"We've reached the Gate of Justice!"
"Control has been contacted, and the Gate of Justice is opening!"
Hearing this report, the Vice Admiral immediately grew serious, holding a den den mushi and speaking to the entire fleet.
"All ships, attention!"
"This Buster Call is launched!"
"Target: the Straw Hat!"
"Furthermore, per Admiral Aokiji's special order…"
"Nico Robin of the Straw Hat is not a target!"
"No need to control the situation; destroy the entire Enies Lobby!"
His response was a series of uniform, earth-shattering shouts.
"Yes!!!"
...
Enies Lobby!
On the Bridge of Hesitation, between the Judicial Tower and the Gate of Justice.
The Straw Hat were each doing their own thing.
Suddenly, Luffy spoke.
"They're here!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the others noticed the incredibly massive Gate of Justice slowly beginning to open in front of them.
Everyone immediately grew serious.
They all stood up, facing the Gate of Justice.
Zoro took off the bandana tied to his arm and began to tie it on his head.
At the same time, the corners of his mouth turned up, and his eyes held strong battle intent and excitement as he said,
"Looks like some worthy opponents have finally arrived!"
"I can finally fight to my heart's content!"
Sanji lit a cigarette, took a puff, and slowly spoke.
"They say there are five Marineford Vice Admirals, right?!"
"If I defeat them, my bounty will definitely surpass someone's, won't it?!"
Usopp carried a large slingshot, standing tall and proud, looking full of confidence.
However, his legs were already shaking so much they were a blur.
"B-Buster Call or whatever, I… I'm not scared at all!"
"I'm the brave sea warrior… Captain Usopp!"
Usopp said this, but his legs trembled even more violently.
The others had already prepared themselves and instantly entered combat mode.
Their eyes were burning with battle intent.
They just waited for the warships to draw near, then they could act!
...
On the Marine Warship side!
When the Gate of Justice began to open, everyone immediately prepared for battle.
The massive deep-sea whirlpool below Enies Lobby was formed by the Gate of Justice closing.
Therefore, the Marine warships had to wait until the Gate of Justice was fully open, allowing the ocean current to pass through, for that massive deep-sea whirlpool to disappear.
Only then could they safely and steadily enter the Enies Lobby sea area without being swallowed by the whirlpool.
While waiting for the Gate of Justice to fully open, the Vice Admiral issued orders to the entire fleet.
"After we enter, Warships Six to Ten will immediately proceed to the main gate."
"The Straw Hat are very likely already on the run."
"Before the Gate of Justice fully opens, that's the only place they can leave!"
"The remaining warships will quickly blockade the entire island to prevent the Straw Hat from escaping from other parts of the island after the whirlpool disappears."
"Once their location is found, report immediately!"
"The entire fleet will concentrate fire and eliminate the Straw Hat first!"
Upon hearing the words of the Vice Admiral, the overall commander of this operation, responses came from all warships.
"Yes!"
However, just then, a shout of alarm suddenly came from the Vice Admiral's warship.
"Report! The Straw Hat have been spotted!"
Such exclamations almost simultaneously rang out on all other warships.
Everyone, hearing the sound, looked with confusion and disbelief at the soldiers responsible for reconnaissance on their respective warships.
They hadn't even gone in yet!
They found the target so quickly?
How was this possible?!
Shouldn't the Straw Hat now be desperately fleeing towards the main gate, or hiding in some corner, waiting for the whirlpool to stop to seize the opportunity to escape?
How could they be discovered so easily?!
While everyone was confused.
On the Vice Admiral's side, after hearing the report, he also looked up at the lookout post with confusion.
There, a Marine was holding binoculars, looking in a certain direction ahead, with a look of astonishment.
Then the lookout continued to say,
"Reporting to Vice Admiral! The Straw Hat have been sighted on the Bridge of Hesitation ahead!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire warship, including the Vice Admiral, was greatly shocked.
Exclamations immediately rang out on the ship.
"How is that possible?! Isn't the Bridge of Hesitation the closest place to the Gate of Justice? How could the Straw Hat appear there?"
"Yeah! Shouldn't they have escaped deep into the island by now? How could they appear on the Bridge of Hesitation?!"
"Hey! Did you mistake them for someone else? Don't misreport military intelligence!"
The Marines were filled with voices of doubt.
Such voices almost simultaneously rang out on all warships.
And the Vice Admiral, including the other Vice Admirals, were all frowning at this moment, their eyes filled with confusion and incomprehension.
They believed it was unlikely for such a misreport to occur.
But they also couldn't understand why the Straw Hat hadn't escaped.
Just then, the lookout continued to report.
"Confirming that the people on the Bridge of Hesitation are indeed all members of the Straw Hat, Nico Robin is also among them."
"Besides the Straw Hat, there's also an unfamiliar man whose identity is currently unknown; he might be a new member of the Straw Hat."
"They are currently looking at us, and it looks like…"
The person paused here, his expression utterly incredulous.
He continued to report in an unbelievable tone,
"The Straw Hat look as if… they're specifically waiting for us!!!"
As soon as these words were spoken, exclamations rang out continuously on all warships.
"How is that possible? Are they crazy?"
"Don't they know the terror of the Buster Call? Didn't Nico Robin tell them?"
"Could it be… the Straw Hat want to confront the Buster Call head-on?!"
"No… no way?! Other than the Four Emperors, there probably aren't any other pirates who would dare to directly confront a Buster Call, right?"
However, after the shock, all the Marines were enraged by the Straw Hat's behavior.
"Damn it! The Straw Hat underestimate our Buster Call too much!"
"Exactly! Our 10,000 elite Marines are not comparable to the 10,000 guards on Enies Lobby! Moreover, we have five Vice Admirals leading the charge, and even Mr. Aramaki, a future Admiral candidate, is here. This time, we must annihilate the Straw Hat! Make them pay for underestimating us!"
"Annihilate the Straw Hat!"
One report completely ignited the fighting spirit and anger of all Marines.
And just as everyone was in a furious uproar, the Gate of Justice finally opened completely.
As the warships continuously sailed in, they finally saw the scene on the Bridge of Hesitation clearly.
On the Bridge of Hesitation, the Straw Hat stood side by side.
From a distance, each person looked incredibly confident, gazing silently at them.
It was truly as reported earlier; the Straw Hat seemed to be waiting for their arrival.
Such a sight made all the Marines grit their teeth, wishing they could immediately rush to the Straw Hat and engage them in battle.
"Nico Robin is with the other Straw Hat members, do not shell them!"
"Everyone, after getting closer, commence ground assault!"
The Vice Admiral frowned, issuing combat orders.
However, just as he finished speaking, everyone in the entire fleet watched in utter shock.
The Straw Hat actually launched an attack on them first.
Four figures suddenly moved simultaneously.
Zoro, holding a sword, after a brief charge, swung it fiercely.
A massive, incredibly powerful slash flew towards one of the warships.
Usopp, on the other hand, picked up his slingshot, which had been modified using Sky Island dials to have an ultra-long range, and fired a pea-sized cannonball at another warship!
And after flying a certain distance, the cannonball suddenly exploded, turning into an incredibly exaggerated railgun.
Nami came to the front and raised her arm.
An extremely dazzling white lightning bolt suddenly shot towards a warship like a laser.
And the fourth figure, Vivi, suddenly leaped up, instantly transforming into her Azure Luan form.
She charged power in her mouth, and a green fireball began to expand and grow in front of her.
Soon, a massive green fireball flew towards another warship.
The four attacks were launched almost simultaneously, targeting four warships.
Among the Straw Hat, besides Luffy, only these four could launch long-range attacks with considerable power at the moment.
So, they launched the attack first.
And on the Marine side.
Upon seeing the four different attacks almost simultaneously strike.
All the Marines, including the five Vice Admirals, had their pupils constrict, their expressions incredibly serious.
Because the power of each of these four attacks made them feel fear and shock.
Especially the several battleships that were targeted by the four attacks.
When they saw the attacks about to strike them, everyone was so scared that they trembled all over, their faces filled with shock and fear.
"Can't... can't stop it!"
"Run!"
"Jump ship quickly!"
There were no Vice Admirals guarding three of the battleships, and Aramaki was not among them.
So, facing attacks of such power, they chose to abandon ship immediately.
Countless Marines were seen continuously jumping into the sea from their respective battleships, or escaping using Moonwalk.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Then, there were three violent roars.
The three battleships had just entered the waters of Enies Lobby and were instantly reduced to ashes.
And the three thousand Marine combatants among them were also largely lost in the blink of an eye, with only a few capable Navy Captains escaping.
At the same time as the roars from these three battleships, the other battleship was met with Zoro's slash.
Just as the slash was about to strike the battleship.
Vice Admiral Momonga suddenly flashed.
The next moment, he had already arrived at the bow.
Zoro's slash happened to fly towards the battleship where Vice Admiral Momonga was located.
Boom!
Only a much louder bang than the others was heard.
The power and impact generated by the clash of two powerful attacks were naturally much greater than a single attack.
Everyone watched this scene with extreme shock, their faces filled with disbelief.
"No... no way?! The Straw Hat's combat power is too exaggerated!"
"They instantly annihilated three of our battleships! Their strength is much greater than during the previous live broadcast."
"It's like a dream! It hasn't been long at all! How could they have grown so fast?!"
"Those two women must have eaten Devil Fruit?! They clearly weren't that strong before!"
"It certainly seems so! And they don't look like ordinary Devil Fruit either! The woman who emits electricity just now had her arm turn into lightning, so she should be a Logia type. As for the one who transformed into a blue bird, she seems to be a Zoan type."
"So it wasn't the Straw Hat underestimating us, it was us underestimating the Straw Hat!"
As everyone marveled at the power displayed by the Straw Hat, someone couldn't help but remind them.
"Hey! Hey! What's most unbelievable right now isn't that, is it?! That swordsman's slash... Vice Admiral Momonga still hasn't blocked it yet!!!"
As soon as these words came out, everyone's attention was immediately drawn, and they all looked towards where Vice Admiral Momonga was.
At this moment, Vice Admiral Momonga's brows were tightly furrowed, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
Even he himself hadn't expected the power of this slash unleashed by Zoro to be so immense.
It made him feel difficult to handle.
It had been almost ten seconds since he caught this slash, but he still hadn't completely blocked it.
And this scene, in the eyes of the other Marines, was even more shocking and unbelievable.
"Impossible?! Is the Straw Hat's swordsman's slash making even Vice Admiral Momonga struggle so much?"
"From the last live broadcast, that swordsman should be the strongest among the Straw Hat, besides Straw Hat.
But even Vice Admiral Momonga finds it difficult to resist, this is too unbelievable?!"
"No way! Doesn't this mean that the current Straw Hat is beyond the reach of even several Vice Admirals?"
"..."
After reaching this conclusion, everyone was too shocked to speak.
They initially thought that a Buster Call would be more than enough to eliminate a Straw Hat.
However, they had just met.
The Straw Hat had already made them break out in a cold sweat and question life.
Just as everyone was shocked by the Straw Hat's strength and began to feel fear, a voice suddenly came from the deck of a battleship.
"It's you who underestimated the Straw Hat!"
"Otherwise, why would Fleet Admiral Sengoku send me?!"
Everyone looked over at the sound and saw Aramaki had already stood up from his reclining chair and slowly walked to the bow of the ship.
He looked at the Straw Hat, who were now very close and standing on the Bridge of Hesitation, a cigarette in his mouth, and said indifferently,
"Are those the ones?"
When his gaze swept across Luffy's figure, Aramaki suddenly grinned.
"Is that Straw Hat? He looks quite imposing! As expected of a man with such astonishing Haki!"
Just as Aramaki was smiling faintly, Vice Admiral Momonga completely blocked Zoro's slash.
But after such a clash, Vice Admiral Momonga had a completely new understanding of Zoro, including the Straw Hat.
He knew very well that the Straw Hat was stronger than any of them had imagined!
And they had already exceeded the combat power they displayed in Alabasta.
Thinking of this, Vice Admiral Momonga immediately ordered all battleships.
"Attention everyone, warriors below the rank of Lieutenant Commander are not to participate in the battle later!"
"Let all elite warriors go out together, use your strongest combat power, and quickly deal with the Straw Hat!"
When too many people participate in a battle, there will always be some who are temporarily not put to use.
Therefore, only deploying high-ranking combat personnel can maximize their strongest combat power.
Upon hearing Vice Admiral Momonga's order, all Navy Captains and Lieutenant Commanders on every battleship immediately prepared for battle.
Each battleship had about two to three hundred such high-ranking combat personnel.
All of them combined, including the Navy Captains who escaped from the three battleships that were just defeated.
There were roughly two thousand people in total.
And these elite warriors either mastered the Six Powers or possessed unique Devil Fruit abilities.
Their overall combat power definitely far exceeded the 10,000 guards of Enies Lobby by several times.
As soon as Vice Admiral Momonga's order was given, the battleships finally approached the Bridge of Hesitation.
Immediately, about two thousand elite Marines leaped down from their respective battleships.
They launched an attack towards the Straw Hat.
And the Straw Hat had long been prepared, so they all met the attack immediately.
The two sides quickly engaged in a fierce melee.
Just as everyone was fighting intensely, Luffy suddenly leaped onto the deck where Aramaki was.
The Marines below were enough for the rest of the Straw Hat.
Moreover, he had been continuously applying Heaven-Defying Comprehension to them, which would make them stronger the more they fought.
This was also why Luffy deliberately didn't let Uta use her Devil Fruit ability.
This was an excellent opportunity to train and improve the strength of his crew.
As for Luffy himself, he primarily focused on Aramaki.
This Devil Fruit, which he had long selected for Nojiko, he would never miss it!