"Stop, Fujitora! That thing isn't something you can block!"
Watching Fujitora going back, Sengoku also jumped down from the ship. Although Sengoku started to become more like Garp after resigning from the position of Fleet Admiral, when something serious happened, he couldn't just sit by and do nothing.
The older generation of Marines was gradually fading away. Although Fujitora wasn't exactly young, as a newly appointed Admiral, he represented fresh blood.
"Inspector General, you seem to know quite a bit about this, don't you?"
"I only know a little. The most important thing right now is to retreat. If you want to hear more, let's leave this place first and I'll explain to you in detail."
"So, Inspector General, you're very clear on what kind of consequences this attack will bring, aren't you?"
"Even a Buster Call would at least give people time to evacuate. Such a sudden attack is extremely irresponsible to this country."
Whether he truly knew the destructive power of this attack. Faced with Fujitora's question, Sengoku couldn't give an exact answer.
The last time the Mother Flame attacked, it hadn't even landed before Arceus repelled it.
Afterwards, he went to ask the Five Elders, but the answer they gave him was simply: [We'd controlled the power; the Marines wouldn't have suffered much damage.]
Right now, the disturbance in the sky was even more terrifying than back then, and Sengoku didn't dare to gamble on the aftermath of this attack. There was no one to stop the attack this time.
"Inspector General, take the soldiers and retreat first."
"And what about you?"
"Though I'm just a new recruit, having been entrusted with the position of Admiral, I have my own ideas too. Justice should be honorable.
Soldiers may sacrifice themselves to kill the enemy, but the citizens of a nation shouldn't become the casualties of an operation. I will leave, but only after them."
"There's not enough time, you can't save them. They're not like the military, able to organize instantly. No matter how hard you try, it would be just a drop in the bucket!"
The Marines are inherently an organized force; once orders are issued, they can react in a short time. However, the residents of Dressrosa are different; they were largely in a state of disarray.
Moreover, because of the Shichibukai system, this place had been ignored for ten years. The Marines' credibility here was low, making it nearly impossible to organize an effective evacuation. Even if they could, they didn't have enough ships.
"I understand all of this, but Inspector General, you're wasting precious time. Even if you try to stop me with force, you won't be able to in the short term. Doing so will only increase casualties. What you should be doing is organizing the Marines' retreat."
"Fujitora, this is an order from the World Government."
"The orders of the World Government... Dressrosa has become what it is today precisely because of the Shichibukai system established by the World Government. The voices of the people are filled with sorrow and anguish, with anger only coming second. Are the people of the World Government really gods that we allow them to act with such impunity?"
Fujitora didn't stay any longer. He didn't even use his blind man's stick anymore. Instead, he sliced off a piece of rock, used anti-gravity to make it float, and sat on the stone-made vehicle to hurry forward.
At this time, Buggy was also leading a group of pirates to squeeze onto a warship under the watchful eyes of many. Having experienced the Summit War, Buggy didn't want to stay here and wait for death. Using his Shichibukai status to retreat with the Marines was the right path.
"Captain Buggy, what about Brother 3 and the others? They're still at the center of the island!"
Buggy had been following Fujitora, so he was able to withdraw in time, but people like Mr. 3 were in a different situation.
"I'll pray for them. I hope they can survive this disaster. I'm sorry, Galdino, I won't forget you."
Shedding a few tears, Buggy closed his eyes; not out of sadness, but because being stared at by so many Marines made him extremely nervous.
There were originally three Shichibukai on the island. Now that Doflamingo's deeds had been completely exposed and Law had openly defected, Buggy's own credibility as a Shichibukai was also plummeting.
Even though he was considered an ally and could board the Marine ship, he was still met with a sea of glares.
"What are these Marines waiting for? If they delay any longer, it'll be too late!"
Watching as the warship remained motionless, Buggy started to panic. Fortunately, the order soon came through.
"Tsuru-chan! Lead the warship and retreat to a safe area!"
Fujitora's determination made Sengoku abandon his attempts to persuade him. He turned around, threw off his Justice cloak, and handed command over to Tsuru.
"Sengoku."
"I suddenly understand what goes on in Garp's head. Sometimes, not having to listen to the World Government's orders and being able to do as you please is a pretty good thing.
Fujitora is a newcomer and doesn't know how to command. I'll go help him, then I'll catch up with you."
"You guys…"
Sengoku's transformation into another Garp was making Tsuru more and more troubled. With only one high-ranking officer left, Tsuru didn't act rashly but followed the previous order, leading the Marines to begin retreating to the open sea.
Meanwhile, Kuzan was doing almost the same thing, and moving even faster.
After leaving the Marines, he was much freer in his actions. Seeing the situation above, he immediately set to work.
A large portion of the island was turned into a smooth ice surface. Then he created several giant ice ships. Once the people of Dressrosa boarded, he pushed them hard toward the distance.
With the characteristics of the ice, their evacuation could proceed even faster.
"Everyone, come over here, this is for your own good!"
People like Kuzan and Fujitora, who realized the danger, were doing their best to organize an evacuation, but this was only a fraction; most people were still in the dark about what was happening.
Take Zoro for example. As he finished reciting his verses, Pica's giant body was cut down by him. Seeing something forming in the sky, not only did they not choose to retreat, they even sped up their charge toward the center.
Others, meanwhile, were trying their best to protect themselves.
"All right, Pay-tan, this should be far enough."
"Shouldn't we retreat a bit more?"
"Relax, Yamato is right in the center. Even if you don't trust her, you should trust Lord Arceus. There must be something on Yamato that we don't know, but that will be especially useful.
Just be ready to withstand the shockwaves."
Except for Kuzan, who had only recently joined, the rest of the Beasts Pirates were actually very calm. Even if their young miss's reason for coming out was "to escape danger," if something really happened, the family wouldn't just abandon her.
Speed and the others made similar choices, picking a relatively sturdy spot to withstand the shockwaves, such as the SMILE factory built using Seastone - the sturdiest place in all of Dressrosa.
The attack came swiftly. Before most people could prepare or defend themselves, it was already ready to strike.
As a blinding light erupted in the center of the island, everyone on Dressrosa froze.
It wasn't that they didn't want to do anything, but that they were powerless. There was nothing they could do.
When something exceeds the limits of human understanding, those seeing it for the first time don't feel fear, but rather curiosity. They want to know what it is.
But by the time the results were laid before everyone's eyes, it was already too late.
Mother Flame was precisely such an incomprehensible weapon.
On the King's Plateau, at the sunflower fields, King Riku and the others were gathered.
Just moments before, Kyros had completed his revenge by personally finishing off Diamante, the man who killed his wife. Before they could take any further action, Violet's attention was drawn to the commotion in the sky.
At first, it was just a patch of dark clouds. Ordinary people couldn't see what was behind them, but Violet was the user of the Glare-Glare Fruit. All-Seeing Eye was the most basic power of this fruit, allowing her to observe everything within several thousand kilometers.
Out of curiosity, she activated her ability, and then a wave of despair rushed into her heart.
An endless stretch of steel—an enormous, unidentifiable object—was flying high above in the sky. At its core, something resembling a cannon was charging up, and the blazing light was so intense she couldn't keep her eyes open. Before long, she was forced to deactivate her ability.
"Violet, what's wrong?"
"Run, hurry, Father, run! That thing is about to fire down at us!"
But as she watched the descending beams of light, Violet stopped speaking.
Having seen the weapon charging up at close range, she understood its terror far better than ordinary people. She didn't know just how destructive the attack would be, but she knew with certainty that there was no chance of survival for those directly beneath the cannon.
"It's too late…"
Despair lingered in Violet's heart. After finally getting the chance to drive out Doflamingo, with hope just beginning to ignite, an even greater despair had arrived.
Caught up in that despair, she didn't notice two figures—one black, one white—spiraling up from below, growing larger as they flew.
On the King's Plateau, Doflamingo's expression was darker than ever. Even when Redfield had said he wanted to kill him, or Yamato had made clear her dislike, he hadn't looked this grim.
"Fuffuffuffu… those ba*tards from World Government have really made up their minds to erase me, haven't they?"
His fists creaked as he clenched them, and Doflamingo suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness.
This wasn't because of the World Government's decision itself. The World Government favored a kind of balance, and up until recently, he'd stood at a crucial balance point. Combined with the secrets he held and his Celestial Dragon bloodline, that's what allowed him to get away with everything until now.
But once that balance was broken and the darkness exposed, it was only natural for the World Government to want to erase him. What enraged Doflamingo was the terrifying weapon the World Government had kept hidden.
Even after ten years of his efforts, once the World Government made up its mind, it all became as worthless as dirt.
"Listen, Oni Princess, I know a big secret. If this matter can be resolved, both of your fathers would be very interested."
"What are you talking about?"
"Now's not the time. If a secret is revealed to everyone, it's no longer a secret. Only when it's held by certain people does it truly count as a secret."
Only those with big enough fists have the right to negotiate. If the gap in power is too great, holding something over the other side is meaningless.
Seeing the World Government's determination to erase him, Doflamingo made up his mind. Even if he died, he'd drag others down with him.
If the Beasts Pirates had the power to deal with this attack, that would mean they had an even bigger "fist," and in that case, his secret would become even more valuable. It was just that Yamato wasn't the right person for him to entrust it to.
Given the situation, only handing the secret to Kaido would have the desired effect.
"Acting all mysterious... Everyone, get ready! The shockwave's coming!"
Yamato didn't bother thinking about what Doflamingo's secret might be. If Kaido needed him, that was Kaido's business. She would take Doflamingo back, but her dislike for him wasn't going to change.
As for the shockwaves, last time when Arceus took action personally, even Marineford was affected by the aftermath. Although Zekrom said this was Arceus's order, Yamato did not believe that they were stronger than Arceus.
So there would definitely be shockwaves, and most likely even stronger than before. If they didn't prepare, getting hit by it would be extremely unpleasant.
Right now, Yamato's attention wasn't on Doflamingo at all, which would have been a great opportunity for Redfield, but he didn't take it. With his perception, he could easily tell where the real trouble was coming from.
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