A few days after the Red Hair Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates formed their temporary alliance, the vanguard fleet of the Cosmic Dark Matter Pirates finally arrived at the waters outside Mary Geoise—amid a world full of either anticipation or terror.
Even from the deck of their pirate ship, looking toward the Red Line, one could already faintly make out the Holy Land Mary Geoise, which had ruled the world for eight hundred years.
The first to reach this stretch of sea were not the elite forces of the Beasts Pirates or the BIG MOM Pirates, but rather a small, obscure pirate crew that had only recently pledged allegiance to the Cosmic Dark Matter Pirates.
Although this crew was virtually unknown in the New World, their flagship was extremely special—a clipper ship outfitted with top-class equipment.
At full speed, its sailing velocity was two to three times that of a normal vessel. Even the Navy's newest warships couldn't hope to catch up to them.
"Boss, should we try attacking Mary Geoise while we have the chance?"
The vice-captain stared greedily in the direction of Mary Geoise. Of course, with their strength, there was no way they could break through the port defenses—much less that fortress-like line commanded by Kong at the Red Port.
But if they could become the first pirate crew to attack Mary Geoise, that fame alone would be enough for them to make a name for themselves in the New World.
"Idiot! Don't do anything pointless! Confirm the port's defensive situation and report to Lady Esdeath immediately…"
The bearded pirate captain scolded him with a frown. His vice-captain was only a low-level combatant—he had never witnessed Esdeath's terrifying strength. Otherwise, he would never have made such a suicidal suggestion.
Their mission was reconnaissance only. If they acted recklessly and caused trouble, Esdeath might see it as a violation of military orders. At that point, death would be a luxury.
The Holy Land Defense Corps stationed at the Red Port detected the pirate ship immediately and reported it in the shortest time possible to Kong at the central command.
Unlike the chaos that existed when Sakazuki first arrived, the command center was now much more stable. Under pressure from the Gorōsei, the previously divided factions of allied kingdom nobles were forced to compromise and jointly select two representatives to serve at Kong's side.
The representative of the noble faction was the king of the Cero Kingdom, an experienced commander with extensive battlefield knowledge. The representative of the military faction was the captain of the guard of the Darvisk Kingdom—an Ancient Zoan user of the Turtle-Turtle Fruit, Model: Geoglyph Bizarre Turtle.
His defensive power was so immense that he could withstand a full-force blast from the largest fortress cannon. Having also awakened his Devil Fruit, he was a nightmare to fight. Ignoring his laughably weak attack power, even top-level fighters would have a hard time defeating him.
"So they've finally come. Pass down the order—raise the coastal defenses to Level One Alert and prepare to intercept the incoming enemy ship!"
Sitting at the command center, Kong issued orders directly into the Den Den Mushi linked to the coastal defense network. The command was relayed to the front line instantly.
To prepare for this unprecedented Holy Land defense battle, the wealthy World Government deployed more than a thousand Den Den Mushi units to construct a command network unlike anything seen before for Kong.
As long as Steel Bone Kong was willing, he could even command Headquarters to relay his orders to any frontline combat unit; even the coastal defense turrets lining the shore were no exception.
Upon receiving the command, the coastal defenses immediately sounded the alarm. Hundreds of fortress cannons rotated their barrels toward the open sea, ready to unleash a head-on strike the moment the pirate fleet appeared.
Tens of thousands of soldiers from various allied nations also moved into their assigned battle positions, preparing to repel the massive pirate army once it attempted to make landfall.
At the same time, news of the imminent assault by the Cosmic Dark Matter Pirates reached the Gorosei in Mary Geoise with utmost speed. Compared to the initial anger and panic when the first intelligence report arrived, the Gorosei were now mentally prepared.
In the end, the World Government was still the unquestioned ruler and hegemon of the seas. Even after being stabbed in the back by the Marines, the Gorosei did not believe that Mary Geoise could possibly fall.
Even if the God's Knights were defeated, their own power was more than enough to deliver the final blow and shatter those arrogant pirates who didn't know their place.
"At last it begins. How disgraceful… merely a rabble of low-class pirates, yet they've made us lose composure like this…"
Saint Warcury, the bearded elder, snorted coldly, already beginning to reflect on their long-standing decision to stay away from the front lines.
Had this been when they had first become the Gorosei, they would never have spared those wretched pirates a second thought.
"Lord Im has agreed. If necessary, we may deploy the Mother Flame to erase Red Port… and the insects there."
Saint Saturn, leaning on his cane, spoke in a slow drawl. When he mentioned Red Port, there was not even the slightest change in his tone— as though the nearly one hundred thousand Holy Land Defense troops stationed there were also nothing more than "insects."
"To use the Mother Flame? Wouldn't that cause too much of a commotion?"
Saint Nasjuro, the one holding the long blade, rubbed his temples. He, too, didn't care about the fate of the Holy Land's defense forces, but wiping out hundreds of thousands of people in one strike would certainly shock the entire world.
"No matter. The tide of a new era approaches. Nika… In any case, showing a glimpse of our power at this moment will only help intimidate the fools who don't know their own limits."
Saint Mars stroked his long beard and spoke lightly.
Even in the presence of only the Gorosei, he disliked speaking openly of Nika.
"Saint Garling shouldn't have any issues on his end, right?"
Saint Peter, with his dazzling golden hair, crossed one leg over the other. Since Saint Mars had already decided they would demonstrate the World Government's power, his part in the coming events would become much easier.
After witnessing the power of the Madonna Flame, no king of any allied nation would dare resist the will of the World Government again.
They'd be more willing, even eager, to hand over the Celestial Tribute when the time came — so this battle actually saved him quite a lot of trouble.
"Ah, you still don't trust that person in charge? I heard he found an excellent enforcer — maybe we won't even need to send our own forces for this fight."
Nasjuro said with a smile. As the Gorōsei's martial faction, he always admired powerful subordinates and tended to mentally separate them from ordinary, ant-like humans.
°°°
If you want to read ahead and access 20 advanced chapters, check the patreon
Link: Patreon/Moziel
Subscription should be made thru the web and never the ios app, it helps you and me.