Mary Geoise.
Flames still burned above the Holy Land.
Sabo stood at the end of the street, listening to Dragon's final word through the Den Den Mushi: "Withdraw." Slowly, he raised his head.
In the distance, the vast outline of Pangaea Castle had come into clear view.
If they pressed on, if they crossed just a few more streets, the Revolutionary Army could reach the very heart of the World Government.
But Sabo looked at it for only a few seconds.
Then he turned away.
"Everyone, withdraw."
He did not hesitate.
Nor did he let the opportunity before him go to his head simply because they had fought this far.
They had not come to Mary Geoise today to take Pangaea Castle.
They had accomplished the objective of the Heaven-Severing Ladder.
Staying any longer would only turn their hard-won victory into pointless casualties.
Responses soon came through the Den Den Mushi.
"Understood!"
"Withdraw!"
The order spread swiftly across the battlefields.
Beneath the Red Line.
Morley gritted his teeth and held his mangled right arm against his side.
Every jolt of the broken bones sent pain stabbing through him.
But he did not stop. He pressed his left hand against the rock wall ahead once more.
"One more time..."
Morley drew a deep breath.
"Move!"
Rumble!
The thick layers of rock rolled aside again.
Using the Push-Push Fruit, he forced the underground passage back open even as it began to contract.
Revolutionary Army soldiers hurried inside in large numbers.
"The wounded first!"
"Elderly people and children first!"
"Don't push!"
"Follow the markers all the way down!"
Wave after wave of slaves poured into the passage.
Some were barefoot, the soles of their feet rubbed raw and bloody.
Some still wore metal collars that had not been fully removed.
Most had