Admiral "Scarlet Snake"!

Before Magnus appeared a woman with a white Marine cloak, a fantastic figure, and a height nearly as tall as Magnus's.

As soon as she appeared, she attacked Magnus. Despite being a woman, her immense power almost overwhelmed Magnus.

Magnus was already a top-tier powerhouse on this sea.

But if there was anyone above Magnus.

It would be the current Marine Admirals and the future Pirate Emperors.

And the woman before him was precisely one of the three Marine Admirals.

"Scarlet Snake" Braun Von Rona.

She was one of the few female Admirals in the entire history of the Marines, and also one of the world's top great swordsmen.

She was one of the rare individuals who had made Magnus suffer multiple setbacks during pursuits.

In Magnus's memory, this woman did not appear in the future.

But it wasn't surprising when he thought about it.

There were still over fifty years until the main storyline began.

Among the Marines, there was only one he recognized.

Steel-Bone Kong.

The future Fleet Admiral, the World Government's Commander-in-Chief.

But even such a famous figure.

At this time, he hadn't even become a Marine Admiral.

He was still an Admiral candidate.

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

The answer was right before him.

Time had brought a bit of weathering; even the most beautiful woman in her youth couldn't escape the marks left by time.

But even so, the woman before him was still beautiful.

She was like a fine wine, her taste not diminishing with the passage of time.

"Rona Von Braun, why are you here?"

Looking at the woman before him, Magnus's tone was solemn. He never expected that CP was just bait, and the real crisis was hidden behind them.

"Heh heh, a woman's intuition."

Rona Von Braun's crimson lips curved into an attractive arc. Her gaze fixed intently on Magnus, like a venomous snake watching its prey.

"It's been five years. I thought you'd have aged terribly, but I didn't expect you to look even better than you did five years ago."

Rona Von Braun's entry into Elbaf was entirely unexpected. For a powerful non-governmental affiliated nation like the land of giants, the Marines generally adopted an attitude of non-interference and cautious approach.

Without orders, even an Admiral wouldn't casually enter a non-governmental affiliated nation.

In fact, if Magnus hadn't appeared, Rona wouldn't have shown herself at all; she didn't care about the lives of a group of CP agents.

After unexpectedly discovering these CP ships, she simply remembered that the Marines seemed to have some dealings with "Holy Mother" Carmel on Elbaf Island, and behind Carmel, there seemed to be Magnus's shadow.

Connecting this with the White Wolf Pirates having disappeared for half a year, Rona decided to follow these CP agents onto the island with a "let's try and see" mentality.

Who knew, heaven actually gave her a surprise.

"Magnus, surrender obediently."

A beautiful smile appeared on Rona's face.

"You couldn't beat me five years ago, and there's no way you can win now. If you surrender, I'll arrange a special cell for you in the great prison of Impel Down."

"Heh, I'll pass."

He had finally waited for the system. His once withered body had regained new life. Let alone a Marine Admiral, even the Fleet Admiral wouldn't be able to make Magnus surrender obediently.

"If that's the case, then I'll just have to defeat you and bring you to justice!"

As her words fell, Rona's gaze sharpened. She poured dense Haki into her long sword, and a bone-chilling sharpness bloomed on her blade.

"Slaying Blossom!"

A scarlet crescent-shaped shockwave pressed Magnus and shot him into the sky. She went all out from the start, not even paying attention to the three CP0 members behind Magnus.

"This is bad!"

"Dodge quickly!"

Magnus, who was directly in front of Rona, bore the brunt of the attack, but the residual shockwave also sent the three CP0 agents flying.

It could be said that if Magnus hadn't absorbed most of the damage from Rona's attack, this single strike alone could have heavily injured the three CP agents, including Rock.

And facing this indiscriminate attack from Rona, Rock didn't dare to complain.

Because everyone who knew Rona was aware.

This female Marine Admiral, codenamed "Scarlet Snake," had a notoriously bad temper.

"Let's go!"

They had initially thought the mission was doomed to fail, not only risking failure but their very lives.

Who knew things would turn around so drastically with the appearance of one of their Marines' Admirals.

As for why "Scarlet Snake" Rona was here, Rock dared not think about it, nor did he dare to ask.

"Quickly, while Scarlet Snake Admiral distracts the enemy, let's proceed with our mission!"

Rock whispered.

Marine Admirals were the world's top combatants. Forget White Wolf Magnus; even adding the Giant King of Elbaf wouldn't be enough.

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

The three CP agents bowed slightly to Rona and then quickly ran towards the Giant village.

Seeing this, Magnus frowned.

"What, want to go over there?"

Rona said flippantly, "Ten years ago, you might have been able to match my speed, but now, can you still run?"

Although Magnus's condition appeared much better than five years ago, Rona didn't believe he had recovered to his peak combat strength.

No matter who it was, after passing their prime, strength would only decline with age.

She had never heard of anyone getting stronger with age.

"Huu, want to try?"

He exhaled softly. The moment he saw Rona, Magnus knew he had to go all out.

Strangely, the system hadn't reacted yet.

This was a Marine Admiral!

Magnus could only speculate that in the timeline recorded by the system, Rona had become an old woman, either retired or having lost her combat power.

Rona's gaze suddenly turned cold.

As one of the world's top powerhouses, not an Devil Fruit user but a pure swordmaster, Rona's Observation Haki was undoubtedly top-tier.

She strongly disliked the look in Magnus's eyes just now!

"Moon Cutter!"

A seemingly flashy flying slash, but its range was enough to cleave the forest for a thousand meters behind Magnus in half.

And Magnus's counter was:

"Cold Strike!"

The temperature in the forest, already below minus ten degrees Celsius, plummeted further.

Winter was his domain.

He was grateful for the cold winter, and for the heavy snowfall last night.

A giant wolf lunged fiercely at Rona.

Beauty and the beast.

Not a fairy tale, but a battle to the death!

In the Giant village, Linlin, dizzy from seven days of starvation, groggily got up. Just as she was about to grab some snow to eat like cake, Three figures in white suits appeared before her.

"We're short-handed, which one should we grab?"

"The Giant race child. If we capture a Giant child, even that 'Holy Mother' will have no choice but to negotiate with us."

"..."

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

He jumped up and delivered a chop to her head.

"Sleep!"

Rock landed back on the ground, but the expected sensation of knocking out the Giant child didn't materialize. The child before him didn't fall.

Instead, his hand felt a bit sore.

Rock looked up and saw Linlin, who had taken his chop, staring at him blankly as if nothing had happened.

"What are you doing?"

Charlotte Linlin asked blankly, biting her finger.

To clarify, this isn't about the protagonist being weak. I've set up the protagonist and the Admiral to be close in strength earlier, so surely no one thinks the protagonist will lose, right? Of course, it's the old horse kicking up its heels, a dignified and overwhelming victory!