Marineford War: I Will Stand in the Sky

The Warring States Marshal sensed something was wrong and quickly stood up from behind his desk, walking over to Sora and Hikari to comfort them.

"Isn't Yann out on a mission? He'll be back soon."

"Liar, liar, liar..."

Ying, who usually always appeared as a well-behaved girl, suddenly became angry, unleashing a violent burst of Conqueror's Haki that caused the entire naval building to tremble intensely.

At this moment, feeling the Conqueror's Haki on Ying, which Zephyr had praised countless times, even Fleet Admiral Sengoku couldn't help but reveal strong surprise in his eyes.

'This level of... Conqueror's Haki...'

As a man who also possesses the "qualification of a king," Fleet Admiral Sengoku is more aware than Zephyr that this level of Conqueror's Haki is relatively rare even across the entire ocean.

Just as the Warring States Marshal was surprised and completely at a loss as to how to comfort the usually obedient Ying, Kong suddenly shouted a stern remark.

"Ying, calm down!"

Startled by Sora's sudden shout, Ying seemed to be taken aback, even instinctively withdrawing her Conqueror's Haki. Her wet eyes looked at Sora with an incredibly pitiful expression as she choked out a sob.

"Kong, these people are all lying to us! Father is clearly dead! They've all been deceiving us! I don't like Marineford anymore! Waaah~"

Upon hearing this, Kong pursed his lips tightly, then raised his eyes to look at the Warring States Marshal, as if hoping to get some answer from him.

"Ugh……"

At this moment, the Warring States Marshal inexplicably dared not look directly at Kong and Ying in front of him. His gaze subconsciously shifted to one side as he answered.

"Yan has only encountered a minor shipwreck, so for the time being he has only lost contact with the main force. I believe we will find Yan's whereabouts soon."

Sora's slightly reddened eyes stared at Marshal Sengoku, and she calmly asked, "Grandpa, what are the chances that Father is still alive?"

The Warring States Marshal gritted his teeth, unwilling to deceive his beloved Sora and Hikari with a lie...

A complex expression crossed Kong's face. He took a deep breath and said, "I see. I understand. Grandpa, you can continue with your work."

"Ying, let's go. I'm sure Grandpa is even more anxious than we are right now. Let's not add to his burden."

Then, Kong pulled Ying out of the office.

"Hey, Sora, Ying..."

Marshal Sengoku chased after them a few steps toward the office, but Sora and Hikari showed no sign of stopping and soon disappeared around the corner of the corridor.

Marshal Zhan Guo felt a surge of anxiety and instinctively wanted to chase after him, but he stopped in his tracks and looked at the piles of office documents in the office.

The two consecutive wars generated a considerable number of problems that needed to be addressed, and the significant withdrawal of combat forces also led to emergencies in many branches and sub-branches...

As the Fleet Admiral of the Navy, Sengoku had far too many things to handle personally, and at this moment he was simply overwhelmed.

"It's alright, Sora is very understanding and will comfort Hikari..."

Marshal Sengoku offered himself a word of comfort, then quickly dealt with the disturbance at the naval building caused by the incident involving Ying, before throwing himself back into his busy work.

Outside the office building, Ying, who was being pulled along by Kong, paused, wiped away the tears on her face, and said with a determined look in her red eyes.

"Kong, I need to go find my father."

[Chapter 544. Pre-prepared Images]

"What a capricious remark, Ying."

Kong replied with a helpless tone, "Have you considered all the serious consequences that might arise from doing this?"

"Are those things worse than losing Father forever?"

Ying's gaze was more resolute than ever before as she said, "It is very likely that Father is currently alone in the turbulent sea, waiting for rescue."

"But by the time we get to Wano Country, it will be too late..." Sora calmly analyzed.

Ying shook her head abruptly, as if to show her refusal to listen to any advice, and said willfully, "Even a sliver of hope is fine, we absolutely cannot let Father be left alone and pitiful in that place called 'Wano Country'."

Sora noticed that he and Ying seemed to have attracted the attention of many Marines around them, so he quickly pulled Ying aside and said, "It would be better to discuss this with Grandpa, or perhaps try to talk to Mother about it."

"I do not want it!"

Ying rejected Kong's suggestion without hesitation, then turned and headed toward the port.

"Hey, Ying, I'm telling you, you have absolutely no idea how to get to 'Wano Country,' do you?" Sora said in a helpless tone.

Ying's expression stiffened, but her eyes remained unwavering as she spoke.

"That kind of thing doesn't matter. Even if I have to swim, I'll swim all the way to Wano Country. Besides, there are many interesting companions in the sea. They'll give me a run for my money."

"Tsk, what an idiotic comment..."

Sora shook his head helplessly, then said, "Come with me, Ying. I've already figured out how to get to Wano Country."

"Huh?!"

Ying's expression froze, and she looked at Sora with surprise, asking, "Sora, are you going too?"

Kong smiled helplessly and said, "Since my little sister is so willful, what can I, as her older brother, do besides indulge her willfulness?"

Upon hearing this, Ying couldn't help but show a troubled expression. She gently bit her thumb and said...

"But Sora, your health is so poor. What if you die on the way? Then not only will Hikari lose her father, but she will also lose her brother."

In an instant, Kong's smile froze on his face, and a sense of defeat and rejection rose in his heart.

"But it's alright..."

Ying patted Sora on the shoulder, a confident expression on her face, and said, "I've learned how to fight these past few days. I'll protect you, Sora."

"Then I'll have to trouble you..."

He spoke weakly, then reached out and pulled Ying towards his own courtyard.

"Sora, what exactly is the method you mentioned for getting to 'Wano Country'?" Ying asked.

Kong then explained in a low voice, "Just now in the office, Grandpa subconsciously covered the documents on the desk; they were likely secret documents related to the operation..."

"For Marineford right now, the most important battle is undoubtedly the war in Wano Country. Based on this, it is very likely that Grandpa will soon mobilize warships to Wano Country to provide support."

"Then what are we going home for?" Ying asked.

"Are you an idiot? We're leaving Marineford this time, so we need to make thorough preparations beforehand, gather whatever we might need, and then figure out a way to sneak onto the warship."

Kong proposed a relatively simple but feasible plan.

Afterwards, after quickly returning to the courtyard, Kong was packing food, weapons and other necessities with Ying when he suddenly remembered something and pulled Ying directly into Arn's room.

"Kong, what are you doing in Father's room?" Ying's eyes, which were filled with longing for her father, welled up with tears again.

“My father once told me that if he were to die unexpectedly and I were at a loss, I could come here and activate a mechanism…”

As he answered, Kong searched for the mechanism that Yann had mentioned.

"Click, click, click..."

Then, to Ying's bewildered surprise, the large bed in the center of the room sank into the ground, revealing an underground passage.

"Huh?! Why is there an underground passage in Father's room? Did Father often sneak out to play through here in the past?"

Hearing Ying's question, Kong shook his head, his mind also full of confusion.

Sora was told the secret about his father's room by Ayan in an unusually serious tone several months ago.

"Go down and have a look."

However, trusting Arn, Sora didn't think twice and pulled Ying into the underground passage.

After Sora and Hikari entered, the entrance to the underground passage disappeared, and the large bed reappeared in the distance. At the same time, rows of lights in the underground passage lit up, illuminating the path ahead for Sora and Hikari.

Just then, in front of Sora and Hikari, a video Den Den Mushi suddenly opened its eyes, and a pre-recorded video appeared in front of Sora and Hikari.

"Oh..."

In the video, Arn, who is fishing in a small boat, waves to Sora and Ying.

Upon seeing this, Ying couldn't help but become excited and asked, "Father, are you still alive? Where are you?"

The relatively observant Kong had already noticed that the background of Arn was a sunset, which was obviously just a pre-recorded video.

"At this point, perhaps something unexpected has happened to me?"

In the video, Yann speaks in a helpless tone.

"It's such a pity. It seems I've become a failure, and I've even dragged you down with me. I hope you can forgive your father's incompetence and willfulness."

"In the future, when your father can no longer protect you, Sora, I hope you can protect your sister. Ying, you must not be willful and listen to your brother more often."

“If possible, I hope you can live in anonymity or pursue your own ideals, instead of thinking about avenging your father.”

"I don't regret that I died on the road to pursuing my ideals. The only regret is that I couldn't let you see the new era that I wanted to create for your generation."

Immediately, in the video, Yann reached out and touched a tear at the corner of his eye, then smiled again and said.

"The contingency plan your father left in Marineford will buy you time. Continue along the underground passage. Kong, Ying, at the end of the passage lies the last little gift your father could prepare for your self-preservation and the tools to leave Marineford."

"Also, your father will always love you."

As the last sentence ended, the image finally froze on Arn's warm smile, as if wanting to leave a beautiful impression in Sora and Hikari's minds.

[Chapter 545. The War Officially Begins (Third Update)]

"Waaaaah~~~"

In an instant, Ying's cries echoed loudly through the underground passage.

"Father is indeed dead..."

"Waaaaah, brother, we no longer have a father."

"What to do? What to do?"

……

Upon receiving this last message left by Yann, Kong's expression was one of utter despair, and his previously barely composed mind was thrown into turmoil.

What does the message left by my father mean?

Could it be that Father's death was not just a simple shipwreck?

That's right, it definitely couldn't have been a shipwreck.

How could that idiot father have died in a so-called shipwreck?

Although he didn't know exactly how strong his father was, Sora gradually realized that Aon was definitely one of the top figures in this sea.