"Admiral Kizaru, should we contact Admiral Kuzan and confirm the situation on his side?"
Vice Admiral Momonga looked toward the man lounging on the sofa as he spoke.
The person lying there wore a yellow-and-white striped suit and a pair of sunglasses. His weathered face carried an unmistakably lazy expression.
It was Admiral Kizaru.
"No need," Kizaru replied lazily without even opening his eyes. His fingers remained interlocked over his abdomen as he continued reclining on the sofa. "If Kuzan discovers the War Pirates, he'll definitely notify us."
Momonga opened his mouth, but in the end, he could only sigh helplessly.
Although Kizaru's attitude was undeniably laid-back, there was nothing wrong with what he had said.
More importantly, Kizaru outranked him.
Momonga had no grounds to criticize the Admiral.
"Kizaru... I really don't know how to deal with a guy like you."
Momonga quickly turned back toward the window.
However, neither he nor Kizaru noticed that another person was already inside the room.
Kaito stood nearby, rubbing his chin as he quietly observed the two Marines.
Of course, although they appeared to be in the same room, the two sides were actually located in completely different spaces.
Kaito was currently standing inside the strange green space created by the Door-Door Fruit.
His attention was mainly focused on Kizaru, who was lounging on the sofa.
After visiting Franky's dismantling house and taking Franky away, Kaito had come directly to the shipyard.
Although he had already decided to clash with the Marines here in Water 7, he still intended to take the ships he had ordered before the battle began.
With the abilities of the Munch-Munch Fruit and the Door-Door Fruit he had just acquired, taking away the custom-built ships wouldn't be particularly difficult.
The real problem was the Marine guards.
Especially Kizaru.
So...
"I need to lure Kizaru away first."
Kaito lowered the hand that had been rubbing his chin.
He turned around and left the room, moving through the Door-Door Fruit's space before heading to a deserted area outside the shipyard.
He then took out a Den Den Mushi.
"Robin, it's me."
"Captain, what's the situation on your side?"
"Just as expected, there are Marines guarding the shipyard. And there's also a Marine Admiral here—Kizaru."
"I see."
Robin fell silent for a moment.
"It looks like we can only put Plan B into action."
"Yeah. We'll go with the plan."
After a brief conversation, Kaito put away the Den Den Mushi.
He then opened another air door and stepped back into the Door-Door Fruit's strange green space.
The reason Kaito had arrived in Water 7 ahead of everyone else wasn't simply because he wanted to obtain the Door-Door Fruit or Franky's Pluton blueprints in advance.
He had also come to investigate the situation surrounding their newly built ships.
For that reason, he and Robin had prepared two separate plans.
Plan A:
If there were no Marines guarding the newly built ships, Kaito would take them directly.
Afterward, he and Robin would launch a coordinated attack against the Marines from both the inside and outside.
Plan B:
If the new ships were heavily guarded by the Marines and couldn't be taken directly, Robin and the others would launch an attack first.
This would draw away the Marines guarding the ships, allowing Kaito to take them while the enemy's attention was elsewhere.
Now that Kizaru himself was guarding the shipyard, Kaito could only proceed with Plan B.
Returning to the shipyard, Kaito headed directly toward the port.
The enormous ships docked there were the new vessels he had ordered through Lafayette and the others.
There was no need to wonder how Kaito recognized them.
Their size and appearance alone made them impossible to mistake for anything else.
The Galley-La Company had clearly not disappointed him.
The newly constructed ships completely met his requirements.
There were fifteen ships in total.
Three main ships and twelve auxiliary ships.
The main ships were gold in color, while the auxiliary ships were silver.
Each of the three main ships was even larger than the Marines' top-class warships.
Excluding logistical personnel, ships of that size could carry well over a thousand combatants each.
The twelve auxiliary ships were slightly smaller, but they were still comparable in size to the Marines' finest warships.
Each one was capable of carrying more than a thousand troops.
Furthermore, the main structure of all fifteen ships had been constructed from Treasure Tree Adam.
Their durability was more than sufficient to allow them to sail through all kinds of dangerous seas.
In order to avoid being discovered, Kaito could only inspect the ships roughly from within the Door-Door Fruit's space.
Even so, he was quite satisfied with their appearance.
The fifteen new ships looked both ferocious and imposing.
From a distance, they resembled enormous sea monsters.
"We'll just wait for Robin and the others to arrive."
Kaito sat cross-legged on the deck of one of the main ships and waited calmly.
The War Pirates weren't a force the Marines could afford to underestimate.
Besides Kaito himself, the crew also included Robin and numerous other powerful cadres, along with tens of thousands of soldiers.
In order to ensure the success of the ambush, the Marines had deployed an exceptionally powerful force.
In addition to Admirals Kuzan and Kizaru, they had dispatched three Vice Admirals, more than ten Rear Admirals and Commodores, and over five thousand elite Marine soldiers.
At that moment, Marine personnel were hiding throughout the various ports of Water 7.
At the same time, Marines stationed at each location constantly used telescopes to observe the distant sea in their assigned directions.
Suddenly—
At one of the ports, a series of black dots gradually appeared on the distant horizon.
The black dots continued approaching Water 7.
As they drew closer, their true forms quickly became visible.
They were ships.
"Something's happening!"
"The emblem is a skull with two golden swords crossed behind it!"
"Stay alert! The War Pirates have appeared!"
On a building near the port, a Marine soldier lying on the rooftop and responsible for reconnaissance immediately became alert when he spotted the approaching fleet.
As the ships drew nearer, he raised his binoculars and clearly saw the pirate emblem displayed on their sails.
The skull with two golden swords crossed behind it.
There was no doubt.
The approaching fleet belonged to the target of their ambush.
The Marine soldier immediately took out a specially prepared Den Den Mushi and quickly reported what he had discovered.
Pururururururu—
Pururururururu—
The distinctive ringing of Den Den Mushis began sounding throughout the various ports of Water 7.
As the news spread, the Marines hiding in different locations immediately sprang into action.
They began gathering at the port where the War Pirates' fleet had been discovered.
At the same time, the information was quickly transmitted to the shipyard.
"Understood. We'll head over to provide support immediately."
Inside the shipyard building, Vice Admiral Momonga wore a serious expression as he ended the call.
He then turned toward Kizaru.
The Admiral had opened his eyes and risen from the sofa.
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