Aftermath [Seeking Investment]

This is a naked scheme!

In battle, any means that can be used and create an advantage must be employed—this is true combat.

Not to mention that Golden Lion had come alone to strike at another's home base, and this was Marine Headquarters, no less, facing two powerhouses like Garp and Sengoku by himself?

Golden Lion held the Marines in contempt, and what he wanted to do now was destroy Marine Headquarters to prove the Navy's weakness.

Because he refused to believe that Roger had been captured by the Marines. As long as he destroyed Marine Headquarters, he could prove to the world that it was impossible for the weak Navy to arrest Roger!

Besides, the two sides had been fighting for years. This time it was two against one, and Golden Lion's abilities were large-scale area attacks.

He could force them to block those large-scale attacks. Some they could dodge, or only take the part that affected them.

But this was Marine Headquarters. If they didn't want heavy losses, the two of them would have to expend more stamina and energy.

Under such circumstances, being able to drain and stall both of them served Golden Lion's interests.

If this were out on the open sea, such large-scale attacks wouldn't be able to do anything to Sengoku and Garp. But now the two had no choice but to block them—this was a complete and utter naked scheme!

And even if the two could truly harden their hearts and refuse to block, letting Golden Lion destroy and slaughter as he pleased, that would also play right into Golden Lion's hands. After all, Golden Lion's original goal was to destroy Marine Headquarters.

Why not use a method that could kill two birds with one stone and weaken the enemy? Protecting is always harder than destroying.

Golden Lion could recklessly destroy the entire Marine Headquarters and annihilate all the elite Marines stationed there, but Sengoku and Garp could not ignore it.

Besides the Marine elites, there were also the future seedlings of the Navy here. They couldn't afford any mishaps. The other Marine soldiers had some combat ability, but the trainees in the training camp didn't have enough self-preservation skills.

"Damn it, if it weren't for the fact that only Garp and I are stationed at Marine Headquarters right now, how could we let Golden Lion run rampant like this?" Sengoku muttered in anger as he fired shockwaves to shatter the stone lions.

At this moment, because of the capture of the Pirate King Roger, the Marine high command had to pull a large number of high-ranking officers and station them in various places to guard against the turmoil in the New World and the hidden crew members of the Roger Pirates.

The future three Logia Admirals, Zephyr, and others all had their own missions, holding down the fort in their respective positions.

Even the Vice Admirals were busy nonstop, most of them deployed to various locations to suppress pirates, let alone Impel Down, where Roger was imprisoned—no matter what happened, the guards there were not allowed to be reassigned!

"There won't be any reinforcements coming anytime soon. We have to minimize losses and reduce casualties among the Marine soldiers."

Sengoku and Garp both darkened their faces as they blocked Golden Lion's attacks. But Golden Lion's Float-Float Fruit ability gave him too much of an advantage in large-scale combat, so the two still let some attacks slip through.

Watching the casualties mount and the buildings of Marine Headquarters being destroyed one after another, the two erupted in fury:

"GOLDEN LION!!!!"

Garp instantly appeared before Golden Lion. The collision between his black right fist, coated in Armament Haki, and Golden Lion's two famous swords sent out shockwaves that instantly devastated the surroundings.

"Kihahahahaha! Take this one too!!" Golden Lion's golden hair whipped wildly as countless earth-shaking roaring lions floated around him, pressing down toward Marine Headquarters.

"Lion's Pride Earth Roll!!"

At the same time.

The moment the war alarm sounded, Cross and Dawn immediately activated their Resistance Aura for defense while gathering their nearby companions to their side.

"No way? There's an enemy bold enough to attack Marine Headquarters?"

"But who has the ability to break through the outer perimeter's alert?"

The surrounding students showed no signs of pressure. Because this was Marine Headquarters, in their eyes, this invasion was just some reckless pirate lunatic going crazy—it would be over soon.

But as the alarm continued, the surrounding trainees began to realize something was wrong.

"Hey, you all need to take shelter immediately!" The teacher in charge of cultural lessons heard the alarm and immediately began organizing the students to evacuate.

And it wasn't just Cross and the others here. Nearby classes even had some younger children of Marine families.

But even with such a quick response, Cross and the others still couldn't avoid the overwhelming tide of stone lions charging toward Marineford.

Fortunately, Cross's position was toward the rear of Marine Headquarters.

The place where Golden Lion was fighting Sengoku and Garp was still far away. Even if attacks swept this way, they were only aftershocks, quickly neutralized by the instructors.

"Cross, what do we do? Should we go take a look?" The tiger girl beside him seemed to love big scenes like this, her expression already eager.

Cross glanced at her and silently reminded himself to keep an eye on this one.

This tiger girl hadn't appeared in the anime from his past life. He'd thought before that maybe she just hadn't been shown, but now Cross suspected it was her love of stirring up trouble that had done her in.

For example, in this battle, if no one could hold her back, she might end up getting swept away by the aftershocks and losing her life?

"Admiral Sengoku and Vice Admiral Garp should be there by now, but they still haven't subdued the enemy. That means the enemy is very strong. Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Cross scolded her without holding back.

"Ugh, then what? Just go take shelter like this? Whoever came must be a big shot. I really want to see~" Sola seemed unwilling to give up.

Watching Sola's reckless desire to charge to the front lines, Cross became more certain of his earlier suspicion.

"Sola, this isn't a game. If you mess up, you could lose your life." Hina's little face was serious as she spoke, and the others around also tried to persuade Sola.

"Alright, let's evacuate first. Make sure the younger trainees are safe. Once we're in a safe place, we can decide what to do." Seeing Sola looking a bit deflated, Cross couldn't help adding:

"First, escort these children. Then we'll still have plenty to do. Don't forget the wounded and the Marine families who need our protection. Even if we can't go to the battlefield, there's still a lot for us to do."

"Really?" Sola's eyes lit up, leaving Hina and the others looking helpless.

After all, this tiger girl was a bit of a lunatic—she liked to get involved in everything and dive headfirst into any commotion.

She had none of a tiger's dignity. She was more like a husky.

"Go!" Seeing the aftershocks of the battle getting closer, Cross grabbed two Marine family children and led the way to the shelter. The instructors and other officers who had arrived nearby protected everyone's safety.

Watching Cross's actions, the others each picked up the smaller kids and used Shave to move. Although some of the younger ones were crying and making things annoying, this wasn't the time to worry about that. Whatever grievances they had could wait until later. Right now, their lives were the most important.

And back then, the deterrent power of Golden Lion, Roger, Whitebeard, Redfield, and others wasn't any weaker than the later Four Emperors. Plus, there were Cross's crew members, Big Mom, and Kaido each going solo and gradually making names for themselves. The era's upheaval was an accident, so if there was a contingency plan for the Shichibukai before the upheaval, it should still hold up.

As for official positions, Sengoku should be taking over as Fleet Admiral soon, and the three Admirals would be taking their seats shortly after. So the setting is Vice Admiral. But whether it's Rear Admiral or Vice Admiral doesn't affect the plot. Everyone can just go with this story's setting. There's no way to write a finished One Piece without risking getting slapped in the face (￣ε(#￣)☆╰╮(￣▽￣///)