He did not sense any danger. He had not even seen any sign of battle.
What kind of enemy... required Akainu to launch a Buster Call?
Before he could think any further, his adjutant handed over a Den Den Mushi that was ringing buru buru.
The moment he connected, the voice of a senior World Government official came through.
"No matter what you are thinking right now, and no matter what orders you have received.
"From this moment forward, follow the requirements of the Buster Call initiated by Fleet Admiral Akainu and carry out the complete destruction of the Sabaody Archipelago!"
At that moment, Vice Admiral Strawberry understood.
Akainu was once again doing the World Government's dirty work.
The previous Buster Call had been the same. While Vice Admirals like them, including Kuzan, had still been agonizing over the order, Akainu and the officers of his faction had been practically roaring to carry out the mission properly.
Fortunately, his side had encountered a meteor strike, and the mission had not continued.
Otherwise, Strawberry did not even dare imagine what kind of state he would have spent the rest of his life in after completing that Buster Call.
The Ohara incident could still be excused by telling himself that the archaeologists had brought destruction upon themselves, shifting the fault onto those scholars who had defied the law.
But the previous Buster Call had been nothing more than outright slaughter.
And judging by the senior World Government official's words, Akainu really had become Fleet Admiral after all?
'The moment he becomes Fleet Admiral, he starts wiping the World Government's ass. That really is just like you.'
Vice Admiral Strawberry mocked him inwardly, roughly understanding that there had to be something on that island the World Government wanted erased.
But he had no intention of disobeying the order. Rather, the Vice Admirals still serving at this stage were all more or less like this.
For veterans like him, the justice they had upheld their whole lives had been cracked open during the Marineford War.
They did not have the courage to break away and establish their own faction like Zephyr. They could not simply leave the Marines and join Cross Guild like Smoker. And they could not let go of the order they had maintained for so many years.
In that case, all they could do was stitch their cracked justice back together, patch it up, and keep moving forward until they died in battle for the justice they had chosen in the past.
Under such circumstances, Vice Admiral Strawberry no longer wanted to concern himself with so much.
"Open fire. Destroy the entire Sabaody Archipelago!"
Vice Admiral Strawberry hung up the Den Den Mushi and coldly issued the order.
The multi-barreled steel turrets on the large warship all aimed at the Sabaody Archipelago. The other large warships nearby made the same movement.
Clearly, all of them had received calls from senior World Government officials.
The only question was what exactly the World Government was so desperate to destroy...
"It's the Celestial Dragons!"
On the streets of the Sabaody Archipelago, nobles who had come from all over the world to buy slaves dropped to their knees along with the commoners in terror.
Saint Charlos, looking as if this was only natural, led along his beautiful slave and walked down the street in utter boredom.
His luck today had been too good. No matter what he played, he got the best result, and instead it made him feel strangely unsatisfied.
How boring. Could no one offend him so he could kill someone for fun?
No, wait. As a Celestial Dragon, why would he need a reason for anything?
No... there had indeed been restrictions. Ever since Saint Shalria had been brought back by the Marines, his father had suffered tremendous pressure.
Many Celestial Dragons had accused their family of causing the incident with the God Knights.
Saint Charlos felt indignant. With his mood worsening, he wanted to kill someone even more.
He immediately set his sights on his beautiful slave, but for a moment, he could not bear to kill her.
Although she was a slave he had only just obtained, for some reason, his luck had been much better while keeping her with him.
Saint Charlos raised the hand holding his gun, then lowered it again. As his gaze swept around, it suddenly fixed on someone behind the crowd.
A massive figure stood out sharply among the people.
His face was cold and stern, completely different from everyone else's panic. There was no trace of the awe one should have for Celestial Dragons.
He was also wearing a shirt with a target mark on it. It was practically begging someone to shoot him.
Most importantly, he was standing!
"You lowly insect over there! How dare you stand?"
Saint Shalria also noticed that glaringly conspicuous man. Almost at the same time as Saint Charlos, she raised her pistol and took aim.
The next second, two gunshots rang out together.
Just as Saint Charlos and Saint Shalria both revealed cold smiles...
They suddenly discovered that the massive figure had not reacted at all.
"How vile. You really do deserve to die."
Kuma coldly withdrew his gaze, then began moving around the area at high speed.
The nobles were left behind. The commoners were sent away. The human traffickers within the Sabaody Archipelago were likewise all left behind.
Once this was done, just as the CP agents took up guarded stances, and as Saint Charlos and Saint Shalria—
A sharp scream rang out in the sky.
"What's that sound?"
Saint Charlos subconsciously raised his head. What entered his sight was a dense rain of cannonballs falling from above.
And the words he had just spoken became the last words of his life.
Boom—!
A roaring explosion erupted on the street. A cannonball exploded not far from the two Celestial Dragons.
Shrapnel and firelight illuminated two blank, stunned faces.
Saint Charlos and Saint Shalria had never imagined they would encounter something like this.
"Where are my guards?! Hurry up and protect me!"
Saint Charlos shouted with practiced familiarity.
However, not a single CP agent who should have been guarding him made a move. Those who might have acted had been dealt with one by one after landing on the island.
The only ones remaining here were turncoats and impostors.
They silently vanished amid the explosions. A few of them coldly watched as the nobles, aside from the Celestial Dragons, were blown to pieces in the blasts.
Celestial Dragons who had lost their protection were no different from ordinary people.
Saint Charlos and Saint Shalria were utterly terrified.
Amid the chaos, the beautiful woman restrained by chains easily broke free of them. Under Saint Charlos's incredulous gaze, she patted both him and Saint Shalria.
Then, with the sound of Soru, Baccarat vanished.
What remained were two unlucky fools whose good fortune had been completely drained, as well as an activated Den Den Mushi.
In the next instant, a cannonball came screaming down. By sheer coincidence, it landed right between Saint Charlos and Saint Shalria.
Boom—!
The cannonball exploded, and firelight flashed.
Shrapnel tore through their special garments, spilling supposedly noble blood across the ground and buildings.
The Den Den Mushi recorded this rare and precious scene. It had been placed in an extremely conspicuous location, yet the dense rain of cannonballs never once struck it.
One had to know that the objective of a Buster Call was absolute destruction, so the first roar of cannon fire was only the beginning.
More and more cannonballs fell onto the streets. Merciless explosions, using this point as their center, spread outward in a frenzy.
If one pulled the viewpoint higher, they would discover that there were a full nine similar blast points.
At this moment, the entire Sabaody Archipelago fell beneath the bombardment!
Tens of thousands of cannonballs came crashing down with shrill screams.
Towering clusters of buildings collapsed under the cannon fire, and even the towering trees were continuously bombarded until several were blasted apart.
Even the Marine branch stationed on the Sabaody Archipelago was not spared.
A Buster Call was indiscriminate coverage.
Only several hours later did the saturated bombardment finally come to a stop.
Vice Admiral Strawberry immediately landed on the Sabaody Archipelago, which had already been reduced to scorched earth, to inspect whether there were any survivors who needed to be dealt with.
Other Vice Admirals landed with him, beginning their searches from different directions.
Vice Admiral Strawberry walked a long way down the street before suddenly stopping at one place.
He stared at the wreckage not far away. The shattered fragments were extremely recognizable.
After searching through his mind, the only thing he could associate them with was one thing—the clothing of a Celestial Dragon!
At that moment, Vice Admiral Strawberry realized something was wrong.
He quickly inspected the scene... and then discovered that it was not one Celestial Dragon.
There were two!
"Is this some kind of joke?"
Vice Admiral Strawberry's eyes slowly widened. He could not understand the situation at all.
In this world, almost no one dared impersonate a Celestial Dragon. One could even say that anyone who dared forge Celestial Dragon clothing would immediately have Cipher Pol agents knocking on their door.
But asking him to accept the truth in front of him was far too unreasonable.
He could not help looking around, and then he found a Den Den Mushi that had survived the cannon fire.
He opened it, checked it, and Vice Admiral Strawberry completely gave up. No matter what his original thoughts had been, now there was only one.
He would either retire on the spot, or perhaps even be held accountable and sent to court.
The latter probably would not happen. If this was truly investigated, then it would be Akainu's problem instead.
'Right. Akainu. The one who issued the Buster Call was him.'
Vice Admiral Strawberry frowned. If there were Celestial Dragons here, why had Akainu launched a Buster Call?
The whereabouts of Celestial Dragons were constantly monitored. Rather, the Marines along their route would all provide protection.
"Report it."
In the end, that was the decision he made, and he called over the other Vice Admirals.
Compared to Vice Admiral Strawberry, the other Vice Admirals were all in a state of deep confusion.
Because they completely failed to understand the reason this Buster Call had been launched.
Everyone had long known about the rotten state of the Sabaody Archipelago. It was precisely because the Celestial Dragons had demands that no one had ever dealt with it.
Without a powerful enemy present, what meaning was there in launching a Buster Call on the Sabaody Archipelago?
There was even a newly promoted Vice Admiral complaining that this had been nothing but a meaningless bombardment.
However, when they saw what Vice Admiral Strawberry held in his hands, they truly realized what kind of trouble they had gotten themselves into.
After a brief moment, the five Vice Admirals reached a unanimous consensus.
No matter what had happened, as long as it was true, the fault lay with Akainu.
The Buster Call had been initiated by Akainu's Golden Den Den Mushi. They, the Marine Vice Admirals, had merely obeyed orders.
The fault lay with Akainu, not with them. They truly could not shoulder a black pot of this level.
"It could also be fake."
One Vice Admiral forced out that possibility with a strained smile, but none of the others could smile.
Even thinking with their feet, they knew that the launching of a Buster Call could not possibly be without reason.
Soon, the incident at the Sabaody Archipelago was rapidly reported back to Headquarters.
However, at this critical juncture, the Revolutionary Army's impostor calmly intercepted the report, buying enough time for the other members to withdraw.
By the time someone noticed something was wrong and truly contacted Sengoku...
It was already too late!
(End of Chapter)