Kong Successfully Rescued

"Why do I have a feeling something's off?"

"Tch! Looks that way!"

Below the Execution Platform, Shiki and Kyo could no longer sit still.

They had been taking it easy since the war began, but even they couldn't stand sitting around here the whole time.

Looking over the entire battlefield...

Forget looking it over! Charlotte Linlin was still playing with the giants! Nobody even knew where Kaido had gone! And Loki still hadn't managed to kill the giant.

Everyone else was still locked in combat with their respective opponents.

Countless low-ranking pirates and marines had been killed or wounded, but among the top fighters, only one Admiral had died.

At last, Shiki was the first to rise.

"Hey, if you leave, who's going to guard the Execution Platform?" Kyo called out, stopping Shiki.

Shiki looked up at the Execution Platform. Kong was sitting there all alone, making it look like a VIP viewing seat.

"You care about that sort of thing?" Shiki grinned. "Rocks and Kaya are gone, but you're still here, aren't you?"

With that, he made to leave.

But the very next moment, an explosion erupted around them. They instinctively defended themselves against the blast, but a figure was enveloped in the smoke.

Shiki took a closer look and exclaimed in surprise, "Newgate? How'd you come flying back here?"

Newgate stood up. He wasn't seriously hurt, but his expression was ugly as he cursed under his breath. "Garp really is a mad dog!"

After Admiral Bright died, Garp seemed to have been enraged as well. He unleashed a burst of power that sent Newgate flying.

Then he used the opportunity to reach the foot of the Execution Platform.

"Are you going to get out of my way yourselves, or do I have to beat you to death and then get out of my way?!"

Garp approached step by step, having already taken off his coat. He wore only a blue-and-white Marine shirt, and both it and his pants were slightly damaged.

Directly ahead of him stood Newgate, Shiki, and Kyo, but Garp showed no fear. His fighting spirit only grew stronger.

"So that bastard Garp has his eye on us." Kyo reached up and took the giant axe off his back. Glossy black Haki wrapped around its silvery-white blade.

Shiki drew the two swords he carried and said around his cigar, "To tell the truth, I don't want to play anymore."

"You never even moved, come on!" Kyo still had time to retort. "Though I didn't either."

"I wasn't interested in this sort of thing to begin with." Newgate brushed the dust off his clothes, spun his naginata a few times, and planted it on the ground.

"If you want to leave now, I suppose I can give you a ride." Shiki suddenly laughed.

"What?" Newgate frowned.

"I just don't want to see those smug looks on the marines' faces." Kyo pushed up his sunglasses.

"All right... I'm leaving first!" Shiki suddenly shot up from the ground, streaking straight into the sky. He vanished in the blink of an eye.

Newgate and Kyo were both visibly stunned.

"Where'd Shiki go?" Garp raised an eyebrow.

"...That doesn't matter!" Newgate raised his blade and leaped toward Garp. "First, I'll chop off this bastard's dog head to go with my drinks!"

Garp clenched his iron fists and advanced instead of retreating, clashing with Newgate once again.

Kyo watched for a moment, then prepared to join in and make it two against one.

But just then, Zephyr arrived at full speed and ran into them.

"Garp?" Zephyr took in the situation. Garp and Newgate were fighting fiercely, while Kyo stood ahead, looking fairly idle.

"Well, what perfect timing!" Kyo laughed outright, grabbed his giant axe, and charged at Zephyr.

Zephyr had no weapon. In fact, his weapons were his fists. His Armament Haki had been honed to a high level, with none spreading outward and all of it concentrated around his wrists.

And so the four of them fought in pairs.

While they were fighting fiercely, no one noticed a small unit circling around to the rear of the Execution Platform, below the steps.

"Vice Admiral Tsuru, are we going straight up?!"

"No! Wait a little longer."

They were the female soldiers led by Vice Admiral Tsuru!

As it turned out, before setting out, the Marines had already devised several plans to rescue Kong.

First and foremost, Kong was not a Devil Fruit user. To restrain him, they would need to use some means, which would be nothing more than binding him in chains.

Under normal circumstances, that would hardly restrain Kong, but given that he had been captured, he must have been badly injured.

Since the pirates intended to execute him publicly, they wouldn't kill Kong outright. Though the possibility of the pirates carrying out the execution early couldn't be ruled out, that was war.

In any case, approaching from the front was absolutely impossible.

In the end, Admiral Bright and Vice Admiral Tsuru had led their respective units around the outer edges of Hachinosu on opposite sides, making the long trip to the rear of the island.

The Execution Platform was situated in the middle of Hachinosu, and farther behind it stood the enormous skull-shaped rocky mountain.

As long as the others drew the bulk of the attention on the battlefield, they had a very good chance of circling around the front lines by keeping their movements hidden while clearing out the low-ranking pirates.

And that was exactly what had happened. The giants had appeared one after another, and so many others had caused such a commotion that the war had become a little too lively.

The key to the plan's success was that the pirates themselves had no organization or discipline, and their troop deployments were practically nonexistent.

It was a shame Admiral Bright had fallen in battle...

The thought didn't linger in Tsuru's mind for long. They had already lost an Admiral; they absolutely had to bring Kong back!

There were only a few dozen female soldiers. The Execution Platform was close at hand, but the moment they went up, they would become targets for everyone.

So Tsuru kept waiting, waiting for an opportunity.

She closed her eyes, her ears twitching slightly. She heard the wind and the sounds it carried.

On the other side, with only the Execution Platform separating them, four powerful fighters were locked in an evenly matched battle.

And farther away... no! They were approaching rapidly! There were two presences with terrifying auras.

They seemed to be charging straight through everything in their path, crushing every obstacle with the purest violence. They were the greatest variables on the battlefield.

"Now!" Tsuru's eyes snapped open.

She sprang forward, taking the steps three at a time. She bounded up the stone staircase, moving so fast she blurred.

The other female soldiers stayed below, keeping watch. Those were the orders Tsuru had given them beforehand.

In the blink of an eye, Tsuru reached the Execution Platform.

"Tsuru..." Kong stared blankly at her as she rushed up, as though his mind hadn't caught up.

"Don't just sit there! Can you still move?!" Tsuru spoke rapidly. "Someone's probably already seen me. We don't have much time!"

"Sorry, Tsuru. I've been poisoned." With Tsuru supporting him, Kong strained to stand.

Poison was much more effective than chains for keeping him under control.

But now that she had reached this point, Tsuru was undoubtedly excited. No matter what, she had managed to rescue Kong.

Just then!

Kong and Tsuru's hands abruptly stopped moving, and fine beads of sweat appeared on both their foreheads.

They slowly looked up to see a figure standing on the Execution Platform. They hadn't noticed him at all; he seemed to have appeared out of thin air.

The man simply stood there, doing nothing, standing normally, yet he brought immeasurable pressure.

Gulp!

The still-young-looking Tsuru swallowed. Even as the brains of the Marines, at a time like this, there was nothing she could do but steel her trembling heart.

"Were you the one assigned to rescue Kong, Vice Admiral Tsuru? This is our first meeting," Kaya said calmly.

"Is that a greeting...?" Tsuru was nervous.

At that moment, some people keenly noticed what was happening on the Execution Platform, while many more were already caught up in the fighting, oblivious to everything on the battlefield.

With that white-clad figure alone facing Kong and Tsuru, not a single pirate was worried. Many marines, however, felt their hearts tighten, and some even left openings in their fights.

The space on the Execution Platform seemed to freeze.

"Haha! Kaya really was still keeping watch!" Kyo jeered after knocking Zephyr back with a blow. "That guy doesn't hold back when he attacks. They'll be dead or injured!"