "No, I never intended for it to go this far. Sakazuki, that bastard, did this."

Meanwhile, on a Marine warship in the distance, Sakazuki's resolute and iron-willed expression remained unchanged. His gaze shifted from the large bloom of cherry blossoms erupting in front of the evacuation ship to Yaen, who stood beside Kuzan on the shore, and he spoke.

"What brat is this, daring to stop the Marines' bombardment..."

The adjutant standing beside Sakazuki couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Vice Admiral Sakazuki, should we continue bombarding the evacuation ship?"