Admiral "Scarlet Snake"!

The one who appeared before Magnus was a red-haired woman in a white Marine cape, with a stunning figure and standing nearly as tall as he was.

The moment she appeared, she attacked Magnus. Despite being a woman, her immense strength nearly left him unable to fend her off.

Magnus was already one of the strongest figures on these seas.

But if there was anyone stronger than him,

it would be the current Marine Admirals and the future pirate emperors.

And the woman before him was one of the Marines' three Admirals.

"Scarlet Snake," Braun Von Rona.

One of the few female Admirals in Marine history, and likewise one of the world's greatest swordswomen.

She was also one of the rare people who had repeatedly put Magnus at a disadvantage during their pursuits.

Magnus had no memory of this woman appearing in the future.

But that was hardly surprising.

There were still more than fifty years until the main story began.

Among the Marines, there was only one person he recognized.

Steel Bone Kong.

The future Fleet Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the World Government's armed forces.

Yet even such a famous figure

had not become a Marine Admiral at this point in time.

He was still only an Admiral candidate.

Since Kong was an Admiral candidate, then who were the current Marine Admirals?

The answer stood right before him.

Time had left its marks. No matter how beautiful a woman had been in her youth, the years would inevitably leave traces behind.

Yet even so, the woman before him remained breathtakingly beautiful.

Like a fine wine, she had not lost her flavor with the passage of time.

"Rona Von Braun, why are you here?"

Magnus stared at the woman solemnly. He had never expected CP to be merely bait, with the true danger lurking behind them.

"Hehe, a woman's intuition."

Rona Von Braun's scarlet lips curved into a beautiful smile. Her eyes swept over Magnus without restraint, like a venomous snake watching its prey.

"It's been five years. I thought you'd have aged into a complete wreck, but unexpectedly, you look even more spirited than you did five years ago."

Rona Von Braun's arrival in Elbaf had been entirely accidental. When it came to a powerful non-Affiliated Nation like the land of the Giants, the Marines generally chose to leave it alone and proceed with caution.

Without orders, even an Admiral would not casually set foot in a non-Affiliated Nation.

In fact, if Magnus had not appeared, Rona had never intended to reveal herself. She did not care in the slightest whether those CP agents lived or died.

After accidentally discovering the CP ships, she had merely recalled that the Marines seemed to have some dealings with "Mother" Carmel on Elbaf, and Carmel apparently had some connection to Magnus.

Considering that the White Wolf Pirates had disappeared for half a year, Rona had decided to follow the CP agents onto the island and take a chance.

Who would have thought that heaven would truly give her such a pleasant surprise?

"Magnus, surrender quietly."

A lovely smile appeared on Rona's face.

"You couldn't beat me five years ago, and you stand even less chance now. If you surrender, I'll arrange a premium cell for you in Impel Down's great prison."

"Heh, I'll pass."

He had finally obtained the system, and his body, once like dead wood, had been revitalized. Forget a Marine Admiral—even if the Fleet Admiral himself came, Magnus would never surrender without a fight.

"Then I'll have no choice but to defeat you and bring you to justice!"

As her words fell, Rona's gaze sharpened. Powerful Haki flooded into her longsword, and bone-chilling sharpness blossomed along its blade.

Slaying Blossom!

A crimson crescent-shaped shockwave sent Magnus soaring into the sky. She had gone all out from the very first move, not even sparing a thought for the three CP0 agents behind him.

"Not good!"

"Get out of the way!"

Magnus, standing directly before Rona, bore the brunt of the attack. Yet the remaining shockwave still sent the three CP0 agents flying.

It could be said that if Magnus had not neutralized most of the damage from Rona's slash, that single blow would have severely wounded all three CP agents, Rock included.

Faced with Rona's indiscriminate attack, Rock did not dare harbor the slightest resentment.

Because everyone who knew Rona understood one thing.

This female Marine Admiral codenamed "Scarlet Snake" had always had a terrible temper.

"Let's go!"

They had thought the mission was about to fail, and that not only would the mission fail, but they might not even keep their lives.

Who would have expected such a turn of events? A Marine Admiral had actually appeared.

As for why "Scarlet Snake" Rona was here,

Rock did not dare think about it, nor did he dare ask.

"Quick, while Admiral Scarlet Snake is drawing the enemy's attention, let's carry out our mission first!"

Rock lowered his voice.

Marine Admirals were among the world's strongest combatants. Forget White Wolf Magnus—even if Elbaf's Giant King joined him,

if Rona wanted to leave, no one could stop her.

The three CP agents gave Rona a slight bow, then quickly ran toward the giant village.

Magnus frowned when he saw that.

"What, you want to go after them?"

Rona's tone was teasing. "Maybe the you from ten years ago could have competed with me in speed. But now, can you still run?"

Although Magnus looked much better than he had five years ago, Rona did not believe he had regained his peak combat strength.

No matter who it was, once they passed their prime,

their strength would only continue to decline as they aged.

She had never heard of anyone growing stronger with age.

"Whew. Want to find out?"

He slowly exhaled. The moment he saw Rona, Magnus knew he would have to risk his life.

Strangely, the system had not reacted at all.

This was a Marine Admiral!

Magnus could only speculate that, in the timeline recorded by the system, Rona had become an old woman and had either retired or lost her ability to fight.

Rona's eyes suddenly turned cold.

As one of the world's strongest figures, not a Devil Fruit user but a pure swordswoman, Rona's Observation Haki was undoubtedly among the very best.

She did not like the look Magnus had given her just now!

Moon Cutter!

It was an unadorned flying slash, but its range was enough to split the forest stretching a thousand meters behind Magnus in two.

And Magnus's response was—

Cold Strike!

The forest, already more than ten degrees below freezing, became even colder.

Winter was his domain.

Thank winter. Thank last night's heavy snow.

A giant wolf pounced fiercely at Rona.

Beauty and the beast.

This was no fairy tale, but a battle to the death!

In the giant village, Linlin, dizzy with hunger after seven days of fasting, groggily crawled to her feet. Just as she was about to grab some snow and stuff it into her stomach as cake,

three figures in white suits appeared before her.

"We're short on manpower. Which one do we take?"

"One of the Giant race. If we take a giant child, even that 'Mother' will have no choice but to negotiate with us."

"..."

Casually slinging a sleeping giant child several times his size over his shoulder, Rock walked up to Charlotte Linlin.

He jumped up and struck with a chopping blow.

"Go to sleep!"

Rock landed back on the ground, but the expected sensation of knocking out a giant child never came. The child before him did not fall.

Instead, his hand hurt a little.

Rock looked up and saw that Linlin, who had taken his chop without any reaction, was staring blankly at him.

"What are you doing?"

Charlotte Linlin bit her finger and asked blankly.

Let me explain: this isn't going to be a story where the protagonist gets abused. There has been plenty of setup showing that the protagonist and the Admirals are close in strength. Does anyone really think the protagonist will lose? Of course he'll charge through her openly and honorably, like an old steed still yearning for the battlefield!