Sea Chase Battle

Staff Officer Tsuru said no more, but her aged eyes grew ever deeper.

By daybreak, they had already prepared themselves mentally and agreed on a plan.

Sengoku would lead Chaton and the other Vice Admirals ahead, while Zephyr followed a little later with the remaining ten warships.

This had been intended to handle unforeseen circumstances, and now, by sheer coincidence, it had brought an unexpected gain.

Meanwhile, Roy was steering the warship toward the place both sides had agreed upon.

The Navy Rear Admiral's eyes were filled with disgust, and he was even suppressing his anger.

"Hand over the hostages! Get out of here, you damned criminals!"

"You're asking to die..."

Bullet's face darkened, and he was about to teach the man a lesson when Roy raised a hand to stop him.

"Heh, why get angry? The angrier he gets, the more it proves that what we've done has truly hurt them."

But then Roy changed his tone, his gaze suddenly turning deep.

"Still, the strong cannot tolerate provocation. Giving them a lesson they'll never forget is perfectly fine."

As he spoke, he casually pushed a criminal covered with a sack beside him into the sea.

The other criminals froze at first, then broke into savage grins.

"Hehehe, so that's it..."

Splash! Splash!

Several Navy prisoners were thrown into the sea one after another, sending up great sprays of water.

Roy ripped away the sacks covering Garp and Bogard, then hurled both men hard into the sea.

"Hahaha! Thank you for making way, Fleet Admiral Sengoku! Our paths will cross again. Until next time!"

As his words fell, Sanjuan Wolf seemed to receive an order. He suddenly moved, charging swiftly outward.

Seeing this, the criminals aboard Crescent Moon Hunter's warship silently cursed Roy and hurried to steer their ship away as well.

At this point, how could they fail to see it?

Roy's repeated provocations were clearly deliberate attempts to use Garp and the others as bait.

All to buy time to escape the encirclement.

This sudden turn instantly sent the Navy into a fury.

Even Sengoku could no longer restrain himself.

Golden light flashed as he instantly entered his Buddha Form.

"Criminals really are criminals! We should never have trusted you! Damn you, Roy! You really are asking to die!"

They had indeed planned to launch a thunderous strike during the hostage exchange.

But they had never imagined that Roy would be so utterly unscrupulous, seeing straight through their intentions and throwing every hostage into the sea.

Now the Navy could only rescue them first, or the hostages would surely die.

Roy was simply too vicious.

Worse still, when Sengoku and Staff Officer Tsuru saw those familiar figures falling into the sea, their expressions changed drastically.

"Gasp! That's Garp and his aide, Bogard! Garp looks seriously injured!"

"Enough talk! Save them first! Send some men to support them!"

Worthy of his position as Fleet Admiral of Marine Headquarters, Sengoku forced down his anger, quickly regained his composure, and issued several orders in succession.

First, he ordered the sailors aboard the warships to immediately rescue Garp and the others who had fallen into the sea.

Second, he ordered Chaton to lead Yamakaji and the other Vice Admirals in pursuit of Roy.

The two sides were barely a hundred meters apart. They believed Roy's group could not get far and would soon be caught.

Once Zephyr arrived and they closed in from both sides, Roy and the others would have no escape.

A short while later, Garp and the other unconscious Navy personnel were brought aboard a warship.

The accompanying medics hurried over with various instruments and began emergency treatment on Garp, whose injuries were the worst.

But when the Navy personnel saw Garp's condition clearly, every one of them clenched their fists, their eyes filled with frustration.

Heavens, what were they looking at?

That legendary Navy hero was now covered in wounds.

Especially the wound across his waist and abdomen, so deep that bone was visible, and his left arm, severed at the shoulder,

All bore witness to the brutal, bloody battle he had endured before losing consciousness.

Had the seawater not just washed the blood off his body, who could have recognized that this blood-soaked man was Garp?

"Roy... you bastard! I, Sengoku, swear that today I will bury you at sea!"

"Otherwise, I don't deserve to be the Fleet Admiral!"

Even someone as composed as Sengoku completely lost his composure at the sight of Garp's wretched condition.

His eyes turned bloodshot, and the golden light of his Buddha Form surged. He wanted nothing more than to slap Roy to death on the spot.

He did not even dare dwell on it. If Garp had been injured this badly, Kuzan had probably truly fallen.

For a moment, Sengoku felt as though heaven and earth were collapsing.

Although he had prepared himself mentally before coming.

Seeing it with his own eyes and hearing it with his own ears still made that despair unbearable.

"Medics! Whatever it takes, you must keep Garp alive! No, send Garp back to Marineford immediately for the best treatment! Do you understand?"

"Also, prepare a warship to enter Impel Down and search. No matter what, find Kuzan at any cost!"

Faced with Sengoku's unbridled fury, no one dared answer. They could only silently carry out his orders.

Even Staff Officer Tsuru waited several minutes, until Sengoku had calmed down a little, before speaking again.

"Sengoku, even Garp and Kuzan were defeated. I'm afraid Zephyr and Chaton won't be able to stop them either. We must support them as soon as possible, or the consequences will be unthinkable!"

Sengoku drew a deep breath, his gaze icy. "Don't worry. Roy and his people won't be acting so arrogantly for much longer!"

Meanwhile, events unfolded exactly as expected.

Roy's group had traveled less than a kilometer at full speed before they were intercepted again.

One enormous warship and ten smaller warships blocked their path, unleashing a sky-filling barrage.

Zephyr stood at the very front, swiftly directing the gunners to fire.

"All pirates deserve to die! Hit them hard! As long as we sink their warships, their Devil Fruit abilities will be restricted in a battle at sea!"

Boom! Boom!

Cannonballs struck the sea, raising wave after towering wave.

Roy and the others could only hastily fend them off.

"Damn it! The Navy's playing dirty! No wonder they let us go first. They had more men lying in wait ahead!"

"What do we do? These shells are clearly aimed at the warships! They're not leaving us any way out!"

Boom! Boom!

Another volley of cannonballs flew through the air.

But just then, another enormous warship and ten smaller ones approached from behind, completely surrounding them.

As an Admiral candidate, Chaton likewise issued orders swiftly.

"Vice Admiral Garp and Admiral Kuzan were both brutalized by these evil criminals! Tell me, do you want revenge?"

"If you want revenge, follow me into battle! Blast their warships to pieces! Once they fall into the sea, feed them to the Sea Kings!"

The Navy even maintained continuous covering fire, relentlessly bombarding the pirates' warships.

For a time, the two warships were attacked from both front and rear, forced to endure the dense bombardment.

Although they could destroy some of the shells, they had no time to protect the warships themselves.

Boom! Boom!

With an explosion, a cannonball struck Crescent Moon Hunter's warship.

A huge hole instantly opened in the hull, and seawater poured in wildly.

The criminals aboard fell into chaos, desperately trying to stop more shells from landing.

Unfortunately, the Navy had prepared far too thoroughly this time.

If they could not hit these powerful fighters, they would blast the warships apart.

Once they fell into the sea, the Navy would rule these waters.

"Don't panic! Crescent Moon Hunter, hold off the warships behind us. We'll handle the ones ahead!"

Amid the chaos, Roy casually shattered a cannonball, then directed Sanjuan Wolf once more to head straight toward the warships ahead.

Bullet's and Red's expressions changed at the same time. They had already seen through Roy's intentions.

He intended to use the pirates aboard Crescent Moon Hunter's warship as bait and abandon them completely.

Hearing this, Crescent Moon Hunter and the others immediately roared.

"Roy! You bastard! Trying to burn the bridge after crossing it? What kind of strong man are you?"

Boom! Boom!

But the situation left them no choice.

Chaton and the others were pursuing relentlessly from behind, forcing them to fend off the cannon fire.

The criminals who had escaped prison together were instantly split apart.

Crescent Moon Hunter and the others could only fight a bitter battle against Chaton behind them.

Roy, however, remained calm and unmoved.

"There's a tiger ahead and jackals behind. It's enough for us to hold off the tiger."

What a joke. Had these criminals misunderstood something?

Had traveling with him for a while really made them think he was a good person?

Besides, they had chosen to board that warship themselves.

What did that have to do with him?

In fact, from the moment they split between the ships, he had prepared for the worst.

Since they would not follow orders, they could not blame him.

The others did not dare say much. Instead, they secretly rejoiced that they had chosen to follow Roy.

Had they gone with Crescent Moon Hunter, they would probably have been the ones abandoned now.

They finally understood completely: Roy was still the same Roy.

Whether Navy personnel or pirates, anyone who stood in his way would be killed without exception.

Boom! Boom!

Another barrage came, only to be shattered by Roy again.

The warships finally exhausted their shells. The ships on both sides closed in, plunging into an all-out melee.