Naval Upheaval

After some more time passed, Lin Feng's opponent, Onigumo, was the first to give out, coughing up a mouthful of blood.

His internal organs had been severely damaged. The fact that he had held on until now was already a testament to his powerful will.

Even Lin Feng had to admire these physical freaks from the Pirate World.

They could actually fight for this long? It had turned into a battle of who could hold their bladder longer. If this went on, he would not be able to hold it much longer himself.

He had no idea how those monsters who fought for days and nights managed to endure it.

Never mind not needing food or water, did they not need to relieve themselves either? Everyone was still mortal and needed to eat, drink, and use the bathroom. It was not like Richard and Xia Mi, who had already surpassed the bounds of ordinary life.

Or did they call a timeout halfway through, take a leak, then keep fighting?

That image was too beautiful. Just thinking about it gave him a whiff of something, so he did not dare think any further.

He never wanted to fight these physical freaks again.

Seeing that only he and Vice Admiral Momonga were still holding on, Garp grew anxious as well.

He unleashed his Haki without restraint, and an intense pressure swept out, making heaven and earth change color.

Sure enough, this guy possessed Conqueror's Haki. Otherwise, how could he have contended with Roger, Rocks, and the others? He had not even eaten a Devil Fruit.

Mastery of Armament Haki alone was not enough.

After all, they were all among the sea's strongest fighters. Even if the others' Armament Haki was weaker, how weak could it be?

Unfortunately, not a single person present was weak. This burst of Conqueror's Haki had no effect on them whatsoever.

Xia Mi even remarked that this was Conqueror's Haki. It looked pretty cool, and she wanted it.

Releasing Conqueror's Haki was ultimately only useful for clearing fodder. To deal with the strong, one still had to use Advanced Conqueror's Haki.

With Advanced Conqueror's Haki combined with Armament Hardening, Garp threw a punch at Richard. If that punch landed, the entire island would tremble three times over.

Yet even a punch with that kind of power merely distorted the stream of water before Richard, which returned to normal the next moment.

Richard remained utterly unfazed and even had the spare attention to comment. That power should be at Peak Saint Domain, right?

This time, Garp's expression truly changed.

He realized he had underestimated his opponent. Though this man did not possess the slightest air of a powerhouse, he was absolutely no weaker than Garp—perhaps even stronger.

With his mindset changed, Garp summoned the fighting spirit he had possessed during his great battles against Roger.

He threw punch after punch without stopping.

Richard said nothing and simply kept blocking.

Not long afterward, Momonga was defeated. Kuina severed his blade and took one of his arms along with it.

After many great battles, Kuina had finally found that fleeting opportunity and advanced to become a Great Swordsman, her strength increasing dramatically.

This was not some fantasy or cultivation story where the protagonist had a sudden epiphany and their cultivation soared.

Kuina had merely made a breakthrough in her realm of swordsmanship, vastly improving her sword techniques and allowing her to wield greater power.

No matter what, it was a good thing. After fulfilling her long-cherished wish and coming only one step short, her next goal was to challenge the world's greatest swordsman.

Momonga had been defeated, but Garp paid no heed and continued his frenzied assault.

Yet he could do nothing to Richard.

"Big news, absolutely huge news! Hahaha, I'm going to strike it rich! Dead Hand, take pictures for me!" From a distant tree, the reporter from earlier had risked his life to follow them here.

It had to be said, the man had truly obtained a huge scoop.

Celestial Dragons had been buried alive, the Marines had suffered defeat, Akainu's whereabouts were unknown, and Marine hero Garp was raging helplessly.

Any one of those was headline news capable of shaking the seas, yet he had captured all of them.

At that moment, he had long thrown concerns for his own safety out of his mind. He only wanted to take more pictures, then even more. Tomorrow, he would definitely rock the entire sea.

Meanwhile, the surviving Marine soldiers struggled ashore, bringing back the officers Erii had injured along the way.

They then relayed news of the complete destruction of the warships to Headquarters. They were no longer able to fight and required Headquarters to send reinforcements.

At Marineford, Sengoku's face turned ashen upon receiving the intelligence.

The loss of several warships was manageable, and fortunately, not many soldiers had died.

Most had saved themselves after falling into the sea and swum back to shore. Otherwise, Marine Headquarters would have been severely short on manpower.

He immediately convened a meeting of Headquarters' vice admirals. Every vice admiral attended to discuss how they should respond next.

The main issue was that the Ghost Pirate Crew's combat power had far exceeded expectations.

Two Admiral Level fighters and two vice admirals had been sent against them, yet they had still been able to spare people to deal with the Marine warships?

This showed that their strength was far greater than expected. The Marines had to face them with the same seriousness they would use against the Four Emperors—or even something stronger.

Could the four they had sent earlier—Garp, Sakazuki, Momonga, and Onigumo—handle them? Had they already been dragged into a bitter battle? Did Headquarters need to send reinforcements?

He needed to discuss personnel deployment. At the very least, someone had to go assess the situation.

"Kuzan cannot be moved. He needs to guard the New World," Tsuru was the first to speak.

"Mm." Sengoku nodded in agreement.

"Gion needs to handle matters on the World Government's side, but she can join this operation.

This time, I will personally lead the team over to take a look," Tsuru said again.

She was originally the chief staff officer of Marine Headquarters, the Marines' foremost strategist.

She also wanted to see this extraordinary group of young people for herself.

"Good. Add Doberman and Burning Mountain. The four of you will go. If Garp and the others are in trouble, bring them back if possible while preserving yourselves. The Marines cannot afford such losses," Sengoku decided.

Doberman and Burning Mountain, the two vice admirals who had been called upon, promptly acknowledged the order.

Before long, the four set off.

When they arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago, what they saw were battered remnants of the Marines along the shoreline and Garp, seemingly possessed and fighting like a madman.

Richard was effortlessly blocking Garp's attacks, while the others rested leisurely nearby.

The scene was even worse than the worst scenario they had imagined.

Only Garp still retained his combat power. Sakazuki was nowhere to be seen, and his situation was most likely grim.

"Oh? More people came?" Xia Mi tilted her head as she looked at Vice Admiral Tsuru and the others.

Gion, Doberman, and Burning Mountain stood behind Tsuru.

Kuina's eyes gleamed as she looked at Gion and Doberman.

The two carried swords, so they should be formidable swordsmen as well.

She felt she could still fight another battle.

However, Tsuru showed no intention of fighting immediately.

After seeing Tsuru, Garp gradually stopped and retreated to her side.

Richard did not stop him. In any case, none of them would be allowed to leave.

"Are you the leader of the Ghost Pirate Crew? What is your purpose? Why did you attack the Celestial Dragons?" Tsuru tried to open a dialogue with Richard.

"How about we make a deal and change our name? It's way too awful. Who came up with it?" Rather than answer, Richard fixated on that awful name and the damned nickname, "Water Ghost."

People in this world truly had no culture. When they gave people nicknames, they used things like "Whitebeard," "Blackbeard," and "Red-Haired." How was that any different from calling someone "Four-Eyes" or "Curly"? Anyone who did not know better would think they were nicknames for some random fodder.

"That can be arranged. What name would you like?" Tsuru asked with a smiling expression.

"We'll be called the Travel Group. As for my title, you can call me the Water God. Don't call me Water Ghost. That sounds terrible," Richard said. After all, he did have a Water Element Divine Clone, so he could live up to that title.

"And me, me too! I don't want to be called the 'War Ghost.' I want to be called the Dragon King," Fenrir hurriedly added.

"Of course. Once I return, I'll have them change it for you," Tsuru said, still smiling.

"Forget it, then. You probably won't be going back," Richard said.

Tsuru's smile stiffened. Why was this guy not playing by the rules?

She made a subtle hand gesture, and Garp and the others beside her prepared for battle.