Chapter 177

Over these past few days, the Navy had long since investigated several other routes, and at this moment, they had also arranged troops along these other paths, led by other naval officers.

Upon learning of the situation on Akainu's side, they quickly made their own responses, successively dispatching warships to strike at the Sky Island!

However, not even an hour later, Akainu and his men saw several warships falling from the sky one after another, nearly crashing right into them!

It turned out that no matter which route one took to reach the Sky Island, they would ultimately pass through the sea area in front of the Gate of Heaven—the very same area where Lin Xuan and his group had previously encountered Gan Fall.

And that location was, in fact, exactly where the Knock-Up Stream was aimed!

Therefore, whenever a naval warship arrived at that spot, Lin Xuan would sense it and immediately fire a Kamehameha directly at it.

Thus, for every warship the Navy sent, he sent it away; he simply did not allow a single ship to land on the Sky Island!

From the sea area near Jiayadao, all Akainu and his men could see were warships falling one after another, with batch after batch of naval soldiers left severely injured and dying!

Eventually, one naval Vice Admiral managed to dodge the direct hit of Lin Xuan's Kamehameha. As he fell toward the sea surface, he remained conscious, used Moonwalk to slow his descent, and reported the situation above to Akainu.

After Akainu reported the news to Navy Headquarters, he heard Aokiji say: "The person attacking the naval warships must be Lin Xuan! He is the only one on the Sky Island right now who can control lightning and has the ability to do this!"

Upon hearing Aokiji's assessment, Sengoku fell silent.

A moment later, Sengoku, on the other end of the Den Den Mushi, finally spoke: "Sakazuki, all of you, withdraw for now!"

"What?!"

Akainu asked, his face full of shock: "Fleet Admiral? Do you mean we should just let it go after losing so many soldiers?"

Sengoku said helplessly: "There is no other way. At present, we cannot determine the opponent's true strength, and they hold the geographical advantage. Continuing to force our way in is simply thankless and exhausting! Rather than continuing to suffer worthless casualties, it is better to conserve our strength and wait for a better opportunity."

Akainu unwillingly proposed a suggestion of his own: "Fleet Admiral, I suggest gathering a group of high-ranking officers at the rank of Rear Admiral or above, led by me personally, to assault the Sky Island again! We will definitely be able to take them down!"

In Akainu's view, the reason the previously dispatched warships were shot down one after another was simply because there were no sufficiently powerful individuals on those ships to block the opponent's attacks.

If he were to personally lead a group of naval powerhouses, he would certainly be able to break through the opponent's attacks.

However, Sengoku said firmly: "I said, withdraw the troops. This is my order!"

Akainu clenched his fists in anger, but in the end, he could only say in a deep voice: "I understand!"

"Damn it!" After hanging up the phone, he angrily smashed a table nearby to pieces!

The Vice Admirals and Rear Admirals behind him all stood in fearful silence.

After a while, Vice Admiral Onigumo stepped forward and asked: "Admiral Sakazuki, then we..."

"Retreat!"

Akainu ultimately accepted Sengoku's order and gave the command to everyone.

"Yes, Admiral!" Numerous officers responded to the order and hurriedly went down to notify the entire fleet to retreat.

Akainu walked onto the deck alone, his gaze fixed on the cumulonimbus clouds above, his fists tightly clenched: "Daring to trample upon the Navy's justice—I will definitely personally wipe you all out!"

Up on the Sky Island, Lin Xuan waited for a long time without seeing any more warships appear, so he knew what the situation was down below.

He couldn't help but curl his lip, looking unsatisfied, and said: "Just a few warships and that's it? The Navy really has no guts!"

However, he soon stopped paying attention to this matter, because at that moment, he happened to see in the Dimensional Chat Group that, within the live stream, Uchiha Shisui had finally found an opportunity to seal Kaguya Otsutsuki after a prolonged battle!

PS: Thanks to 【???】, 【Master Lin】, 【Muyu Youlan】, 【Xu Kang】, and 【I Love Reading】 for their generous tips!