"It's so bright."
Luffy, lying on the deck, looked dazedly at the sky and said, "Ah... Is this heaven?"
"We're pirates, so no matter what, we wouldn't go to heaven," Buggy, lying nearby, retorted.
"Then it's hell?"
"Probably not," Mr. 3 said. "After all, we just escaped from hell."
With that, the man climbed up from the deck, squinting as he surveyed their surroundings.
"Meiser?"
After glancing at Meiser standing on the deck and staring into the distance, Mr. 3 immediately perked up.
"Ah." Meiser turned around upon hearing this and looked at the Devil Fruit users. "You've all regained consciousness, I see."
"We have, but where are we now...?"
"Marine Headquarters," Meiser raised an eyebrow. "Have you all forgotten?"
At these words, the Devil Fruit users, whose minds were still hazy from nearly drowning, shuddered as the events they had just experienced flashed back into their memories.
"Right, we came to Marine Headquarters!" Luffy immediately sprang up from the ground and dashed into the distance, asking, "Meiser, where's Ace?"
"Right over there." Meiser pointed into the distance.
As he spoke, Meiser glanced toward Little Oars and thought to himself,
This guy looks almost exactly like the Oars we encountered at Thriller Bark.
Could it be... that this guy is Oars' descendant?
Just then, the colossal figure was struck by something, producing a massive explosion.
Subsequently, Little Oars' body staggered back two steps uncontrollably before his legs gave out and he collapsed to the ground, his eyes rolling back as he lost consciousness.
"Oars has been defeated!"
"Dammit, those damned Royal Seven Warlords of the Sea!"
The pirates' eyes burned with fury as they watched Bartholomew Kuma launch another attack that knocked Little Oars unconscious.
"Kuma!"
Seeing the large man standing at the edge of the plaza, Meiser's eyes immediately lit up with relief.
"This guy is safe, that's great!"
This probably means the Marines haven't discovered that Kuma helped rescue them.
That way, Kuma's position as one of the Royal Seven Warlords of the Sea won't be revoked.
This is truly wonderful!
"I should find a chance to talk with him," Meiser thought to himself. "At the very least, I need to properly thank this man in person."
"Fufufufufu... The Blood-Eyed Ninja, huh."
Doflamingo grinned widely as he stared at Meiser standing on the warship. "Is this guy planning to make a move against Kuma?"
He really is a bold one!
Then again, this guy even dared to kill a Celestial Dragon—is there anything he wouldn't do?
"It'd be great if someone like this could become my subordinate," Doflamingo mused privately.
With that thought, Doflamingo's mind began to stir, planning to approach the other party later.
At that moment, Doflamingo noticed Luffy approaching Meiser.
"Straw Hat Luffy..." Doflamingo narrowed his eyes and said, "How did someone like him gain the recognition of such a ninja?"
He was curious.
"Hm?"
As if noticing Doflamingo's gaze, Meiser instinctively glanced at him.
Then, Meiser said, "Who is this guy?"
He wasn't wearing Marine attire, yet he seemed to be from the Marine faction... Could he be one of the Royal Seven Warlords of the Sea?
But why is he dressed like a flamingo?
"Great, Ace looks okay," Luffy said, standing beside Meiser.
"Only for now," Meiser replied. "Don't forget the communication from that Den Den Mushi earlier."
Though they didn't know what the Marine's operation plan entailed, they understood that the execution was being moved up.
So... they needed to rescue Ace before the Marines could act!
"Right, I understand," Luffy nodded.
Taking a deep breath, Luffy shouted toward Ace in the distance, "Ace!!!"
"I'm here to save you!!!"
"Luffy!"
Ace trembled with excitement, never dreaming his younger brother would charge into Marine Headquarters for him. "So this is Marine Headquarters?" Ivankov stepped onto the deck, surveying the surroundings with interest. "The battle is quite brutal."
"Yahahaha, world, here I come!" Buggy laughed heartily.
"Marines, prepare yourselves!"
"Brother Ace, I'm here!"
Watching one powerful figure after another appear beside Luffy, the Marines below instinctively stepped back.
Ignoring the Marines below, Luffy took another deep breath and shouted, "Wait for me, Ace!"
"Ooooh!!!"
The Okama behind Luffy roared in unison, their fighting spirit peaking!
Seeing this, Sengoku's veins bulged on his forehead.
He turned to Garp, baring his shark-like teeth as he roared, "Damn you, Garp!"
"Why is it always your grandson causing trouble!"
"Luffy!!"
Garp grabbed his head and said, "Why did you have to come here?!"
One grandson here was painful enough, and now another had arrived... What was he supposed to do? "Didn't expect to see you again just a week later," Borsalino stared at Meiser and said. "How... terrifying."
Bringing so many powerful fighters to Marine Headquarters might indeed lead to unforeseen events.
After all... this kid knows Ninjutsu!
"What a headache."
Aokiji, standing in the plaza, rubbed his forehead and said, "It seems I'll have to keep a close eye on this guy."
After all... he possesses the ability to launch large-scale attacks.
If he's allowed to execute them unimpeded, the Marine losses would be enormous!
So... he had to keep watch on him.
"Admiral Aokiji?"
"Ah, I'll keep an eye on him," Aokiji said.
"Yes!"
"Hmph, Straw Hat Boy and the Blood-Eyed Ninja."
Akainu coldly stated, "Straw Hat Boy is Dragon's son. He must be eliminated!"
"And this Blood-Eyed Ninja... must also die!"
Recalling the intelligence about the Blood-Eyed Ninja Meiser, Akainu's eyes erupted with even more intense killing intent.
"Heh, all want to kill me?"
Noticing the gazes from the three figures, Meiser said: "Why don't you three come at me together!"
"Marine Admirals!"
"Eh?!!"
Hearing Meiser's utterly arrogant words, both Marines and pirates were stunned into stillness.
They never dreamed that someone in this world would dare challenge all three Marine Admirals simultaneously.
Is this guy not afraid of death?!
After a moment of silence, a Marine swallowed hard and said: "He... what did he just say?"
"He wants to challenge our three Marine Admirals?"
"I thought I misheard..."
"Is this guy crazy?!"
The Marines stared incredulously at the figure standing with arms crossed, some even involuntarily snorting through their noses.
"Hey hey hey, is this guy really that bold?" A pirate subconsciously gulped: "Those are Marine Admirals! What a terrifying guy."
"Is this the rookie who got a 400 million Berry bounty on his first wanted poster?" Flower Sword Vista said: "He's certainly arrogant enough!"
Even his old man never said anything about taking on three Marine Admirals alone, yet this Blood-Eyed Ninja...
What an unprecedentedly arrogant rookie!
"Fufufufufu... How exciting." Doflamingo laughed heartily: "As expected of a man who dares challenge the heavens!"
Though he didn't know if the other possessed such capability... merely daring to say such words before all the Marines already placed him above most people.
This man's courage was absolutely extraordinary!
"Meiser..."
Gazing at the incredibly dashing man, Hancock rested her chin on her hand again, watching Meiser with a lovestruck expression.
"So courageous!
As expected of the man she favored!
"We're really being looked down upon." Aokiji said with a furrowed brow.
Did that battle at Enies Lobby give this kid the mistaken impression that he's weak?
How... irritating!
"Scary~" Borsalino tilted his head looking at Meiser: "Planning to fight all three of us at once."
Really... outrageously arrogant!!
"Hmph, trying to provoke us?" Akainu sneered: "Planning to use your Undying Body to stall all three of us?"
Understanding Meiser's intention, Akainu had no plans to deal with that guy immediately - after all... Whitebeard still needed handling!
He'd deal with this temporarily unkillable fellow after finishing off Whitebeard.
With this thought, Akainu shifted his gaze away from Meiser.
"What an unbearably arrogant brat... I'll show you what's what later." Sengoku said coldly.
Just then, a man's loud laughter sounded beside Sengoku.
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
"That's more like it! If youngsters aren't arrogant, can they even be called youngsters?!"
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
Sengoku: ???
"Bastard, shut your mouth!" Sengoku roared with shark-like teeth bared.
This idiot really doesn't know how to speak - since when do we praise enemies like this?!
Sengoku was absolutely furious.
"Hey, Meiser..." Ivankov leaned close to Meiser and whispered, "I know you want to hold off all three of them by yourself, but your Undying Body isn't invincible."
"If you run out of stamina, you'll still be killed!"
Any ability requires stamina to activate!
Without stamina, even with the power of an Undying Body, one could still be killed!
"No, I won't die," Meiser said calmly. "Because I am invincible!"
Ivankov: !!!
Bro, are you really that arrogant?
Those are Marine Admirals!
"Let's follow the Ninja Brother and take down these Marines!""
"Hahahaha!"
"Charge!"
The crowd roared together, their voices even more exaggerated than before!
"See that!" Galette exclaimed excitedly, pointing at Meiser on the live broadcast screen. "This is the man I've set my sights on!"
At this moment, Meiser seemed to glow in Galette's eyes.
Hearing Galette's words, everyone fell into stunned silence.
After a moment, Charlotte Montdor spoke up: "I feel like he's even more arrogant than Mama."
Even their Mama had never claimed she could take on three Marine Admirals alone.
"He's definitely arrogant enough," Oven said. "Of course, it's also possible he doesn't know the true strength of Marine Admirals."
There were indeed people in this world who didn't know their limits—even with weak abilities, they dared challenge anyone!
And Totto Land eliminated plenty of such people every year!
He was curious: was Meiser one of those ignorant fools, or did he truly possess the power to back up his words?
Upon hearing Oven's comment, Galette immediately retorted: "How could he not know the strength of Marine Admirals?"
"We've fought against Marine Admirals at Sabaody Archipelago!"
Back when Meiser killed a Celestial Dragon, two Marine Admirals came to hunt them down!
And yet... didn't they still escape unscathed?
This man's power was truly formidable!
"'We'?" Perospero immediately caught that word. He glanced at Galette and asked, "You fought against Marine Admirals too?"
"Yes," Galette nodded.
Although her own strength hadn't been particularly useful, she had indeed stood by Meiser's side and fought against Marine Admirals!
"In that case, this guy probably isn't joking," Smoothie remarked.
Did that mean... his actual combat power had reached the level of a Marine Admiral?
But that didn't make sense either. Even if he possessed Admiral-level strength, he shouldn't be able to challenge three Admirals simultaneously.
"He's probably just talking big," Montdor speculated.
After all, Marine Admirals were the Marines' ultimate combat force. It was unlikely all three would gang up on Meiser—they had their pride to consider!
"There's certainly suspicion of empty boasting, but he likely does possess the strength to face an Admiral," Katakuri interjected.
Otherwise, how could he have escaped unscathed from that guy Akainu, right?
"That makes sense," Smoothie nodded, then glanced around at everyone. "Don't forget, this guy is a Ninja with special bloodline abilities. He might genuinely have powers we know nothing about."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was momentarily stunned before silently pondering.
"Now that you mention it... this guy's eyes really are different from before," Mont-d'Or remarked.
The Marine's live broadcast had just given Meiser a close-up, allowing him to see the pattern in the other's eyes.
It was a pattern resembling a three-leaf clover, completely different from the previous Three Tomoe.
"That's true."
"But what does that signify?"
"How should I know what it signifies?" Mont-d'Or said helplessly. "I'm just speculating."
Whether it's true or not will only be revealed by continuing to watch.
After all... if this kid dares to talk tough, he's bound to clash with the Marine Admiral!
"Then let's keep watching," Perospero said. "I'm very curious whether this kid is brainless or genuinely capable!"
"I hope it's the latter," Mont-d'Or grinned. "That way, the strength of our Totto Land will grow even greater!"
"Well said, hahaha!"
Everyone exchanged glances and burst into laughter.
"Marrying into the family?"
As if struck by a thought, a trace of bitterness flashed in Galette's eyes as she thought to herself, 'He doesn't seem like the type who'd be willing to marry into our Totto Land.'
Forget it, we can deal with such matters later.
For now... let her properly enjoy the sight of Meiser's heroic combat!
With this thought, Galette temporarily suppressed her emotions, and a smile reappeared on her face.
Then, the woman rested her chin on her hand, quietly cheering for Meiser.
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