"We've spotted Big Mom Charlotte Linlin's flagship-the Queen Mama Chanter!"
As the messenger's voice, distorted by terror, echoed over the entire plaza of Marineford, the atmosphere that had been bristling with internal conflict just a second earlier was instantly shrouded in an even heavier, more suffocating cloud.
Charlotte Linlin!
That monstrous female pirate!
One of the Rocks Pirates' top officers!
Why had she appeared here?!
"Has it been confirmed?! Is the intelligence accurate?!" Sengoku's expression changed. He rushed up to the messenger in a single stride and demanded sharply.
"Absolutely certain, Admiral Candidate Sengoku!" The messenger shuddered in fright and hurriedly handed over a freshly printed photograph. "This is the last image our frontline reconnaissance ship transmitted at the cost of their lives. That singing ship-there's no mistaking it!"
Sengoku took the photograph. One glance was enough to make his expression turn thunderous.
The background of the photograph was a sea of flames; clearly, disaster had already struck the reconnaissance ship. Above those flames, a bizarre vessel as enormous as a moving island, with a grinning, singing sun for its figurehead, was cutting through the wind and waves, heading straight for Marineford!
"Damn it! Are those bastards planning to ambush Headquarters while our main force is about to set out for God Valley?!" A dangerous red light flickered in Sakazuki's eyes. Scalding magma dripped slowly down his arms, making the ground beneath his feet sizzle.
"Well, this is quite a nuisance~" Borsalino still wore his usual languid look, but a trace of gravity flashed through the eyes hidden behind his sunglasses.
Just as everyone braced for a formidable enemy and the highest-level combat alarm sounded throughout Marineford.
Yas, the man at the center of this incident, reacted in a way no one had expected.
He gave a bored yawn.
"Finally,