"Huh? An elite?"

Bellmare rubbed his nose with his index finger, a smug look on his face. "I never thought I'd be considered an elite too."

"They're already called soldiers."

Koby smirked, "I'm just a squad leader. This battle isn't like the usual ones, you see..."

He glanced to the side and saw a navy officer with a mustache holding a feather fan, directing the naval rear admirals.

"That was Lieutenant General Kongming, who won through wisdom and strategy, but he was only in charge of a small part here."

Koby said, "This battle is completely different. If you're not careful, you'll die."

The key is... facing Luffy.

Coby's situation is complicated; he doesn't want to fight Luffy, but he is a Marine.

This is something that must be done.

"Luffy..." Coby murmured.

On a high platform above the plaza, Clooney looked down at the navy in the plaza below with a cryptic expression.

Smoker walked over from the side, a 'Snake' made of three cigars coiled together, and asked, "What do you think?"

"What do you mean, how do you see it?"

"This war..."

Smoker looked at the huge square. The number of navy personnel was roughly two thousand, which was not many compared to the entire navy. Most of them were still maintaining the front line. Those who could be conscripted were the best of the best.

"It's going to be another big battle. Once it's over, will it really end everything?" Smoker asked with some concern.

Don't worry...

Kro looked up at the sky and said meaningfully, "We will end this chaotic sea. We're coming..."

A purple figure walked towards the huge execution platform ahead.

With a smile, he tapped his cane and walked step by step to the bottom of the execution platform, where he sat down in the only chair, holding his cane.

In this war, only one general was stationed there.

Kuzan, who was rehired, maintained the front line.

Logically speaking, this one isn't as large as the Marineford War, but Smoker feels that in terms of intensity, it might be even stronger.

With the arrival of Yixiao, there was also some commotion along the harbor coast.

A gust of yellow sand swept by, and Crocodile's figure gradually appeared as the wind swirled. Almost immediately after him, a plume of steam shot out and condensed into the shape of William.

"snort."

Crocodile snorted at him: "Kid, you're pretty fast."

"You flatter me."

William smiled slightly: "It seems our previous battle was inconclusive. How about we have a contest here to see who kills more pirates, or who gets the Straw Hat's head first?"

"A loyal dog, huh..."

Crocodile said calmly, "I'm not interested, but I'll take the straw hat's head."

He's different from William; this guy is clearly Kuro's loyal dog, and he has no interest in comparing himself to him in this kind of situation.

Thump!

Following them, a figure descended from the sky and landed steadily on the shore.

Rudolf followed almost immediately.

"Hahaha, I'm here!"

Wearing a large cloak and flying through the air like a flying squirrel, Bucky laughed arrogantly: "Come on, let the world see me!"

"idiot."

Katakuri looked up from below him and then walked toward the platform.

Mihawk, carrying the large black sword 'Night' on his back, strode over. "A familiar scene..."

Finally, it was Hancock, who was carrying a snake, who reached the shore. The snake coiled into a chair-like shape, and Hancock lazily sat down on it, twisting her long legs together and striking a pose.

“Oh? So you finally came.” Mihawk glanced at her.

"Enough with the nonsense. I can deal with other pirates, but I won't touch Lord Luffy," Hancock sneered.

The Seven Warlords of the Sea have all arrived.

"They've arrived too."

Kro looked towards the shore and adjusted his glasses.

"Is he trustworthy?"

Smoker frowned and said, "More than half of these people have ulterior motives, don't they? Especially Hancock and Mihawk... If they rebel during the battle, they'll put a lot of pressure on us."

"That's why we have so few people this time."

Kuro smiled slightly: "Mr. Kuro has planned everything out. Our task is simply to hold off those who come, whether it's Straw Hat or Blackbeard..."

"Is Blackbeard really coming?" Smoker asked curiously.

Smoker expected the Straw Hats to come, because he already knew about Shanks' connection to the Straw Hats, and given Shanks' personality, he was bound to come.

But it's hard to say about someone like Blackbeard. Does Kuro have some ulterior motive?

"He'll definitely come, as long as he wants to be the Pirate King..."

This was something the Navy didn't know; only Crowe knew.

Kuzan has access to Blackbeard's contact information. Kuro asked Kuzan to inform Blackbeard that he possesses the Onepice's pointer and rubbings of the Road Poneglyphs from Wano Country.

Based on this alone, there's a high probability that Blackbeard will come.

If they really don't come... that's not important.

After defeating the Straw Hat Pirates, the only one on the high seas who can reach the level of a 'Four Emperors' is Blackbeard. We can then focus all our efforts on attacking him.

Kuro himself estimated that, given the intensity of this war, Blackbeard would come if he wanted to wipe them out, because if he won, he could potentially become the world's most powerful force.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!