Total war

The Golden Lion Shiki, Charlotte Linlin, can be said to be coming aggressively, directly blocking the path of Sengoku and others.

For Shiki, who possesses the Float-Float Fruit ability, the naval warships on the open sea are like live targets, but fortunately, Sengoku had anticipated this.

Upon receiving the news, he dispersed the fleet, trying to avoid being affected by the enemy's area attacks as much as possible.

As the strategist, Tsuru, listened to the latest news coming from various battlefields through the Den Den Mushi in her hand, her expression remained unchanged.

In such an environment, even the demise of high-ranking military forces would not be unexpected. Tsuru understood very well that in war, sacrifices are inevitable and victory is paramount. Otherwise, sacrifices would be in vain.

"Dorag! Stay quiet and do your job here!" Sensing the movement around her, Tsuru continued to strategize on the huge map spread out on the table without turning back.

"But, Aunt Tsuru..." A young man in a naval officer's uniform, with a somewhat youthful face, looked at Tsuru's back, wanting to say something.

"Dorag, remember that everyone has their place in the war. Your position now is to help me summarize the latest information from various battlefields. You must understand that although we are not engaging in direct combat, our responsibilities are significant. Every decision we make here may affect the course of the war, affecting the lives of thousands of naval soldiers and their families."

Listening to Tsuru's words, Dorag looked up at the sky outside the window. The clouds in the sky seemed to have been rubbed like cotton, scattered and broken, and the clouds around the sea area were uneven, with a tendency to gather. With his knowledge of navigation, Dorag could tell that a heavy rain was imminent in this area.

"Blurp-blurp..."

At this moment, the Den Den Mushi rang.

"This is the Third Squadron. Edward Newgate and Albert Nicolas of the Rocks Pirates have changed course! We..."

Before the message could be completed, a loud roar erupted from the other end of Den Den Mushi. Then there was silence, and no more sound came from Den Den Mushi. As Dorag reported the news to Tsuru, a commotion erupted on the deck outside.

Dorag looked up and saw a massive floating ship with a lion head carved on its bow flying rapidly towards the naval fleet.

Sengoku took the binoculars handed to him by his subordinate and looked at the lion's head on the bow. Shiki was standing on it, wearing a golden kimono, and his long hair fluttered in the wind. he was staring fiercely at the fleet.

Seeing that the sword wasn't drawn from Shiki's waist, Sengoku calmly returned the binoculars to his subordinate and then dialed Den Den Mushi in his hand. The call was quickly answered.

"You can go ahead there!" Sengoku said it in a low voice and then hung up the phone.

As an integral part of the plan, Sengoku and this naval fleet were actually bait, and their target was to detain Shiki and Charlotte Linlin, the two unstable factors in the Rocks Pirates.

In Sengoku's analysis, among the senior executives of the Rocks Pirates, Silver Axe and Wang Zhi were absolutely loyal to Rocks, as they had been with him since he set sail. However, Whitebeard's allegiance to Rocks was not as strong, and the same applied to Nicolas.

So, although these two could influence the course of the battle, they wouldn't act easily.

But Shiki was different. He was more like a madman, and with his Devil Fruit ability, he couldn't be held back if he wanted to flee. Then there was Charlotte Linlin, who could also be considered a highly unstable factor. Once these two were involved in the battle in God Valley, it would be quite tricky.

Soon, Shiki's flagship arrived over the naval fleet, floating at an extremely low altitude. Shiki, with a cigar in his mouth, lowered his head, while Sengoku, wearing glasses, raised his head. The two of them exchanged a silent glance, and a cold smile suddenly appeared at the corner of Shiki's mouth.

Then, the cannons roared.

After a salvo of neat cannon fire, the entire floating fleet was shaken, and many unfortunate ships, directly facing the cannon fire, fell apart and fell from the sky.

"Captain Shiki! Quickly raise the ships!" An anxious pirate ran up to Shiki and suggested.

"Shut up!" Shiki shouted at the one who made the suggestion.

Instead of heeding his subordinate's advice, Shiki controlled the fleet's descent.

"Get ready, everyone!" Shiki shouted loudly. Following his command, the fleet, which had been floating in the air, descended rapidly, like meteorites falling from the sky, crashing into the sea below.

"No, Captain Shiki!" The surrounding pirates turned pale. Initially, they were untouchable in the air, but now, on the sea, the difference between the two sides has been eliminated.

As the ship hulls made contact with the sea, the entire fleet shook, and a large amount of seawater splashed up.

Before Sengoku could react, several sword lights suddenly flew out of the splashing seawater, descending from above and covering his position.

Lion Slash!

As one of the top fighters on the open sea, Sengoku's combat awareness was excellent. The moment the sword lights appeared, his position emitted a dazzling golden light.

Within this dazzling golden light, a massive golden statue of Buddha, with angry eyes, suddenly raised its right hand palm.

Zoan-type Human-Human Fruit: Mythical Beast Model—Buddha Form!

Transformed into a Buddha statue, Sengoku stood on the deck!

Hum!

The golden palm was massive, with clear patterns visible even hundreds of meters apart, but its speed didn't match its size. It seemed as if it wanted to destroy everything, slamming towards the sword lights!

With the palm strike of the Buddha statue, a visible and heart-pounding shockwave erupted, causing the surrounding sea to surge, and the incoming sword lights vanished into nothingness in the collision. The remaining force of the shockwave continued to press towards Shiki's position.

"Oh?" Faced with the incoming shockwave, Shiki's eyes lit up. Instead of retreating, he made no plans to evade but rather crossed the Sword in his hand and directly slashed forward!

Boom!

A dazzling sword aura burst forth instantly, colliding with the shockwave and erupting into a brilliant light. It appeared to onlookers as if nothing had happened.

However, the golden statue of Buddha and the figure with golden hair flowing like an enraged lion standing there indicated that everything just now was not an illusion.

"Hehehe, it seems like you're in trouble, Shiki. Now, let's see what I can do," came a thunderous voice. Following the voice, a massive figure leaped from the ship behind Shiki, with a huge dark cloud carrying her and flames burning fiercely above her head. Both the dark cloud and the flames had mouths and eyes, looking particularly eerie. In her right hand, she held a strange, long knife with eyes and mouths as well.

"You're up against me, you bastard!" With a roar, Linlin, who had long been prepared, took off her cloak and tore off her shirt, revealing her strong and tense muscles. She crouched slightly, and the surface of his body involuntarily revealed black-purple Armament Haki patterns, and with "Life Return" activated, his whole being seemed like a demon.