Every senior member of the Rocks Pirates, Lind included, wore a grave expression.
Without their captain Rocks holding the front line, the ratio of top-tier fighters left on the battlefield had shifted straight to seventeen against eleven. The enemy had six more than they did, and their quality was no worse, either.
After all, Sengoku and the other Marines, along with the Five Elders, were all fully fledged Admirals in strength. On their side, only Whitebeard, Golden Lion, Charlotte Linlin, Lind, and Zhang Liang had reached that level.
The others fell slightly short, only reaching the level of the Yonko first mates in the original story.
Facing these top fighters from the World Government, they exchanged glances and silently divided up their opponents.
Lind, the strongest, continued fighting two at once, taking on Zephyr and Saint Mars. Whitebeard and Shiki faced Kong and Sengoku, while Charlotte Linlin, Zhang Liang, Kaido, and Oden each took on one of the remaining four Five Elders.
As naturally gifted fighters and Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit users, Kaido and Kozuki Oden were exceptionally good at weathering pressure. They could certainly shoulder that responsibility.
The rest was straightforward. After their earlier burst of attacks, Rocks's side still held the numerical advantage among the mid- and high-level fighters.
Several slightly weaker pirates ganged up on each stronger Celestial Dragon. They soon managed to hold back the Celestial Dragons' assault, though the pressure was immense.
There was no helping it. Those five extra Admiral-level fighters threw the balance off far too much, especially with the World Government already having far more Admiral Candidates than Rocks's side.
Nearly half of the World Government's Admiral Candidate-level fighters had to be held off by senior officers on Lind's side who were only at Elite Vice Admiral level. Casualties soared, creating a