There were no tactics, only a headlong charge.
A charge that held nothing back.
Even the criminals from Level 6 knew Roy still had something up his sleeve, so their attacks were especially terrifying.
Crescent Moon Hunter, Big Barrel, World, and the others charged even more fiercely, taking on the two Marine vice admirals and Garp's adjutant, Bogard, directly.
The two sides clashed in an instant, fighting to the death.
Fortunately, Kuzan had frozen a large enough battlefield beforehand. Otherwise, there really would not have been room for both sides.
But even with the pirates fighting so fiercely, once their strongest fighters were tied down, the Marines' remaining forces still outnumbered theirs by nearly three to one.
Blood was drawn in the blink of an eye as the two sides collided, and the pirates soon fell at a disadvantage.
This thrilled the Marines. They could finally take revenge.
Garp, Kuzan, and Magellan, who had yet to truly act, all moved out as well, preparing to surround Roy.
"Roy, I honestly can't see how you can turn this around now."
"Look at you. You're practically being used as someone else's weapon, and you still think you have the right to criticize me?"
A hint of amusement finally entered Garp's voice, the amusement of satisfaction.
At the same time, he abruptly raised his massive fist and flashed forward, launching a thunderous attack at Roy.
He was ready to teach Roy a harsh lesson right then.
He did not even use Armament Haki, an expression of absolute confidence in his own strength.
Though Kuzan and Magellan said nothing, their gazes were just as cold. Clearly, like Garp, they intended to surround and kill Roy.
"Keh heh heh! The famous Vice Admiral Garp truly is brave, charging at me alone! I just wonder whether you'll regret it in a moment!"
Facing Garp as he charged right up to him, Roy raised his hand to block, his tone calm.
Bang! Bang!
As the two collided, neither coated himself in the slightest trace of Haki, relying purely on strength and technique.
But even this purely physical clash produced terrifying waves of air that swept through their surroundings.
"Hmph, not bad, but still not good enough!"
Garp's expression darkened, and he increased his strength again, driving Roy back seven steps with tremendous force.
But the recoil likewise pushed him back six steps.
In this clash, the two could be said to have been almost evenly matched.
For the first time, true gravity appeared in Garp's eyes as he looked at Roy, alongside his killing intent.
Kuzan and Magellan were surprised as well, but with no time to think further, they closed in to kill Roy.
As long as they subdued Roy first, Bullet and the others behind him would not be able to cause much trouble.
Roy steadied himself and finally burst into unrestrained laughter as he faced the three closing in.
"Hahaha! Do you really think I'm alone? What a joke! I may be conceited, but I'm not stupid!"
"Why don't you guess where Bullet and the others went?"
At those words, Garp and the other two stopped short, only then realizing how serious the situation was.
Just then, two sources of mortal danger and frenzied killing intent suddenly erupted behind them.
"Keh heh heh! Garp, you old bastard, we haven't seen each other in decades, and you've only gotten worse with age! What kind of Marine hero bullies a junior here? Fight me if you've got the guts!"
"Keh heh heh! Red, my capture had something to do with that old bastard Garp too. Why not let me deal with him?
"I'd like to see whether his fists are still that hard. Today, we've got these dogs trapped! At worst, we'll sink Impel Down! Kill!"
Garp, Kuzan, and Magellan were instantly alarmed and instinctively moved to defend themselves.
But battles at this level were often decided in a single instant.
Even if their Observation Haki detected the attack, there was no time to react.
Moreover, fighters on the same level could briefly suppress their opponents' Observation Haki with their own Haki.
And so...
Bang! Bang!
A massive fist struck first, landing squarely on Garp's back and sending him flying like a cannonball.
"You little bastard..."
Kuzan also came under attack from an opponent.
The man held an apparently ordinary longsword, but its blade was coated in pitch-black Armament Haki that flowed continuously, making it resemble a Black Blade.
The strike slashed straight into Kuzan.
Crack!
Though Kuzan tried to block and even used Elementalization at the last moment, he still could not avoid injury against top-level Armament Haki.
"How is that possible..."
Meanwhile, Magellan, the only one there too stunned to react, faced a crisis of his own.
Roy used Soru of the Marines' Six Powers and appeared behind Magellan in an instant,
then abruptly raised one finger and struck Magellan hard in the arm.
Crack!
His arm shattered on the spot.
"Keh heh! Magellan, oh, Magellan. Last time, I tore off one of your wings. So this time, tearing off your right hand should be perfectly reasonable, shouldn't it?"
Dead silence fell over the scene.
The Marines and pirates locked in battle were all stunned speechless by this sudden turn of events.
Who could have imagined that Roy, Bullet, and the others would catch Garp's group off guard, seriously injuring all three in an instant?
When the Marines came to their senses, they cried out and tried to rush to their aid.
"Quick, save Vice Admiral Garp..."
But before they could finish, a dense mass of pirate criminals poured up from the Level 1 stairway and surrounded them.
"Keh heh heh! You arrogant Marines, where do you think you're going? Did you ask us first?"
"Keh heh heh! I've never fought such a satisfying battle! Before, it was always the Marines surrounding us and hunting us down. Today, the tables have turned! We're going to slaughter our way right through these Marines!"
At that moment, the situation reversed completely. The Marines were surrounded!
The Marine soldiers were utterly stunned, their eyes filled with disbelief and a trace of terror.
They could not understand at all why Bullet and the others had attacked from Level 1.
Even worse, the pirates from Level 1, along with those from Level 2 temporarily imprisoned there, had all been released and were now encircling them.
What the fuck kind of joke was this!
But the pirates were not about to reason with them. Without hesitation, they swarmed forward and began fighting.
In a single instant, the Marines and jailers suffered heavy losses.
"Ah! We're Marines! Think of your families! We must never surrender! Kill every last one of these damned criminals!"
Fortunately, these Marines were elites after all. After their initial panic, they fought back desperately, keeping themselves from collapsing on the spot.
Amid the chaos, Roy looked at Bullet and Red with interest.
"I thought that after freeing the criminals on Level 1, you'd push straight on to Above Ground Floor One."
Bullet looked haughty as he rolled his neck. "Hmph! I, Bullet, am not a man who breaks his word."
"Besides, how could I miss out on surrounding and killing Garp?"
Redfield gave Roy an irritated look. "Boy, do you really think I don't know whether things would end well for us if we dared betray you during this operation?"
Roy smiled without answering.
Redfield continued.
"Besides, even if we charged straight to Above Ground Floor One, Kuzan and the others would notice as soon as we made any noise. Then we'd be completely trapped instead, unable to reach the sea."
"And from what I know of you, you'd most likely turn around and help the Marines wipe us out."
"If my Observation Haki couldn't see through people's hearts, you'd have fucking played me!"
By the end, there was a barely perceptible trace of wariness in Red's voice.
"Hahaha! Just what I'd expect of you, Red. The old era is the old era, after all. You really know your stuff."
The corners of Roy's mouth rose, and he laughed aloud,
"But next, we should cripple the Marines first. Otherwise, leaving really will be a little difficult."
Roy neither denied nor admitted it, but Red and Bullet both felt a chill.
They had not guessed wrong. With Roy's ruthlessness, he was absolutely capable of doing such a thing.
That was indeed the case.
Since Roy dared to have them provide support from below, he was not afraid of them escaping.
If they really dared to run, he would flee faster than anyone, and he could even turn around and pull a vicious trick on them.
When that happened, he would kill them regardless of whether they were masters from the old era.
While they were talking, Garp and Kuzan also climbed out of the rubble of the collapsed battlefield.
But one look made their world come crashing down.
Could someone tell them how four thousand Marines had been surrounded by fewer than three thousand criminals?
What the fuck kind of joke was this!
And Magellan's right arm had been broken, leaving him on the ground howling in pain.
What on earth was going on!
And how exactly had those two bastards, Bullet and Red, made it up from Level 1!
Before you continue