Chapter 227

As for Blackbeard, thanks to Red Hair's delay, he managed to slip away successfully.

Only Blackbeard had no pirate ship, nor had he seized a single warship — just a small sailboat, drifting across the sea.

Thinking about it, Blackbeard really is pathetic; in this war he himself set off, he gained nothing, achieved none of his goals.

In the end, he still had to flee like a stray cur, tail between his legs.

The war was over, but the exhausted Sengoku still could not rest.

While ordering people to treat the wounded Marines on one side, he had Aokiji temporarily handle all Marine affairs; he himself headed for Mariejois.

Regarding the results of the Summit War, and how to deal with the Five Emperors' Luo Xing of Sabaody next, he had to personally report to the Five Elder Stars.

But Sengoku's handling of the matter left Akainu, the greatest contributor of this war, extremely dissatisfied.

Sengoku agreeing to Red Hair's unreasonable demands was one thing, but he actually let Aokiji act as proxy for internal Marine affairs — what does that mean?

It's plain as day that he wants to groom Aokiju as his successor!

But on what grounds is Aokiji more qualified than he, Akainu, to succeed as Fleet Admiral?!

Aokiji is usually lazy and slack, slacking off only slightly less than Huang Yuan.

In this Summit War, Aokiji only froze Whitebeard's tsunami at the start, then spent half the day dawdling with Diamond Jozu.

How could that compare to him, Akainu?

Fire Fist Ace was executed by him, and Whitebeard basically died at his hands too!

How can Aokiji's merits compare with his?

Sengoku is far too biased!

Akainu clenched his fist, furious, and left with a dark face.

194. Hawkeye's shock, Red Hair's choice, the curtain-raiser of a colossal war!

What Red Hair actually took with him was only Whitebeard's corpse; Ace's body had been incinerated to ash by Akainu's magma, leaving only a handful of bone fragments.

Not long after Red Hair departed, Hawkeye caught up.

Accompanying Red Hair were also the grief-stricken Ma Erke, Jozu, Vista, and other remnants of the Whitebeard crew.

After Hawkeye boarded the ship, he frowned and asked:

"Red Hair, where's Beckman? Why don't I see him?"

Beckman, as Red Hair's right-hand man and vice-captain of the Red Hair crew, logically could not possibly be absent at this time.

Red Hair's eyes filled with sorrow as he said in a low voice:

"Beckman is dead. To save us, he was killed by the combined giant of Beasts Kaido and Xia Luote·Lingling."

"What!"

Hawkeye's whole body shuddered.

Beckman's strength could match Red Hair's, and was evenly matched with him, Hawkeye — yet he was killed!

And from what Red Hair said, had Red Hair not fled, he too would have been killed!

How did Beasts Kaido and Xia Luote·Lingling suddenly possess such tremendous power?

Hawkeye took a deep breath and said:

"Combined giant — you mean those two Emperors used the legendary Potara earrings?"

Red Hair sighed and said:

"Yes, the Potara earrings boosted their strength to an unbelievable level! Their combination technique, Heaven-Overturning·Sea-Dominating, possesses the power to destroy heaven and earth!"

Hawkeye was so shaken he fell silent; only after a long while did he say:

"Red Hair, what you lost to was not Kaido and Big Mom, but that man."

Red Hair knew exactly who Hawkeye meant by "that man" — if not the Five Emperors' Luo Xing, who else could it be?

It was precisely because of that man's invention that the tide of the war was greatly altered, especially the pattern of combat among top-tier powerhouses.

Under normal circumstances before,

if top-tier powerhouses wanted to determine a victor, they would have to fight for days on end at the very least.

With a dual-Emperor configuration, the Red Hair crew blocking the Kaido-Big Mom Alliance this time — even if they couldn't succeed, retreating unscathed would certainly have been no problem at all.

But in reality, it took the sacrifice of vice-captain Beckman just to barely escape.

The fundamental reason lies in Luo Xing's heaven-defying invention.

Therefore,

what Red Hair lost to was not Kaido and Big Mom, but Luo Xing, who wasn't even on the scene at the time.

Hawkeye continued:

"That man, seizing the opportunity of the Summit War, had the Beasts crew and Big Mom crew seize Whitebeard's territory in the New World on one side, while personally striking out to destroy Impel Down and occupy Sabaody."

"Although the Summit War has ended, it is merely the prelude to an even greater war!"

"A new era that no one can stop is about to arrive!"

"Red Hair, and gentlemen of the Whitebeard Pirates, what do you plan to do?"

A long silence.

Ma Erke said with a lifeless expression:

"I plan to bury Old Man's corpse and Ace's ashes in Old Man's hometown, and guard that place from now on…"

"What changes the world will undergo, which direction the era will develop — none of it concerns me."

Diamond Jozu, Flower Sword Vista, and the other commanders exchanged glances.

The pirate crews under the Whitebeard banner would basically scatter on their own.

But these commanders could not — they had no ships of their own; the Moby Dick was their home.

But their home was already destroyed. Though the destroyers were the Marines, the true culprit was Blackbeard Teach!

Qiao Zi and several other captains clenched their fists and said:

"We must not let Tichi the bastard escape—we must avenge Sachi and Old Man!"

Red-Hair opened his mouth but held back.

Even if he urged the Whitebeard remnants to avoid further conflict with Blackbeard, they would not listen.

Red-Hair sighed again and spoke:

"The era truly cannot be reversed, but I still believe the new era will not be opened by Beasts!"

Hawk-Eye asked: "Why are you so certain?"

Red-Hair patted his empty left arm:

"Because I long ago bet my own arm on the new era!"

Red-Hair had always believed:

Luffy, of the D. clan, who inherited Captain Luo Jie's straw hat and ate the Sun God Nika fruit, is the Joy Boy, the savior who will finally liberate the world.

And not just him—Deputy Captain Lei Li also firmly believed this.

Red-Hair had spoken with Lei Li by Den Den Mushi and knew the latter had already gone to the Revolutionary Army's headquarters.

Lei Li intended to train Luffy, hoping the Sun God Nika fruit would awaken soon and change the dire situation.

"I'll hold fast in the New World, waiting for you to come, Luffy!"

Red-Hair thought with unwavering resolve.

……

……

The Red Line, Holy Land Mary Geoise, deep within the Palace of the Ancients.

The Five Elders knelt on the ground, enduring the supreme wrath of the Almighty Im.

"You not only failed to kill that man, but let him destroy Impel Down and seize Sabaody—you five are worthy of death!"

The Five Elders trembled all over, drenched in sweat, pounding their heads frantically:

"My lord Im, we are worthy of death—we will surely restore the situation and retake the Sabaody Archipelago…"

"Then why are you still here?!"

Im roared in thunderous rage, and the spiral-patterned eyes shot out blade-like glares.

"If you do not retake Sabaody, you five need not return!"

The Five Elders quivered and replied:

"Yes, My Lord Im!"

They rushed back to the Chamber of Power and immediately summoned the Supreme Commander of Sea, Land, and Air, Bone-Empty.

Just then, Warring States also arrived.