This was an open scheme!
In battle, any means that could be used to create an advantage had to be used. That was what true fighting was.
Not to mention that Golden Lion had single-handedly attacked someone else's stronghold. This was Marine Headquarters, and he was facing Garp and Sengoku, two powerful men, alone.
Golden Lion looked down on the Marines. What he intended to do now was destroy Marine Headquarters and prove the Marines' weakness.
Because he did not believe Roger had been captured by the Marines. As long as he destroyed Marine Headquarters, he could prove to the world that Roger could never have been arrested by such weak Marines!
Besides, they had not been fighting for just a day or two. This time, it was one against two, and Golden Lion's abilities specialized in large-scale attacks.
He could force them to block those wide-ranging attacks, though they could dodge some of them or only intercept the parts that would affect them.
But this was Marine Headquarters. If they did not want to suffer devastating losses, the two of them had no choice but to expend even more stamina and energy.
Under such circumstances, draining and tying down the two of them as much as possible was more beneficial to Golden Lion.
If they had been at sea, attacks on such a massive scale would have been unable to do anything to Sengoku and Garp. But now, they had no choice but to block them. This was an utterly airtight open scheme!
And even if the two of them truly hardened their hearts and refused to block the attacks, allowing Golden Lion to destroy and slaughter at will, that would still play right into Golden Lion's hands. After all, his original goal had been to destroy Marine Headquarters.
Why would he not use a method that could weaken his opponents in two ways at once? Protecting was always harder than destroying.
Golden Lion could recklessly destroy all of Marine Headquarters and slaughter every elite stationed there, but Sengoku and Garp could not simply ignore it.
Aside from the Marines' elites, there were also the future seeds of the Marines here. Nothing could happen to them. The other Marine soldiers still possessed some fighting ability, but the trainees from the training camp did not have enough strength to protect themselves.
"Damn it. If only Garp and I weren't the only ones holding down Marine Headquarters right now, how could we let Golden Lion run wild like this?" Sengoku angrily thought as he released shockwaves from his hands to shatter the Stone Lions.
Because they had captured Pirate King Roger, the Marine higher-ups had been forced to deploy a large number of high-ranking combatants throughout various locations, guarding against unrest in the New World and the hidden members of the Roger Pirates.
The future three Logia Admirals, Zephyr, and the others each had their own duties as they guarded their respective regions.
Even the Vice Admirals were running themselves ragged, most of them deployed throughout the seas to suppress pirates. Not to mention Impel Down, where Roger was imprisoned; no matter what happened, its guards were not permitted to be redeployed!
"I'm afraid no reinforcements will arrive anytime soon. We have to minimize losses and reduce Marine casualties."
Sengoku and Garp blocked Golden Lion's attacks with dark expressions, but Golden Lion's Float-Float Fruit gave him an overwhelming advantage in large-scale attacks, so some of them still slipped through.
As they watched the casualties mount and the buildings of Marine Headquarters suffer continuous destruction, the two of them flew into a rage.
"Golden Lion!!!!"
Garp instantly appeared before Golden Lion. The shockwaves stirred up by the collision between his Armament Haki-coated black right fist and the two famed swords instantly devastated the surrounding area.
"Jiehahahahaha! Take another one of these!!" Golden Lion's mane of golden hair whipped wildly as countless earth-shaking, roaring lions floated around him and crashed down upon Marine Headquarters.
Lion's Pride Earth Roll!!
At the same time.
The moment the war alarm sounded, Dawn immediately got to his feet, activated Resistance Aura for defense, and gathered his companions around him.
"No way, there are actually enemies bold enough to attack Marine Headquarters?"
"But who could break through the outer defenses?"
The students around them did not appear to be under any pressure. This was Marine Headquarters, after all. In their eyes, this invasion was merely the mad rampage of some brainless pirate lunatics and would soon be put down.
But as the alarm continued to ring, the trainees around them began to realize that something was wrong.
"Hey, hurry up and evacuate!" The teacher responsible for cultural studies immediately began organizing the students' evacuation upon hearing the alarm.
And it was not only Dawn and the others here. Some younger children from Marine families were even in the nearby classes.
But even with such a swift response, Dawn and the others still could not escape the overwhelming assault of Stone Lions sweeping toward Marineford.
Fortunately, Dawn's location was toward the rear of Marine Headquarters.
Golden Lion's battle with Sengoku and Garp was taking place far away. Even the attacks that swept over were merely aftershocks, which the instructors swiftly dispersed.
"Dawn, what do we do? Should we go take a look?" The tiger girl seemed to love this kind of grand spectacle, and her expression was filled with eager anticipation.
Dawn shot her a glance and silently decided that he needed to keep an eye on her.
This tiger girl had never appeared in the anime from his previous life. He had previously wondered whether she simply had not been shown, but now Dawn began to suspect that her love of excitement had gotten her killed.
For example, perhaps nobody could stop her during this battle, and she had ultimately lost her life to the aftershocks?
"Admiral Sengoku and Vice Admiral Garp should already be there. But they still haven't subdued the enemy, which means the enemy is obviously very strong. Are you trying to get yourselves killed?" Dawn scolded her irritably.
"Mm, then what should we do? Just evacuate like this? The one who came must be a big shot, right? I really want to see him~" Sola seemed somewhat unwilling to accept that.
Seeing Sola's reckless desire to rush to the front lines, Dawn became even more certain of his earlier suspicion.
"Sola, this isn't child's play. If things go wrong, you could lose your life." Hina's little face was solemn as she spoke, and the others beside her also tried to persuade Sola.
"Alright, let's evacuate first. Make sure the younger students around us are safe. Once we reach a safe place, we can decide what we can do." Looking at the disappointed Sola, Dawn could not help adding:
"First, escort these children. Then we'll have plenty to do. Don't forget the wounded and the Marine families—they'll all need our protection. Even if we can't take the battlefield, there are still many things we can do."
"Really?" Sola's eyes lit up, leaving Hina and the others looking helpless.
After all, this tiger girl was a little too easily fired up. She liked getting involved in everything and always wanted to plunge into any excitement.
She had none of a tiger's majesty. She was more like a husky.
"Move!" As the battle's aftershocks drew nearer, Dawn grabbed two children from Marine families in one hand and took the lead toward the evacuation area. The instructors and the other officers who had arrived guarded everyone nearby.
Seeing Dawn act, the others each carried younger children than themselves and used Shave to travel. A few of the children were so young that their crying became unbearably irritating, but this was not the time to worry about that. Whatever grievances they had could wait; their lives mattered most right now.
Besides, back then, the deterrent power of Golden Lion, Roger, Whitebeard, Redfield, and the others was no weaker than that of the later Four Emperors. Cross's crew members, Big Mom, and Kaido had also split off on their own and gradually made names for themselves. Since the era's rampage had been an accident, it should still make sense for the Shichibukai to have contingency plans before that rampage.
As for ranks, Sengoku should soon be taking over as Fleet Admiral, and the three Admirals would soon rise to their positions as well. So they were set as Vice Admirals. But whether they were Rear Admirals or Vice Admirals would not affect the plot, so everyone should just follow this story's setting. It can't be helped—when writing an unfinished One Piece story, you have to be prepared to get slapped in the face. (￣ε(#￣)☆╰╮(￣▽￣///)
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