The War's End

Rumble!!!

Hachinosu seemed to be collapsing; the earth-shattering tremors spread throughout the entire area in a short time, even causing the Skull Rock to collapse.

Countless people fell and couldn't get up for a long time.

Just when some people thought the island was about to sink, the commotion suddenly subsided.

"Are you all alright, Admiral Kong?"

"I'm fine! But Garp and Zephyr are still fighting those pirates! We can't retreat now!"

In a certain location on the battlefield, Sengoku met with Sora and Kaku.

After confirming that the two were alright, Sengoku breathed a sigh of relief, but his expression remained serious.

The death toll is far too high!

Several Marine Vice Admiral were killed in action, and countless soldiers perished. The entire land was stained red, somewhat resembling the Red Line.

"You all get on the ship first, I'll go find them!" Sengoku took a breath and made the decision.

Sora stared intently at Sengoku for a moment, then lowered her head and walked past him with Sengoku. "Hurry back, I'm waiting for you to take my place!"

Having said that, Sora and Tsuru headed towards the coastline.

Sengoku didn't look back, but ran quickly, continuing his journey deeper into the island.

During this process, he developed a keen sense of perception.

The sounds of battle seemed to have subsided considerably; the bustling atmosphere of the early stages of the war was gone.

He even saw some pirates cleaning up the battlefield. Even if they saw him, they would only glance at him and not try to stop him.

He suddenly realized that the war was about to end.

"Sengoku?"

"Zephyr!"

Sengoku bumped into Zephyr, his gaze briefly lingering on Zephyr's shoulder, which was tightly bound by his clothes.

"That giant king put me down, told me to walk in this direction, and then went back to find Garp," Zephyr explained without further ado.

"You went to organize everyone's retreat." Sengoku sensed something but didn't ask any further questions.

Zephyr nodded, and the two brushed past each other, running off in opposite directions.

Soon, Sengoku met Harald and Garp, along with Rocks and another person.

The two-on-two battle is still ongoing, with both sides attacking, defending, or dodging each other.

Each strike was incredibly powerful, like rolling thunder, far surpassing the strength of ordinary experts.

Multiple figures moved back and forth, their afterimages drifting like rain clouds, their momentum surging, and Inazuma and thunder erupting in the sky like a cloudy day.

The four men fought without restraint, further devastating the already crumbling Hachinosu, almost shattering it completely.

With the unstoppable tremors, several huge cracks spread towards the outermost edge of the island, symbolizing its impending split.

"Buddha's Wrath Golden Palm!"

In an instant, Sengoku transformed into Buddha Form, his entire body radiating golden light. He raised his hand and released a palm-shaped shockwave, which ripped the ground apart and created a golden whirlwind.

This position is perfect, placing Rocks and Kaya in a pincer attack.

Garp and Harald also saw Sengoku, and the two of them continued to attack, their Haki power surging like boiling water, disappearing in an instant like a shooting star.

"Blut Vene Anhaben!!"

Kaya raised his hand and waved it, Blut Vene to expand outwards, forming a semi-circular shield with a surface shimmering with fine blue light.

Sengoku, Garp, Harald's attacks landed one after another on it, but the result was that it could not be shaken!

After a while, the commotion subsided.

The surrounding smoke and the protective shield made of Reishi dissipated together, blown away by a timely gust of wind, and silently vanished into the air.

Rocks and Kaya stood together.

When Rocks looked around the battlefield, he was surprised to find that, apart from himself and his companions, all other battles had ended.

More than 70% of the pirate and marine soldiers have been killed in battle, and even the giants with their imposing size have been defeated.

He could even see Loki sitting on the ground in the distance, looking dejected, his face still bandaged, with several fallen giants around him.

At a glance, it seems that all the other people I knew have disappeared; they seem to have vanished while the fight was going on.

The navy was already withdrawing in an orderly manner, and almost all the pirates had stopped fighting. Some were cleaning up the battlefield, while others were just watching silently, and the battlefield fell into an eerie silence.

In other words, they were the last to finish.

He went to look for Harald and Garp again and noticed the two figures, one big and one small, walking away hand in hand.

Rocks remained silent for a long time before slowly sheathing his sword. "Why did you help me? I could have done that final blow myself."

"Is that what you should be saying?" Kaya's voice was enigmatic. "Consider it paying back your wine debt."

Rocks smiled, then took a breath.

"The war... is over!"

On the vast blue sea, three or four warships sailed side by side, their hulls bearing many signs of damage, presumably selected for their barely navigable condition.

On one of the ships, the naval officers in charge sat together, some applying bandages, some drinking tea, but no one spoke.

They probably just escaped from Hachinosu and need time to calm down.

"Zephyr, are you alright?" Sora asked, looking at Zephyr.

"It's just a missing arm, I won't die." Zephyr's right shoulder wound had been treated, and he spoke of it quite calmly.

"Hahaha! It's okay! We can install a mechanical arm later and it'll still work!" Garp laughed with a tearful expression, only to be elbowed by the crane sitting next to him.

Garp clutched his stomach and screamed.

"Tsuru, your female soldiers..." Kong said calmly, carefully considering how to say it.

"It's all for justice," Crane said calmly.

Everyone present noticed that He was gripping the teacup tightly with his fingers, his knuckles turning white.

He led the team to rescue Kong, and Kong was rescued, but things took an unexpected turn afterward, and she couldn't spare the time to go back and find her soldiers.

If we don't come back when we retreat, we'll be considered as having sacrificed our lives.

Sigh, you really shouldn't have come to save me...

The words lingered in his mind, but he ultimately didn't say them aloud; he simply sighed softly.

In an effort to save him, an Admiral, several Admiral Vice Admiral, and countless marines died. The rescue operation was successful, but it resulted in even greater losses of combat power.

Is it worth it or not?

There were some things he simply couldn't say; it would be a blow to his colleagues and also a betrayal of the many marines who had given their lives.

It was only thanks to Harald and the giants that they were able to retreat; otherwise, they probably wouldn't have been able to get out at all.

The navy has truly embarrassed itself this time.

For no apparent reason, Kong suddenly remembered something.

"Why are there only a few ships?"

"Report to Admiral Kong! The pirate Shiki stole most of our warships while flying away!"

This is a conversation that took place recently between Sora and a marine who remained on the ship after Sora reached the coast, explaining why they only had this many ships left.

There's nothing more to say now... Go back and issue arrest warrants for all those bastards!

"Give me a report on your work!" Kong became serious, and the others sat up straight as well.

There's no time for reminiscing; important business is at hand.

They all realized that although the pirates had put on such a show of force, they didn't intend to annihilate them all; it was more like they were playing a real-life match-3 game.

Many notable pirates, while not entirely without their full strength, didn't quite reach the point of fighting to the death.

Furthermore, they discovered that some pirates fought and then fled, not to avoid battle, but to leave Hachinosu directly.

Sora, Tsuru, and the others were also completely baffled.

Of course, the ones who deserve the most attention are those called "Quincy".

Their fighting style was strange; I'd never seen anything like it before.

"So, that man named Kaya also gave me a very special feeling," Kong said thoughtfully.

"It felt even more Rocks to me." Crane recalled the moment he met Kaya.

"Admiral Kong, didn't we capture a few Quincy?" Sengoku suddenly spoke up, drawing the attention of the others.

"When?" Garp asked in surprise.

"Before setting off." (A concise and to-the-point statement.)

"Didn't get any useful information out of them?" Crane thought for a moment and said, "It's best to spare their lives."

"Let's go back and talk to them again; maybe we can get more useful information," Zephyr said, but he didn't hold out much hope.

In fact, they all thought that it would be great if they could find out information about the Quincy's power.

Maybe there will be an opportunity to take advantage of it...