“Will the Marine reinforcements be able to arrive in time?” Tsuru asked again.
It was true that she understood Momousagi’s strength very well.
But when it came to this newly established 17th Division of the Whitebeard Pirates, she knew almost nothing.
Sengoku walked over to Tsuru and gently patted her on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry.
Reinforcements won’t be a problem.” “As it happens, Aokiji is currently on the island next to Momousagi’s location.” “At normal speed, he should be able to reach her in less than half an hour.” “Aokiji?” The moment Tsuru heard that name, the worry hanging over her heart eased considerably.
After all, Aokiji was one of the three Admirals of Marine Headquarters— one of the World Government’s greatest military powers.
“Mm.” Sengoku nodded before returning to his seat.
“With Aokiji joining the situation, everything can change completely.” “There’s just one thing I can’t figure out.” “What exactly did Whitebeard send this 17th Division out to accomplish?” Hearing this, Tsuru looked toward Sengoku and asked, “Have any of the Four Emperors made unusual moves recently?” Sengoku shook his head.
“Everything is basically the same as before.” “The only one who has made any major moves is Whitebeard.” “Though Kaido has been rather restless lately as well.
I imagine it has something to do with Ren Mori defeating Jack.” Tsuru fell silent after hearing Sengoku’s answer.
No one knew what she was thinking.
…
A long while later— On Ren Mori’s side.
Momousagi truly lived up to her status as an Admiral candidate in the original story.
There was absolutely no question about her strength.
She possessed both Armament Haki and Observation Haki.
Even so, she had not managed to gain much of an advantage over Ren Mori.
After all, although Ren Mori had yet to learn Haki, the sheer toughness of his body alone was enough to compensate for much of that weakness.
BOOM!
Another violent explosion rang out.
Thick smoke swallowed everything around them.
By now, the entire area where Ren Mori and Momousagi had been fighting was riddled with craters and devastation.
“Hah…
hah…” Momousagi gripped the sword in her hand, her expression increasingly grave.
She could clearly tell that whether in overall combat strength or actual battle experience, she was far superior to Ren Mori.
But…
the reality was that throughout their previous exchanges, she had barely managed to inflict any substantial damage on him.
(To clarify: even before Ren Mori awakened the System, he had constantly trained his close-combat skills aboard the Whitebeard Pirates and had already developed a certain level of proficiency.
Now, after gaining a tough physique comparable to Big Mom’s and adding Wood Release on top of that, his overall combat ability has undergone a qualitative transformation.) As for the other Marine soldiers, most of them had already been taken out by the shockwaves from Ren Mori and Momousagi’s battle.
In short— there was no need to deliberately target them during the fight.
They would get themselves killed by the collateral damage.
Ren Mori was equally helpless.
With his current strength, he could keep fighting Momousagi, but deciding a winner in a short period of time was basically impossible.
At this moment, Ren Mori was completely fed up.
Damn it!
He really had just been passing through!
All he wanted was to stop Madara and Diablo’s spar!
But Momousagi simply refused to let up and showed no intention of backing down.
BOOM!
Just as Ren Mori and Momousagi were preparing to attack again, a scorching wave of heat suddenly swept in from their right.
Along with it came the wild laughter of Madara and Diablo.
Seeing this, Ren Mori frowned.
At the beginning, he had specifically told Madara and Diablo to keep their spar under control.
But those two bastards had only gotten more and more excited the longer they fought.
“Beautiful lady, how about we both take a step back?” Ren Mori suddenly changed the subject and smiled.
“You go do whatever you need to do, and I’ll go do what I need to do.” “How does that sound?” For some reason, the moment Momousagi heard his proposal, the tension in her heart eased slightly.
It seemed…
she had been thinking the exact same thing.
She simply had not said it aloud.
“I’m sure you understand this as well.” Ren Mori continued leisurely.
“You can’t take me down in a short amount of time.” “And in the short term…
it seems I can’t do much to you either.” “So what’s the point of continuing this fight?” “We’d only be wasting each other’s time.” “There’s no benefit in that for either of us, right?” Ren Mori calmly laid out the advantages and disadvantages of continuing the battle.
Momousagi naturally agreed.
If they continued fighting, even the few Marines still standing beside her would probably end up dead.
However— just as Momousagi was about to nod and agree, a booming voice suddenly came from behind her.
“You’re right.” “For Momousagi alone to take you down would undoubtedly require a great deal of effort.” “But…” “What if you add me to the equation?” Everyone immediately turned toward the voice.
A tall man appeared before them.
He wore a white suit vest over a dark-blue shirt, with a green sleep mask resting across his forehead.
The moment the Marines saw him, expressions of joy appeared across all their faces.
Ren Mori, on the other hand, immediately frowned.
The newcomer was no ordinary man.
He was one of the three Admirals of Marine Headquarters, regarded as one of the World Government’s greatest military powers— Kuzan.
Marine codename— Aokiji.
Ren Mori’s expression stiffened.
“This guy…” “Why the hell is he here?!” ⚡ Support the Story & Unlock More Chapters!