The natural system started off strong, but the navy finally reached its peak!

Before he could finish speaking, a figure with his head down and in a hurry rushed out from the side passage and crashed solidly into the side of Gern!

"boom!"

"Ouch!"

"Koby! Hurry up! They need our help moving supplies over there..."

A naval sergeant named Bellmare, with a blonde ponytail, futuristic sunglasses, a white shirt, and a green vest, jogged up to catch up, calling out as he went.

However, when he clearly saw the man's distinctive white general's coat and face...

His whole body stiffened instantly, as if struck by lightning.

Almost instinctively, he straightened his body, saluted with all his might, and shouted in a tense voice.

"Naval Sergeant Bellmaber! Greetings to Admiral Gern!!"

At this moment, Koby, who had fallen to the ground, hurriedly got up, not bothering to brush off the dust, and saluted with a pale face as well.

Gern's gaze lingered briefly on the two men, and he frowned, but he didn't criticize them too harshly, since these two Karami were currently useless.

"Be more careful next time."

After saying that, he ignored the two panicked people and, with Barrett and Lipo, continued walking towards the conference hall.

Koby and Helmeppo maintained their salutes until the three figures disappeared at the end of the corridor before slowly lowering their hands and exchanging a glance.

"Phew! That scared me to death!" Helmeppo let out a long sigh of relief, then his face lit up with barely suppressed excitement. He patted Coby's shoulder hard, his voice trembling with excitement.

"Hey! Coby! Did you see that?! That's a living legend!"

General 'Skyquake' Gern! I never expected him to be in Marineford!

With this man in charge, we're sure to win this war!

However, in stark contrast to him, Koby did not exhibit the same fervor.

Instead, he rubbed his shoulder, which was a little sore from the impact, and his face showed an unusual calmness as he tried to find something unique about himself, muttering to himself.

"I'm also Vice Admiral Garp's disciple... He must have recognized me just now, right?"

"Coby, what are you thinking?!" Hearing this, Helmeppo couldn't help but roll his eyes, interrupting his daydream.

"According to what you're saying, Chief Instructor Zephyr's students are all over the Navy, including four Admirals. Does that mean Admiral Gern remembers them all?"

“No, it’s different.” Koby shook his head, his tone carrying a stubborn seriousness.

"Lieutenant General Garp has very few disciples. As far as I know, there are only General Gern, General Kuzan... and myself."

He seemed to want to use this thin "same school" relationship to shorten the distance between himself and that high mountain.

"Hey!" Helmeppo pointed at himself, annoyed. "What about me? Aren't I human? Didn't Mr. Garp train me too?"

“You’re different…” Coby tried to argue, but was interrupted by Helmeppo.

"Alright, alright, Coby, stop patting yourself on the back! Let's go, we haven't finished moving the supplies yet!" Helmeppo pushed him away.

Despite being pushed forward, Koby remained lost in his own thoughts, clenching his fist and a defiant glint in his eyes.

He muttered to himself, as if encouraging himself, or perhaps announcing an unrealistic goal.

"Ha... I believe that I will definitely be able to surpass General Gern in the future!"

After all, you see, in his second year in the Navy, he was just a menial soldier in a branch of the West Blue.

And now, I'm a sergeant in the Navy Headquarters!

Hearing Koby's boastful words, which sounded like a dream, Bellemere, who was walking ahead, stumbled and almost fell.

He turned around, looked at Koby with the same expression he'd given an idiot, shook his head helplessly, and mercilessly poured cold water on his enthusiasm.

"Hehe... My dear Koby, have you forgotten?"

What did that "West Sea Branch errand boy" you mentioned do three years after joining the Navy?

Bellemere clearly and deliberately uttered the name of that earth-shattering feat.

"He... personally beheaded 'Golden Lion' Shiki at his peak!!!"

"I put in two hundred times more effort than others!!!"

"hehe."

Helmeppo's cold laugh jolted Coby out of his brief reverie.

Koby opened his mouth, but ultimately couldn't say anything. The light in his eyes dimmed slightly as he silently followed Helmeppo's footsteps.

The clamor of preparations emanating from the end of the street seemed to be a reminder to him.

The most important thing right now is to survive, not those unattainable ambitions.

Chapter 453 Even arrogance has its place!

The atmosphere inside the meeting hall reserved for the Seven Warlords of the Sea differed from the tense and orderly preparations outside.

Only three Navy Headquarters lieutenant commanders were responsible for receiving and coordinating the reception.

Beside the round table, the three Shichibukai, who had been summoned, stood in different poses.

Donquixote Doflamingo, nicknamed "Heavenly Demon," casually squatted on the table with his signature wicked grin, breaking the silence first.

Unfortunately, the question mark was not the one that was spoken.

Instead, he first turned to "Moonlight" Moria and mocked him.

“French french french… Moriah”

"I heard you got a real beating from that straw-hatted kid from the East Blue? That was... a disgrace to the Seven Warlords of the Sea!"

Before Moria, whose face was grim, could respond, he turned his gaze to the bloated, grinning "Blackbeard" Marshall D. Teach: "And you, Teach... F-F-F-F-F... You've done something truly remarkable!"

First he betrayed that old man Whitebeard, and now he's personally sending his 'son' to be executed, forcing him to his death... What a perfect script!

Blackbeard Teach simply let out a "Zehahaha" laugh and didn't say anything.

Seeing that the two were ignoring him, Doflamingo remained unfazed and continued talking, commenting on a play that had nothing to do with him.

"It seems that even if the navy wins this time, it will likely suffer heavy losses, perhaps..."

At this point, the three naval lieutenant commanders responsible for maintaining order could no longer tolerate his unbridled remarks.

One of them reluctantly stepped forward, saluted, and solemnly reminded him, "Doflamingo! Watch your words and actions!"

The Warring States Marshal is about to arrive; please maintain basic etiquette and decorum!

"Hmm?" Doflamingo's smile instantly turned cold. He turned his head, stared at the lieutenant colonel, and drawled out his words.

"Etiquette? Norms? Fufffufff... I've been waiting here 'quietly'. But he hasn't come!"

His voice suddenly turned sinister: "So... before the main character arrives, I need to find something to... kill some time!"

Before he finished speaking, he twitched his left finger very slightly a few times.

The next second, the three naval lieutenant commanders froze abruptly, their pupils instantly losing focus.

An expression of extreme terror, which he couldn't control, appeared on his face. His hand trembled uncontrollably as he reached for the sword at his waist!

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The saber is drawn!

Amid Moria's excited, grotesque laughter and Blackbeard's deep "Zehahaha," the three lieutenant colonels, like puppets controlled by invisible threads, swung their sabers and involuntarily slashed at each other!

Just as the three naval lieutenant colonels were filled with despair, their blades about to uncontrollably slash at each other's necks, the conference room door was pushed open!

The figures of Zhan Guo and He appeared at the door.

Upon entering, Sengoku's face instantly turned ashen from the chaos before him, and he immediately shouted, "Doflamingo! Stop right now!"

Unfortunately, Doflamingo only gave a disdainful sneer, and his fingers did not stop.

Instead, it more clearly prepares to bend, to complete that final, fatal maneuver.

He was certain that at this critical juncture when a full-scale war with Whitebeard was imminent, the Navy would never dare to truly break ties with these "important forces."

But, just as the muscles in his fingertips tensed slightly, about to exert force...

A cold voice rang out, almost touching the back of his head.

"If you dare to move, I can twist your fingers into pretzel shapes right now, so that you can only be a cripple performing 'hand tricks' for the rest of your life."

"!!!"

Doflamingo's blood seemed to freeze in that instant!

There was no other reason than that he was too familiar with the voice, so familiar that the fear etched into his very bones was instantly awakened!

For a moment, all of Doflamingo's movements, including the subtle movements of his fingertips, were frozen in mid-air as if a pause button had been pressed!

Then, very slowly, he raised his head and looked at the person in the main seat in front of him.

Before anyone could see, Sengoku and Tsuru had already taken their seats, while Moria and Blackbeard Teach, who had been watching the spectacle with strange laughter, were now gone.

At this moment, they seemed like completely different people, sitting upright with a composed expression, looking like "good children," and not even daring to glance around.

"Those two bastards deliberately didn't warn me..." Doflamingo cursed inwardly, but the chill down his spine prevented him from making the slightest move.

So he had no choice but to suppress the chilling killing intent and, with great difficulty, twitch the corner of his mouth to release the control of the parasitic thread.

The three lieutenant colonels who had survived the ordeal collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, their bodies drenched in cold sweat.

Doflamingo didn't even dare to turn around to look at the owner of the voice; he could only face Sengoku and Tsuru in front of him.

With a slightly trembling voice, he forced a calm smile and said...

"Fufufufu... It's been so long..."

"Earthquake".

However, Gern had no intention of indulging Doflamingo.

Before Doflamingo's feigned composure in shouting "Earthquake!" had even completely faded...

Gern didn't even need to issue a clear order; a mere cold glance was enough.

"Bang!!!"

A muffled bang suddenly exploded!

Barrett, who had been standing silently behind Gern, moved!

A hand covered in Armament Haki pressed down hard on Doflamingo's head from behind before he could even react!

Immediately afterwards, the power erupted!

Before Doflamingo could even utter a complete groan, he was slammed violently against the solid wood conference table in front of him by this irresistible force!

"Boom!!" The sturdy conference table collapsed with a crash, sending splinters flying everywhere!

Doflamingo's cheek made intimate contact with the broken wooden planks, and he was pinned to the ruins by Barrett with one hand, unable to move!

Does he want to rebel?

Of course he wanted to! The power of the String-String Fruit almost instinctively erupted!

But the hand pressing on the back of his head conveyed not only strength, but also an overwhelming aura like a tsunami and the terrifying suppression of an absolute power level!

Under the absolute suppression of this "devilish" emperor-level combat power, all thoughts of struggle were instantly crushed!

Resistance? It would only bring him humiliation! Or rather, if he dared to make a move, he would only have one option: death.

Meanwhile, Moria and Blackbeard, who remained obediently seated in their chairs despite the table exploding, witnessed everything that happened in the blink of an eye.

His body was stiff, and he didn't even dare to blink, let alone make any movement or sound.

At this moment, Gern leisurely walked forward, dragged over the chair that Doflamingo had originally used, which was still relatively intact, and sat down behind himself.

Looking down at the disheveled Doflamingo pinned to the ruins, his tone was indifferent.

"It seems that some people just don't like to sit properly."

"If you don't like sitting, then lie down."

That way...the perspective might be broader.

As he spoke, Gern's gaze fell on Doflamingo's left hand, which had just used Parasite Thread, and he extended two fingers to pinch the first index finger.