When news of the Celestial Dragon's death reached the Marines, their first reaction was, has Silas gone mad!?
It was one thing for Silas to liberate Sabaody Archipelago's slaves. They were not dealing with him for the first time. Whenever Silas passed through Sabaody Archipelago, he would definitely beat up those human traffickers.
But why kill a Celestial Dragon?
Fleet Admiral Elephant Yama was completely bewildered. Though after Silas appeared at Impel Down, he had already prepared to send Marine Admirals in pursuit.
But actually, Elephant Yama himself knew clearly if Silas did not fight to the death, forget two Marine Admirals. Even three or four could not stop him if he wanted to run.
This applied to many Marine Admirals skilled in physical combat too.
As long as they ran fast enough, opponents could not catch them!
After all, powerful people were not necessarily fast, but fast people could definitely run.
"Sphinx?"
Now the only thing that might force Silas into a death battle was probably Sphinx.
But would Silas still defend it, knowing he could not hold it?
Impossible.
Frankly, Sphinx's strategic value to Silas was less than Elbaf's. Elbaf at least had giant allies.
Sphinx just had a bunch of civilians.
And civilians who were already World Government member nation citizens by their own admission.
Logically, the Marines should protect Sphinx. Under normal circumstances, they would.
However, given their current strength, they might have no way to deal with Silas.
But what about adding the World Government's forces?
If two or three Admiral-level fighters aren't enough, what about eight or ten?
"Silas, what exactly are you trying to do?"
In the Fleet Admiral's office, Elephant Yama muttered to himself.
Sabaody Archipelago.
After learning of Silas's appearance here, the Marines almost immediately dispatched two current Marine Admirals plus over ten large warships.
Just in scale, it rivaled the Sphinx battle.
"Hey, did you hear? Our mission this time is to capture White Wolf Silas!"
"No way. Is that not the monster even Admirals cannot handle?"
"Shut up! Leading us this time is the Marines' current strongest Admiral. He is not on the same level as Admiral Rona and Admiral Kong!"
"Brat, how dare you say such things?"
"Is it not true, though? Admirals Kong and Rona together could not catch White Wolf Silas. If it were Admiral Siven, he would have captured White Wolf Silas long ago!"
Hearing those Marine rookies' "quiet" conversation behind him, Kong's face darkened, but annoyingly, these kids were speaking truth.
Among the current three Marine Admirals, Ortega Siven, the most senior, was indeed stronger than him.
After the Elbaf battle, Kong had sparred with Ortega Siven more than once, but it always ended in his defeat.
Rona was a swordsmanship expert.
But Ortega Siven, like him, was a pure physical combat expert.
No Devil Fruit.
Just training physique and Haki.
In Kong's view, among current Marine top fighters, perhaps only Ortega Siven could battle Silas without falling behind.
"That damn old geezer really causes us trouble."
With a toothpick in his mouth, the tall man nearing sixty but still with thick black hair stood beside Kong, complaining.
"At such an old age, can he not just quietly retire?"
Before becoming Admiral, Ortega Siven had also fought Silas. Indeed, every recent Marine Admiral had battled Silas.
After all, Silas had dominated these seas too long.
Marine Admirals had changed several times, but Silas remained standing.
"Some say Silas might have obtained Pure Gold."
"Kong, you do not actually believe such nonsense, do you?"
Hearing Kong's words, Ortega Siven rolled his eyes.
"Pure Gold in legend grants eternal youth, but it does not make people younger! I have seen Silas's photos. That old geezer now looks almost like you."
Ortega Siven felt eager to try.
"Though I can still maintain peak combat power, who knows about a few years from now? If there is really something that makes people younger, forget me. Even those big shots in the World Government would be tempted."
On these seas, pirates emerged in waves.
Were the Marines not the same?
Almost every twenty years, the Marines produced two or three Admiral-level fighters, with Admiral-level peak periods also lasting about twenty years.
But this did not mean they would fall from Admiral-level strength once twenty years passed.
Like current Fleet Admiral Elephant Yama and current Marine Chief of Staff Portman Nisen, both were over seventy but could still maintain Admiral-level strength, just not as enduringly as at their peaks.
If there really was something to make people younger, the Admiral-level combat power Marines could deploy might more than double.
After all, even former Admirals from previous generations were still alive.
"These are all speculation."
Kong shook his head. At just over forty, he was still ascending. If nothing unexpected happened, by Ortega Siven's age, his strength would not be inferior.
So he could not understand Ortega Siven's desire for restored youth.
"Found him."
Though both physical combat experts, Ortega Siven's Observation Haki exceeded Kong's, letting him detect Silas's traces earlier.
"Though found, there is some trouble."
Ortega Siven's words startled Kong.
"What happened?"
"Besides Silas, two other fairly strong guys are with him."
Ortega Siven frowned slightly.
"Just the two of us probably cannot handle Silas."
Sabaody Archipelago, Grove 41.
After defeating many Marine soldiers along the way, when Silas returned to where the Millennium Falcon was docked, he found Rocks, Ripley, and others had all returned.
Many shabbily dressed giants were battling surrounding Marines. These were giants the Marines had captured from Elbaf who became slaves.
But two were most conspicuous.
"Gyegyegyegygye! Never expected so much to happen while we were away, but now we are back! Anyone wanting to oppose Elbaf must get past us first!"
The giant wearing an iron-faced helmet with a long beard and a dark blue cape flowing behind his tall frame sent an elite Marine Vice Admiral flying hundreds of meters with one sword swing.
"Gabababababa! Daring to cause trouble while we were away. Now taste the power of Elbaf's strongest warriors!"
The giant wearing a horned helmet with a large yellow beard and the same dark blue cape struck with his axe, the wind from his swing alone blowing dozens of Marine soldiers away.
Appearing here were the two Giant Warrior Pirates captains.
Dorry and Brogy.
Also the two strongest Elbaf warriors Jorul had always wanted to have compete with Silas.
They did not even need Rocks and others to act.
With their help, though over a thousand Marines had appeared on Grove 41, they could not threaten the slaves gathered here.
After a long time, Ripley had also returned to giant form.
So at nearly twenty meters tall, she immediately spotted Silas approaching from nearby.
"Captain!"
Without Ripley even waving, Dorry and Brogy noticed Silas's arrival.
"Gyegyegyegygye! So you are Silas? Not bad presence! Little Ripley said we owe you for protecting Elbaf while we were away."
"Gabababababa! Dorry, that is not what you said earlier! You clearly said if we met the man who kidnapped little Ripley, you would make him pay!"
"Brogy, are you picking a fight?"
"Dorry, do not forget. Our duel is not settled!"
Forty years ago, due to a little girl's question, Dorry and Brogy had dueled for forty years without resolution even today.
If Harald had not sent people to find them, their duel would continue.
Though grateful to Silas for saving Elbaf, gaining their recognition was not easy.
But this only applied to the weak.
"You are Dorry and Brogy, right? Since you are here, help me out."
Silas looked at them, laughing loudly. "Elbaf's strongest warriors. The Marines sent two Admirals to capture us. One of them attacked Giant King Harald. I need you to stop him. Can you do it?"
Hearing Silas's words, Dorry and Brogy also laughed loudly.
"Of course!"
"Who do you think we are?"
Though they had never fought Marine Admirals, they knew so-called Marine Admirals were this sea's top fighters.
Marine Admirals were strong, but were they weak?
Moreover, Silas mentioning two Admirals meant he would face the other alone. Were two of them inferior to one Silas?
"Let us change locations."
Leaving Kozuki Toki behind, Silas charged toward Kong and the other Admiral first.
Admiral-level battles covered too much area. This was not a giant island like Elbaf. Carelessly, they might sink all of Sabaody Archipelago.
So Silas would lead the two Admirals somewhere with fewer people.
"Let us go!"
"We will follow!"
Seeing Silas leave, Dorry and Brogy strode after him.
Both giants were just over a century old—still in their prime, given that giants can live over three hundred years.
They hadn't gone far when a thunderous crash echoed from behind.
"Haha, Kong, we meet again! How long has it been since the last time?"
"A year and a half already!"
Kong's fist met human-form Silas, Armament Haki colliding, followed by a fierce clash of Conqueror's Haki.
Black-red lightning shot skyward.
Sabaody Archipelago's islands were formed from Yarukiman mangrove roots exposed above water mixed with soil.
Under top fighters' Haki collision, the soft soil was like tofu.
Cracking inch by inch.
"The current me is stronger than a year and a half ago."
Kong looked at Silas with blazing eyes.
"This time, I will definitely capture you!"
"Haha, if you can manage it, then try!"
Silas laughed heartily as white wolf fur enveloped his body.
The first punch was just testing.
Though continuously improving cellular activity kept raising Silas's physical capabilities, fighting in human form, Silas could not gain the upper hand.
Kong was right. After a year's training, his strength had improved again.
Though no qualitative change occurred, current him was definitely stronger than a year and a half ago.
For Silas, the so-called year and a half was actually half a year.
In Silas's memory, seeing Kong last was just half a year ago.
But if full marks were one hundred, Kong had only improved his ninety to ninety-one.
"This degree of progress..."
Transforming to human-beast form mid-air, Silas hammered Kong down with one punch.
"It is still far from enough!"
Kong's body crashed heavily into the ground. As he fell, the torn earth rose high as if losing gravity.
Terrifying cracks spread over a thousand meters.
A Sabaody Archipelago grove was only this big. Just this exchange between Silas and Kong nearly destroyed a small island.
But Silas knew clearly that with Admiral-level toughness, that punch barely counted as a scratch for Kong.
"Dorry, Brogy, he is yours!"
Not looking at Kong, whom he had hammered down, ordinary Admiral-level fighters like Kong could barely threaten him one-on-one anymore.
Maybe in a few more years of growth.
But before Silas stood a top fighter comparable to a fully matured Kong.
"Ortega Siven, I never expected you would be willing to come down from Mariejois."
"Circumstances demanded it."
Though seeing Silas's punch that felled Kong, Ortega Siven kept a relaxed, pleasant smile despite gritting his toothpick.
"Old geezer, think I would get the secret of restored youth if I killed you?"
"Haha, you can try."
Many in this world wanted to know why Silas had regained his youth, but daring to openly demand this secret from him, Ortega Siven was the first.
"Damn it!"
Hammered from the sky by Silas but protecting himself with Haki at the crucial moment, Kong was not seriously injured.
Seeing Silas and Ortega facing off, Kong immediately tried to help Ortega against Silas.
But just as he climbed from underground...
"Gyegyegyegygye! Is this the guy?"
"Gabababababa! His presence earlier was not bad. Either of us alone might not match him."
"Brogy, what do you say?"
"Let us use that move."
Looking up, Kong saw two twenty-meter giants simultaneously raising their sword and axe, swinging down fiercely.
"Hakoku!!"