Whole Cake Island, in a corner of the banquet.
Pudding, in a place no one could see, was biting a napkin hard.
Her face was filled with regret.
'If I had known, I wouldn't have rushed back.'
'Luo Chen actually let himself be captured and thrown in prison.'
'And his strength is terrifying, probably not much less than Mama's.'
'If she had waited in the first half of the Grand Line and successfully seduced Luo Chen...'
'Then no one in the Big Mom Pirates would ever dare to ostracize her again.'
"Damn it..." Pudding's sweet and pretty face twisted.
Sensing someone looking over, she immediately changed back to her well-behaved little sister appearance, her smile sweet.
...
Sabaody Archipelago. Originally, many newspaper reporters were gathered around the large screen, recording the broadcast from Marine Headquarters.
But now, like the many islanders around them, their faces showed terror.
The Marines were actually about to be defeated.
Not defeated by Whitebeard, but by Luo Chen.
Luo Chen, who had been captured and thrown into Impel Down, had done it on purpose and brought out several vicious criminals.
Moreover, of the World Government's top-tier power, the Three Admirals, two had been defeated by Luo Chen, captured alive, and put in a birdcage.
Someone worried, "This is the end. Another powerful and vicious pirate has appeared on the seas."
"Even the Marine Admirals are no match for Luo Chen. Is there anyone left who can protect us?" someone said, their face full of sorrow.
They all understood that this war was originally meant for the Marines to subjugate the Whitebeard Pirates and establish their dominance.
Instead, it had become Luo Chen's own battle to establish his dominance.
The Marines had lost all face.
Even Fleet Admiral Sengoku was pitifully suppressed, pinned to the ground.
This made the people of Sabaody Archipelago, and indeed the whole world watching the broadcast, extremely worried.
At the back of the crowd, an old man with long white hair, dressed simply like a fisherman, sighed in a low voice:
"The young people these days are really something else."
"Back in the day, even Roger and I never captured Garp and Sengoku alive."
Beside him, Shakky blew out a ring of smoke and teased, "You're already an old man, still thinking of comparing yourself to the youngsters?"
Rayleigh shook his head with a smile, then suddenly said, "That girl Hancock... her relationship with Luo Chen isn't simple, is it?"
Shakky narrowed her eyes. "I haven't heard her mention it. Something must have happened recently."
"Otherwise, with Hancock's personality, it's impossible for her to help a man."
She and Rayleigh had both seen Hancock's actions at the start of the battle, attacking Aokiji and the others to help Luo Chen.
Given Hancock's hatred of men, this should have been impossible.
'I'm afraid there's something between Luo Chen and Hancock that we don't know.'
Rayleigh's smile faded. He sighed, "The wanted poster mentioned that Luo Chen killed a Fish-Man pirate crew in the East Blue. I checked later... it seems Hatchan was part of it."
Shakky's expression changed, and she looked at Rayleigh.
"You're old. Don't do anything reckless."
"Hatchan saved my life," Rayleigh said.
Shakky said in a low voice, "If what that villager named Genzo said is true, Hatchan and Arlong persecuted many innocent villagers. Luo Chen killing him... I don't think you should get involved in this."
Rayleigh was silent for a moment, then said, "I'm a pirate. I don't care what Hatchan did. But my savior was killed, and I can't just pretend nothing happened after finding out."
Shakky's face showed anger. "What are you going to do? Kill Luo Chen? You'd be committing suicide, Rayleigh!"
'The young Rayleigh might have been able to fight Luo Chen,' Shakky thought.
'But he's almost eighty now. How could he possibly beat that young man?'
Rayleigh looked at the broadcast screen and fell silent.
...
Marineford.
Luo Chen aimed the live broadcast Den Den Mushi at Onigumo, Sengoku, and the others below.
"Onigumo, did the deceased Headquarters Captain, Gal Locke, receive your orders to massacre Cocoyasi Village and to kill me to silence me?"
Several Vice Admirals looked up sharply.
Onigumo stared at Luo Chen and said, word by word, "Nonsense!"
Sengoku, still pinned to the ground, roared, "Don't spread your lies here, Luo Chen! You've committed so many sins, and you still dare to try and deny them..."
"Shut up," Luo Chen cut him off coldly.
"Sengoku, ever since Loguetown, you've known there was something wrong with Onigumo, but you concealed it. Why?"
"I've thought about it carefully. In that battle at Loguetown, Marine Rear Admiral Marcus was killed by me."
"Three Marine Headquarters Captains were killed by me."
"And Genzo, to reveal the truth to the world, committed suicide on the Loguetown execution platform, proving my innocence with his life."
"All those lives were lost because of your wrong decision."
"You were afraid of shouldering this blood debt, afraid of being condemned by the world, so you decided to let the mistake stand and tried to kill me to silence me."
"But you never expected that I would survive, again and again, and finally stand before you for this confrontation."
"Sengoku, am I wrong in anything I've said?"
These words echoed across the entire Marineford battlefield.
The fleeing Luffy and Ace.
Akainu, who was coughing up blood from Whitebeard's attacks.
The Warlords of the Sea, scattered in various places.
Aokiji and Kizaru in the birdcage on the distant shore.
All the Marines and pirates looked toward the execution platform ruins, their eyes wide with shock.
'Is what Luo Chen said true or false?'
'The truth is too terrifying.'
A look of stunned disbelief appeared on Sengoku's Great Buddha face.
'How does Luo Chen know?'
He had indeed learned about Onigumo's involvement after the battle at Loguetown.
But only he and Tsuru knew.
Sengoku couldn't help but look at Tsuru.
Seeing her calm expression, Sengoku's heart trembled.
He gritted his teeth and roared, "Utter nonsense!"
Sengoku erupted with a powerful Conqueror's Haki.
The ten red torii gates trembled, showing signs of being broken.
With a thought from Luo Chen, another five torii gates fell from the sky, reinforcing the seal.
The sealing power of the Sage Art: Gracious Deity Gates was very strong.
If Sengoku wanted to break free, it wouldn't be in a short time.
Unless someone helped him.
On the wooden dragon's back, the space around Luo Chen twisted into a vortex.
The next moment, he disappeared.
On the ground, the many Marines looked wary.
Onigumo's internal alarms were blaring.
He had a gut feeling Luo Chen was coming for him.
Before his eyes, a spatial vortex appeared, and a figure in a black coat stepped out.
Onigumo, his long hair moving like spider legs, gripped six longswords and slashed.
Beside him, Momonga, Doberman, Yamakaji, and several other Vice Admirals unleashed their strongest attacks.
They didn't dare to show the slightest contempt.
Luo Chen had defeated two Admirals and Vice Admiral Garp.
"Swish, swish, swish..."
All the attacks landed on Luo Chen's body and passed right through.
It was as if the Luo Chen in front of them had no physical form, but was a phantom.
Onigumo roared again and again, and anyone could hear the terror in his voice.
Luo Chen strolled casually, walking through the numerous sword gleams, blade auras, and Haki attacks, and arrived in front of Onigumo.
He threw a slap.
In an instant, several bloody teeth flew into the sky.
Onigumo's body flew sideways, landing next to Sengoku.
He quickly stood up. The bandages on his face fell off, revealing a swollen face without an inch of intact skin.
It was covered in dense, terrifying sword wounds.
His nose had been sliced off. His whole face was like a rotten, dark-red apple, pitted and uneven, like a skinned beast.
Luo Chen's smile was cold. "Today, no one can save you."
"Tell the truth, and I'll give you a quick death."
"If you don't, I will torture you, piece by piece."
"Sengoku, the same goes for you."
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]