Golden Lion Shiki

After all, this was Marine Headquarters. Marineford was guarded by admirals and the fleet admiral, while the strongest member of the entire Flying Fleet was only Golden Lion Shiki himself. There had to be something wrong. They could not completely abandon the rear.

After hearing Mu Chen's words, Qi Yuan began to think as well.

Mu Chen looked up at the sky, his brows tightly furrowed. Golden Lion's Flying Fleet could not possibly be this small. If I were Golden Lion, I would definitely have the fleet circle around to attack from the front and rear, drawing fire rather than launching a frontal assault. A frontal assault would not benefit Golden Lion.

There was another point. Mu Chen knew of the existence of the ICO drug. Since Golden Lion had appeared at this time and had already strayed from the timeline of reinforcements, anything was possible.

He just did not know whether Golden Lion had developed the ICO drug yet. Even if it was only a prototype or a half-finished product, they had to be on guard. After all, the Pirate World now existed on its own, and no one knew what might change. Even if the ICO drug did not exist, what about the entire Flying Fleet?

There could not possibly be only one flagship.

A thought surfaced. Qi Yuan turned to look at the serious-faced Mu Chen. He did not know how Mu Chen knew all this, but what Mu Chen said made sense. He also understood that just a few of them being at the front would not be of much use right now. But if, as Mu Chen said, another Flying Fleet appeared in the back streets, things would be different. There were hundreds of thousands of civilians in the back streets.

Kid, did you analyze all of this?

Sakazuki and Borsalino walked over. They had heard Mu Chen's analysis as well, and after listening, they felt that he made a great deal of sense. They could not place every Marine at the harbor. But if Mu Chen was wrong, that would be a problem too. They were vice admirals now, the backbone of the Marines. Their combat power could influence the course of the battlefield.

Borsalino looked at Mu Chen, then at the floating islands in the sky. Frowning, he said lightly, "Ooh, how scary. I really underestimated you, Mu Chen. If things are really as you said, then this Golden Lion is truly terrifying."

"I merely analyzed it based on the information I know."

Mu Chen's face was stern now, completely lacking his earlier easygoing manner. In a situation like this, he could not stay relaxed.

Although he knew that Golden Lion would ultimately be defeated by Garp and Sengoku before being imprisoned in Impel Down, the plot was different now. Garp was not here, so Mu Chen had no idea what would happen next.

Still, Mu Chen believed Golden Lion would be locked up in Impel Down. It was just that Marineford's casualties would definitely not be few.

Mu Chen knew the Marine soldiers here. Every one of them was kind and hardworking. There were also Qi Yuan, Kuzan, Jia Ji, and countless others.

Mu Chen knew the tavern owners, restaurant owners, vegetable-selling uncles and aunties here as well. They were all filled with hope and longing for life and the future.

Without realizing it, Mu Chen had developed a slight sense of belonging here. He had never felt that during those years in the East Blue, so he did not want anything to happen to these people.

Sakazuki studied Mu Chen carefully with a grave expression. "Kid, I think you really do have a lot of secrets."

But he did not dwell on it any further.

Sakazuki turned to Borsalino and said, "Borsalino, let's go. Let Mu Chen and the others stay here."

Sakazuki was a battle maniac. He could not possibly pass up the opportunity to fight Golden Lion Shiki, and bringing Borsalino along would give them better odds of victory.

However, Borsalino was still thinking and did not reply to Sakazuki.

Mu Chen frowned tightly. He glanced at Sakazuki, then turned to look at Borsalino.

"Vice Admiral Borsalino, I think it would be better for you to stay. Your Glint-Glint Fruit ability allows you to provide support at any time. But if something suddenly goes wrong here, tens of thousands of people could die in an instant. So you can wait and see a little longer."

Mu Chen spoke calmly, but what was with those words?

An order? Jia Ji was dumbfounded. A mere commodore was actually ordering a vice admiral to stay behind—and that vice admiral was one of the Marine monsters.

Borsalino.

"Oh, kid, you don't seem much younger than me. How did I fail to think of something like that?"

"Mm, you seem pretty impressive. Not bad at all!"

The way Borsalino looked at Mu Chen changed. Even his normally narrowed eyes opened much wider.

But Borsalino was right. Mu Chen was indeed not much younger than Borsalino, probably only seven or eight years younger. Sakazuki should be a little older than Borsalino, right?

Who knew? In any case, Mu Chen thought Sakazuki looked older.

"With that kind of thinking ability, I was right not to misjudge you. I've decided that you'll be my adjutant!"

Like Borsalino, Sakazuki's eyes lit up as he looked at Mu Chen. His tone was extremely serious, but after saying that, he spoke no further and hurried toward the harbor.

When Borsalino saw Sakazuki leave, he narrowed his eyes and curled his lips into a smile. "The troublesome one has finally left. Then let's wait and see. But while we wait, let's talk some more about you becoming my adjutant!"

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Marine soldiers had already gathered at Marineford Harbor. Every cannon was aimed at the sky, including the cannons aboard the dozens of warships in the harbor.

Two people stood atop the Marine Headquarters building: the two Marine admirals, Zefa and Sengoku.

Capes of Justice fluttered in the wind.

"I never expected my arrival to be welcomed by two admirals!"

Following the voice, Golden Lion Shiki slowly drifted down onto the rooftop. Less than a hundred meters separated them as the three stared each other down. Golden Lion Shiki, however, looked quite relaxed, even faintly amused.

"Golden Lion, daring to come to Marineford is simply courting death!"

Sengoku's gaze was grave, and his words were anything but polite.

Golden Lion threw back his head and laughed.