Marineford War: I Will Stand in the Sky

Upon seeing this, the naval rear admiral in the port instinctively glanced warily at Brook, this dangerous presence, before quickly walking up to Arn and reporting loudly.

"Vice Admiral Yann, you must be tired from your long voyage back from the 'New World' seas. However, the Fleet Admiral wants you to proceed to the conference room immediately upon arrival at Marine Headquarters."

"okay, I get it."

Y'en nodded, then spoke. "You will personally guide the Skeleton Emperor to the area where the Seven Warlords of the Sea are temporarily residing..."

After a pause, Yann patted the rear admiral on the shoulder and earnestly reminded him, "Be careful, this guy is dangerous."

The rear admiral's expression tightened, and he quickly replied, "Yes, sir!"

Immediately afterward, Yann gave Brook another warning look before hurrying toward the Marine Headquarters conference room.

When Yann arrived at the conference room, a quick glance revealed that, apart from Sakazuki who was still at the G-1 branch and hadn't had time to return, Lieutenant General Garp was also absent.

Ya'en didn't speak, but instead glanced at Marshal Sengoku and sat down in the empty seat in the conference room.

Upon seeing Aon again after so many years, Fleet Admiral Sengoku's eyes flickered slightly before returning to normal. He suppressed the questions he wanted to ask Aon and instead asked in a serious tone.

"Lieutenant General Yann, how's Rayleigh doing?"

"After realizing there was no chance to save Ace, Rayleigh jumped into the sea and escaped," Yann replied.

"Um……"

The Warring States Marshal was not particularly surprised by this result.

Pure powerhouses like Rayleigh or "Red-Haired" Shanks, if they were determined to escape, would be impossible to catch in the ocean without special means and opportunities.

Immediately, the Warring States Marshal's expression turned solemn, and he spoke.

"As you all probably already know, the World Government has decided to publicly execute Portgas D. Ace. Therefore, it is foreseeable that the Whitebeard Pirates, and even pirates like the remnants of the Roger Pirates, will launch an attack on Marineford to disrupt the execution of Portgas D. Ace..."

At this point, the Warring States Marshal took a deep breath and said with a resolute look in his eyes.

"This could be a war with far-reaching consequences, and it would also be a great opportunity to completely end this 'Great Pirate Era'!"

"What we need to do is not only to complete the public execution of Portgas D. Ace and completely sever the evil bloodline of the Pirate King, but also to annihilate all the pirates who dare to attack the Marine Headquarters and shatter the non-existent rumor of 'ONE PIECE'!"

"Gentlemen, now is the moment for justice to reign supreme over the sea!"

The Warring States Marshal swung his fist, and unusually, he exuded the aura of a Conqueror.

"For justice!"

In response to the admiral were the powerful and resolute voices of the naval high command in the conference room.

At this moment, even Kuzan and Borsalino no longer had their usual indifferent expressions; instead, they were filled with a long-lost sense of excitement.

Perhaps every high-ranking naval officer has a different definition of justice, but there is no doubt that if the naval public execution succeeds this time, it will represent a powerful crackdown on the entire "Great Pirate Era" and profoundly influence the direction of the world order.

Even disregarding the long term, once the Whitebeard Pirates are wiped out at Marineford, the remaining Shanks and Charlotte Linlin will not be able to keep the Navy in check and prevent them from having to abandon the New World as they have in the past.

"Therefore, the initial plan is to mobilize over 100,000 elite officers of general rank from across the entire ocean to concentrate at the Naval Headquarters to strengthen defenses, while all other naval branches and divisions will be converted to defensive positions during this period..."

The mere preliminary arrangement from the Sengoku Marshal was enough to put the high-ranking naval officers present on high alert.

However, the high command of the Navy soon realized that the Whitebeard Pirates, who dominated the New World, were almost all skilled in Haki. Without the strength of an admiral, they would only be able to slaughter those powerful pirates in a one-sided manner.

Therefore, the naval leadership understood that in this war, the navy had no room for retreat or defeat!

If the battle is lost and these 100,000 officers are wiped out, it means that the naval branches and divisions across the entire ocean will lose their base commanders who can hold down a position.

"In addition, the power of the Seven Warlords of the Sea must also be utilized..."

[Chapter 762. Yaen...Death?]

The meeting continued until the moon was high in the sky before it had to be temporarily suspended.

Even so, the naval leadership has only managed to produce a draft plan. There are still countless details to discuss and verify, not to mention the extensive discussions on specific defense and countermeasures for the war.

It is foreseeable that the naval leadership will not have any leisure time for quite some time to come.

Meanwhile, the Fleet Admiral of the Warring States period, the "Grand Strategist" Vice Admiral Tsuru, Aon, who has always been good at strategic and tactical arrangements, and the entire Naval Staff will be extremely busy.

However, whether it's the World Government and the Five Elders, or the Navy's high command and the vast majority of Navy soldiers, they all maintain an optimistic attitude towards the upcoming major conflict between the Navy and pirates.

Because... the navy is now in an unprecedentedly powerful state.

Not only are the three admirals, who are the "highest combat force in the navy," fully staffed, but two "naval heroes" are also on the list. Not to mention that the Fleet Admiral, former Admiral Zephyr, and other strong figures are still in excellent condition.

By any measure... the Navy has the upper hand!

No matter how much the Whitebeard Pirates are hailed as the overlords, it would be like throwing an egg against a rock if they faced the Marine Headquarters, which had gathered all the Marine forces.

'Perhaps... with the Navy displaying such overwhelming power, Whitebeard will give up?'

Just as some people were beginning to have this idea amidst the Navy's undisguised and large-scale operations, the Whitebeard Pirates acted decisively!

In addition to the Whitebeard Pirates' own 16 divisions, they also gathered a total of 43 pirate crews that had submitted to them, forming an unprecedented pirate fleet that began to head towards the Marine Headquarters!

At this moment, everyone knew the determination and courage of Whitebeard, the "strongest man in the world," and understood that the conflict would become unavoidable.

It's even possible that, under the leadership of the Whitebeard Pirates, more pirate crews might join the war against the Marine Headquarters.

After all, if the Marine Headquarters is destroyed, the entire ocean will undoubtedly become a paradise for pirates!

For a time, apart from a few oblivious idiots who never paid any attention to the news or current events, almost the entire world's attention was focused on the public execution that was about to take place, and countless undercurrents began to surge around Marineford, the headquarters of the Navy.

However, beneath the cover of countless surging pirate undercurrents, an unknown spark, capable of completely overturning the entire world, began to burn recklessly, and countless revolutionary armies began to truly take action in almost every aspect.

At this moment, neither the World Government nor the Navy will have any energy to pay attention to those usually inconspicuous small and medium-sized islands.

Meanwhile, the Lean Trading Company took advantage of the opportunity to openly create a video Den Den Mushi system for various islands around the world. In addition to establishing a communication channel that could connect all small and medium-sized islands at once, they also began to transport all the supplies and weapons that the Revolutionary Army had accumulated for more than 20 years to arm all their comrades.

If the Straw Hat Pirates had left Hellport a little later, they might have witnessed firsthand the bustling scene of transport ships laden with countless supplies shuttling back and forth, even causing blockages in the wide main waterway.

Only a few relatively perceptive member states of the world seemed to sense something amiss and began to try to report these anomalies to the World Government. However, the vast majority of these reports were secretly intercepted by Lucci and Revolutionary Army spies. The very few reports that actually reached World Government officials and the Five Elders were so few that they did not attract the World Government's attention at all.

……

It was precisely in this atmosphere that gradually made countless people feel suffocated that, in addition to a large number of naval officers arriving at the Marine Headquarters, the renowned "Seven Warlords of the Sea" arrived one after another at Marineford, boosting the prestige of the Marine Headquarters!

In a conference room prepared in advance by the Navy Headquarters, the Seven Warlords of the Sea gathered for a meeting.

"boom!"

As the conference room doors opened again, Aon and Gion, who were in charge of presiding over this Shichibukai meeting, walked side by side into the conference room.

Upon Arn's appearance, the expressions of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, who had been arguing and on the verge of conflict in the conference room, all changed slightly.

Corazon's disgust, Moria's disdain, Tiger's apprehension...

Hancock instinctively uttered sounds filled with longing and infatuation, and subconsciously stood up, wanting to pounce on Yann.

"Lord Yan..."

Seeing this, Yamato disdainfully remarked to Hancock, "Hey, Pirate Empress, so this is all you're capable of—a woman who doesn't know her place?"

"What did you say?!"

Hancock froze instantly. Already extremely displeased with Yamato's presence, veins bulged on her smooth, fair forehead as she turned and gritted her teeth at Yamato.

"Who is this shameless woman? You foolish woman, believe me or not, I will turn you to stone and sink you into the sea forever..."

Yamato sneered, saying sarcastically, "If you can do it, then give it a try. Some things aren't guaranteed to be won just because you're older..."

At that moment, just as a certain string in Hancock's head snapped completely, Yann quickly stepped between Hancock and Yamato, blocking their fiercely clashing gazes.

Immediately, Yann cast an apologetic and gentle look at Hancock, barely managing to calm her down. Then he glared fiercely at Yamato, which finally brought the situation to a semblance of calm.

Following that, Yann, representing the Navy Headquarters, conveyed the operational orders and various requirements to the Seven Warlords of the Sea. The Seven Warlords, in turn, displayed varying degrees of arrogance, hostility, and dissatisfaction.

As a result, the meeting was delayed until late at night, and it was only after a great deal of effort that Yann managed to persuade the Seven Warlords of the Sea to accept their respective arrangements, barely managing to end the meeting.

Then, just as Yann was halfway back to the Marine Garden with Hancock and Gion, he suddenly stopped and turned to speak to Gion and Hancock.

"Hancock, Gion, I'm sorry, I left today's meeting documents in the conference room. I need to go back and get them, organize them quickly, and then hand them over to the Fleet Admiral and the World Government tomorrow morning. You can go back now."

“It’s alright, I’ll wait for you here,” Hancock said obediently.

“I’m not in a hurry either.” Gion, who had been serving as Aon’s second-in-command during this time, chimed in upon seeing this.

However, after Yann left Gion and Hancock behind to rush back to retrieve the documents, an hour passed and he did not return.

After waiting a long time without seeing Yone turn around, Hancock and Gion, filled with doubt, couldn't help but turn back to look for Yone, only to see him in the conference room...

Yarrow is nailed to the wall!

[Chapter 763. Who is the murderer...?]

In Gion's wide-open eyes, the scene that had left her completely frozen in place and unable to move was reflected.

In the dimly lit conference room, a few rays of moonlight shone through the window onto the figure pinned to the wall by a long sword, a figure that was so familiar to Gion.

But that figure from the past, who always conveyed warmth and inspired longing and trust, has now lost all vitality. Even his large black-rimmed glasses could not hide his deathly pale face, and blood was still flowing from his chest, dripping to the ground from his toes.

"How...how is this possible..."

At that moment, Gion felt dizzy and disoriented, as if the sky had fallen and the earth had collapsed.

He had just returned to Marineford, and hadn't even had a chance to say more than a few words to Lieutenant General Yann...

"No...it can't be..."

Gion murmured, her throat dry.

"Lord Ion!!!"

Hancock let out a bloodcurdling roar of grief and anger, then rolled her eyes and fainted.

……

Moments later, Marineford, which was gradually approaching night, was suddenly placed under martial law to an unprecedented degree, prohibiting all people and things from entering or leaving Marineford. Large numbers of navy personnel were patrolling every corner of Marineford like madmen, searching for any suspicious presence.

In that conference room, where the atmosphere was so heavy it was almost suffocating, almost all of the Navy's top brass were gathered.

Vice Admiral Yann... was attacked and killed, and the attack occurred right there at Marineford, the Marine Headquarters!

When this emergency reached the ears of most of the naval high command who had already begun to rest, almost everyone thought something had gone wrong, and some even suspected that there was another newly promoted vice admiral in the navy.

However, when the naval high command rushed to the sealed-off conference room in a flustered manner, they realized just how serious the situation was.

The naval hero who once sank the "Ancient Weapon Pluton," led the Navy to attack two pirate crews of "Four Emperors" caliber, and drove out the Revolutionary Army—Vice Admiral Tefimo Yann of the "Sakura Dragon" class—is dead!?

The Fleet Admiral, the Chief of Staff, three Admirals, the Chief Instructor, Vice Admiral Garp, and a considerable number of other high-ranking Vice Admirals almost filled one side of the conference room, but everyone felt an unprecedented sense of suffocation, not daring to even breathe.

The Sengoku marshal standing at the forefront trembled violently, his voice hoarse as he asked, "Who...who discovered it..."