Chapter 188: Sengoku: I Plan to Sell Some Marine Bases
Snap.
Air currents circled Dragon like they were submitting to a king.
Controlling the winds was the domain of the Wind Dragon bloodline, and now that his body was covered in scales, the Revolutionary Army leader could weaponize even the gentlest breeze.
The swirling air cloaked his form like an armored wyvern, soaring and diving.
"The Soul Reaper's first life… will go to the Revolutionary Army!"
"Dragon!"
Doflamingo screamed with unwilling fury.
After all the effort he spent shaking off Garp, Dragon had swooped in and seized the moment. If he'd known this would happen, he would've just waited on the sidelines for the Marines and Revolutionaries to wear each other down.
All eyes turned to the sky.
"Is this… really human combat?"
Ordinary pirates trembled, their lips quivering as they watched the chaos above. Their scalps tingled with disbelief.
Noble knights froze in place, exchanging hesitant glances with their commanders. No one dared to advance.
"Pirates and revolutionaries are this strong? Can the Navy even win?"
The rifles of Marine branch officers drooped toward the ground, their fighting spirit on the verge of collapse.
At this level of battle—
Even Marine HQ rarely saw this kind of spectacle.
Doflamingo and Dragon, now both near Level 19 with heavily optimized builds, had power exceeding even that of the Marine Admirals.
Garp, once hailed as the last hope, had just been toyed with by Doflamingo's trap arrays.
If not for the special rules of the Island of Death,
this kind of clash would've obliterated a real-life island by now.
"Can the Navy still win?"
That question echoed in every Marine's mind.
"The Arlong Empire is the true ruler of the East Blue!"
While the Marines were still shaken,
the Arlong Pirates broke through a formation and charged into the depths of the island.
The demoralized Marines were slaughtered with ease.
This scene repeated across the island.
Though the Navy had numbers, they were the target of every other faction.
Gunfire, blades, and screams filled the air.
"Wretched humans! You think you can kill me?!"
For the first time, the Soul Reaper's expression shifted.
Seeing two overwhelming attacks headed his way, he raised his death scythe—made of Yin energy—and set up a defense.
Before this,
he'd looked down on these humans. Even while shackled, he had casually unleashed massive area-of-effect attacks with zero restraint.
But now, he was defending for the first time.
Because he sensed—
these two attacks could genuinely injure or even kill him.
Zzzzz—
Dragon's wind wyvern slammed into the Yin shield protecting the scythe.
Cracks spread across the barrier like broken glass.
Next came Doflamingo's fully assembled form, [Puppet Legion 120].
Its lance thrust forward, piercing the already cracked shield.
The scythe spun through the air.
"Now's our chance!"
The Soul Reaper tried to dodge, panic flashing in his eyes.
If he were at full strength, he wouldn't be in this position—no matter how powerful his enemies.
But just then—
Instead of finishing the Soul Reaper, Doflamingo redirected his lance at Dragon.
His puppet army was too slow to chase after the boss kill. He couldn't let Dragon get the prize.
"Tch…"
Dragon frowned.
He swept his wyvern wings. Razor-sharp wind currents shredded the massive puppets.
But even in pieces, the puppet army morphed into smaller foot soldiers and began swarming the wyvern.
"This is ridiculous. At this rate, no one's going to kill the Soul Reaper."
Seeing the two still fighting,
Mihawk cut through the Marines in his path and launched forward like an arrow, aiming straight at the undefended boss.
"Not so fast!"
Doflamingo's trap array shifted, yanking Dragon's wyvern body in front of Mihawk.
Meanwhile,
Garp, who had been stuck in a disorienting trap, finally saw the chaos unfolding above.
His highly specialized build made it hard to break mental traps like [Labyrinth Mechanism] immediately.
But the Reincarnation Game was fair.
Every weakness had a matching strength.
BOOM!
Garp bent his knees slightly and launched into the air like a cannonball.
His pure physical power collapsed the ground beneath him.
Players across multiple blocks felt the earth tremble.
The air ripped apart with a sharp whistle.
Though he joined the fray last,
he arrived in seconds.
"Not good!"
Even Mihawk, the strongest swordsman alive, was shaken.
With peak Armament Haki and a Street Fighter's understanding of body mechanics—
Garp was, without question, the strongest pure melee fighter in the pirate world.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Garp's booming laugh echoed. He hadn't had a fight like this since Roger and Golden Lion.
He raised his Haki-clad fist, black as night.
Vortexes swirled.
The surrounding air was sucked inward like a black hole.
"Brat! Watch your old man's new Iron Fist!"
Fist Shadow Barrage!
Originally, the Street Fighter class in the Arad Continent gathered power through relentless kicks before delivering one massive punch.
This skill channeled the body's full muscular and skeletal potential for an explosive finish.
Garp, with his unmatched experience and physical control, had modified the skill to suit his own form.
Countless fist shadows erupted.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Like playing whack-a-mole, Garp shattered the puppet army piece by piece.
Not scattered—broken. Truly destroyed.
"Damn you, Garp! Stop already!"
Doflamingo's face twisted, heart aching.
Puppeteer builds were expensive. Each puppet required rare materials.
Just repairing what Garp broke would cost thousands of reward points.
He quickly withdrew his army and retreated.
"Vice Admiral Garp!"
"You're incredible, Garp-senpai!"
The Marines, reinvigorated, erupted in cheers.
Back at Marineford, Sengoku exhaled in relief.
The overwhelming strength of the revolutionaries and pirates had nearly made him lose hope.
But money spent was not wasted.
Pay-to-win gets results!
—
And then—
Sengoku's eyes narrowed, still watching the monitor.
The entire island shook, even after the dust settled.
He turned to a data analyst vice admiral nearby and asked, "Didn't you say a branch captain reported that the Island of Death had some kind of special energy shielding? That its physical structure is stronger than the real world's? Any specifics?"
The vice admiral came to his senses and gulped. "The soil, stone, seawater, and buildings are being shipped back for analysis."
"Until we've tested the materials, there's no definitive number."
Sengoku frowned. "Forget testing. Just give me your best estimate."
"…Nine times," the vice admiral said cautiously.
Nine times?
Sengoku took a deep breath. Sweat beaded in his palm.
By that logic—
the aftershock of Mihawk and Garp's clash could split even the Red Line in two.
Just this one fight could reshape the entire world map and unite the Four Seas.
Sengoku had already prepared himself for how terrifying the Game Merchant might be.
But even so, this new information made his head spin.
A battle this blatant—
Even the Five Elders wouldn't be able to sit still.
—
"Bring me the Navy deployment map!"
Sengoku suddenly shouted, ordering a soldier to fetch maps of HQ and all branch bases.
These maps detailed every Marine base, training ground, outpost, and facility across the Four Seas and the Grand Line.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, wouldn't it be unwise to mobilize all Four Sea forces right now?"
A few vice admirals aligned with the World Government objected.
They were Government plants—watchdogs to control Navy command.
Their top priority was always the Government's interests.
Sengoku had already risked enough by diverting budget without permission.
And now, mobilizing the entire Navy without approval?
Marine HQ was just a subordinate branch under the World Government. Even if it controlled a massive force, it was like a general in an ancient kingdom—ultimately, every order had to come from the king.
Mobilizing the Four Seas would cross the Government's bottom line.
"Mobilize the Navy?"
Sengoku looked at them with mock confusion. "You misunderstood. I don't plan to mobilize anything."
The vice admirals breathed a sigh of relief.
Sengoku now radiated a sharper, more dangerous aura. They didn't want to clash with him unless absolutely necessary.
But then he said something that made their vision go black.
"I plan to sell off a few useless Marine bases and facilities… to convert them into reward points and support the East Blue."
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