After an unknown amount of time, Gawain struggled to open his eyes.
He reached out with his right hand to the ground, trying to support himself as he got up, but instead he landed on something soft.
Startled, I quickly glanced over.
There was no need for Imu to deceive herself; she might really be the mother of this body.
Humans cannot, or at least should not...
Thank goodness, it was her back. My cheap mom got kicked unconscious by my Night Guy.
With a long sigh, Gawain gently shook his head.
This battle was actually quite boring.
Imu's Devil Fruit power has a much higher limit than Rumble-Rumble Fruit, and Imu's experience far surpasses Gawain's experience.
If he doesn't resort to underhanded tactics, Gawain estimates that he will need at least three to five more years of training before he can possibly defeat Imu.
Having gathered the talents of an entire era's elite, Gawain believed he would win sooner or later.
But he no longer wanted to sit on the Golden Throne.
He must quickly conquer the current world and then completely liberate himself from it so that he can travel through more worlds in order to find one where he can fully develop his potential.
If he doesn't develop his potential to the fullest extent, it's unlikely he'll be able to maintain his current level for long.
Thinking this, Gawain turned Imu over and checked Imu's breathing. Thankfully, Imu was still alive.
Although Imu is in very poor condition, as long as he is alive, he has the physique of a strong pirate and has the potential to recover.
So Gawain hoisted Imu onto his shoulder and then leaped high into the sky.
After he jumped high enough, he looked back at the deep ravine on the moon that Night Guy had drawn out.
Ugh, another big problem.
Hopefully, this chasm won't cause the moon to fall apart under the Giant World.
Otherwise, he would have to exert all his strength to possibly use the Planetary Devastation technique to reshape a moon.
As he pondered this, Gawain, along with Imu, transformed into lightning and dashed headlong towards the Giant World.
Meanwhile, Giant World.
After three days and two nights of fighting, Mary Geoise had lost its initial fervor.
Now, the battlefield has become somewhat quieter.
Except for a few individuals, everyone else lay unconscious in the ruins, appearing in various forms.
As for the rest of the people...
Garp is undoubtedly still standing there.
As one of the strongest figures in the Pirate World, even though this old man has been nerfed countless times and forced to do foolish things like hero inheritance.
But his actual abilities are undeniable.
Garp's style has always been to go easy on his opponents in small battles and fight tooth and nail in big ones.
In this raid on Mary Geoise, Garp was the first to defeat his opponent and spread his influence throughout the entire Dark Bird Ship.
Although Saint Saturn was old but still strong, even if he transformed into a minotaur and used a cane, he was no match for Garp.
Garp may have sons Sun Tzu, but he doesn't have a wife!
Minotaur? What's that?
Just one day later, on the afternoon of the following day, Saint Saturn was smashed head into the Red Line by Garp, completely losing his ability to fight.
Originally, after defeating Saturn, Garp could have focused his energy on helping others.
Once Garp joins the battle, there's no doubt that the others will quickly gain an advantage and then snowball that advantage.
But...
No one could have imagined that the temporary absence of the Five Elders after Saint Saturn lost consciousness would activate some kind of passive defense mechanism in Mary Geoise.
Suddenly, nine old men emerged from two thousand meters underground in Mary Geoise.
Undoubtedly, they were all former Five Elders, the predecessors of figures like Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro and Saturn.
Don't underestimate this number; after all, the Five Elders all used a considerable amount of Pure Gold during their peak years, and each of them could easily live for over eight hundred years.
In these eight hundred years, they have replaced a total of nine people, all because their predecessors were too lazy to play the game anymore.
Garp was completely dumbfounded by the sudden appearance of the former Five Elders.
He had considered the possibility of encountering some kind of conspiracy by Mary Geoise, but he never imagined that he would actually encounter nine ancient monsters!
He could risk his life to hold off one or two, but nine?
Faced with such a group of nine, the morale of the Dark Bird Ship team plummeted, to the point that Kong, who had been coasting along with Sengoku for a day and a night, immediately turned against them!
That's right, after he confirmed that Gawain and Imu had been fighting all day and that there was a real possibility of Gawain achieving final victory.
Kong didn't really want to play anymore.
As one of the most outstanding marines in the past, he accepted the appointment of the Five Elders as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces not to be a lackey of the Five Elders and the Celestial Dragon.
He just wanted to fight for some benefits and space for the Navy.
Originally, he could have just gone through the motions with Sengoku. There was no shortage of Sengoku on the battlefield, and everyone was getting old, so a casual fight would have sufficed.
Gawain's side fought for a day and a night, and it was clear that the two sides were evenly matched, so there was now a real hope of winning.
Kong is really happy.
But a major disaster struck Mary Geoise instead!
Faced with the sudden appearance of nine former Five Elders, Kong couldn't just stand by and watch the crew of the Dark Bird Ship be wiped out, could he?
So he immediately switched sides.
At the same time, feeling the pressure, both Kuzan and Sakazuki unleashed their strongest powers.
In the Kong, Sengoku and Garp barely managed to withstand the kung fu of nine former Five Elders. They each defeated their opponents, who were two other former Five Elders.
Well, to be honest, they won too quickly.
While their strength is indeed considerable, their opponents are none other than the Five Elders, who hold Gawain...
In short, after two of the Five Elders were defeated in succession.
Garp, Sengoku, Kong, Sakazuki, and Kuzan.
Five people were now free to deal with the new enemy that had broken through the ground.
Even so, the five of them were overwhelmed by the nine Five Elders and had no hope of victory whatsoever.
While they struggled to hold out, they also hoped that the Dark Bird faction could achieve another breakthrough on other battlefields.
If we had more allies like Mihawk, Kizaru, and Bullet, that would be even better.
Even though they had been fighting for a whole day and night, Da Men didn't think he would lose to some random old fogey at this point!
However, before Kizaru and the others could even get a chance to fight, another unexpected person joined the battle.
Just as the five of them were struggling to hold off the Five Elders and their forces, Vegapunk led his team of androids, along with the clones he had created over the years—miniature versions of Mihawk, Hancock, and Crocodile— to join the battle.
Crocodile was the first Shichibukai.
Mihawk and Hancock also became Shichibukai right after Crocodile.
The three of them joined the Shichibukai the earliest, and their information with Vegapunk is the most detailed.
Therefore, their clones had already been created by Vegapunk, but had simply been stored in nutrient tanks.
Before this war with Mary Geoise, Gawain made a point of having a conversation with Vegapunk.
At that time, Gawain did not expect Vegapunk to join the battle, after all, even if Vegapunk possessed great power, he was still just a scholar.
Scholars should not be influenced by war.
Therefore, the reason Gawain met with Vegapunk at that time was simply to hope that Vegapunk would not provide any assistance to Mary Geoise in this battle.
He didn't want Vegapunk to join the enemy side, but besides, he wouldn't force Vegapunk to fight for him.
However, it now seems that Vegapunk clearly has his own plans.
Or perhaps, Vegapunk didn't have any other plans; he devoted all his energy to the path of science.
But Vegapunk's clones all had their own desires.
Therefore, once the war began, Vegapunk's clones focused their attention on the battlefield of Mary Geoise.
With their level of technology, they even observed the war between Gawain and Imu on the moon.
After they discovered that Mary Geoise's hidden, ancient trump card had finally been revealed, they made their decision on the fly.
The clones unanimously rejected Vegapunk's decision to remain neutral and launched a massive rebellion, directly taking control of Vegapunk.
Subsequently, the clones decisively deployed the experimental Kuma robot they had been researching in recent years, along with the three newly created Shichibukai, and rushed to Mary Geoise at top speed.
Although Vegapunk's seven clones were of average combat strength, they possessed extremely advanced technology. With various equipment, they barely managed to deal with one or two monsters Five Elders.
Meanwhile, the clones Mihawk and Hancock. also fearlessly got involved with an old relic.
As for the clone Crocodile Jr.
He played the support role, cigar in hand, constantly tearing down buildings in Mary Geoise alongside his real-life counterpart.
There was no other way; his strength was neither superior to that of his prototype, so this was the only option he could do.
Ironically, Crocodile's clone is actually slightly stronger than Crocodile himself...
Who told Vegapunk to transplant so many abilities into him...?
In short, with the help of Vegapunk's numerous clones, the Dark Bird Ship temporarily withstood the ancient beings' attack.
As time passes, as the sun disappears and night falls, will the moon, with its explosive, cool light, appear overhead?
Bullet and Yixiao finally dealt with their opponents and could now help the others gain an advantage.
But shortly after their victory, news of Redfield's defeat spread.
Although Redfield was quite powerful, his strength was indeed inferior to others after being Impel Down for so long.
He lost to Homing, the leader of the God's Knights.
And the cost of failure...
Homing is not Garp; he will spare his opponent's life.
He is not like Sakazuki or Kuzan, who, even if they win, would have to consider the relationship between the Five Elders and Gawain, and spare the lives of the losers.
Therefore, Redfield met his end just one week after gaining his freedom.
However, when his pupils fully dilated, he felt no regret.
At least his life had one last brilliant moment!
With that thought in mind, he peacefully closed his eyes.
Wait, something's not right?!
If Gawain had given him the Vampire-Vampire Fruit before the battle, he would have gained youth and the power of the Devil Fruit, how could he have lost to Homing like this!
No, I cannot die in peace!
"Damn Gawain!!!"
And so, Redfield, who had just woken up from the Xianyang Palace, instinctively spat out a remark about Gawain.
Subsequently, he was severely beaten by Whitebeard and Kaido, who greatly admired Gawain, because of this remark.
Redfield's tragic fate, after Homing broke free, his strength easily caused the Dark Bird Ship a great deal of trouble.
The situation has remained in this unusual balance until now... a lose-lose situation.
The current battlefield, besides Garp, Homing, Mihawk, and Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro.
Everyone else was incapacitated.
Zephyr lost his mechanical arm again, and he himself was smashed into the mountains and disappeared without a trace.
After barely defeating his opponent, Yi Homing due to his blindness. He is currently kneeling unconscious in the dilapidated Sabaody Castle.
Bullet's gigantic form was broken by the combined efforts of three ancient beings. Then, his left arm was severed by one of them, and he fell to the far reaches of the Red Line and disappeared without a trace.
Hancock lost her fighting ability long ago, and even if she tried her best, she was no match for the God's Knights.
Fortunately, Gawain arranged for her to be the Donquixote Family's God's Knights. Out of respect for Gawain, the Donquixote Ancestor did not kill Hancock, but instead took the time to send her back to the Dark Bird Ship.
And this ancestor of the Donquixote Family...
He also rested on the Dark Bird Ship, and even took the opportunity to play two rounds of mahjong in the Sabaody Archipelago.
It's safe to say they're from the Donquixote Family; they're masters of slacking off.
However, the other Donquixote didn't slack off. Doflamingo paid the price of being cut in half at the waist during the war, but fortunately he managed to sew himself up with thread in time. He was then quickly sent by Kizaru to the Dark Bird Ship for treatment, which barely saved his life.
And Crocodile, Doflamingo's good ally.
He died, killed by the God's Knights of the Rosward Family...
Besides Crocodile, Jinbe was also a serious person. He fought to the very last moment, ultimately withstanding the attack and forcibly dragging his opponent off the Red Line.
The two fell thousands of meters, plunging into the sea and disappearing without a trace.
Kuma won, but Kuma was ambushed by Homing, who even chopped off the Paw-Paw on his limbs.
However, Vegapunk and Kuma had a very good relationship, and the android Shaka immediately took Kuma away from Mary Geoise and back to Vegapunk's own territory in the northern suburbs for treatment.
In this battle, the release of the top-tier monsters was a terrifying thing. On Gawain's side, Garp's release allowed him to single-handedly overpower two old relics, giving Gawain's side a huge strategic advantage.
On the Mary Geoise side, Homing, after being liberated...
He incapacitated five monsters, directly or indirectly, simply through a sneak attack.
Kuma and Little Smile are just two of those five people...