Feeling the pain throbbing through his body, Twilight Allen grew angrier the more he thought about it.
“How insidious.
I almost fell for his trap.
No, I can’t just let it end like this.” He gritted his teeth and looked back at his crew.
“Everyone, group up!
Duke, come over here and hold off Sengoku for a moment!” Although the crew members were confused by the sudden order, they didn’t ask any questions and quickly gathered together.
Duke stepped forward, raising his muzzle to aim straight at Sengoku.
Sengoku watched them, his brow furrowed in confusion.
“What are they trying to do?
Oh no…” Realizing their intent, Sengoku immediately lunged toward the gathered group, but Duke’s bullets managed to distract him and throw him off balance for a few crucial seconds.
In those few seconds, the gathered crowd had already ascended into the air, quickly reaching a height of one hundred meters above the ground.
“Damn it, start shooting!” Watching everyone float up, a bad premonition arose in Sengoku’s heart, and he barked orders to the soldiers.
“Don’t let them get away!” Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Watching the countless bullets flying toward them, Twilight Allen used his gravity interference, causing the incoming projectiles to instantly lose momentum and drop harmlessly to the ground.
He then turned his head toward the legendary pirate beside him.
“Brother Newgate, it’s time to work.
Let’s settle our scores.” Seeing everyone safely in the air, Whitebeard laughed heartily.
“Gurararara!
What will you do now, Sengoku?
Watch this: Quake—Crustal Roar!” After mocking Sengoku, Whitebeard braced himself, took a deep stance, and punched the air on both sides of his body with all his might.
Crack!
Crack!
Chilling fissures instantly filled the air on both sides of his fists, and the entire island began to shake irregularly.
Sengoku looked at Whitebeard with a livid expression, then shouted to Garp, “Garp, hurry back and protect the soldiers!
The rest of you, group up quickly!” With that, Sengoku transformed into his giant Daibutsu form and rushed toward the panicked soldiers, shielding more than half of them with his massive golden body.
Seeing that Whitebeard had finished his devastating attack, Twilight Allen quickly controlled the gravity to lift Whitebeard into the sky as well.
Under the terrifying tremors, the entire island began to crack open, and buildings collapsed one after another into the sea.
This island was completely ruined; now, it was just a matter of how many people Sengoku could save from the wreckage.
Twilight Allen couldn’t help but marvel at the sheer terror of Whitebeard’s Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
The man had literally sunk the island with just two punches.
“Boss is mighty!” “Boss is the strongest!” Up in the air, the crew members were incredibly excited to see Whitebeard display such great power.
Whitebeard looked down at the crumbling island and smiled slightly.
“Gurararara!
Lads, let’s head back.” “Ooh!!!” Twilight Allen used his gravity to safely place everyone back onto the deck of their ship.
The moment his feet touched the wood, his whole body went limp, and he collapsed onto the deck, breathing heavily.
At his current stage, using his Devil Fruit ability on such a massive scale was still too draining for his body.
He realized he still needed to improve his physique and strengthen his control over his fruit.
Marco, who had been watching the entire battle safely from the ship, ran over excitedly.
“Pops!
Big Brother Twilight Allen!
You guys were so cool!” With their greatest hype-man back in position, the Whitebeard division set sail on their return journey.
On the other side, at the Collins Branch, several hours had passed since Twilight Allen and the others escaped.
The smoking ruins and shattered debris told the grim tale of the war’s cruelty.
“Cough, cough…
Damn brats.
Damn Whitebeard.” A disheveled Sengoku pushed aside a giant rock covering him and cursed Twilight Allen’s group.
Even with his golden Buddha abilities, he hadn’t been able to ensure everyone remained unscathed during the massive earthquake.
It was worth noting that many soldiers had already been knocked unconscious by Conqueror’s Haki during the battle, making them completely helpless.
This time, the Marines’ ambush could be described as trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice.
Sengoku commanded the surviving soldiers he had protected to carry out immediate search and rescue operations, doing their best to save their colleagues buried under the heavy rubble.
Looking at Garp, who was standing not far away with his head lowered and completely silent, Sengoku felt a sudden surge of sympathy.
He must be blaming himself for failing to stop Whitebeard.
He walked up behind his old partner and patted him on the shoulder.
“Garp, this failure isn’t your fault.
It was I who didn’t anticipate the existence of that brat.
One day, I will arrest him with my own hands.” Garp suddenly shuddered.
“Sengoku, it’s over.
I…
can I go back on vacation now?” Garp turned his head, revealing a goofy face completely devoid of any sadness.
Dense veins instantly popped up on Sengoku’s forehead.
“Go to hell, Garp!
Buddha Impact!” The iconic, comedic scream echoed through the ruined branch once again.
“Vice Admiral Sengoku, Fleet Admiral Kong is calling and needs you to answer right away.” Rear Admiral Oliver arrived, looking at the two brawling men with lines of deep exasperation on his forehead.
Sengoku immediately stopped fighting with Garp, straightened his tattered clothes, and stepped in front of Rear Admiral Oliver.
“Understood, leave it to me.” He picked up the receiver.
“Sengoku here.” “Sengoku, this is Kong from Headquarters.
How is the situation at the branch?” Looking at the mohawk-styled Den Den Mushi, Sengoku remained silent for a long time before replying in a heavy tone, “Fleet Admiral Kong, we failed.
The soldiers suffered heavy casualties, and the branch has been dealt a devastating blow.” There was a wave of shock from the Den Den Mushi.
“What?
Sengoku, how could this happen?
Did other officers reinforce Whitebeard?
Otherwise, with your and Garp’s abilities, even if you couldn’t keep Whitebeard there, ensuring the safety of the branch shouldn’t have been a problem.” Sengoku felt incredibly awkward hearing this.
After all, being completely outplayed by a wet-behind-the-ears brat wasn’t exactly something to be proud of.
“Apologies, Fleet Admiral Kong.
There were no other reinforcements.
This was entirely my oversight.
A very troublesome brat has appeared under Whitebeard.
He possesses Conqueror’s Haki, extremely strong swordsmanship, and a Devil Fruit ability that can send Whitebeard’s entire division flying into the sky.
I suspect it is the Gravity Fruit, so…” After listening to Sengoku’s explanation, Kong remained silent for a long time.
“Understood, Sengoku.
After finishing the rescue work, return to Headquarters as soon as possible.
All personnel at the branch are to withdraw as well.” Sengoku asked anxiously, “What?
Why must the branch personnel also withdraw?
If we do that, our deployment in the New World will…” Before Sengoku could finish, Kong interrupted him.
“Sengoku, this is the will of the World Government’s Gorosei.
They have agreed to let us expand our military armaments and have also allowed us to establish three Admiral positions.
I will be assuming the position of Fleet Admiral for the entire military force.” “At the same time, they require us to shift our focus entirely to the first half of the Grand Line and the Four Blues to fully safeguard the rights and interests of the Celestial Dragons.
In other words, our focus will not be on the New World for the time being.” Sengoku understood the political play.
Once their focus shifted to the Four Blues and the first half of the Grand Line, the Marines’ reach would temporarily not extend to the New World, making the Collins Branch a useless burden.
He sighed and replied, “Understood, Fleet Admiral Kong.
I will return to Headquarters immediately after the rescue is finished.” Strengthening the Marine lineup and shrinking the scope of their influence would be enough to solidify the World Government’s rule in the safer seas.
However, this also meant that the Marines would completely withdraw from the New World, leaving Rocks to become its sole hegemon.
In the year 1483 of the Marine Calendar, Rocks officially became the King of the World.
Three days had passed since the Great Battle of Collins.
Twilight Allen and his group’s ship was sailing smoothly toward Hachinosu.
After several days of rest, Twilight Allen’s injuries had completely healed.
Through the intense experience, he had gained a deeper understanding of his Devil Fruit and his swordsmanship, and his overall strength had significantly improved.
Indeed, major battles truly make people grow.
At this moment, Twilight Allen was out on the deck doing intense physical training, with nearly ten times the normal gravity applied to his own body.
After experiencing the brutal battle with Sengoku, Twilight Allen dared not slack off for even a second.
He absolutely loathed that feeling of deep helplessness.
“Captain Twilight Allen, we’re in the news!
Hahaha, you’ve become famous too!” A member of the Third Division walked up to Twilight Allen, laughing as he held up a fresh newspaper.