Chapter 1804

As the Whitebeard Pirates charged into the plaza on the port, the war entered a white-hot stage. Except for Akainu, Sengoku, and Garp, all of the Navy's high-end combat power charged into the battlefield.

Cannonballs flew across the plaza, and from time to time, Navy soldiers or pirates were sniped by cold shots; most of these were the work of Qiyuezhe.

As soon as one Navy soldier or pirate fell, their colleagues or companions stepped over their corpses and charged forward.

On the execution platform, Sengoku took a pocket watch from his bosom. After checking the time, his gloomy expression softened a bit. There were ten more minutes; barring any accidents, this war would end in ten minutes, with the Navy side winning.

Sengoku took out a Den Den Mushi. The person on the other side of the Den Den Mushi seemed to have been waiting for a long time and answered immediately.

"Cut off all broadcast Den Den Mushi in ten minutes."

The things Sengoku had to do afterward could not be reported. Even if that matter succeeded, he would be unable to continue serving as Fleet Admiral and would have to carry that black pot on his back forever.

"2.475.55518."

A somewhat hoarse voice came from the Den Den Mushi, and Sengoku also spoke a string of numbers.

"Command received successfully. Expected to cut off all broadcast Den Den Mushi in ten minutes."

The communication ended there. Sengoku let out a long sigh and glanced at Ace kneeling on the execution platform. The previously planned execution time was a ruse; it could be said that Ace's execution time was random. As soon as the Whitebeard Pirates charged into the port, the countdown for Ace's execution began, with a time limit of ten minutes. For this, Sengoku did not hesitate to temporarily abandon the Navy's credibility. War was purgatory, and there was no integrity to speak of in purgatory.

The Navy Captain half-crouched behind Ace remained fully focused. He stared at the two shackles on Ace's hands without blinking, to avoid any further accidents.

Gurgle~

A feeling of hunger came from the Captain's abdomen. This feeling wasn't very strong at first, but after just a dozen seconds, he felt stomach acid burning his stomach, making his hunger even stronger.

With a 'drip', the Captain's saliva dripped onto the web of his hand. This made him feel a bit embarrassed, and he immediately wiped it clean on his clothes.

'So hungry, is there anything to eat? No, the Fleet Admiral's order must be carried out; I cannot leave.'

Perhaps even the Captain himself didn't notice that his pupils had turned dark red, and the color was getting deeper and deeper, as if dark red flames were burning within his pupils.

Right beside the Captain, Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang's dog paw waved, and he stored a pitch-black object into the team storage space.

The hunger in the Captain's abdomen seemed to want to swallow him whole. Saliva dripped uncontrollably, and a few drops landed on his hand. Just as he was about to shake the saliva off his hand, his gaze froze, staring fixedly at his right hand.

Crunch, crunch...

The crisp sound of chewing reached Sengoku's ears, which surprised him. Following the source of the sound, he saw the Captain half-crouched behind Ace chewing on something.

"What are you eating..."

After Sengoku saw the Captain behind Ace clearly, his eyes gradually widened.

"Fleet Admiral, I'm a bit hungry. It'll be done soon, very soon."

The Captain was chewing with a 'crunch, crunch' in his mouth. Looking at his right hand now, at least three fingers had been bitten off.

"You..."

Even Sengoku, who had experienced great storms and waves, was shocked by the scene before him. If the Captain had only eaten his own hand, Sengoku wouldn't have been this shocked; what shocked him was the other party's attitude right now.

"Fleet Admiral, Portgas D. Ace is about to be executed. Why not... let me eat him?"

The Captain licked the fresh blood at the corner of his mouth. Those eyes had completely changed; the whites of his eyes had turned pitch black, and within his pupils, it was as if magma fire was burning, a dark red. These pupils were somewhat similar to the Demon race, but with slight differences.

"!"

Ace's cheek twitched. Just a moment ago, he felt something warm splash onto his back. Now that he looked, it was clearly blood!

"..."

Sengoku stopped talking. Haki wrapped around his hand, and he punched toward the Captain. He wanted to blast the other party away from the execution platform, but he always had reservations; if he used his full strength, the execution platform would be destroyed.

Boom!

Sengoku's fist slammed into a black tentacle. This tentacle was as thick as an arm and had already deeply pierced into the execution platform, with pitch-black energy swimming within the tentacle.

"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, my master... is summoning me!"

The Captain stood up, and tentacle after tentacle erupted with him as the center point.

"Ah!!"

The Captain roared, his pupils turned pure black, and his whole body cracked like ceramic. If one were to knock open his shell, they would find that he was already an empty husk; the tentacle eruption just now had exhausted all his life force.

Hundreds of tentacles wrapped the execution platform inside, and Sengoku was pushed flying into mid-air by a huge force.

Inside the bucket-thick black tentacles, Ace's face turned pale. The slippery and cold sensation of the tentacles was like small insects crawling onto his body.

Rumble...

The execution platform couldn't bear the weight and began to tilt gradually, the steel bars twisting and making a teeth-aching sound.

Golden light appeared, and a tall golden figure appeared—it was Sengoku in his Great Buddha form.

Sengoku in his Great Buddha form was several times larger than before. He stretched one hand forward, and a shockwave spread from his palm, blasting toward the collapsed execution platform.

Thud!!

The white shockwave shattered a large area of tentacles, revealing the already tattered execution platform. Ace, who had been bound to the execution platform, had disappeared.

"Flame Commandment: Fire Pillar!"

A pillar of fire erupted from within the tentacles; it was Ace, who had already broken free.

Seeing Ace's empty hands, Sengoku in his Great Buddha form was furious and strode toward Ace. Although Ace had broken free, he hadn't managed to escape far, which was good news for Sengoku.

Actually, Ace was also a bit confused; he didn't even know who had saved him, and he wanted to know even more if the person who saved him had any follow-up plans, or if they had just left him there?

Not far from Ace, Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang's dog paws clapped repeatedly, extinguishing the flames on the tip of his tail. He had had a chance to save Ace and leave just now, but who would have thought that as soon as he helped Ace break free, Ace would use 'Flame Commandment: Fire Pillar'? It was fortunate that he ran fast, otherwise, he would have had his whole coat of fur burned off.

Looking at the tip of his tail, which was now somewhat bald and still smoking, Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang trembled with anger. His dog-life motto was that one could hit him or scold him, that was all fine; the only thing that wasn't allowed was to ruin his smooth and shiny fur—this was his fatal weakness.

Ace suddenly broke free, and Whitebeard, who was fighting two Admirals in the plaza, hadn't expected it either. Undoubtedly, this was good news.

"My sons, Ace is right ahead."

Whitebeard's roar made the pirates even more excited. Besides the pirates on Whitebeard's ship, the pirates from other affiliated pirate groups were willing to come to save Ace for three reasons. First, Whitebeard truly had a kindness toward them, and they were willing to risk their lives to save people for Whitebeard.

Second, they all had the 'mark' of the Whitebeard Pirates on them. If they didn't come, they would never be able to hold their heads high in the New World again and would be unable to continue being pirates. They were used to not working; how could they be willing to become ordinary criminals and live on the run?

As for the third point, there was selfishness involved. Once they successfully saved Ace, their fame and status would be different. Moreover, Whitebeard would have to show something after the war, such as re-dividing the jurisdiction of the territory.

Humans are not saints, let alone pirates. Whitebeard didn't love wealth, but that didn't mean all the pirates under him were the same. They were already very loyal to be willing to follow Whitebeard to Marineford.