"Damn it! What are you doing?" Akainu glared angrily at Hancock.
Because he is Logia Fruit user, it doesn't matter if part of the magma is petrified; the part that was ejected simply breaks off, and his arm returns to its original state.
"I just couldn't stand it; someone dragged the child into this," Hancock explained forcefully.
"Very well, I hope you understand that if Kuja relinquishes its position as Shichibukai, it means that Amazon Lily will no longer be under the protection of the World Government," Akainu said coldly.
Although Akainu was certain that Hancock's motives were clearly questionable, he didn't want to say anything too definitive while they were on the battlefield—he would wait until after the war to make things worse!
Hancock paused upon hearing this, but did not take any further action.
Given Amazon Lily's geographical location and the strength of the female Warrior protecting the nation, it doesn't need protection at all. The World Government has never provided any protection; the so-called "protection" simply means not to harm it.
Meanwhile, other naval officers were about to surround Ace when suddenly a "balloon" popped out of the Golden Chariot, directly knocking away the attack...
That's right, it was Lucas, Enkidu, and Luffy arrived from the sky aboard the Sky King to complete the final rescue.
Seeing this, Garp felt somewhat... complex, but he still said to Sengoku was being bandaged, "Sengoku, perhaps it's not my place to say this, but... let's end this battle here!"
The navy got off to a bad start today, with numerous minor problems arising during the deployment.
Now that Ace has been rescued, Garp breathed a sigh of relief, and... although Garp couldn't lie to himself, he was indeed more relieved out of personal reasons, but from a public perspective, this was also a good opportunity for a ceasefire!
After rescuing Ace, the Whitebeard Pirates will definitely retreat, rather than continue fighting to the death.
Giving up now would result in significant naval losses, and more importantly, reputational damage, but at least... the casualties would be acceptable!
If this continues, the consequences are unpredictable, and it's almost certain that it won't be the outcome the Sengoku period hoped for.
At this moment, the Golden Chariot was still trapped in the Navy's position, but it was not far from the area where the Whitebeard Pirates had already attacked, and this "The Chariot" was rushing around like a pig, and it looked like it was about to break through.
Just as Sengoku's lips twitched, he hesitated, about to give the order...
Suddenly, Scoyard of the Great Vortex Spider appeared, having somehow moved closer to the Golden Chariot —even though they were already within the Navy's ranks!
Two Giant Vice Admiral blocked the Golden Chariot from the left and right. The Chariot's powerful ramming ability was effective in crowds, but it was ineffective against Giant Race.
"William, over here!" Scoyard called out.
Seeing this, William immediately did a crotch throw, tossing Ace under the Titan's crotch.
Without this burden, he felt he could disappear with the Golden Car Boy—although it was their first meeting, they felt a strong connection.
Seeing this, Akainu couldn't help but sneer, thinking to himself: It's done.
Sig had just started slacking off again and even disappeared into the shadows, thought to himself: Thank goodness...
How could Sig not have noticed Scoyard's emotions?
If we really wanted to divert the flow beforehand, it would be very simple, but... Sig didn't come to save people, he came to start a war!
If Ace is rescued, will Whitebeard still obey his orders and come back to fight?
So Sig didn't stop him; on the contrary, he was pleased that Scoyard, the giant spider, was reliable.
However, just as the Whitebeard Pirates were getting excited, a sudden change occurred. Scoyard abruptly retreated back into the Marines and held his sword against Ace!
"Giant spider! What are you doing?" Ace asked in surprise.
"You...are Roger's son?" Scoyard glared angrily at Ace.
"I only have one Old Man..."
"That's not what I'm asking! You're Roger's son?"
This sudden turn of events caused both the navy and the pirates to pause in their actions.
Sengoku's order to withdraw his troops was immediately halted— Ace had already been "captured," so how could he possibly order Ace's voluntary release?
The nature of these two things is clearly different!
In any case, Sengoku would never issue such an order, especially after Ace's true parentage had just been revealed!
"Whitebeard! You knew Ace's identity all along, so you wanted him to become the One Piece, so... you decided to sacrifice us, right?!" Scoyard roared, his composure shattered.
On one hand, it was his hatred for Roger; he already had a grudge against Roger. On the other hand, it was because, under Akainu's instigation, he believed that Whitebeard intended to sacrifice his other sons to save Ace...
"What nonsense are you talking about! I don't want to be the One Piece!" Ace shouted at Scoyard, ignoring his blade.
"Halt!" Scoyard warned Akainu as he noticed his approach.
"Calm down. As long as you hand Ace over to us, whether you want to become Shichibukai or take revenge on Whitebeard..." Akainu said, subtly winking at Doberman closest to Scoyard.
This Marine Vice Admiral, who had previously protected Vegapunk's research base alongside Shiryu, immediately understood Akainu's meaning, after all, he was originally from Akainu's faction...
Before Akainu could finish speaking, Doberman suddenly attacked with lightning speed and force, clearly intending to kill Scoyard and Ace together!
"Careful!"
"Stop..."
Just as the blade was about to strike, Scoyard only had time to slightly turn his body and glance at Doberman was attacking from behind, a pitch-black fist suddenly slammed down, pressing his head down and "shoving" it into the ground!
Logically, the Whitebeard Pirates should have breathed a sigh of relief at this point, but upon seeing who had made the move, they were stunned for a moment, only to see...
Blackbeard, with the aura of the Darkness Fruit emanating from his arm, knocked Doberman to the ground with a single blow.
"You..." Akainu's eyes widened in surprise.
He had known all along that Blackbeard... no, all of the Shichibukai were untrustworthy!
However, to everyone's surprise, Blackbeard suddenly betrayed them at this crucial moment.
"What a joke! The show has only just begun, don't even think about ruining it... Hahahaha..." Blackbeard laughed loudly.
Without further hesitation, Akainu transformed into a magma giant and pounced on Scoyard and Ace.
Scoyard was certainly not worthy of Akainu's seriousness, but... Akainu didn't want to give Scoyard any chance to hand Ace back!
At this distance, it was clear that no member of the Whitebeard Pirates could come to the rescue, and even Blackbeard didn't want to face the enraged Akainu directly.
Just then, two jets of blood spurted out, and then...
A massive wall of fire rose before Scoyard, temporarily blocking the surging lava!