"I'm here to end this war."
The Marine Captain's deep voice gradually echoed across the utterly silent sea, making everyone's eyes widen.
On the warship's deck, the North Blue Marines gazed at their imposing admiral standing at the bow, their eyes shining with admiration. Quite a few young female Marines' eyes had turned into hearts.
"Damn it!! He's shown us up again!! Why can't I think of lines like that!!"
Gion's partner glanced around at everyone else's reactions, then belatedly muttered a curse, his face flushed red.
Gion's eyes flickered slightly.
Just then, Vinsmoke Judge's furious voice rang out from the Germa Kingdom:
"Darren, what are you doing!? Are you planning to attack me?"
"Germa is a member of the World Government Member States, and a powerful nation entitled to attend the Reverie... Attacking me is a provocation against an Affiliated Kingdom!!"
"Besides, the Marines have no right to interfere in conflicts between nations!"
Darren narrowed his eyes. The Justice cloak behind him whipped in the wind as he sneered.
"Vinsmoke Judge... It's true that the Germa Kingdom is affiliated with the World Government, but the Kingdom of Yadis is an Affiliated Kingdom too."
"More importantly, I won't tolerate a war this severe breaking out in the territory under my jurisdiction."
Vinsmoke Judge laughed furiously.
"So you think that you, a mere Marine Captain, with a single warship and a few hundred men, can stop the armies of Germa 66?"
"Naive Marine brat, quit making empty boasts!!"
He raised a hand sharply.
"No one can stop Germa from conquering the North Blue!"
A flash of madness and brutality crossed his eyes.
"Open fire!! Sink that warship at once!!"
Given Germa's standing as a World Government Member State, even if he killed this so-called North Blue Admiral on the spot, the World Government wouldn't reprimand him in the slightest.
It would also send a message to Marine Headquarters, a warning... Even the Marines must never stand in the way of Germa's path to supremacy!
"Tremble beneath Germa's cannons... and submit!"
His words had barely left his mouth when—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!
The deafening roar of cannon fire shattered the silence over the sea.
Everyone in the Kingdom of Yadis watched in horror as—
aboard Germa's warships,
countless flashes of fire erupted and belched forth.
As streaks of fiery red light shot into the sky, they felt the turbulent heavens suddenly grow dark, as if a thick bank of clouds had covered them.
No!
Those weren't clouds.
They were countless cannonballs and bullets, packed together like locusts as they sliced through the air with shrill whistles. They traced dense arcs across the sky, raining down over the area where the warship was.
A vast, dark mass formed a terrifying, oppressive net of death!
There was nowhere to escape.
In an instant, scorching gusts rushed down from overhead. Hundreds, even thousands of cannonballs fell like a torrential downpour, filling the air above the sea with the pungent smell of gunpowder.
Some of them even seemed to be shaped not like ordinary cannonballs, but more like rockets and missiles!
This... was the powerful military technology that allowed Germa 66 to dominate the North Blue!!
Aboard the warship, Gion and Gion's partner both paled.
"Damn it!! Germa 66 really dares to attack the Marines!"
"Has Vinsmoke Judge gone mad!?"
Gion's partner was frantic with worry, a fine sheen of sweat beading on his forehead.
Gion abruptly drew the Famous Sword at her waist, her expression grave.
A barrage of this scale could easily level a small mountain range in an instant. There was no way they could intercept it.
Most importantly, they were now in the middle of the sea.
If the warship beneath them was sunk, even if they survived the terrifying barrage, they wouldn't be able to withstand a second round once they fell into the sea.
But just as the two of them were growing increasingly anxious, they suddenly noticed the other Marines aboard the ship wearing strangely peculiar expressions.
Could it be...
Gion and Gion's partner suddenly realized what was happening and turned together to look at Darren at the bow.
At that moment, the North Blue Marines' highest-ranking commander... moved.
A cold smile curled his lips. He lifted his gaze to the rain of cannonballs pouring from the sky and slowly raised a hand.
Then he gave the air a gentle push.
It was almost as if he were softly nudging nothing but air.
Then—
Faint purple arcs of electricity flickered through the air.
An invisible force field silently spread outward.
Gion and Gion's partner froze, their eyes widening as if they were witnessing something impossible.
On the coastline, tens of thousands of soldiers from the Kingdom of Yadis, the king among them, gaped in astonishment, their eyes nearly popping out of their heads.
The dense net of fire, pouring down from the sky like a swarm of locusts—
the countless cannonballs and bullets—
seemed to have suddenly struck an invisible membrane.
Their downward speed abruptly slowed.
Then, in a bizarre sight, they came to a complete halt in midair.
The countless cannonballs
hung motionless in the air, five meters above the warship.
At such close range, Gion and Gion's partner could clearly see the grooves on the cannonballs and even smell the acrid gunpowder.
Silence!
The world suddenly fell into deathly quiet.
An absolute stillness descended, giving everyone the strange impression that the air itself was vibrating with a low hum.
Aboard Germa's flagship, Vinsmoke Judge stared at the bizarre sight, eyes nearly bursting from their sockets. He could hardly believe what he was seeing.
The cannonballs, screaming as they fell... had stopped in midair!?
The entire world seemed to have come to a standstill.
In the silence, the tension so thick it made everyone's heart race,
a faint sound suddenly rang out.
Click...
A lighter sparked.
At the bow of the warship,
the black-haired Marine Captain shielded himself from the cold sea breeze with one hand while using a lighter in the other to light a cigar.
Its red glow flickered, bright and dim.
"I'll give you one last chance, Vinsmoke Judge."
His tone was utterly calm.
As he spoke, the countless cannonballs suspended in midair slowly rotated, drawn by some invisible force, as if cannons were adjusting their aim.
One by one, the flame-belching rockets turned as well.
Their target... now pointed squarely toward the Germa Kingdom!!
Vinsmoke Judge's expression changed drastically.
As he watched the countless rockets and missiles turn toward him, a bone-chilling cold ran down his spine.
The North Blue Admiral took a deep drag on his cigar. The smoke he exhaled gathered in the air like a snowy white flag.
"Go back, and I'll pretend none of this ever happened."
Before you continue