Dawn broke on the horizon, and the morning light emerged.
The battle that had lasted through the night finally came to an end with the Marines suffering a crushing defeat.
The Marines watched helplessly as the Maud Pirates vanished into the distance. Having achieved only meager results, their morale was at rock bottom.
But their cleanup operation was not officially over yet.
Or rather, there were still enemies on the battlefield they needed to eliminate.
Chinjao and the others, who had thought the war was finally over, sensed the danger at last.
The Marines present revealed the daggers they had kept deeply concealed and turned their blades toward Chinjao and the other Shichibukai.
"What does this mean?!"
Apart from Hawk Eyes, Chinjao and the other Shichibukai stared at the Marines pointing their daggers at them in disbelief.
They realized that the Marines might have intended from the very beginning to wipe out both them and the Maud Pirates, and they were instantly enraged.
Chinjao in particular was practically being burned to ashes by his fury.
Had he known this would be the outcome, he would have seized the chances he had passed up earlier and launched a surprise attack on Garp, who was locked in a fierce battle with Aokiji.
But he had held himself back at the time. And now that the war was over, the Marines were actually turning on them?
This despicable act of slaughtering the donkey after it had finished its work was so shameless that even pirates like them had to concede defeat.
The situation could no longer be reversed.
Fujitora, who had long yearned to abolish the Shichibukai system, made the first move.
And so—
The Shichibukai, who had "fought a bloody battle" through the night, faced the greatest crisis in their history.
The