Arceus and Red Hair's Arrival!

"Dead? What a pity."

Kaido didn't do anything to the now-dead Zephyr as he respected opponents like this. He simply picked up his wine gourd and started drinking. As he drank, he began crying uncontrollably, not caring about the situation. It seemed like he was mourning his opponent, but even more so, lamenting the loss of a good fight.

Kaido had always been someone prone to emotional outbursts. Neither of the two battles had gone perfectly for him. First, Blackbeard had interfered, and then Zephyr's body had given out. It all left him with a lingering feeling of unfinished business.

Especially with Zephyr. Judging from the outcome, Kaido had won, but looking at the process of the fight, it was impossible to definitively say Zephyr had lost. For an enemy to die in such a manner—it was something Kaido found extremely frustrating.

And at that moment, Sengoku struck Kaido's chest with a palm. Kaido, in the throes of an emotional breakdown, failed to react in time and took the full blow. His Dragon-Human body was sent flying.

Looking at the now-lifeless Zephyr, sorrow appeared on the face of Sengoku's Buddha form.

But he didn't let the grief cloud his mind. Instead, he launched another attack at Kaido. The explosion from the Dyna Stones had already had some effect—if he didn't press the attack now, Zephyr's sacrifice would be for nothing.

The Buddha and the Dragon-Human continued their battle. At the frontlines, the battlefield had also reached the climax.

Oars used his body to clear a path to the execution platform. Even if he was as sturdy as a small mountain, he finally fell under the Marines' onslaught, yet his body paved the way to the execution platform.

Garp, in the end, couldn't steel his resolve. He let Luffy pass through while getting sent flying by a punch.

But Luffy, who didn't have the key, couldn't open the Seastone shackles. All he could do was destroy the execution platform, allowing Ace to escape first with the chains still on him, to search for the designated locksmith.

With their objective achieved, the Whitebeard Pirates had no intention of staying to fight and began retreating. But the Marines didn't want to let them go—if they escaped now, the Summit War would be a failure. So the Marines launched their pursuit.

Not even the massive explosion behind Marineford could distract them. Many had already gone into a frenzy, bloodlust overtaking reason. The only thing left in their minds was to kill more enemies.

But on the battlefield, there was a peculiar group.

Dressed in identical white suits, they darted back and forth, but neither treated the wounded nor attacked pirates or Marines. They merely held Den Den Mushi, reporting the situation as it unfolded.

They were CP0, dispatched by the World Government. And they had just one job: to deliver timely reports on the war's progress across all fronts.

At this very moment, message after message from CP0 was being transmitted directly to the desks of World Government officials.

These officials were essentially secretaries to the Five Elders. They filtered out less important information and passed on the critical reports to them.

"The newly formed Marine Wyvern Unit suffered heavy losses. Those wyverns are far inferior to that original monster. Investing so much into them doesn't seem worth it."

"An air force still has its advantages, it's just that they are overall lacking. The Marine casualties are still within acceptable limits, but Zephyr is dead."

"That guy? Let him die. It's not like he was a likable person anyway. The problem was just his seniority—he had too many students within the Marines. Someone like that dying is actually a good thing."

Regarding Zephyr's death, the people of the World Government neither mourned nor felt sorrow. On the contrary, they almost cheered.

Among them were many who had long disliked Zephyr. After all, his actions didn't align with their interests.

"Akainu and Kizaru are still fighting Whitebeard. That guy is terrifying after regaining his youth."

"The power to restore one's youth—now that's something to be envious of. Speaking of which, Queen. This could be an opportunity. After all, we got nothing from Wano Country—their defenses were just too strong."

"This is no longer something we can decide by ourselves. Notify the Five Elders."

After filtering out some unimportant intelligence, other pieces of information were delivered to the Five Elders. At the top of the stack was a dossier on Queen.

The Five Elders didn't even bother to look through it. They already knew plenty about Queen. In a way, Queen had really made a name for himself.

"This proposal isn't bad. Queen is the only one who actually holds the technology. Kaido isn't as disciplined as we had imagined. Being able to capture Queen directly—that doesn't sound like a bad outcome."

Compared to Kaido, Queen was far too weak. If they could seize this opportunity to capture Queen, many problems would be resolved with ease.

Threats and bribes—they could always extract something from his mouth.

"The Holy Land needs to be protected. This is a critical time; we cannot leave it undefended. Besides, we don't have the right people to send. Whitebeard, Kaido, and Red-Hair, who is about to arrive—ordinary personnel won't cut it."

"There's been an incident at Enies Lobby too. Let's use that. In this situation... a minor purge would be acceptable. There are too many unstable elements. That's not a good thing."

"Only Lord Imu can decide whether that should be used."

"But we, as servants—though we cannot replace Lord Imu—have been entrusted with certain powers. I believe the time has come. Let's begin the vote."

"In favor."

"In favor."

"Against."

"In favor."

"Against."

The decision was ultimately passed. The five of them walked together toward another area, discussing other matters along the way.

Off the coast of Marineford, the initial naval bombardment still hadn't stopped—only now, the purpose of the battle had shifted once again.

"Ace has been rescued—charge in! Support everyone's return to the New World!"

"Stop them! Without ships, those pirates can't escape! For justice, and for our fallen comrades—wipe them all out!"

Cannon fire roared as both sides fought fiercely for their respective goals. But as the battle wore on, someone noticed something strange: far off on the sea, a new pirate ship was slowly approaching Marineford.

At Marineford's temporary command center, Tsuru had now assumed command. But the incoming reports were far from encouraging—the current situation was increasingly unfavorable for the Marines.

"This is the Gate of Justice reporting—the Genesis of the Beasts Pirates has appeared! Their intentions are unclear, but they are approaching!"

"Beasts Pirates again? Who's leading them?"

"It—it's Arceus."

"..."

Tsuru fell into silence. One Kaido was already more than they could handle—now with the second-in-command entering the fray, the situation was about to grow even more dire.

But before Tsuru could make a decision, another report came in.

"Report! The Red Force has appeared at Marineford! Leading them is... Red-Hair Shanks! The third Emperor of the Sea... has arrived!"

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