Chapter 190: Iron Wall! Pie in the sky!

Chapter 190: Iron Wall! Pie in the sky!

Chapter 190: Iron Wall! Pie in the sky!
If it is said that when Sakaski and the two lieutenant generals of the headquarters learned about their own approximate troop strength, they were still hesitant.

After figuring out the specific deployment of the Five Elder Stars, even a die-hard fan like Sakaski couldn't stand it anymore.

According to the plan of the Five Elder Stars, all members participating in the defense of the holy land will be roughly divided into four lines of defense to fight step by step.

The cannon fodder called the 'Holy Land Guard Corps' led by Steel Bone Sora is naturally the first line of defense, responsible for blocking the fleet of the Cosmic Dark Matter Pirates, and delaying as much as possible or even weakening the enemy's strength after the pirates land.

The second line of defense is composed of temporarily recruited slaves and Marijoa's original guards, who are guarding the starting and ending stations of the bubble pod respectively. Their mission is to eliminate as many pirates as possible who cross the first line of defense and try to invade Marijoa.

The reserve army that Cyborg Kong mentioned earlier refers to the slaves and guards who are responsible for guarding the bubble pod starting station in Red Harbor.

Obviously, the Five Elders did not expect this motley crowd to play any key role, and Cyborg Kong simply treated them as cannon fodder to fill the gap at the critical moment.

However, the slaves who were arranged by the Five Elders at the terminal of the bubble pod, namely, the entrance to Mary Geoise at an altitude of 10,000 meters at the top of the Red Earth Continent, were all selected strong men.

It is mainly composed of gladiators pulled from the arena and slaves of various special races including giants. No matter whether they are battle-hardened gladiators or those special races that are favored by the Celestial Dragons, their strength should not be underestimated.

Placing them at the terminal of the bubble pod can, on the one hand, catch the pirates who boarded Marijoa by surprise, and on the other hand, prevent these gladiators and slaves from having the opportunity to collude with the pirates or even turn against them.

Behind the second line of defense is the third line of defense composed of the Divine Army and the Army. The Five Elders have high hopes for this third line of defense. Even the CP agents who are supposed to be responsible for protecting the Celestial Dragons are assigned to this line of defense.

As for the arrangements after the third line of defense, even Cyborg Sora had no right to know. He only knew that the Knights of God and CP0 would not participate in the operations of the third line of defense.

In other words, there is an even stricter defense behind the third line of defense. Such an iron-clad defense is enough to make any enemy who wants to capture Mary Geoise despair.

However, as the unlucky guys who are responsible for guarding the first line of defense and have to face the Cosmic Dark Matter Pirates in their prime, neither Steel Bone Sora, who is in charge of commanding the operations, nor Sakaski, who has just arrived, can obviously understand the good intentions of the Five Elders.

"This is really...what if...I mean, what if the defense line is breached, we won't even have a chance to retreat, right?"

Doberman spoke cautiously, saying that if the enemy was just the Beasts or the Big Mom Pirates, the first line of defense would be more than enough.

But the current Universe Dark Matter Pirate Group is at least equivalent to the two major pirate groups plus hundreds of thousands of New World pirates. Even if they are against Marineford during the War of the Top, they can still fight.

Not to mention that above the two major pirate emperor groups, there is a monster who can suppress the two pirate emperors by himself. It makes people feel desperate no matter how they think about it.

Ghost Spider also frowned. The two lieutenant generals of the headquarters had the faith and courage to die for justice.

But now it has not reached that point yet, yet they have been placed in a situation where they are almost certain to die. Even though the two lieutenant generals of the headquarters are quite loyal to the World Government, they couldn't help but feel suspicious at this moment.

"Didn't you appeal to the Five Elders? Marshal Kong! This deployment is obviously unreasonable!"

Sakaski shouted in a low voice with great dissatisfaction. In his opinion, if he was the one who accepted the order from the Five Elders at that time, he would definitely argue with the Five Elders.

If he really wanted to fight this war according to the arrangement of the Five Elder Stars, let alone rebuilding the navy, even he himself would not be confident enough to survive until the end of the war under the siege of the Space Dark Matter Pirates.

"Are you questioning the arrangement of the Five Elders, Sakaski?"

Cyborg Kong's tone turned stern. He certainly knew that the arrangement of the Five Elders was unreasonable, but how could Marshal Kong, who had become a traitor, remind the Five Elders?

Even if others raise doubts, Cyborg Sora can fight them back on the grounds of maintaining the dignity of the Five Elders. If necessary, he can even take advantage of the issue to doubt others' loyalty to the Five Elders and the World Government.

Sakaski, who was full of energy, had his words choked back by Cyborg Kong. Under normal circumstances, he would certainly have enough confidence to question this obviously problematic deployment.

But right now he needs help from the Five Elder Stars, hoping that when the navy is rebuilt in the future, he can ascend to the throne of the Navy Marshal.

If you question the arrangements of the Five Elders now, the Five Elders might remember it and take revenge on you later.

By then, let alone ascending to the throne of Admiral of the Navy, it would be good if he could avoid being bullied.

"...No, I will obey all the arrangements of the Five Elders!"

Sakaski replied with a grim face that compared to having his loyalty questioned by the Five Elders and thus losing the chance to become the Admiral of the Navy, fighting the pirates to the death was actually a relatively good choice.

With his strength, it would not be difficult for him to escape unscathed as long as he was not attacked by two pirate emperors at the same time.

"Very good, how about you guys?"

Cyborg Sora nodded slowly, and his knife-like gaze fell on Doberman and Spider Demon.

"Of course we do too!"

Doberman and Ghost Spider were frightened by Marshal Kong and responded quickly, fearing that if they answered too late they would be accused of questioning the Five Elder Stars.

At this moment, the two vice admirals of the headquarters suddenly began to miss the naval marshal Borsalino. If Sakaski was replaced by Borsalino, he would definitely fight with the Five Elders to the end and would never obey such an obviously problematic arrangement.

But now that Sakaski has taken the initiative to surrender, the two younger brothers can only bow their heads obediently.

"Then the task of guarding the headquarters will be handed over to you, Sakaski. You will be responsible for guarding against possible decapitation actions by the enemy together with me..."

Seeing that Sakaski and his two former subordinates had chosen to obey orders, Steel Bone Sora had no intention of continuing to take advantage of the situation. Instead, he did his best to deploy the combat mission without violating the arrangements of the Five Elder Stars.

According to Borsalino's instructions, when the battle to defend the Holy Land begins, Cyborg Sora must not defect at the first moment, but must persist to the end and consume as much power as possible from the World Government and the pirates, preferably in such a way that both sides suffer losses.

After all, in the new world envisioned by Borsalino, there was no room for pirates to continue to exist.

Sakaski, who originally had some doubts, gradually dispelled his suspicions about Cyborg Sora, and even began to reflect on whether he was not loyal enough to the Five Elders and the World Government, otherwise why would he subconsciously question the arrangements of the Five Elders.

Just when Cyborg Sora had just arranged the combat mission, the Den Den Mushi of the command headquarters rang.

Those who can talk directly to the command headquarters' Den Den Mushi are either the key deployments of the first line of defense or the Five Elders who are high above.

At this time, the Dark Matter Pirates had not yet arrived, so it was obviously not the former who called the Den Den Mushi.

"What do you want, Saint Vochuli?"

Cyborg Sora took the microphone from his subordinate, took a deep breath, and spoke with a respectful expression.

Given Marshal Kong's qualifications, he shouldn't have to be so respectful to the Five Elders.

However, Borsalino's plan had already been carried out to the final step, and Cyborg Sora did not want any unexpected situations to occur at this time.

"Send Sakaski to Marijoa and repair the Red Harbor turret as soon as possible. Don't wait until the pirates arrive before it's completed!"

Saint Wochuli did not notice the change in Marshal Kong's attitude. After all, the Five Elders were already accustomed to this respectful attitude.

It would be better to say that there are very few people who dare to be as rude as Borsalino. At least the only one who has contradicted the Five Elders in this sea and is still alive is the rebellious Navy Admiral Borsalino.

"Yes! I understand!"

Cyborg Sora nodded in response. Saint Vorchuli didn't say how quickly he wanted it to be done, and he obviously didn't care if a large number of the laborers died of exhaustion.

Sakaski, who received the summons from the Five Elders, did not dare to delay and soon arrived in Mary Geoise in a bubble pod.

Compared to Red Harbor, which has almost become a large construction site, Mary Geoise has not built too many fortifications, but the defense here is obviously more powerful than Red Harbor.

Just the dozen or so gladiators and slaves who were born as giants were enough to give the enemies who boarded Marijoa a hard time, not to mention those guys who even Sakaski could vaguely feel threatened by.

Many of them were powerful men who once made a great name for themselves on the sea, but unfortunately the slave collars around their necks now proved that these slaves were helpless.

No one knew what conditions the World Government had promised them. The slaves who were once lifeless now all had red eyes, as if they were waiting for the enemy to land on Marijoa and rush forward to fight to the death.

Sakaski, who boarded Mary Joa in a bubble pod, obviously alarmed a lot of people. Fortunately, with the guidance of the CP agent, Sakaski was not mistaken for an enemy and passed through the second and third lines of defense smoothly.

Unfortunately, behind the third line of defense is the headquarters building of the World Government, and Sakaski was unable to see what kind of arrangements were behind the third line of defense.

But Sakaski had no time to think about it at this time, because all five Elder Stars were already present, waiting for him to come and meet them.

"Okay, no need to be so polite! Sakaski, you should know why we summoned you, right?"

Without waiting for Sakaski to salute, Saint Satan, who was a little impatient, waived his courtesy and asked with a stern face.

Because Borsalino was the naval marshal who led the rebellion, the Five Elders also disliked Sakaski, the naval admiral.

Fortunately, the Five Elders at this time also knew that Sakaski was on the side of the World Government, so they would not really vent their anger on him.

"I don't know, please let the Five Elders show me."

Sakaski, who had been mentally prepared when he came, consciously lowered his posture. Since Borsalino chose to betray the World Government and the Five Elders, he had to show his attitude towards the Five Elders and the World Government.

Only in this way can the Five Elders feel his loyalty and understand that he and Borsalino are not the same kind of people at all.

"Sakaski, do you think the current situation in Marinford is the result of the reckless behavior of that bastard Borsalino, or is it the common will of the navy's top brass?"

The Five Elders were also very satisfied with Sakaski's attitude. Nasushiro, holding a samurai sword, even deliberately slowed down his tone, suggesting that Sakaski didn't need to be too nervous.

However, Sakaski would not be fooled by the attitude of the Five Elders. Based on his understanding of the Five Elders, if he spoke a little ambiguously at this time, he might be regarded as either being half-loyal or absolutely disloyal.

"Disobeying the orders of the World Government, no matter what Marinford thinks, what they are doing is an act of rebellion!"

Sakaski said loudly and decisively, and at the same time acted as if he couldn't wait to lead his troops back to wipe out Marinford.

The Five Elders did not comment on this, but several of them nodded slightly, as if they approved of Sakaski's statement at this time.

"It's a blessing in disguise that the Navy still has a high-ranking official like Sakaski who is loyal to the World Government... But in order to avoid unnecessary unrest, the matter about Marineford should not be leaked for the time being. You should understand this, Sakaski."

The blond Peter Saint nodded in appreciation, but he still specifically reminded Sakaski to prevent this admiral who was loyal to the World Government from doing something bad with good intentions.

"Yes, I understand!"

Sakaski secretly breathed a sigh of relief. What he feared most was that because of Borsalino's rebellion, he would also be suspected by the Five Elders.

Fortunately, this did not happen, and the Five Elders were still willing to believe him.

"Very good, you can retreat first and assist Sora. After we defeat those despicable pirates, the World Government will give you the credit you deserve."

Saint Vochuli nodded with satisfaction, giving Sakaski a hint that couldn't be clearer in an almost blatant way.

As long as Sakaski can gain enough credit in the next battle, the position of the rebuilt Navy Marshal will naturally belong to him.

Upon hearing Saint Vochuli's promise, Sakaski's heartbeat quickened. He quickly suppressed his overly excited mood, saluted to the Five Elders with an extremely respectful attitude, and then retreated.

"What do you think?"

Maz Saint, who had not spoken a word from the beginning until now, raised his drooping eyelids, looked in the direction where Sakaski left and spoke softly.

"It has nothing to do with him. Borsalino can't afford to bribe Akainu."

Nasujuro Sei shook his head. If Sakaski could deceive his eyes when they were face to face, there was no need for him to continue to be one of the Five Elder Stars.

"Then follow our previous discussion and rebuild the navy with Sakaski as the core after this war is over."

Saint Wochuli spoke impatiently. It was during his tenure that Marinford escaped from the control of the World Government. If the matter was really investigated, Lord Im might not let him off easily.

Fortunately, after the navy is rebuilt this time, the Five Elders and the World Government's control over the navy will reach an unprecedented level. By then, there will be no need to worry about the navy's top brass causing trouble.

"The premise is that Sakaski can survive this battle. Let me make it clear that if Sakaski cannot make enough contributions in the next war, I will oppose him taking the position of Admiral of the Navy."

Saint Satan was leaning on a cane. He had been a little impatient just now, but now he had a cold look, as if the guy who was anxious and angry just now was not him.

"Seconded."

Saint Maz raised his hand to indicate his agreement with Saint Satan's decision. Their desire to rebuild the navy did not mean they could only rely on Sakaski to do so.

Since it was possible to send Cyborg Sora to the Marine Headquarters as the Admiral, it is natural to support other strong men to take over the position of the Marine Admiral now.

"Agree."

Saint Peter also raised his hand to signal, three to two, and Saint Satan’s decision quickly became the consensus of the Five Elders.

However, Sakaski, who was in a state of excitement at the moment, obviously did not know that the position of Admiral of the Navy that he had just been promised might fly away at any time.

After receiving the 'promise' from the Five Elders, Sakaski had initially planned to preserve his strength as much as possible, and to prioritize self-preservation when necessary, but all of this was thrown out of his mind.

Now he just wants to have a fatal battle with the pirates of the Cosmic Dark Matter Pirates that can demonstrate his strength. The best opponent would be Boros, but of course Kaido and Charlotte Linlin are also completely acceptable.

The best outcome of the fatal fight would be his complete victory, at least he would capture or even kill a Pirate Emperor, to let everyone know that he, Sakaski, is no less capable than Borsalino!

At this time, Kaido and Charlotte Linlin, who were on the spaceship Overlord, had no idea that they had been targeted by Sakaski.

Ever since a group of 'newcomers' came aboard the Overlord, the two Pirate Emperors, who were often used as training partners by Boros, now had an additional task of serving as sparring partners.

The two newly joined top fighters would challenge them to a fight almost every day. If the opponent was Tornado, it would be fine, because she had just eaten the devil fruit and had not yet fully developed the full power of the Animal-type, Bird-Bird Fruit, Mythical Beast, Garuda form.

He has only just started using Haki, and even with his super powers, he can only deal with Kaido or Charlotte Linlin for a while.

But Esdeath is different. This warlike female general of the empire has nearly perfect fighting skills and has also reached the pinnacle in the development of the power of imperial instruments.

After learning the three colors of domineering, she is qualified to fight against the top powers in the pirate world. Coupled with the special abilities of her stand, even the thick-skinned Kaido can't gain any advantage against Esdeath.

But Esdeath's warlike nature is almost engraved in her bones. Coming to the Overlord is like going home. Every day she is either fighting Kaido or fighting with Charlotte Linlin.

Occasionally, she would fight with Tornado who was angered by her. She actually developed the ability to heal herself from her stand, which was originally only able to absorb damage. This made things even more out of control, and Kaido and Charlotte Linlin beat them so hard that for a while they felt as if they had seen a ghost whenever they saw Esdeath.

'boom! '

The furious Kaido blasted the ice wall that blocked his way into pieces with a stick, and glared at Esdeath who came to him again with an extremely fierce expression.

"You bitch! You haven't had enough fights this morning, have you?"

Kaido, carrying a mace, gritted his teeth and cursed. With Baishou's character, he had never suffered such an injustice. If someone else dared to provoke him like this, he would have issued a thunderous warning.

But Kaido, who has fought with Esdeath dozens of times, knows very well how annoying this woman who plays with ice like Aokiji is.

It’s not that Kaido can’t beat Esdeath, but facing an opponent who can’t be killed but is not much weaker than himself, everyone would just want to stay away from him.

That bastard Boros said nicely that he would not interfere in their fight, but the last time he finally seized the opportunity and wanted to teach Esdeath a severe lesson, he was almost beaten to death by Boros.

"Ah, I just came up with a new move, and I want you to practice it with me."

Esdeath seemed not to notice that Kaido's eyes were about to burst into flames, and continued to speak righteously.

Anyway, Borsalino had promised her that she could fight anyone on the ship at any time and anywhere, as long as she could defeat them.

It's a pity that the gap in strength between her and Boros is too great, otherwise Esdeath would be harassing Boros right now.

Fortunately, the big guy Kaido is also good. He is strong and can take a beating, making him a very high-quality sparring partner.

If it was before she developed her Stand's healing ability, Esdeath would have to be more careful to avoid getting injured. After all, her physique was far from reaching the level of a monster like Kaido.

Even compared to Shanks, who is relatively weaker among the top strong men, he is still a step behind, and he will naturally suffer a disadvantage in a head-on confrontation.

However, once she develops the healing ability of her stand, all of this will no longer be a problem. As long as she is not seriously injured, Esdeath will be able to fight Kaido and Charlotte Linlin alive and well in a few minutes.

"You bastard! Who do you think I am?"

Kaido was so angry that he almost couldn't help but hit him with a stick. Fortunately, at the critical moment, a bell representing a summons came from the direction of the temple.

Kaido, who once hated this voice, suddenly brightened his eyes. Without waiting for Esdeath to react, he turned around and ran away with his mace.

Although they didn't know what Boros had called them for, it was better than fighting with Esdeath and getting frozen all the time.

"Hey? Stop right there!"

Esdeath didn't expect that Kaido, such an irritable old man, could actually hold back his temper. When she wanted to stop him, it was too late. She had no choice but to follow Kaido towards the temple. She did not forget that she is now also the top fighter of the Universe Dark Matter Pirate Group.

When Esdeath arrived at the gate of the temple, she saw the two sisters, Tornado and Blizzard, walking towards her from another passage.

The two "newcomers" who were both top fighters looked at each other, and sparks seemed to crackle where their eyes met.

Fortunately, the two did not fight outside the temple gate in the end, otherwise most of the pirates following them would have been in big trouble.

(End of this chapter)