As the strength of the people in the nutrient chamber diminished, nutrients were once again injected into their bodies, helping them recover the lost portion of their power.
Everything here is nurtured by Imu, and it is cultivated using living people. These individuals are none other than the Celestial Dragons, the descendants who share blood ties with Imu.
Only his descendants are qualified to become his nutrients.
He utilized his abilities to create a dark contract, binding the contract to these descendants, and then allowed his descendants to grow stronger before entering the nutrient chamber to continuously provide him with nourishment, maintaining his peak physical condition.
Although he underwent the "immortality surgery," the procedure had side effects. As time passed, while his body would not age, its strength continued to wane. Even with the power of Life Return, he could not halt the loss of physical strength.
To keep himself in a constant state of peak performance, he required a continuous supply of nutrients, which is why he created the dark contract to plunder the power of his own descendants to sustain his peak.
In order to ensure these people provided him with strength, Imu instructed the Five Elders to cultivate his descendants as much as possible. Whenever his descendants reached a certain level, he would create an accidental death, then capture the individual and imprison them in this basement.
The appearance of the nutrient chamber was to allow these individuals to recover after he extracted part of their power, enabling him to continue his plundering.
"The last explosion caused the death of many of my descendants, and this explosion probably killed some more. The blood source is dwindling; this won't do!"
"If the Five Elders can't deal with them this time, then I'll take matters into my own hands and erase them myself!"
The thought of so many of his descendants dying, leading to a significant reduction in those who could provide him with nourishment, ignited a surge of nameless fury within Imu!
Immediately, Imu exited this underground world and returned to the surface.
Marine Headquarters, Marineford:
"What happened? How could there be such a terrifying explosion on the Red Line?"
"Could something have happened at Mary Geoise?"
"I remember something similar happened before; it seemed a great pirate blew up Mary Geoise back then!"
"Since the pirates have started moving, their target wouldn't be the Celestial Dragons at Mary Geoise, would it?"
The explosion at Mary Geoise was too terrifying, and Marineford, being very close to the Red Line, naturally sensed it immediately.
At this moment, many navy personnel rushed outside to look towards the direction of the Red Line, where they could vaguely see the massive flames erupting from the explosion.
"Quick, contact Mary Geoise and find out what exactly happened!"
Sengoku shouted.
"Admiral, we can't connect with Mary Geoise at all!"
The communications officer wiped the sweat from his forehead and reported.
"Then contact the army on the Red Line and ask them what's going on!"
"And Munis is on duty near the Red Line, right? Quickly contact Munis and ask him!"
Sengoku continued.
"I remember a long time ago, the world destroyer World used the explosives developed by our navy to blow up Mary Geoise. Could it be that Li Yuan and the others used the same method to blow up Mary Geoise, which is why we can't get through?"
While waiting for the communications officer, the high-ranking officials in the admiral's office were already filled.
Now that they hadn't received orders from the World Government, the navy couldn't leave Marineford on their own.
If they left Marineford just as the pirates attacked, it would be dangerous! "Admiral, we can't reach the army, but we managed to connect with Admiral Munis's Den Den Mushi!"
The communications officer brought the Den Den Mushi and placed it in the center of the high-ranking navy officials.
"Moshi Moshi, this is Admiral Munis of the navy!"
On the other end of the line, Munis's voice came through, but he sounded completely unhurried.
"Munis, what happened on the Red Line? Are the pirates attacking Mary Geoise?"
Sengoku quickly inquired upon hearing Munis's words.
"That's right, it's the pirate alliance attacking Mary Geoise. Let me tell you, Admiral, the pirate alliance is terrifying; they directly blew up the entire Mary Geoise! No, it's more like it has collapsed down several dozen meters!"
"Led by the Infinite Pirates and Flying Pirates, the numerous pirate alliances are currently battling everyone at Mary Geoise, and the World Government personnel are being pushed back by the pirate alliance. If this continues, the World Government is bound to lose!"
Munis said.
"What? Is it really like that?"
"But why do I hear no urgency in your tone, and aren't you participating in the battle?"
Sengoku asked.
"Hahahahaha, well, that explosion was too terrifying. If I were within the blast radius, I would have definitely been killed, so I'm just waiting to see if there are any more explosions. Once I'm sure there won't be any more, I'll join the fight."
Munis laughed.
"Munis, go help the World Government fight against the pirates immediately. We, the navy, will also rush to support Mary Geoise. You tell the Five Elders to hold on!"
Sengoku said sternly.
He was very clear about Munis's character; this guy definitely wasn't participating in the battle, and he probably didn't plan to, especially since the World Government was at a disadvantage, making the risk of joining the fight extremely high.
"Hahahahaha, alright, Admiral Sengoku, but I must remind you, you better not come to support the World Government because I noticed that Whitebeard's presence is seemingly absent from the pirate alliance. If you come to support Mary Geoise, you might be ambushed by Whitebeard at Marineford!"
After saying this, Munis hung up the phone.
"Sorry, Admiral Sengoku, I will join the fight, but I won't be representing the navy to support the World Government; instead, I will be representing the Infinite Pirates to overthrow the World Government's rule. I really hate Celestial Dragons!"
Munis slightly bowed and transformed into steam, rapidly rushing towards Mary Geoise.
"Munis, what do you mean? You didn't see Whitebeard's crew? Are there any other pirate crews missing as well?"
Sengoku immediately inquired, but he realized the other party had already hung up! "That guy Munis didn't finish his sentence. What do you think he means? If Whitebeard's crew isn't in the pirate alliance, then where are they?"
Sengoku and the others looked around at their colleagues, puzzled by Munis's words.
"Boom boom!!"
"Crash crash!!"
However, before Sengoku and the others could figure it out, the entire Marineford began to shake, and they could even hear the roaring sound of the tides rising and falling.
"What's going on!!!"
Seeing this, Sengoku and the others immediately rushed out of the office.
"Admiral Sengoku, it's the Whitebeard Pirates and the Red-Haired Pirates!"
A navy soldier rushed over in a hurry.
"What? The Whitebeard Pirates? Are they here to attack Marineford, preventing us from supporting Mary Geoise?"
Sengoku immediately thought of this possibility upon realizing Marineford was in combat.
However, no one needed to answer him because the classic tremor power of Whitebeard had already spread.
In front of Marineford, the massive waves were rolling continuously, and soon, a gigantic wave over a hundred meters high formed in the blink of an eye, ruthlessly crashing towards Marineford.
"Ice Age!"
Seeing this, Kuzan immediately rushed out at top speed, shooting two streams of icy power into the water, instantly freezing all the waves, turning them into incredibly hard ice sculptures.
In an instant, the gigantic waves that could have submerged Marineford were shattered.
"Crack!!!"
However, the massive ice sculpture formed from the frozen waves was instantly shattered by a shockwave.
"How terrifying, it really is the Whitebeard Pirates and the Red-Haired Pirates!"
When many navy personnel arrived at the seaside, they saw the ice sculpture shatter, revealing two pirate ships.
It was none other than the Moby Dick of the Whitebeard Pirates and the Red-Haired Shanks's Red Force.
"Gurarara, the little icebox's ability is quite impressive!"
Whitebeard's hearty laughter sent chills down the spines of the navy personnel present.
This was the legendary Whitebeard, who possessed the power to destroy the world. The terrifying power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit was akin to a natural disaster; if he unleashed his power, Marineford would be destroyed in less than half a minute!
"Whitebeard, Shanks, why are you two pirates attacking Marineford?"
Sengoku questioned angrily, although he had some suspicions, he still asked!
"Gurarara, Sengoku, with your intelligence, can't you figure it out?"
"I'll say it here today: as long as the Whitebeard Pirates are here, your navy at Marineford will not be able to support Mary Geoise!"
Whitebeard laughed heartily.
"Well, Whitebeard, don't steal all the thunder; we, the Red-Haired Pirates, are here too!"
Red-Haired Shanks laughed.
"How ridiculous, do you really think two pirate crews can stop our navy?"
Even though he had some suspicions, Sengoku couldn't help but get angry upon hearing such arrogant words! "Gurarara, Sengoku, aren't you the one who knows best whether you can stop us?"
"Let me tell you, your navy is not the true dog of the World Government; you don't need to fight for them."
"Right now, Li Yuan and Golden Lion are attacking Marineford, which means the World Government is destined to be destroyed. By then, the hat on your navy's head will be gone, so you might as well surrender directly!"
"Even if you don't surrender, there's no need to resist. Our goal is merely to stop you from supporting Mary Geoise. As long as you don't take action, we won't either. Just wait for everything to settle down; after all, you can't influence the outcome of the final battle, and it will reduce the navy's losses."
Whitebeard said seriously.
Just as he said, his and the Red-Haired Pirates' mission was merely to block the navy. If they could avoid fighting, he naturally didn't want to engage; once the battle started, there would be casualties, and he didn't want his pirate crew to suffer any losses.
"Impossible, we are the navy; how could we be threatened by pirates!"
"We, the navy, are subordinate to the World Government. Eliminating pirates is our responsibility and duty; we will never compromise with pirates!"
Sengoku declared loudly with righteous indignation.
As a navy, their sense of justice did not allow them to compromise with pirates!
Even if Whitebeard was right, the navy being blocked would inevitably affect the government at Mary Geoise.
But that was not a reason for the navy to compromise; pirates had come to block their headquarters, and if the navy didn't dare to fight back, the entire navy's faith would suffer a severe blow!
"I said it, this fight is unavoidable!"
Red-Haired Shanks said seriously, pressing down his straw hat.
Then, his Conqueror's Haki transformed into a red shockwave that swept across Marineford, while at the same time, Whitebeard also cooperated perfectly with Shanks's Conqueror's Haki to launch an assault on all the navy soldiers in Marineford.
"Hmph!!"
Sengoku and Garp's Conqueror's Haki erupted as well, blocking the incoming shockwave.
However, as the defenders, Sengoku and Garp could only protect most of the surrounding navy personnel; those on the edges were knocked out by the Conqueror's Haki shockwave.
"Damn Conqueror's Haki!"
Sengoku gritted his teeth as he watched this scene.
Their Conqueror's Haki was weaker than that of Whitebeard and Shanks, making it difficult to defend the entire Marineford!
"Gurarara, the clearing is done. Since you refuse to back down, let's have a grand battle!"
Whitebeard laughed heartily and raised his supreme blade, the Congyun Cut, leaping directly from the Moby Dick into the sky.
"Skyquake!!!"
The overwhelming power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit and the Conqueror's Haki converged on the blade, then struck down with all his might towards the most densely populated area of the Marines below.
"Damn Whitebeard, don't be so arrogant!"
Seeing Whitebeard make his move, Sengoku didn't dare to be negligent. He immediately used Moon Walk to leap into the sky, transforming into a golden giant Buddha.
"Buddha Impact!!"
Sengoku was well aware of Whitebeard's power; he unleashed the largest shockwave combined with Conqueror's Haki towards Whitebeard's blade.
"Boom!!!!"
As the two terrifying forces collided, the shockwave instantly swept across a ten-kilometer radius, causing many navy personnel below to be thrown into disarray, with some even directly killed by the shockwave.
"Gurarara, Sengoku, your shockwave is still so weak and powerless!!!!"
Whitebeard laughed heartily, and in an instant, all the muscles in his body bulged, veins popping out, and his power surged to a new level, sending Sengoku flying down from the sky with a single strike.
"Bang!!!"
Upon landing, Sengoku's feet sank into the ground, creating a depression of over ten meters, and his palm was left numb from the shock.
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