Enemies Face Off, Elbaf's Twin Saints Descend
Sensing the scale of the garrison and defenses, Ban raised his eyebrows slightly, a faint, indifferent smile playing on his lips.
This military force, piled up in this way, was enough to intimidate all the pirates in the Four Blues Paradise and maintain order in half of the World Government's seas. However, in his eyes, who had experienced thousands of years of chaos and witnessed countless battles, it was ultimately just a barrier built by mortals, and it was easily destroyed.
On the coastal highlands, the Admiral stood side by side, their auras tense to the extreme.
Kizaru had long since shed his lifelong leisurely and lazy demeanor. His eyes behind his sunglasses were extremely serious, and fine beads of cold sweat slowly slid down his forehead. This was a rare display of composure that he had rarely shown in his decades of navigating the seas and experiencing countless life-and-death battles.
The terrifying scene of Madara Uchiha, Four Emperors Kaido, Coral Island Battle kept replaying in my mind. It was an ultimate crushing defeat that even he and Akainu could never replicate when they joined forces.
He was all too aware of this power gap; the conventional power struggles and checks and balances Admiral-Yonko Level were meaningless in the face of this unfamiliar powerhouse.
"Only old man Garp can stabilize this situation." Kizaru was certain in his heart, having long since mastered the ways of the world.
Garp can ignore pirates causing trouble, he can slack off and live in seclusion, and he can shirk his duties as a naval officer, but he would never sit idly by and watch Admiral die in battle, the top-level combat power of the navy collapse, and allow the world order to completely crumble.
Akainu beside him frowned, his resolute face filled with deep contemplation.
As a fellow townsman and contemporary of Kizaru, and a close friend who had stood shoulder to shoulder with him for decades, he was the person in the world who understood Admiral Kizaru's strength and temperament better than anyone else.
Kizaru's Devil Fruit ability is unpredictable and unbeatable, his speed is unparalleled, and his survival and maneuvering abilities are top-notch. Even when he and Admiral Aokiji joined forces to attack him with all their might, they might not have been able to defeat him with certainty.
But now, the usually composed and invincible Kizaru is being forced to break out in a cold sweat and urgently call for help by that figure in the outer sea.
Akainu's vigilance and apprehension were at their peak, and the scorching power of the Magma-Magma Fruit within him was subtly restless, but he forcefully suppressed it.
He was by nature fierce and warlike, and believed in Absolute Justice, but at this moment, his reason clearly told him that rashly starting a war would only lead to an irreversible catastrophe.
All around, the four veteran Vice Admiral— Momonga, Bastille, Strawberry, Doberman —along with the newly promoted Vice Admiral Lantuo and Shouya, were all on high alert and on guard.
The veteran Vice Admiral admirals, seasoned by countless Summit War and the awe-inspiring power of Emperor Level pirates, had long since cultivated a composure that remained unmoved even in the face of a collapsing mountain. However, the sight of the Admiral losing his composure and pleading for help today made them truly realize that the enemy before them had already transcended the realm of conventional combat power.
Lantuo gripped the hilt of the longsword at his waist tightly with his five fingers. His crisis instincts, honed through years of hunting powerful enemies, were screaming alarms. Two-Color Haki flowed silently around him, ready to deal with any sudden changes at any moment.
Shouya's muscles were taut and knotted, his wild instincts from the Zoan -Zoan Lynx Fruit were fully awakened, and his five senses were fully activated as he locked onto every slight fluctuation of energy from the outer sea warship.
The entire Sabaody Islands are locked in a silent, high-pressure standoff, with war seemingly imminent yet stubbornly at a stalemate.
Thousands of miles away, at the Marine Headquarters in New Marineford, the atmosphere in the Fleet Admiral's Office was deathly silent and oppressive.
As Sengoku sat upright at his desk, after listening to Tokikake's urgent report, his body suddenly stiffened, and after a brief moment of distraction, he instantly grasped the full extent of the crisis.
Large beads of cold sweat slid down his forehead, soaking his hair. Before he could calm the turmoil in his heart, he immediately issued a strict order to the frontline navy: do not initiate combat, hold the line to the death, and endure the standoff.
He immediately dialed the family area hotline and sternly ordered a full-scale search for Garp, stating that the matter concerned the lives of Admiral and the survival of the entire navy, and forcing Garp, who was idly refusing to retire, to stop his willful shirking and inaction.
The order was swiftly transmitted across thousands of miles of sea, and the entire Marine Headquarters sprang into action. Everyone's hearts were firmly on the edge of the stalemate at Sabaody, waiting for their only trump card to arrive and break the deadlock.
At the same time, in a distant New World, in the Giant Kingdom — Elbaf.
This ancient nation, standing in a corner of the New World, is the most magnificent and expansive land on the scale of the entire ocean.
It lacks the delicate beauty of ordinary seas, instead possessing an extreme grandeur and wildness.
The boundless primeval forest stretches to the horizon, each ancient tree as thick as a mountain, its branches extending for thousands of meters, its lush, dark green canopy obscuring the sky and blocking out the blazing sun and drifting clouds.
The weeds, fallen trees, and rocks on the ground were all far larger than the size of an ordinary human. The howling wind swept through the forest, creating a rumbling roar, like the low groan of an ancient behemoth.
This place is still on the outskirts of the Elbaf Kingdom, not yet in the towns inhabited by the Giant Tribe. There is no one, no guards, and no trace of any giants, only a vast wilderness and giant creatures everywhere. The tiny humans here are like dust falling on the mountains, insignificant and not worth mentioning.
The void trembled slightly as two tall figures with completely different auras quietly stepped onto the thick layer of giant fallen leaves, breaking the ancient silence of this forest.
The leader was tall and noble, wearing a meticulously crafted dark blue robe that reached the ground. The robe was covered with intricate and exquisite patterns, and the gilded holy symbols shimmered faintly in the light, a symbol exclusive to the highest nobility of the Celestial Dragons.
His long, snow-white hair and beard were meticulously combed and styled into a neat, upright crescent shape, exuding an air of majesty and nobility.
A finely crafted sword, adorned with sacred symbols, hung steadily at his waist. Its blade was understated and restrained, yet concealed a deadly edge honed through countless battles.
He is none other than Figarland Saint Green, the current supreme commander of the God's Knights.
As a core member of the Figarland Family and a top fighter serving Imu and the Five Elders, he personally experienced the epic battle of God Valley, witnessed the most intense battles on the sea, held the power of life and death, and was stationed in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise for many years, looking down upon all living beings in the lower realm.
His innate aristocratic arrogance was etched into his very bones. In his eyes, all lower-world races were lowly ants, while only the Celestial Dragons were the chosen supreme rulers.
Half a step behind him stood a young yet incredibly composed figure.
A light and sharp knight's armor fit his body snugly, providing comprehensive protection without being bulky. The dark blue knight's cloak draped over his shoulders fluttered in the forest wind, and a delicate and sharp Western sword hung at his waist.
With his sharp, flamboyant Red-Hair, facial features, and expression, he was almost identical to Red-Haired Shanks, Four Emperors of the New World, enough to make anyone who saw him for the first time instantly lose their senses.
However, the subtle differences completely clarified their identities.
His eyes were clean and unscarred, without the three signature scratches at the corners of Shanks' eyes. His arms were long, intact, and undamaged. His posture was upright and without any defects.