Encirclement

"Who knows!"

Facing Newgate's quiet question, Oak merely shrugged indifferently.

"If someone leaked information, then with so many Marines on the other side, wouldn't we find out by grabbing a few leaders and questioning them?"

Although Oak was certain that Ochoku was the traitor within the crew, he would not reveal it to the entire group without irrefutable evidence. The last time he mentioned it to Newgate, Rocks, and Kaido had only been because he trusted them completely, allowing Rocks to be more vigilant.

Without solid proof, exposing it would be useless. It might even push matters into a worse situation.

The reason was that this was not a united crew. Even Rocks could not act against a member based solely on suspicion without any evidence. It was not a matter of lacking strength; doing so would only cause the already loose crew to instantly fall apart over issues of trust.

"Then sink them!"

"I want to see whether someone really betrayed the crew!"

Rocks, who had somehow come over as well, listened to Oak's words and swept his gaze over the Marine warships, changing his original plan.

"Men, get ready. We're not setting sail—we're preparing to attack. Sink them! Plunder them!"

Pointing at the Marine fleet, Rocks gave the order to everyone, drawing wave after wave of cheers.

"Sink them!"

Everyone boarded the ship and charged forward, using a single pirate ship to confront a massive Marine fleet of over a hundred warships.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

The closer they got to the Marine warships, the more certain it became that the enemy had come prepared. Faced with Oak's side's charge, the Marines had long been ready, with not a trace of panic in their eyes.

These were the absolute elite of the Marines, not forces that could have been assembled on short notice.

Cannons roared as shells poured down upon Rocks and the others like a torrential storm.

"Whew—"

Oak spread his wings and lifted himself dozens of meters into the air, then gripped the Seven Star Sword with both hands.

"Demon Fire Burning the Wilderness."

With a powerful slash, green Demon Fire carrying a shockwave shot straight at the enemy. It cleared all the shells in one direction and sank a warship outright.

"Clank, clank, clank—"

At his side, every shell suddenly went out of control and gathered at a single point. Captain John had acted, using the Magnet-Magnet Fruit to control the shells before magnetically reflecting them all back.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

The shells rebounding onto the warships exploded violently across their decks.

The others also made their moves, each taking responsibility for a direction and cutting through the warships like vegetables. The front-line Marines were no match for them at all, and half of them collapsed in moments.

At the rear of the fleet, aboard a warship, Tsuru, who had recently been promoted to vice admiral and appointed as a headquarters staff officer, watched the situation at the front with a worried expression before turning to the middle-aged man beside her.

"Admiral Kong, when are we making our move? At this rate, the soldiers at the front won't be able to hold on much longer!"

The man beside her was none other than one of the World Government's highest combat powers of the era, Admiral Kong.

Kong was exceptionally huge and powerfully built, broad-shouldered and thick-backed. His muscles were as hard and developed as steel plates. Standing there like an immovable mountain, he exuded an oppressive presence.

Despite Tsuru's reminder, not the slightest expression appeared on his face. Even as he watched the front-line warships being destroyed one after another at an astonishing rate, he remained calm.

"No rush. Inform the front line to clear the route and have warships 01 through 20 move up!"

Only after a moment, while observing the battlefield, did Kong slowly give the order.

"Warships 01 through 20?"

Tsuru was startled by this.

"Those are..."

She wanted to say something, but Kong cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"Carry out my orders. Don't ask questions!"

Tsuru could only withdraw to make the arrangements. Soon, the advancing warships that had not yet been sunk spread out to both sides and cleared a path. Twenty warships sailed out from the rear, heading straight for the Rocks Pirates.

These twenty warships were quite different from the others. It was not because their hulls were larger, nor because their firepower was stronger, but because a massive figure stood at the bow of each ship!

"The Giant Tribe?"

Rocks, Oak, and the others on the opposite side all cried out in surprise at the newly emerged warships.

The hulking figures on those warships were members of the Giant Tribe, the race known as the strongest on these seas. Rocks even recognized that some of them were warriors from Elbaf.

"What the hell is Harald doing?!"

As if he had been betrayed, Rocks suddenly slammed the ship's railing in fury, shattering it to pieces.

"What do we do now?"

Oak stood beside him calmly, waiting for him to decide. It was not just Oak; the other members were doing the same.

Everyone knew about Rocks's relationship with Harald. Kaido had even been kicked in the face because of it.

"Kill them..."

With bloodshot eyes, Rocks let out a roar. He had intended to order the giants all killed, but halfway through, he forcibly swallowed the words.

"Sink those warships. As for the giants, just beat them until they lose the ability to move. But the guy on that warship at the very back—I want him alive..."

A violent burst of Conqueror's Haki erupted from Rocks's body. Oak saw cracks spread across the surrounding hull under the impact of that presence.

He could actually inflict tangible damage through sheer force of presence alone!

Oak's pupils contracted. Since arriving in this world, this was the first time he had personally witnessed Conqueror's Haki at such a level. Compared to it, his own was still far inferior.

At the same time, on the enemy warships, after being swept by that Conqueror's Haki, only the twenty giant warriors remained standing. Everyone else was sleeping soundly on the decks.

Rocks had already understood what was happening. Someone wanted to use these giant warriors to drive a wedge between him and Harald.

Long ago, Harald had told him that in order to make Elbaf join the World Government as an affiliated nation, he would send warriors to join the Marines. But he had never expected the Marines to use those warriors against him!

His gaze turned toward the flagship at the very rear of all the warships. The orders had come from there, so he would give the person who issued that command the cruelest punishment, no matter who it was.

"Giants, huh? I've heard for a long time that they're freakishly strong. I've wanted to test them out for ages!"

Kaido was the first to answer Rocks's call, his gaze fixed on the twenty giants ahead with blazing fighting spirit.

"Let's go over together!"

He invited Oak mainly because he could not fly, making it inconvenient for him to go alone.