In the sky, Kizaru stared numbly at the two Luo Chens below, his eyes filled with exhaustion.
The Gorosei and the World Government had gone to all this trouble, exerting all their effort to ambush... another clone.
The main body was off dropping meteorites on Mary Geoise.
"Damn it!" Kizaru couldn't help but curse internally.
Even with his easygoing temperament, he wanted to swear.
He had thought Luo Chen was dead, and he could go back to his easy-going work.
But it turned out they had just been fighting a clone.
The hope he had felt was completely dead.
His eyes were full of resignation. He glanced at the sea of fire that was Mary Geoise in the distant sky and sighed.
'Just let it be destroyed. After it's destroyed, this old man won't have to fight Luo Chen anymore.'
Just then, Aokiji used Moonwalk to arrive beside him.
Kizaru looked at him, confused.
"Brother Borsalino..."
The moment Aokiji spoke, Kizaru's whole body turned to golden light, posturing as if to rush to the battlefield below.
But a black, Armament-clad hand grabbed his arm.
Kizaru's figure was unable to leave. He sighed, "Brother Kuzan, the last time you called me 'brother,' you borrowed 100 million Berries from me to settle refugees."
"Nothing good ever comes from you calling me 'brother'."
His blunt words made Kuzan look embarrassed.
But right now, Kuzan really did need his help.
"Brother Borsalino, take me to Mary Geoise."
Kizaru's face darkened. "What for? If you leave now, you'll be deserting in the face of the enemy."
Aokiji shook his head. "Isn't Luo Chen's main body at Mary Geoise? We're going to reinforce the Holy Land."
Seeing Kizaru still hesitating, Aokiji lowered his voice:
"If we don't go now, once the Gorosei and God's Knights teleport away, it'll be just the three of us against Luo Chen's two clones."
Kizaru's eye twitched.
'Three vs. two?'
'The advantage isn't on our side.'
Kizaru's thoughts raced. He made an instant decision, shouting down to the anxious Gorosei and the others:
"Aokiji and I will go back to defend Mary Geoise first!"
With that, he grabbed Aokiji's arm, and his body turned into a streak of golden light, shooting toward the Red Line.
On the way, Aokiji felt the strong wind cutting at his face like knives. His expression was grim.
'Is there really a mysterious Lord Imu behind the Gorosei?'
He would go to the Holy Land and see for himself.
With Luo Chen's main body attacking, and the Gorosei and God's Knights' return blocked, it was highly likely that this Lord Imu would be forced to show himself.
The truth would be revealed.
...
Below, the two Luo Chen clones looked regretful.
Aokiji hadn't fallen for his instigation to intercept the Gorosei.
And Kizaru had run so fast, he hadn't even had time to speak to him.
"Boom!" One of Luo Chen's clones was sliced in two by Nusjuro's Kitetsu.
Its body turned into a normal piece of wood in a puff of white smoke and fell to the ground.
The tusked-boar Gorosei and Saint Saturn, fighting as if their lives depended on it, tied down Luo Chen's remaining clone.
The other three Gorosei and the four God's Knights used every move they had, shattering the cage of golden chains that sealed the sky above the magic circle.
The thousands of golden chains shattered.
There was no longer any obstacle to the magic circle's activation.
The five monsters the Gorosei had become, and the four God's Knights led by the red-haired Shamrock, flashed and disappeared.
Grove 1 of Sabaody, near the Human Auction House, quickly fell silent.
Of the twelve top-tier World Government and Marine powerhouses, only Admiral Akainu remained.
He looked at Luo Chen's clone and the Dark King, Rayleigh. The face under the brim of his marine cap seemed to have darkened.
Luo Chen's clone said with regret, "Couldn't keep the Gorosei, but Akainu, you should also go take a look at Mary Geoise."
"Perhaps you'll see a truth that will change your entire worldview."
"Aokiji and Kizaru have already gone. They're much smarter than you."
He guessed Aokiji's intention for going to Mary Geoise. It was simply to see who was really there.
As for Akainu, it was a fool's dream for him to think he could take him down alone.
Even though this clone of his was badly injured, with a large hole punched in his abdomen by Saint Saturn's spider leg, he was not someone Akainu could defeat.
Sakazuki's eyes were filled with rage.
'Those bastards all ran.'
He was especially furious and dissatisfied with Aokiji and Kizaru. They had just been rescued, and they had run off again.
Now, he alone was facing Luo Chen's clone and Rayleigh. There was no way he could win.
Akainu stared coldly at Luo Chen, saying nothing.
The situation seemed to be at a stalemate.
Although Akainu was outmatched, he showed no sign of retreating.
Luo Chen's clone didn't want to fight anymore.
He was badly injured. Akainu couldn't take him down, but it would be just as difficult for him to defeat Akainu.
"Forget it. Let's leave it at this for today."
Luo Chen's clone let out a breath.
All of his objectives had been achieved.
The trade goods were in hand.
And he'd gained the Impure World Reincarnation body of a CP0 agent as a bonus.
This CP0 agent had not yet appeared before the Gorosei and the others.
He had used his fruit ability inside the Kamui dimension, so not much had been exposed.
"Now it's up to the main body."
"If I can force Imu to make a move and expose his existence, that would be another unexpected bonus."
"At the very least, Aokiji will start to have second thoughts about the World Government."
"Of course, if I can smash some Celestial Dragons, that would be even better."
With these thoughts, Luo Chen's clone's body turned into a normal piece of wood in a puff of white smoke and fell to the ground.
His disappearance made Akainu lock his gaze onto Rayleigh.
Rayleigh's old face showed his resignation. 'In the end, I still have to fight this mad dog.'
He said in a low voice, "Run, now!"
This was directed at Luffy and the others.
The Gorosei, the God's Knights, and two Admirals were gone.
This was the best time to escape.
Although there were still many Pacifistas around, as long as Luffy and the other Supernovas worked together, they could escape.
The Pacifistas weren't very fast.
Kid, Law, Bonney, and the others didn't say a word. They turned and ran.
Their backs were covered in cold sweat, which felt icy as the wind blew.
The scene today had thoroughly taught these Supernovas a lesson.
The enemies they would have to face in the future were this many terrifying monsters.
The Gorosei, the God's Knights, the Marine Admirals, and the perhaps-existent Lord Imu.
Trafalgar Law was followed by a cute white bear with snow-white fur.
It spoke, its bear face still showing traces of fear, "Captain, why don't we just go back to the North Blue? The World Government is too terrifying."
Trafalgar Law pressed his lips together and took a deep breath. "After I get my revenge on Doflamingo, we'll go back to the North Blue."
His main goal for setting sail was to get revenge on the Warlord of the Sea, Donquixote Doflamingo.
After witnessing the power of the World Government, Law no longer wanted to do anything else.
'Pirate? In the future, whoever wants to be one can be one.'
'In any case, I'm not planning on it anymore.'
'If those twelve top-tier powerhouses had been surrounding me, Trafalgar Law, instead of Luo Chen... ten Heart Pirate crews wouldn't have been enough to kill.'
He had to consider his crewmates, not just himself.
The red-haired, spiky Kid sneered, "Coward. Go back to the North Blue and wait to watch me beat up the World Government one day."
Jewelry Bonney pulled her complicated gaze away from the Pacifistas and couldn't help but mock Kid:
"You? You'll probably get one-shotted someday, and you want to beat up the World Government? Idiot."
Kid glared at her angrily.
If the situation wasn't so unsafe, he would have definitely killed this big-eater woman.
Hawkins ran silently, carefully putting his tarot cards back into his pocket.
'The divination still worked.'
'We really did escape safely.'
'The process was just a little... thrilling.'
Luffy and the others were also running.
As long as the real Bartholomew Kuma, the Warlord, didn't show up, they would be fine.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]