"This matter concerns our army's next strategic deployment."
"Do not leak this information, even if you know it."
"This is war."
"Cast aside your misplaced compassion."
"The era of making friends with pirates is long gone."
"What we must do is completely, without reservation, exterminate every last pirate in the New World."
"Root and branch....."
"In a short while, the laughable legend of the Pirate King will vanish into history forever, along with the destruction of the Sabaody Archipelago and the demise of the Four Emperors."
"I will not tolerate anyone dragging their feet....."
*Click—*
The call was hung up.
In reality, the destruction of the Sabaody Archipelago had no impact on the strategic situation in the New World.
However, its significance was immense, not directed at the Four Emperors, but a declaration to the entire world that the method of entering the New World had been utterly eliminated.
Previously, when the Poneglyphs were revealed at Headquarters, the path to becoming the Pirate King was broadcast to the whole world.
The unavoidable route was the New World, and now, that sole path had been destroyed......
Want to become the Pirate King? Dream on......
It's not that there are no adventure groups on this sea, but why are they so few and far between?
Because adventure groups don't commit crimes; they conduct legitimate businesses, traveling and trading along the way. But how could this compare to the quick money made by pirates?
Pirates have always been synonymous with brutality.
However, as the legend of the Pirate King spread, it became defined by words like freedom, adventure, camaraderie, and loyalty—a series of desirable terms.
Ignorant children are most susceptible to these things......
Just as every child wishes to grow up immediately, believing that's what freedom is......
This is the most dangerous thing......
Sakazuki leaned back in his office chair, pondering briefly. He summoned a messenger:
"Transmit the order."
"All officers and soldiers of the Sabaody Archipelago branch are to evacuate the island immediately."
"Under the command of Grand Line Messenger Sengoku, they will be stationed on Fish-Man Island."
"Notify King's Seven Warlords of the Sea, Jinbe, to prepare for their arrival."
"Go."
The messenger responded loudly:
"Yes!"
And then he immediately ran out to relay the orders.
-----------
Grand Line, Sabaody Archipelago.
Within the Marine base branch.
Sengoku was about to say something when Sakazuki abruptly hung up the phone. He was momentarily stunned.
After a long while, he sighed softly:
"Fine....."
Rosinante, standing nearby, felt a sense of bewilderment, as if he had done something wrong.....
*Knock, knock, knock—*
The sound of knocking at the door drew their attention.
Sengoku looked towards the door:
"Enter."
A communications soldier ran in:
"Grand Line Messenger Sengoku."
"Headquarters has called, demanding that all soldiers of the Sabaody Archipelago branch..."
"Evacuate the island immediately and relocate to Fish-Man Island under your command."
"Headquarters has already notified King's Seven Warlords of the Sea, Jinbe, to prepare to receive all soldiers from the Sabaody branch."
Upon hearing the order, Sengoku was somewhat lost in thought.
The communications soldier looked puzzled:
"Grand Line Messenger Sengoku?"
Sengoku waved his hand:
"I understand. Go inform all the soldiers on the island to prepare for evacuation."
The communications soldier immediately replied loudly:
"Yes!"
And ran out.
Sengoku remained silent for a long time, then sighed softly:
"They don't trust me....."
Then he gave a self-deprecating laugh:
"Misplaced compassion....."
Rosinante looked at Sengoku, who seemed to have aged instantly, and felt a pang of distress:
"Father....."
Sengoku shook his head and smiled:
"I'm fine."
He picked up the snack bag again, took out a senbei cracker, and popped it into his mouth:
"I'm truly getting old."
"I hope Sakazuki finishes his work soon."
"Otherwise, I won't be able to retire."
His expression returned to normal, as if nothing had happened just now......
"It's been a while since we went out together."
"Let me show you around here, before it disappears."
Rosinante also smiled:
"Let's go, Father!"
-----------
As the fronts on both sides of the New World were almost abandoned.
Initially, the Marines resisted while retreating, but with the appearance of a fleet of aerial warships, built at some unknown time.
Sott's aerial fleet was entirely dispatched to Kuzan's direction, used for evacuating civilians and soldiers, greatly alleviating the pressure.
And the controller of this new fleet of aerial warships was Enel.
High above the boundary between the Marines and pirate forces in the New World, several thousand meters up.
A fleet with a peculiar design appeared here.
Each airship bore the Marine flag, but they were not the warships that sailed the seas in the past.
The overall shape was streamlined, with deep blue light shimmering, its exterior showing no trace of chisel marks, as if it were a single, integrated entity.
There were no sails or masts, but the dozens of cannons mounted on the sides of the airships allowed people to recognize them as ships.....
This bizarre fleet seemed to have surpassed this world by thousands of years, directly entering the interstellar era......
Inside the control room.
Enel stood before a large screen, chuckling softly:
"Found another bunch of unlucky guys."
"Let them experience what it means to have their dimensionality reduced."
As he spoke, lightning flashed beneath his feet and surged into the ground.
Strangely, the surrounding soldiers were not electrocuted......
Extremely high-pressure electricity continuously surged into the ground beneath his feet, passing through conversion devices on each airship. They did not need to be connected.
It could directly convert into magnetic field energy and wirelessly flow into the interiors of other airships.
As the fleet flew slowly, the muzzles of the energy cannons on them all began to move, aiming at a certain angle diagonally downward.
Blue light began to converge within the cannon muzzles. As Enel in the control room increased the current, the accumulated energy cannons transformed from blue light into a blue energy sphere.
*Zzzt—*
Nearly a thousand streams of blue light, emitting the sound of electricity, shot out.
Each one was a compressed electric orb, carrying high-voltage lightning, and almost the instant they were fired, they reached the sea, destroying those pirate ships......
A flicker of boredom crossed Enel's face:
"Too easy to kill."
The magnetic field information on the screen had completely vanished, indicating that everyone on the pirate ships below had been buried in the recent attack......
"Record the experimental data and transmit it all to the cloud."
The scientists in white coats in the control room were filled with fervent excitement:
"Yes!"
Enel shrugged, preparing to go back to sleep......
This aerial fleet, while seemingly useful.....
Was actually useless.....
Although many things were far beyond the era, the problem was the lack of energy.
Only Enel could act as the mobile charging station.....
Otherwise, to truly destroy those pirate ships below, it would have been much simpler to just strike them with a few bolts of lightning......
It was all for the data.....