The Marines were accelerating toward the Edd Sea waters at maximum speed.
At that very moment in the Edd Sea, groups of pirate warships both airborne and on the ocean had surrounded a single ship.
The Roger Pirates!
In fact, just as the Marines had speculated, the Roger Pirates had never imagined that Shiki would ambush them in Edd Sea waters and directly blockade them.
They'd indeed been searching for Poneglyphs in this area, but their purpose wasn't to awaken Ancient Weapons and destroy the world. Instead, they sought information about the "Final Island, Raftel" from the ancient texts.
On the deck of the Oro Jackson, Roger stood at the bow wearing his maroon captain's coat and pirate hat, gazing at the massive fleet floating in the distant sky with a somewhat grave expression.
From the flagship, he could see the figure of his "old friend" Shiki.
"Shiki, what are you doing?" Roger asked, his tone heavy.
On the other side, Shiki walked slowly to the front of his deck, a smoking cigar in his mouth. His long golden hair fluttered in the wind, looking wanton and domineering.
"Roger, I've invited you several times," Shiki said, looking down at Roger.
Indeed, Shiki and Roger were old acquaintances. Roger might truly possess special charisma in some aspects.
Therefore, Shiki, the Pirate Overlord, admired Roger greatly. Every time they met, he'd invite Roger to join forces with him.
But unfortunately, Roger decisively rejected him every single time.
"That's really unfortunate," Roger said with a slight smile.
If it were an ordinary person refusing Shiki like this, Shiki would have killed them and scattered their ashes long ago.
But Shiki seemed extraordinarily patient with Roger.
He wasn't trying to deceive Roger. In fact, he genuinely wanted to join forces with him. After that, sharing the world with Roger wasn't impossible.
For a hero like Shiki, this was already an extraordinary concession.
Yet he remained willing, despite Roger rejecting him so many times.
Slowly exhaling a puff of smoke, Shiki waved his hand. "Forget it, I won't dwell on that. Roger, I'll ask you one more time. Do you want to join forces with me?"
"You already know my answer very well, don't you?" Roger said without hesitation.
"Don't refuse so quickly, Roger. I've said these words many times. Although we had many conflicts when we were young, let those grudges go with the wind. As long as you and I join forces, this sea will immediately become ours! You have information about 'Ancient Weapons' that can destroy the world, right? And I have an excellent grand plan, Roger! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!" Shiki invited Roger with excitement gleaming in his eyes.
Listening to Shiki's words, Roger asked with surprise, "How did you know?"
"About Ancient Weapons? It's not surprising that an ambitious person like me would know such things, right? Your reaction makes me even more certain," Shiki said with a sinister smile.
But Roger finally shook his head. "You're right about that, but I'm different from you. I have no intention of finding those Ancient Weapons..."
Hearing this, Shiki's face darkened with displeasure. "Are you going to give up this opportunity to rule the world, Roger?"
Roger smiled and said bluntly, "Shiki, I have absolutely no interest in 'ruling the world'!"
Before Shiki could speak, Roger continued, "If you can't do what you want as a pirate, then going out to sea is meaningless! So Shiki, no matter how many times you make this suggestion, my answer is only one... I refuse!!!"
Shiki's face became extremely gloomy. His lion-like unruly figure began trembling slightly.
Not from fear, but from rage!
Seeing Shiki's state, the crew members on Roger's ship also prepared for battle.
Only Buggy looked nearly scared to death.
"Captain, why don't you just agree to him first? Make plans after we leave here! There are dozens of ships out there!" Buggy cried out desperately.
"What are you afraid of, Buggy? Haven't you become immortal? You won't die no matter how you're chopped up," Shanks teased with a grin.
Hearing this, Buggy glared at Shanks angrily. "Idiot! I have plenty of weaknesses! I'm not immortal!"
After saying that, ignoring Shanks entirely, he hugged Roger's ship doctor, Crocus, and cried, "Mr. Crocus, the captain's health isn't good, right? He can't fight, right?"
Crocus shook his head with a smile. "Unfortunately, Buggy, the captain has been in peak physical condition these past few days!"
"Hahahaha! Give up, Buggy. We've known Roger so long, and we've never once succeeded in stopping anything he's decided," Gaban said, rubbing Buggy's head with the hand not holding his axe.
Seeing none of these people would support him, Buggy finally looked at the ship's second-in-command.
"Mr. Rayleigh..." Buggy pleaded tearfully.
Rayleigh smiled, then his expression gradually became serious.
"Roger doesn't have much time left... so we can't retreat," Rayleigh said in a low voice.
Simultaneously, Shiki took a deep breath and exhaled all the smoke in his mouth.
He looked at Roger with a sinister expression. "So you're saying you want me to kill you here, Roger?"
Roger grinned confidently. "No, I'm going to all of your asses right here!"
As Roger finished speaking, Shiki said gravely, "Fire. Kill them all!"
Only this time is different!
Shiki thought to himself.
Before, after Roger rejected him, he hadn't insisted on killing Roger and his crew. Instead, he'd patiently invited them again.
Sometimes, both parties would even share drinks together.
But this time was different.
Because Shiki now knew Roger possessed the method to obtain Ancient Weapons!
Not only the World Government feared this. Shiki feared it too.
In his opinion, if Roger joined forces with him, everything would be perfect. Ancient Weapons would become an important asset for them.
But if Roger refused, then this time, he had to be killed.
Otherwise... what if Ancient Weapons became a threat to him in the future?
To some extent, his thinking was no different from Admiral Sengoku's.
Kill the guilty by mistake rather than let them go free!
Eliminate all sprouts that could threaten you!
Only this way could peace be achieved!
Honestly, Shiki felt genuine regret making this decision. He truly admired Roger. But for the sake of his ambitions, he had to kill Roger here!
That's right. He was that confident. Shiki felt he'd planned for so long and finally caught such a perfect opportunity. Surrounding and killing the Roger Pirates shouldn't be a problem!
A barrage of artillery fire instantly erupted from the massive fleet under Shiki's command.
Simultaneously, the Oro Jackson roared and returned fire.
Afterward, Rayleigh, Gaban, and other elite members of the Roger Pirates drew their weapons and rushed forward to meet the bombardment.
The Battle of Edd War, later known as the battle that "changed the course of history," had begun!
On the other side, Marine warships were also racing toward the Edd War waters.
On Chief of Staff Tsuru's ship, Garp, Tsuru, Kuzan, Gion and others sat together, drinking tea and chatting.
"Who's that kid on Sengoku's ship? I haven't seen him before. He seems smart?" Garp asked curiously while munching on rice crackers.
This man was carefree. Even though Finn had been at Marineford for a while and had become friends with Kuzan, Garp had paid him no attention whatsoever.
But if you thought about it, this was normal. After all, Finn was just a low-ranking Lieutenant Commander at Headquarters.
"His name is Finn. He's from our sixth Officer Training Camp," Gion took a sip of tea and said calmly.
"Oh? Is this the seedling that Zephyr guy likes?" Garp asked with slightly more interest.
Kuzan smiled. "That's right. Instructor Zephyr is very optimistic about him. We've talked about Finn before, regarding what happened in the North Blue..."
Then Kuzan recounted what Zephyr had told him about the North Blue incident.
"In that situation, he actually managed to wound Shiki? That kid's pretty good, Kuzan. Aren't you short of an assistant officer? Why didn't you recruit him under your command?" Garp asked with a grin.
"Kuzan did invite him, but he refused," Gion explained with amusement.
"He said he felt there was no future following me. Of course, I think so too," Kuzan shrugged casually.
"Now it seems he's not only brave and decisive, but also intelligent," Chief of Staff Tsuru suddenly observed.
In fact, if given sufficient time, she would have figured out Finn's line of reasoning as well.
But ultimately, she had to admit Finn had been faster than her.
In Chief of Staff Tsuru's opinion, this demonstrated wisdom. Finn must be a very intelligent person.
After all, she couldn't possibly know Finn was essentially cheating with foreknowledge...
After a brief pause, Chief of Staff Tsuru smiled. "Perhaps we've found another powerful talent."
"Gion, you said he's in the same class as you. How strong is he? Have you had any exchanges or competitions with him?" Garp asked curiously.
Gion shook her head with a hint of regret. "We were originally planning to spar in kendo, but wasn't that interrupted by this mission?"
"Still very immature," Kuzan suddenly said.
The others paused momentarily but didn't doubt Kuzan's assessment.
"Really? Well, this time, try to look after this young man as much as possible. Don't let him die here," Garp muttered.
Chief of Staff Tsuru nodded thoughtfully. "Indeed. If Sengoku is nurturing him, we should ensure he survives this operation. Talented young officers are increasingly rare."
"Don't worry," Kuzan said lazily. "I'll keep an eye on him."