I Choose My Soldiers Lives

This is the ship of Rocks D. Xebec, a name whispered in hushed tones among pirates and Marines alike, a figure that had started to become a legend whose very presence strikes fear into the hearts of all who dare to cross his path.

On board the ship, the crew bustles with activity, their movements purposeful and efficient as they prepare for the battle that lies ahead. At the helm stands Rocks himself, a towering figure clad in ominous black attire, his eyes ablaze with a fierce determination that borders on madness.

He had heard that half of his crew were ambushed by the Marines and immediately rushed over to the location of the ambush since it wasn't that far from his original position. With every step he takes, the deck beneath him seems to tremble, as if in awe of the power that courses through his veins.

Looking at the shadows of the ensuing battle in the Horizon a red light shone in Rock's eyes.

"It seems that they have forgotten, who is Rocks D. Xebec" Rocks muttered silently, but all of his men heard his words.

"Let's teach those marine dogs a lesson captain!"

"Yeah, they have to learn not to go too far."

As Rocks Battleships started appearing on the Horizon, the Marines also started to notice their presence. Especially the Vice Admirals like Garp and Sengoku, not to mention Kong who was now staring angrily at the bloodied John.

But instead of being angry by his condition, John wore a smile on his face, as he stared mockingly at Kong.

"Hahaha, you marine scums, you're done, wait until the captain gets here."

"You.." 'Woosh!' "Admiral Kong! What do we do?" Hercule appeared beside Kong saying.

"Why are… where's Shiki?" Kong asked, a little puzzled.

"He retreated towards Rock's incoming fleet, I don't know what he's planning." Hercule informed.

"Kong san, maybe we could try and capture him and quickly retreat, although it will lead to a chase, if we retreat toward Mary Geoise, those old guys will have no choice but to come out and help." Hercule suggested as he pointed at the injured John.

'And I refused to believe that I can't at least keep Rock's at bay until the WG sends reinforcements.' Hercule thought as he waited on Kong's decision.

"No! Absolutely not, the Celestial Dragons are in the Holy Land Mary Geoise, those old guys would go crazy if we did that." Kong refused without hesitation.

Hercule's composed face had a look of disappointment at Kong's words. 'Sigh.. it's as expected'

"We're retreating, go and inform Tsuru of my decision." Kong instructed with a look of defeat.

Although he hadn't fought against Rocks yet, he felt that they had little chance of winning, and unlike the Rocks pirates who could ignore the lives of their comrades, the marines couldn't and wouldn't.

"Yes sir, 'swoosh!'."

Seeing Hercule's figure disappearing, Kong turned his gaze to the bloodied John, who, despite having multiple broken bones, had managed to stand firmly with his hands holding on to his sword.

"Count your days! next time, I wouldn't care about catching you alive 'Swoosh!'."

The angry frustrated Kong, left those words behind as he retreated, leaving behind John, who still wore an arrogant smile on his bloodied face.

"Yeah right, next time, as if that'll ever happen."

Sengoku had also noticed Rocks ship speeding towards them in the Horizon and had retreated, surprisingly, Big Mom didn't try to stop him which puzzled him.

He thought that, just as they were trying to eliminate the Rocks' pillars, the Rocks would try to do the same to them, but not only did Shiki retreat when he saw Rocks coming, Edward did the same.

'It's as though they want us to keep him in check… what is he planning?'

Such a thought appeared in Sengoku's mind, but he quickly brushed it aside, he had more important matters to deal with at the moment.

It took less than a minute for all the Marines to regather onto their Battleships, as for the surviving marines in the ships that were destroyed, Tsuru had transferred them onto other marine ships.

Arriving at the sea area that was now filled with destroyed marine and pirate ships, Xebec's face revealed a scorn "These Dogs sure run fast."

In front of him were the retreating figures of Marine ships, that were slowly slipping away, but he didn't choose to pursue them, instead his gaze was focused on the three uninjured cadres of his crew that had retreated at the sight of his presence.

"Why didn't you guys try to stall them until I arrived." Xebec asked commandingly, but except for the other low-level pirates, the cadres appeared to be unfazed by his words.

"Shihahaha, I don't understand what you mean Captain. Do you know how powerful Hercule is, that guy is a monster, so I came to your side at the moment I noticed you for assistance."

Shiki answered laughing with a wide grin on his face, not at all affected by the deeper meaning in Xebec's words.

"Ma Ma Ma Ma, Sengoku is a very tricky opponent Xebec san, in fact, I believe that he is the one who orchestrated this ambush." Big Mom also replied.

Hearing Shiki and Big Mom's answer, Xebec turned his gaze to Whitebeard, but Whitebeard simply ignored Xebec's actions.

Kaido, who was standing beside Big Mom silently observed the group's interaction, he was a little beaten up compared to the rest, and Xebec could easily tell at a glance so ignored him, not to mention John, who was with his men recovering.

'Sigh… can you make it any more obvious, but that's fine, soon, when I have that in my possession hehe.'

"It's fine, it's not time for us to get into an all-out war with them yet either, let's return to Hachinosu."

…

Back on the Marine's side, after retreating, and ensuring that they weren't being pursued by the Rocks pirates, Kong pulled aside his 5 rising stars and pillars of the current Marines to have a meeting in the lower deck of the battleship.

"I understand that you guys are disappointed, but think about it, if we engaged in an all-out war with them, even if we somehow win, how many of us are likely to die, if not injured during the fight."

Listening to Kong's words, Sengoku nodded his head in approval, it seemed that he felt the same way, Tsuru and Zephyr also understood the weight of Kong's words.

Seeing everyone's expressions of realization, Garp was confused, "But can't those guys send some of their men to assist us?" he questioned.

"What is the purpose of the WG Garp?" Hercule suddenly asked.

This left everyone puzzled, but Garp still answered, "To maintain Order in the World."

"But do they maintain order in all the countries of the World?"

"Where are you going with this Hercule?" Sengoku asked, he was getting a little anxious.

"Just answer the question and you'll understand." Hercule replied calmly.

"No, they only maintain Order for countries that pay the heavenly tribute." it was Zephyr who answered.

"Then what is the purpose of the World Government, when the World is in Order and all pirates are Eliminated?" Hercule finally dropped a bombshell of a question, which left everyone in the room speechless

...

I will depict Xebec as a Dark Dark Devil Fruit user after seeing the comments from the last chapter.

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