"A Five Elder has made a move..."
Inside a luxurious and magnificent building, everyone including newborns lay in pools of blood.
Dragon stood expressionless at the side, listening to the message relayed to him by Kozuki Oden.
Before this operation began, there were two plans. One overt, one covert.
The covert plan was his own idea: to wipe out the Celestial Dragons, to kill as many as possible.
However, this plan didn't receive approval from the others.
Whether it was Golden Lion or Rayleigh, neither of them had much interest in slaughtering a bunch of lambs without the strength to truss a chicken.
To them, only the strong could attract their attention.
Therefore, Dragon proposed a second, more public plan. To hunt the Five Elders.
Killing a few enslaved strong individuals didn't hold much meaning.
It would be better to aim for the Five Elders right from the start.
According to intel, among those currently stationed at the Holy Land, there were six who could be considered powerful, including two Five Elders.
And coincidentally, they had also brought six people that could be considered strong.
Therefore, it would be best to expose five people at the start, leaving one as the hidden trump card.
This number wouldn't make those two Five Elders too nervous, yet it would give them a false sense of superiority while still feeling slightly tricky.
Among their six, only he and Kozuki Oden were willing to act as the hidden piece.
Since he still had to operate in the open, the role of hidden card had to go to Kozuki Oden.
Later, he would engage the Five Elder in battle and transmit information to the other war zones.
Once this Five Elder was held down, the other battle zones would, with help from the Golden Lion, disengage and rush to this location.
In a short time, if they could free up two more combatants, and add in him and Kozuki Oden. With four working together, even Roger could be ambushed and killed quickly, let alone a pampered Five Elder.
"He's here?", Through the wall of the building, Dragon gazed in the direction of the east.
Suddenly, his expression froze, brows tightly furrowed, as if he had sensed something extremely dangerous.
Without a moment of hesitation, his body became a blur and burst through the window, rushing outside the building.
Almost at the exact instant he leapt through the door—
BOOM!!!
An ear-shattering explosion tore apart the silence. The three-story western-style house where Dragon had just been standing shattered instantly, as if crushed by an invisible giant hand.
Bricks, timber, shards of glass, carried by the shockwave of the explosion, scattered in all directions like rainfall.
In the blink of an eye, the house was reduced to a pile of wreckage, choked with dust and smoke.
Warcury stood quietly at the edge of the rubble, like a demon god emerging from destruction.
He slowly retracted his arms from the punching pose. His fierce and oppressive gaze, like two sharp blades, locked tightly onto Dragon, who had narrowly escaped.
"Bug. Pretty quick to dodge, aren't you?", A low and mocking voice came from Saint Warcury's mouth.
"Warrior God of Justice, Saint Warcury!"
Dragon landed lightly on the wreckage, gazing solemnly at Saint Warcury.
Just from that one blow, he knew, this was a formidable enemy.
At the same time, he subtly activated his Devil Fruit power, stirring up faint air currents, and used his powerful Observation Haki to transmit a silent message.
The bait had taken the hook.
Now, all that was left was for the hunters to converge.
According to the plan, they would kill Saint Warcury at lightning speed, then rapidly lock onto and eliminate the other powerful enemies, and finally break through into the core zone of the Five Elders, wiping out the remaining Celestial Dragons and the last Five Elders completely.
This plan was so simple, it bordered on crude.
But in Dragon's view, it had extremely high feasibility.
In battles between top-tier powerhouses, the simpler the method, the more unexpectedly effective it could be.
"Bug! Why are you still hopping around? Just lie down and die quietly!", Saint Warcury let out a cold snort, no longer wasting words. His massive body suddenly leapt high into the air, fists clenched tight, and smashed down at Dragon with a force that could split mountains and rocks.
Dragon completely ignored Warcury's words. But this time, he didn't choose to retreat, he charged straight up to meet him.
This was his first time facing a Five Elder.
Just how strong they were, he'd only find out through battle.
Bang!
The two fists collided fiercely in mid-air. A deep, explosive bang burst forth, and the intense shockwave rippled outward wildly like a tidal wave, blasting shattered rocks from the ground in all directions.
Dragon's expression changed ever so slightly.
"So powerful…", Just this probing clash of fists, the sheer raw power Warcury displayed had earned Dragon's full attention.
Warcury's strength wasn't inferior to Whitebeard's.
Of course, that was only in terms of raw force.
With the Gura Gura no Mi's power, Whitebeard's area-of-effect and destructive capabilities far surpassed what Warcury could achieve with just his fists.
The only unknown now, was what special ability Warcury possessed.
Holding this question in mind, Dragon didn't stop. His form turned into a gust of wind, and he began a fierce exchange with Warcury.
Before the others arrived, he had to gather enough intel.
———
Meanwhile.
At the CP0 battlefield, Rayleigh and Gaban, one wielding a sword, the other dual axes, were fighting two CP0 agents skilled in physical techniques.
Their teamwork was seamless, and with superior raw power, they completely dominated the two CP0 agents, leaving them almost no room to counterattack.
If only this battlefield were considered, the two of them might be able to kill those CP0s within a day.
Just then, a "wind" swept by, one only they could sense.
Rayleigh's eyes flickered slightly, he had caught the signal sent by Dragon.
He immediately disengaged from his opponent and exchanged a glance with Gaban beside him.
The two had been partners for decades, just one look was enough to understand each other's intent.
Without hesitation, Rayleigh swiftly withdrew and rushed away.
And just as the CP0s tried to pursue, Gaban raised his twin axes and blocked their path.
"Your opponent… is me!"
Gaban grinned and charged in, initiating a new round of 1v2 combat.
Fighting 1 against 2 was much easier than a Five Elder versus 1 against 4.
Similar changes were occurring in the other battlefields as well.
Bullet, along with other great pirates, helped Golden Lion disengage from his fight. The Golden Lion, relying on the powers of the Float-Float Fruit, sped rapidly toward Dragon's location.
Originally, it was supposed to be the Golden Lion helping Bullet retreat, but rather than ganging up on one person, Bullet preferred the thrill of fighting two strong enemies at once.
Though it was a bit tough, with other pirates assisting, he wouldn't be defeated anytime soon.
And that was enough.
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