Marineford War: I Will Stand in the Sky

In Marco's memory, "Red-Haired" Shanks was just a bright-eyed, naive kid back then.

Unexpectedly, more than 20 years later, it is Shanks, that young brat, who is still carrying Roger's will and sailing the seas, among Roger's crew members. Now he is even starting to compete for the throne of "Emperor of the Sea".

“Speaking of which, old man, if Shanks successfully obtains the title of ‘Emperor of the Sea,’ wouldn’t that make him your equal?” Marco teased.

"Gurararara, those brats are a thousand years too early. It's you stupid sons who need to work harder. It would be quite an achievement if you could snatch the title of 'Emperor of the Sea' from your father's hands." Whitebeard said with a loud laugh.

Immediately, the officers and crew of the "Moby Dick" burst into laughter and shouted.

"Dad, how could I possibly beat you? You're the 'strongest man in the world'."

"Did Dad get drunk so quickly? How can a son lay a hand on his father?"

"Perhaps when Dad becomes the Pirate King, the title of 'Emperor of the Sea' will be meaningless, and who knows, we might become it."

Amidst the cheers and laughter, a strange light flickered in the eyes of Marshall D. Teach, a middle-aged man who appeared friendly and honest but was missing a few teeth.

'What a bunch of idiots! Looks like I'll be the one inheriting Dad's estate in the end!'

However, Teach did not reveal a trace of his ambition. Instead, he kept smiling sheepishly, his face beaming with a cheerful and warm expression.

……

Meanwhile, on Onigashima Island in the Wano Country seas.

With his long black hair flowing down his shoulders and an extremely burly physique, Kaido, whose bare upper body revealed his bulging muscles, slowly sat up from the ground. He slapped his head hard, his eyes, still slightly drunk, swept over the pirates beside him, and asked.

"How long have I been asleep? Has that red-haired brat entered Wano Country yet?"

"Captain... Captain, we anticipate that 'Red-Haired' Shanks will arrive at the outer edge of Wano Country's waters in about an hour," a pirate henchman replied nervously.

"Well, in that case, let's send word to prepare for the fun that's just waiting to be served up..."

[Chapter 480. The Vast Naval Fleet]

On a naval warship, Borsalino handed the latest intelligence to Yann beside him, then continued clipping his nails and spoke.

"The Beasts Pirates have made their move."

"what."

Yann glanced at the intelligence report, yawned, and continued fishing, saying, "I thought Kaido would move the battlefield to Wano Country, but I didn't expect him to make a move anyway."

“Wano Country is Kaido’s stronghold, and he won’t easily let other pirate crews into it,” Borsalino replied.

"Let's fight! It would be best if Kaido and Shanks both died, then we'd be relieved," Yann said with a hint of anticipation.

Just then, Lieutenant General Tsuru, wearing a cloak of justice, walked over to Arn and Borsalino, who were sitting together on the deck, chatting idly like two salted fish sunbathing side by side, and spoke.

"It's better not to have such unrealistic fantasies, especially since Kaido's vitality is terrifyingly tenacious."

Upon hearing this, Borsalino scratched his head helplessly and sighed.

Since Kaido's defeat in the Dressrosa Kingdom incident seven years ago, that guy has become increasingly insane, traveling all over the world to challenge strong opponents in order to hone his own strength.

He has been captured more than a dozen times in solo attacks on the Navy, despite being surrounded by a large number of top naval forces.

Among them, Borsalino, who is the fastest, participated in almost every battle to besiege Kaido, and was well aware of Kaido's increasingly terrifying power in recent years.

monster!

It was a true monster, and the title of "the strongest creature on land, sea, and air" was not an exaggeration.

In particular, Kaido's despair-inducing defense and vitality meant that even though the Navy could exhaust Kaido's last bit of strength each time they surrounded him, they could not truly kill him. Every time Kaido recovered his strength, he could easily break free of the sea stone chains and escape.

To this day, the only two scars on his body are the "X"-shaped scar on his right abdomen and the loss of his left arm in the "Dressrosa Kingdom Incident" seven years ago, an event that still haunts many.

Borsalino even suspected that Kaido's frantic training over the past few years might be an attempt to seek revenge against the mysterious powerful figure from the "Hueco Mundo" organization seven years ago.

However, Borsalino, who has always been somewhat lazy, had no desire to confront a monster like Kaido head-on.

"Even if Shanks and Kaido can't die together, Shanks should at least greatly deplete Kaido's stamina," Borsalino guessed.

Upon hearing this, Vice Admiral Tsuru calmly replied, "No need to worry, Borsalino. This time, the forces of justice are sufficient."

At this moment, behind the flagship where Arn, Borsalino, and Vice Admiral Tsuru were located, sixteen naval warships each commanded by an elite vice admiral from the Navy Headquarters followed closely behind, followed by thirty-two large warships commanded by rear admirals.

The forty-nine naval warships, sailing in a mighty array, looked from afar like a group of steel behemoths galloping across the sea, braving the wind and waves.

This is a terrifying military force several times more powerful than the infamous "Buster Call" that is renowned on the high seas, capable of easily destroying several countries in a short time.

To prevent intelligence leaks, this massive naval fleet was equipped with devices from the Science Department that could block Den Den Mushi signals, preventing pirates or spies from leaking the navy's operational plans in advance.

In addition, this route is also secured by spies and intelligence personnel from the World Government and the Navy, to minimize the possibility of it being accidentally discovered by pirates.

It can be said that this fleet represents the maximum combat power that the navy can muster without compromising its ability to maintain defenses throughout the seas.

In a sense, if this naval fleet had been destroyed in the waters of the "New World," the navy might not have had the capacity for proactive attacks for at least ten years, and the Sengoku period admiral would likely have faced the predicament of early retirement.

"Should we let the old man retire sooner rather than later?"

While appearing calm as he fished, Yann couldn't help but secretly ponder the matter.

However, there is also the possibility that the Warring States marshal might suffer a ruptured blood vessel on the spot and die in the line of duty.

"Let's forget it. It's better to let the old man remain as the Fleet Admiral for now. Otherwise, given the current state of the Navy, the next Fleet Admiral will probably be chosen from among the three Admirals."

"Among them, Borsalino, in his style, immediately ruled out the possibility of promotion."

"If Kuzan takes over, that's fine. But if Sakazuki becomes the Fleet Admiral, my leisurely fishing days will probably be over."

Although Yann has been a member of the Navy for fifteen years, apart from a minor conflict with Sakazuki during the "Ohara Incident" at the beginning, there has been almost no communication or contact between him and Sakazuki in the past fifteen years.

The tough and ruthless Admiral Sakazuki, also known as "Red Dog," is different from Admirals Kuzan and Borsalino, who often rotate between Marineford and Mary Geoise.

After being promoted to Admiral, Sakazuki was stationed at the "G-1 Branch" in the "New World" waters for almost all years, continuously fighting on the front lines against pirates and resisting the waves of pirates surging out of the "New World" waters.

In this respect, even Yann had to admire Sakazuki's persistence; he truly deserved to be the number one workaholic among the Navy's high command, second only to Fleet Admiral Sengoku.

However, General Sakazuki's concept of "absolute justice" was ultimately too extreme.

Sakazuki believed that the way to uphold justice was to eliminate pirates at all costs, without realizing that eliminating pirates was merely one of the means to uphold justice, and ignoring that the essence of justice was not directly linked to eliminating pirates.

Therefore, while Yann admires Sakazuki's ruthlessness, he does not condone this behavior pattern.

Justice without thought is like a soulless shell. In reality, what difference is there between it and those pirates who initially pursued freedom at sea but ultimately succumbed to the allure of treasure and fame?

"Perhaps, Sakazuki will only start thinking about this kind of thing after he actually becomes a marshal."

"I wonder... what was Sakazuki's original motivation for joining the Navy? I'm quite curious."

Yann's gaze gradually vacated as he considered matters within the Navy while his mind was preoccupied with the progress of the Alabasta Kingdom.

[Chapter 481. Contact Begins! (Fourth Update)]

Although the fleet was under the blockade of Den Den Mushi communication signals, Yann had been in contact with Robin through his mental space, indirectly keeping track of the progress of the "Lian Trading Company's" "Distributor Cooperation Plan".

Now, after briefly promoting the "Distributor Cooperation Plan" through the newspaper, the "Lian Chamber of Commerce" has begun to promote the "Distributor Cooperation" plan, selecting distributors in various sea areas who have the foundation for cooperation.

Of course, on the surface, the "Lian Chamber of Commerce" may select its distributors in a fair, just and open manner, taking into account their network, influence, strength, integrity and other factors in various sea areas.

However, in reality, the initial batch of distributors had all been pre-selected, and more than 90% of them were comrades from the Revolutionary Army.

The remaining 10% either represent areas where the revolutionary army is weak and lacks suitable comrades, or they want to take the opportunity to bring some influential locals onto the war effort and win them over.

Overall, the "Distributor Cooperation Program" has not encountered any unexpected events in its initial stage. It is proceeding quietly and gradually according to plan, taking advantage of the impending war between the "Red-Haired Pirates" and the "Beasts Pirates" as cover.

At this moment, Borsalino glanced sideways and noticed Yann's lifeless eyes, asking a question as if intentionally or unintentionally.

"Is Lieutenant General Yann worried about something? He seems quite absorbed in thought."

Yeah~

Yaen snapped out of his reverie and replied without changing his expression, "This war will likely have a significant impact on the lives of countless people in the ocean."

"Who would know about something like that?"

Borsalino gave a perfunctory reply, then asked without looking up, "Our main fighting force consists of Vice Admiral Yann and myself. Which pirate crew does Vice Admiral Yann plan to deal with?"

Yann answered without hesitation, "I'll take care of whichever pirate crew has relatively minor injuries, and the other, more seriously injured one, will be handled by Admiral Borsalino. How about that?"

If an ordinary navy person heard Yann's words, they would likely be moved to tears on the spot, deeply appreciating Yann's gentleness and taking on the difficult task.

However, Borsalino raised an eyebrow, realizing that what he was about to say had been spoken by Yone beforehand.

“Lieutenant General Yann, you’re being too cunning! As your senior, how can I let you face the less seriously injured? Leave it to me,” Borsalino said with some dissatisfaction.

"We're in the same boat..."

Yann glanced back at Borsalino, and he knew perfectly well what Borsalino was up to.

A lightly wounded beast will only want to run away, but a severely wounded and dying beast will fight back desperately, even to the point of mutual destruction.

Faced with an enemy of Kaido's caliber, Aon and Borsalino found themselves inexplicably on the same page.

Watching Arn and Borsalino politely defer to each other, Vice Admiral Tsuru couldn't help but feel that Fleet Admiral Sengoku's arrangement was quite wise.

If it were someone else, they might have already been fooled. It's just that Yann and Borsalino are evenly matched when they're together.

"You two can discuss it slowly."

Vice Admiral Tsuru shook his head, ignoring Arn and Borsalino, and returned to his cabin to arrange and prepare for the upcoming battle.

……

Several days later, under the watchful eyes of countless people, the Beasts Pirates and the Red-Haired Pirates officially began their clash. The place of the clash was exactly as Fleet Admiral Sengoku had predicted, on a deserted island near the Wano Country waters.

Dark clouds gradually descended from the sky, as if the entire sky were about to collapse, and a heavy atmosphere enveloped the entire massive deserted island.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the deserted island, many pirates who had followed from afar to witness the war felt their hearts racing for no apparent reason. Despite being so far from the island that they could barely see it with the aid of binoculars, beads of sweat still trickled down their foreheads.

"Is it...is it about to begin?"

"The Beasts Pirates and the Red-Haired Pirates have landed on opposite sides of the deserted island, and half an hour has passed. A conflict could break out at any moment."

"Look, the sky seems to be collapsing. Is it affected by the aura of those monsters?"

"Should we... create some more distance? Will we get caught in the crossfire if we stay here?"

……

Amidst the constant chatter among the pirates, the appearance of several pirate crews attracted the attention of the surrounding pirates.

"That's... the 'Kuja Pirates'? Could it be that the 'Pirate Empress' Hancock has also arrived? That's amazing!"

"Wait, isn't that the Donquixote Pirates' ship? Rumor has it that Kaido of the Beasts has been secretly suppressing the Dressrosa Kingdom recently. Could it be that Corazon the Crying Mantis is planning to join this war?"

"Hmm? No, it's not just them. That flag belongs to the 'Sun Pirates,' one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Tiger, who once stormed into the Holy Land of Mary Geoise and rescued a large number of slaves, and who holds the title of 'Great Hero,' has also appeared."