474. Temptation

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The war in New Marineford is not as tense as the one in the destroyed Marie Geoise. Not only do the pirates only want to prevent the Marines from leaving, the Marines themselves don't seem to be putting much effort into breaking through the pirates' blockage. It's like they don't really want to leave their base to help the Celestial Dragons.

Well, that's really the case, after all, as Aokiji and the high-ranking officials are more focused on the survival of their men. They are surrounded by so many powerful pirate crews, after all, and they were not ready for this, so they don't have many personnel like when they were about to execute Ace.

Even though the Marine is World Government's subordinate, which means they are Celestial Dragons' subordinates, it doesn't mean that they will just sacrifice their men willy-nilly. Besides, the Marine higher-ups are always thinking of being independent of the World Government, or to be precise the Celestial Dragons.

They don't want to keep being Celestial Dragons' pawns because those guys always made them break their rules and justice. Everything that the Marines hold would be ignored as long as the Celestial Dragons command them. They who should protect people would even slaughter a whole island if it's the World Nobles' command.

Deep in their hearts, the Marines actually hope that the Celestial Dragons would be annihilated. Well, maybe not everyone, but it surely is the case for people like Aokiji, Garp, and Sengoku. If the Clown Pirates could defeat the Celestial Dragons, then the Marines won't need to obey those trash with God-complex.

Though the real problem is if that truly happens, then they would need to make sure they won't be under the pirates' control. After all, if the pirates win this Great War, then it would mean that the pirates are the new ruler of this world replacing the World Government.

That's why Aokiji wants to save his men's energy so they could fight later to prevent that. The other high-ranking officials agree with his plan, so they don't fight seriously now. They have also called reinforcements from other bases to protect the Marines from being destroyed.

After all, even if the World Government collapses, the Marines still need to stand tall to keep the world order. Without the Marines, this world will be in chaos because there won't be anyone to keep the rule and order. These pirates won't bother to do that after winning this war, after all, so the Marine needs to survive.

Thankfully though, the Marine can see that the pirates aren't trying to destroy the Marine for now. So there is still a chance for the Marines to get through this. Though there's no way they would rely on the pirates' mercy, so they are preparing a counterattack to repel the pirates later after seeing the progress of the war.

Repelling the pirates would show that they are still strong and they can uphold their justice even without the World Government. Well, the pirates never planned to destroy the Marine anyway, so they shouldn't be that worried about this. But they would look weak if they survive because the pirates are retreating, which will make their image drop in the public's eyes, so they need to repel the pirates with their power.

Right now in New Marineford, battles are erupting in some places. There aren't that many battles because only the powerful Marines and Pirates are fighting. The cannon fodders are just watching from the back while giving support occasionally.

It happens on both the Marine and Pirate sides. The marine soldiers are surrounding their base building while pointing their guns at the pirates while the pirate crew members are staying on their ships with their weapons ready too.

Only the pirate leaders are invading the island to fight against the Marine's high-ranking officials. There are only battles of big shots here, so the war here is still earth-shattering despite not everyone fighting.

Transcended as Lord Buggy-Part 3Where stories live. Discover now