Once they understood what Explosive Rock really was, the two deputy commanders who came from member nations instantly turned pale.
Their soldiers were shedding blood on the front lines for the World Government—fighting against that monster who could freeze entire seas, and the more than one hundred thousand New World pirates she commanded.
Yet the World Government had hidden from them the fact that beneath the very positions where their loyal soldiers were stationed, they had buried horrifying bombs capable of destroying an entire island.
Even now, with the coastal defense lines already broken, many soldiers from the member nations were still fighting pirates on the very front. Before the lines fell, there had been at least twenty thousand troops stationed there.
In other words—over twenty thousand soldiers who fought for the World Government… were nothing more than disposable pawns in the eyes of these people!
"Since there are no objections, activate the backup plan."
Steel Bone Kong completely ignored the furious expressions of the two noble-born deputy commanders and gave the order without the slightest hesitation.
He understood these nobles all too well—parasitic creatures thriving under the World Government's rule. They might protest in shock, but after a short moment to think, most of them would quickly lose the courage to defy the World Government.
That was exactly why, when creating the plan to overthrow the World Government together with Kizaru, neither Kizaru nor Steel Bone Kong ever factored the opinions of these member nations into their considerations.
All they needed to do was make these fence-sitters realize the World Government was doomed. Once they sensed that, they would instinctively kneel before Kizaru and the Marines.
Doberman looked awkward. He wanted to persuade Fleet Admiral Kong not to be so cold—after all, their men were still bleeding on the battlefield. Even if it was for the sake of the World Government, he should at least offer them some form of reassurance.
Meanwhile, the commander of the Mary Geoise guards had simply watched coldly after his initial gasp of shock, and even seemed faintly aligned with Steel Bone Kong.
His position was clear: no matter how many member-nation soldiers—or even former Mary Geoise guards—died, none of it affected his personal benefit.
Even if the Holy Land Guard Corps were wiped out in this battle, as long as Mary Geoise held firm, the achievement would be enough to sustain him for the rest of his life.
But if Mary Geoise fell, then no matter how many surviving guards he had left, he would inevitably become a stray dog—perhaps even labeled a traitor, and might end up being hunted down by CP0.
"…These bastards…"
The deputy commander who had once served in a member nation's army couldn't restrain himself and cursed under his breath. His face stiffened as he gathered the courage to stand up and oppose Steel Bone Kong's decision.
But he was quietly stopped by the third deputy commander—the king of the Cero Kingdom.
It turned out that Kong's assumptions about the nobles of the member nations were entirely correct. Compared to the guard captain—who at least still possessed some courage and the temperament of a soldier—the king of the Cero Kingdom ultimately chose to abandon the member-nation soldiers fighting on the front lines once he finished weighing the pros and cons.
The only reason these people were able to rush to Mariejois in time to reinforce it was precisely because they were die-hard loyalists of the World Government.
A group of soldiers who could be replaced even if they all died, exchanged for the chance to preserve the nobles' status—and even elevate it further—was, in the king's eyes, an absolutely worthwhile trade.
"Did you not hear my order?"
Kong cast a cold glance at the stunned staff officer who still hadn't recovered from shock, silently making a note to blame the Gorōsei later for sending him such useless subordinates.
"Ah… y-yes, sir!"
The young staff officer still wasn't aware that Kong already found him worthless. He was too overwhelmed by fear—the fear of the Fleet Admiral's near-cold-blooded contingency plan.
Even so, his body moved on its own as he rushed to transmit Kong's command.
The staff officers on the front lines, upon receiving the order, immediately relayed activation signals through the Den-Den Mushi network to the explosive-rock devices placed in each corresponding region.
Kong stood at the center of the command headquarters, expressionless. The fact that tens of thousands of lives were about to be erased did not affect him in the slightest.
As someone born into a military family and who had served in the army his entire life, Kong saw bloodshed and sacrifice as inevitable. As long as the price bought a result great enough, even he himself was a valid sacrifice.
Let alone now—after the coastal defense line had collapsed, the front-line Holy Land Guard Corps had long since been routed, and most of those still in the blast zone were pirates of the Dark Matter Pirate Crew.
From Kizaru's perspective, the best outcome would be for the World Government and the Dark Matter Pirates to destroy each other.
Next best was for the World Government to be destroyed while the Dark Matter Pirates were heavily weakened.
The worst outcome would be the World Government wiped out while the Dark Matter Pirates retained most of their strength.
If that happened, eliminating the pirates afterward would become nearly impossible. Without the World Government acting as a massive, irresistible target, there would be no guarantee the pirates wouldn't scatter and escape.
Tens of thousands—even over a hundred thousand—pirates who had survived the harshest trials of war were now scattered across the endless sea. Completely wiping them out was practically impossible; at least, that was what Kong (Steel Bone Kong) believed.
At this moment, the pirates along the coastal defense line were still cheering wildly for having landed at Red Port. Not even the most arrogant among them had imagined they would break through the "gate" of Mary Geoise so easily.
"Hahaha! Boys, follow me! The treasures of Mary Geoise are ours!"
"I'm gonna be the first pirate to set foot on Mary Geoise!"
"Then I suppose I'll graciously take the heads of the Gorōsei as souvenirs!"
…
Excited pirates rushed forward recklessly, completely unaware that beneath their feet lay explosive-rock—enough to destroy everything in its radius.
Yet even in their frenzy, the pirates who still possessed a shred of reason instinctively avoided the battlefield where Esdeath and Sakazuki were clashing.
Ice versus fire!
A general of an otherworldly empire versus a Marine Admiral who stood among the world's strongest!
Compared to the slacking, fish-playing Kizaru or the self-proclaimed "lazy justice" Kuzan—who openly lazed around—Sakazuki had always been the most diligent and dutiful of the former three admirals.
Though, due to the difference in power, he lacked the overwhelming deterrence against major pirates that Kizaru possessed, in the eyes of most ordinary pirates, Sakazuki was absolutely among the Marines they least wanted to encounter.
His absolute hatred of evil meant that the moment he learned of Fleet Admiral Kong's contingency plan, he immediately cast his vote in favor.
So when he saw the warning signal rise from Marine HQ, he no longer cared about his opponent. His body turned into magma, slipping past Esdeath's attack, and without any hesitation he turned and fled.
Indeed, a Logia user's elementalization could neutralize most forms of harm—even a volcanic eruption couldn't do so much as singe a hair on Sakazuki's head.
But explosive-rock was not an ordinary bomb.
It was one of the extremely rare substances that even Vegapunk couldn't fully understand—he could only stabilize it through technology and use it as a weapon capable of erasing entire regions.
No one knew whether a Logia body could survive being caught in an explosive-rock detonation.
But Sakazuki's Observation Haki, screaming warnings in his mind, was certain he could not.
°°°
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