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

As soon as he finished speaking, without giving Gern a chance to react or refute, he turned around and waved to his crew.

"Let's go!"

The Red-Haired Pirates immediately understood and practically ran towards the Red Fox.

Shanks's use of leverage and manipulation of the situation was so fluid and seamless that he completely neutralized the unexpected variable, Coby.

It became a brilliant pawn for him to make a dignified exit and even to checkmate Gern!

Only Gern stood there, his face ashen, watching the Red-Haired Pirates' figures disappear into the distance.

And that pink-haired idiot in front of me, still trembling with fear.

A feeling of nausea, as if he had been force-fed flies, and a furious anger at his plans being unexpectedly disrupted by an insignificant nobody, intertwined and rose within Gern.

He finally understood what it felt like for Akainu to eat a lump of ** when he watched the anime.

At that moment, Koby realized that his shout had actually "stopped" the war from continuing.

Seeing that the Red-Haired Pirates had "heeded" his "advice" and begun to retreat

An unprecedented sense of accomplishment surged into my heart instantly.

It made him feel as if he had suddenly become a noble figure, an advocate for peace.

The tears on his face instantly stopped, replaced by a self-righteous indignation from someone who thought they were on a moral high ground.

He even turned to the ashen-faced Guern and spoke in a lecturing tone.

"General Gern, I didn't mean to."

"But there's no point in continuing!"

You'll never understand the meaning of life!

I hope you understand that victory is not…

"No way, damn it!!"

Without any politeness, and not even bothering to listen to his nonsense, Gern suddenly raised his hand and slapped Koby's arrogant face hard!

"Slap!!!" The crisp, loud slap was particularly jarring in the silent battlefield!

Koby was sent spinning 360 degrees into the air by that slap filled with rage.

Then he fell to the ground, half of his cheek instantly swollen and red, completely stunned by the blow.

"General Gern, you...?!" Koby covered his face, his eyes filled with disbelief and grievance.

Looking down at him, Gern posed the simplest yet most fatal question.

How many pirates have you killed?

"..."

Koby was speechless for a moment. He opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.

He couldn't very well confess that he first deserted and then fought in the bloody battle at Marineford.

He was repeatedly stunned by the domineering aura of various big shots, and slept all the way to the finale. He was so clean that he didn't even kill a chicken, right?

Seeing Koby's speechless and shifty eyes, Gern laughed in exasperation.

"Hehe, hahahaha!"

Then, Gern pointed to the wounded and weary-looking naval soldiers around him.

"Let me tell you! If any soldier on the field stepped forward right now, I wouldn't be this angry!"

"Because they experienced death! They experienced war! They crawled out of a sea of ​​blood!!"

"They are the ones who have the right to say these things!!"

"Not you!!!"

With each word he spoke, Gern stepped forward and slapped Koby across the face without mercy!

He was beaten so badly that he had no chance to fight back and could only curl up on the ground, covering his head and whimpering in pain.

"waste!"

"You dare talk about life?!"

"Who did you protect?!"

Behind Gern are Sengoku, Zephyr, Garp (whose existence is currently unimportant), Kizaru, and all other high-ranking and top-tier fighters.

Almost no one stepped forward to stop it.

Because of Coby's recent actions of siding with the Navy while speaking up for the pirates, and being used as a pawn by Shanks.

Those who stood with Gern felt as disgusted as if they had eaten shit!

Finally, Gern grabbed Koby by the collar and lifted him off the ground like a chick.

In front of all the navy personnel present, the sound clearly resonated in every corner.

"From this moment on, you are..."

"A disgrace to the Navy!!!"

Chapter 481 is now closed!

A disgrace to the Navy!!

These four words, like a red-hot branding iron, were fiercely imprinted on Koby's soul.

This caused him to be thrown to the ground again by Guern, and the physical pain was far less than the blow to his mind.

Koby lay there, his eyes vacant and unfocused, slumped listlessly among the rubble.

His mouth opened and closed unconsciously, murmuring those four words repeatedly.

"A disgrace to the Navy... a disgrace to the Navy..."

Helmeppo, who had initially intended to help him up, hesitated after hearing what Gern said to Koby.

His expression changed drastically, and he froze on the spot, not daring to take another step forward.

As the son of a former high-ranking official in the navy, he was acutely aware of the seriousness of the problem.

Because, who said those words?

He is a naval legend, the head of the four admirals of the Navy Headquarters, the commander-in-chief of the New World Strategy, the controller of G-10, "Skyquake" Gern!

He was the one who personally arrested Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King.

Furthermore, in this all-out war worthy of being recorded in history, they successively defeated Edward Newgate (Whitebeard) and Shiki (Golden Lion).

The man who almost single-handedly brought an entire legendary era to a complete and true end!

At this moment, Gern's reputation, strength, and achievements have reached an unprecedented peak!

In other words, anyone with a brain could see that after this war, the position of Admiral of the Navy would be practically within Gern's grasp!

He will undoubtedly be the future leader and symbol of the Navy!

Now, this future admiral, who is about to reach the top and has absolute authority, has personally and publicly nailed the label of "the shame of the Navy" to Koby!

what does this mean?

This means that as long as Gern is still in the Navy, and as long as Gern's will continues to dominate within the Navy...

Hecoby will never have a chance to rise in the Navy system!

He will be forever nailed to the pillar of shame, despised by his colleagues, and rejected by his superiors. He will almost never be able to hold his head high in the navy for the rest of his life!

His military career, before it had even truly begun, seemed to have already come to an end, and in the most unbearable and shameful way.

Helmeppo looked at Koby lying on the ground like a soulless man, then at the cold, aloof figure, and felt a chill run through him.

He understood that from this moment on, the name Coby had become synonymous with "disgrace" within the Navy.

All of this stemmed from his untimely and naive "kindness," and... he stood in front of a king who was about to be crowned.

The tide of time rolls ever onward, and will not stop because of the weeping of a single grain of sand.

Koby's fate seemed to have been completely sealed at this moment by a single sentence from Gern.

........

At the same time, after leaving that definitive statement, Gern turned away indifferently, no longer looking at Koby, who lay on the ground like a lump of mud.

"Yay hahaha!" Enni, despite his injuries, stepped forward with a smile on his face.

"I thought you would just take action and send that ignorant brat to meet his imagined 'peace'!"

"After all, you just... actually had murderous intent!"

As a master of Observation Haki, he clearly sensed Gern's killing intent at that moment.

Gern glanced at Enel, who seemed to thrive on chaos, rubbed his temples wearily, and replied in a flat tone.

"Anyone could kill him... but at that moment, I couldn't."

"Why?" Enel pursed his lips in confusion, casually slinging the golden staff over his shoulder.

"He's just a brainless ant. Killing him won't hurt. It'll also establish our authority."

“General Gern is worried about what he said,” a calm voice interjected.

Tesoro quickly caught up, his clothes stained with dust and blood.

He looked at Enel, picked up the conversation, and patiently explained.

"What that pink-haired brat said was foolish and inappropriate."

He was even manipulated by Shanks, but his talk of a 'ceasefire' and 'wasting lives'...

Tesoro's gaze swept over the surrounding naval soldiers who were silently collecting the bodies of their fallen comrades and bandaging their wounds, their eyes also reflecting weariness and despair of war. He lowered his voice and said...

"These words truly represent the unspoken thoughts of many soldiers."

"Therefore, General Gern cannot kill him."

At least at that moment, in full view of everyone, absolutely not!

“Because once you kill…” Tesoro’s voice carried a hint of solemnity, “the image that General Gern has just established in the hearts of the soldiers will be instantly shrouded in shadow.”

The anti-war sentiments lurking in the soldiers' hearts would not be suppressed; instead, they would find an outlet and an object of sympathy because of Koby's death.

"At that time..." he concluded, using a fitting metaphor, "the situation and future plans that General Gern has painstakingly created may truly come to pass..."

"A thousand-mile dike can be breached by an ant hole!"

Although Guern did not turn around, he tacitly agreed with Tezzolo's analysis.

What he needs is control and guidance, not simply to rule through terror.

Killing a Koby is easy, but losing his support within the Navy and undermining his future rule over the entire Navy would be a greater loss than gain.

Public humiliation and utter denial can sometimes destroy a person more effectively than death, and leave no image of a martyr to sympathize with.

Enel raised an eyebrow after listening. Although he didn't approve of this political maneuvering, he didn't refute it further.

After all, God's justice is never this complicated.

He just felt it was a bit of a pity that he couldn't just chop down that annoying brat.

..........

Now, this battle has nearly destroyed Marineford, the headquarters of the Navy, and buried two legends of the old era.

The Marineford War, which claimed countless lives, has finally come to a true end.

The sunlight illuminated a devastated battlefield and countless exhausted figures.

Gern jumped onto the execution platform and exchanged a knowing glance with Sengoku, who was lying in the ruins below.

Sengoku, as the current marshal, nodded slightly, and was about to take out his personal radio-activated Den Den Mushi from his pocket.

To officially bring this brutal war to a final close.

But Gern gave him no chance at all!

He took a deep breath, activated his ability, and the sound, transmitted through vibrations, clearly and forcefully reached the ears of every survivor on the battlefield, spreading to every corner of Marineford.