Pirate: I was just slacking off, do you really think I'm bad?

The New World of the Grand Line, inside the naval frontline command post.

After another sleepless night, the command post was filled with intelligence personnel resting on their desks.

Both General Tsuru and Sengoku did not sleep all night.

Since the start of the operation to eliminate the remaining pirates, Tsuru and Sengoku have been almost inseparable from the command post.

It was fine before, because all the pirates stationed in Shanks' territory retreated inwards, which allowed the Navy to take over all those islands without any hindrance.

But the situation is different now.

The space for pirates is extremely compressed, and the Navy will encounter a large number of pirates with every step forward.

Tsuru and Sengoku haven't had a proper rest for several days in order to command naval operations.

However, the effect is also very obvious.

Under the command of two brilliant strategists, the navy achieved the greatest victory with the smallest advantage.

However, even so, the casualties in the navy were still on the table between the two men.

"Oni Spider..."

Sengoku looked at the report on the table and couldn't help but speak.

As a former Fleet Admiral, Sengoku naturally remembered Onigumo's name.

However, he didn't really like Onigumo during his tenure, for a simple reason.

Onigumo belongs to the hawkish faction and has a good relationship with Sakazuki, so they are in the same faction.

Furthermore, in order to complete his mission, Onigumo often disregards the casualties of his soldiers during battles.

These were all things that the Warring States period could not accept.

Among the generals, Sengoku was known for his hawkish tactics.

However, after becoming the Grand Master, in order to promote his benevolent qualities to the lower-ranking soldiers, Sengoku had actually gradually distanced himself from the hawks.

This is why the Sengoku period and Sakazuki parted ways.

However, Sengoku had to admit the courage and spirit of sacrifice that Onigumo displayed in his battles against pirates.

Facing two opponents who are no less capable than oneself, being able to drag them down with one another is also a great victory.

"This guy did do something great."

After much deliberation, Sengoku finally spoke again, acknowledging Onigumo's achievements.

The crane also expressed its regret over the passing of Onigumo.

However, as a member of the navy, I was already prepared to make a sacrifice.

Even if Onigumo were to sacrifice himself, she wouldn't say anything even if Kake and Gion, who grew up in front of her, were to sacrifice themselves for this war.

"The Oni Spider Fleet has suffered too many losses. Arrange for someone else to replace the Oni Spider Fleet and continue the annihilation mission."

After Onigumo's sacrifice, his actions greatly inspired the remaining naval soldiers.

Before reinforcements arrived, they relentlessly pursued every single pirate.

After a night of fierce fighting, all the pirates who escaped from Whole Cake Island perished at sea, dying alongside Onigumo.

The consequences of doing so are also obvious.

Those were the soldiers of the fleet to which Onigumo belonged; less than one in ten remained, and the organization had been completely destroyed.

Considering the needs of subsequent operations, Tsuru had no choice but to order Onigumo's squadron to return to base.

"Xiao He, I think those soldiers might not want to return..."

"Warring States Period," he said hesitantly.

The first rays of morning sunlight shone through the window and fell directly on the picture of Onigumo.

The crane looked at this ray of sunlight and said:

"We can't let the 11th Fleet be left without anyone."

"Letting them go back and inherit this glorious number is the greatest affirmation for Onigumo."

"Alright, we still need to report to Marshal Raleigh."

The two men looked at each other in silence. After having breakfast, they reported on the situation of the previous night's battle.

Inside the New Marineford office, Rat had already brought over the latest intelligence.

Raleigh carefully examined the battle report that had just been delivered from the New World.

"Reporting to Marshal Raleigh, as of 7 a.m. this morning."

"The New World Navy has completed its 60-nautical-mile advance mission, while the All Nations Navy has exceeded the original plan, advancing 110 nautical miles. Currently, it is clearing and absorbing the occupied islands."

The casualty figures are as follows...

"The Navy suffered 12773 dead and 12373 wounded or seriously wounded, including 17 vice admirals and rear admirals."

"Lieutenant General Onigumo, Lieutenant General Richardson, Lieutenant General Somerfield, Lieutenant General Myron... and a total of seventeen lieutenant generals and major generals were killed in action."

"Under the influence of their commander's spirit, the naval soldiers launched a suicide attack on the remaining pirates. None of the pirates escaped the battlefield and were all annihilated."

After Raleigh witnessed all of this, the mouse beside him was also deeply shocked.

It's important to understand that, generally speaking, the number of seriously wounded naval soldiers far exceeds the number of deaths; a ratio of about one to three is considered a normal combat outcome.

The ratio of seriously injured to dead was close to one to one, which could only mean that the intensity of naval operations was extremely high. This is why even the rats were shocked.

Raleigh stood up, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, and looked at the bustling New Marineford.

The sun shines on the square of New Marineford, turning the various sculptures cast from the megaliths into gold.

After a long silence, Raleigh finally spoke:

"Rat, write down the names of all these fallen generals and arrange for craftsmen to create statues of them."

It was placed in the square of the new Marine Fondo, so that everyone passing by could see it.

"The deeds of these fallen generals should be included in the naval curriculum, and all soldiers who receive naval training should know about their sacrifices and greatness."

Without a second thought, the mouse nodded in agreement.

Raleigh sighed.

The death before our eyes may be cruel, but it may only be a part of the war to come.

The Navy will not back down because of the sacrifices of some; everyone must stand up.

Only then can we truly win this war.

The New World is vast, and even though many great pirate crews have been eliminated, there are still quite a few pirates left.

A naval encirclement doesn't simply mean surrounding a few islands.

Instead, it includes all the islands currently occupied by pirates within the New World.

This is why the navy is under tremendous pressure.

The number of generals and naval soldiers who could command operations was so small, scattered across such a vast sea.

Of the Three Emperors Pirates, only the core members of the Red-Haired Pirates have not been wiped out; tens of thousands of other pirates remain undefeated.

Meanwhile, those lone pirates still mingled within the Navy's encirclement.

These are the problems that the Navy is facing today.

To Raleigh's relief and unease, the Red-Haired Pirates seemed unaware that the Navy was already facing some difficulties.

They did not intervene to break through the navy's encirclement and create a way out for the pirates inside.

Raleigh turned around, looked at the sand table in the middle of the office, and said:

"Order Kuzan and Aramaki to lead their entire fleets to the New World to participate in this war."

"The four seas are already stable enough; there is no need for them to continue maintaining naval governance."

For some reason, Raleigh always felt that the Red-Haired Pirates were involved in a big...

Because they were so quiet.

They were so quiet that many people overlooked their existence.

"Have Cleveland's spies pass on some intelligence, and make sure to find out what conspiracy the Red-Haired Pirates are plotting."

The war has reached this point entirely thanks to the navy's control.

But if the Red-Haired Pirates really find a way to win, Raleigh will do everything he can to strangle them in the sea.

"Ancient weapons?"

"It shouldn't be."

Raleigh frantically searched his mind for a way for the redhead to break the deadlock.

But he never expected it.

The only thing that could change the course of the battle is the appearance of a few more admiral-level pirates or an ancient weapon. However, Shirahoshi, one of the ancient weapons, is currently quiet on Fishman Island.

Gion is currently leading a portion of the navy stationed on Fishman Island, and she is responsible for preventing Shirahoshi from entering.

Pluto, one of the Ancient Weapons, is currently in the magma beneath Wano Country.

Sakazuki is secretly leading a group to Wano Country in search of this.

The only thing outside their control is Uranus, the Celestial King, in the hands of the Celestial Dragons.

However, given Shanks' status, even if he has a cooperative relationship with the Five Elders, it is impossible for him to directly borrow Uranus from them.

Moreover, the Heavenly King is currently in Im's hands.

"Alright, let's proceed according to plan."

Raleigh thought to himself.

He once sent Miles to the East Blue to find Monkey D. Luffy, but when Miles arrived at Windmill Village, he discovered that Luffy had set sail earlier than he had imagined.

After a fruitless search, Miles followed Raleigh's instructions and went to several other places, but still couldn't find the other people Raleigh had mentioned.

For example, Roronoa Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, and others.

Raleigh accepted the outcome.

The sun god Nika does indeed possess consciousness, and fate still exists in this world despite Raleigh's erratic alterations.

If it weren't for this, Luffy wouldn't have been able to gather everyone together before setting sail ahead of schedule.

Fortunately, Luffy no longer has the environment to grow up in.

Everyone he encountered on his path to adulthood was killed by the Navy for special reasons.

Whether it was Arlong, Rayleigh, or other pirates, they all died at the hands of the Navy.

Without Nika's growth, what level can he reach? Raleigh is very much looking forward to it.

Inside the frontline naval command post in the New World.

After receiving Raleigh's instructions regarding the battle situation, Tsuru convened a meeting for the day.

"According to Fleet Admiral Raleigh's instructions, the problem we need to face is to prevent the Red-Haired Pirates from suddenly breaking through the encirclement and to shrink the encirclement again as soon as possible."

"Although we have occupied many islands at a great cost, it is still not enough."

"The encirclement is not small enough. We must advance two-thirds of the distance in the next period of time to ensure that the encirclement is completely locked and that none of the remaining pirates can escape."

After listening quietly to He's speech, Zhan Guo began to work with his thoughts.

Before long, an idea was born in my mind.

"How about we form a squad of admiral candidates and elite vice admirals to specifically kill the remaining strong pirates?"

After hearing this, Zefa pondered for a moment and then nodded.

"The idea is feasible; we can find a few generals to conduct a trial."

The idea proposed during the Warring States period was similar to a decapitation strike carried out by special forces.

The current situation is that the Navy's firepower far exceeds that of ordinary pirates, but it is difficult for them to pose a threat to the strong pirates.

However, it is difficult for naval admirals to achieve a suppressive effect when fighting one-on-one against strong pirates.

In most cases, strong pirates can command lower-level pirates to fight against the Navy, which is one of the reasons why the Navy suffers heavy casualties.

Zefa spoke again:

"Currently, apart from Shanks, the strongest combat force among pirates is Beckman, the vice-captain of the Red-Haired Pirates, and some wild strongmen. They are basically all elite vice admirals or admiral candidates."

"If we send five elite vice admirals and one admiral candidate to carry out a decapitation operation, we can escape unscathed even if we are attacked by the entire Red-Haired Pirates."

"In case they are surrounded by a large number of pirates, this squad can rely on their individual strength to carry out guerrilla warfare and wait for the navy fleet to come to their rescue."

1

At the conference table, everyone's eyes lit up after listening to Zefa's speech.

Yes.

Whether in terms of advanced firepower or the sheer number of skilled personnel, the Navy is superior to the pirates.

The reason for the casualties in the past few days is entirely due to the fact that the battle lines were stretched too far, resulting in an uneven distribution of resources.

Even though they have four admiral-level fighters in the New World, Sengoku and Garp don't bring their own fleets, and Borsalino needs to supervise them.

Only Issho and Zephyr, the weakest of the admirals, were left to guard against the sudden appearance of the Red-Haired Pirates.

However, the Navy also has powerful combatants like Enel and Barrett, and Kake can also be considered a strongman who can stand alone.

This small team is more than capable of handling everyone except the Red-Haired Pirates.

After everyone raised their hands in approval of the proposal, Crane spoke:

"Pass on the order."

"Order Enel, Barrett, Kakei, Doberman, and Jonathan to form a strike team. Give them half a day to assemble and prepare. Begin hunting down the strongest pirates tonight."

The messenger guarding the door hurriedly went down to relay the order.

Upon hearing the name of the candidate, Sengoku nodded. Suddenly, a figure flashed into his mind, and he couldn't help but speak:

"Let Rosinante go with us too. Although he is not yet a vice admiral and his combat strength is a bit lacking, his Devil Fruit ability is of great use to the team's hunting."

The Warring States period was also driven by selfish motives.

Because he was well aware of the terrifying strength of this squad.

It's no exaggeration to say that if he were facing an attack from this squad, all he could think of were his last words.

Although Enel and Barrett are not yet generals, Sengoku always felt that they were actually generals in terms of combat strength.

Although Kake is not that strong, he still has the strength of a general candidate.

With the addition of two elite lieutenant generals, Doberman and Jonathan, this squad is more than capable of taking down Shanks.

By following such a squad, one can easily accumulate a large amount of military merit.

Rosinante hadn't distinguished himself on the battlefield for a long time, and Sengoku wanted to give Rosinante a chance under these circumstances.

It's understandable that they could earn more military merits.

He easily guessed what Zhan Guo was thinking, but she didn't say it out loud.

This is something you can do someone a favor for.

Moreover, Rosinante's abilities are indeed well-suited for teams hunting in the dark.