I Punch the Tailed Beast Ball

Before arriving at Marine Headquarters, Nagasawa did not notify them that he had already defeated the Beasts Pirates and killed Kaido.

Nagasawa simply led a group of Beasts Pirates prisoners, carrying Kaido’s corpse, into Marine Headquarters.

There were many Marines at Marine Headquarters, so such a unique procession naturally attracted a great deal of attention.

When the numerous Marines saw the enormous corpse, their expressions were filled with shock.

Some Marines even wondered why this pirate’s corpse looked so much like Kaido of the Four Emperors of the New World.

As for why they didn’t think it was actually Kaido’s corpse, it was simply because they instinctively felt it was impossible.

After all, Kaido was one of the Four Emperors of the New World, a pirate on the same level as the Whitebeard Pirates that Marine Headquarters had fought before.

So even though the person leading the procession was a Marine Headquarters Admiral, they still subconsciously believed it wasn’t Kaido.

’Even after mobilizing all of Marine Headquarters, they couldn’t deal with a Four Emperor. What could a single Admiral do?’

The defeat at the Summit War had left the Marines lacking confidence. However, a closer look revealed that among the prisoners were many of the Beasts Pirates’ high-bounty elites. Even King, the strongest of the Three Calamities beneath Kaido, was among them, though he looked rather miserable, having lost one of his wings.

Vice Admiral Onigumo happened to pass by and witnessed the scene. His face showed extreme shock as he froze in place.

After standing there blankly for a moment, Onigumo hurried over to Nagasawa and asked, ”Admiral Nagasawa, is this the corpse of Kaido of the Beasts?”

”That’s right.” Nagasawa nodded calmly.

Although Onigumo had already confirmed it in his heart, hearing Nagasawa’s answer still filled him with excitement. Kaido of the Beasts had actually been killed by the Marines. This was an enormous victory.

For a moment, countless scenarios flashed through Onigumo’s mind.

For example, perhaps this had been a top-secret Marine operation with the highest level of confidentiality, involving multiple Admirals joining forces to annihilate the Beasts Pirates before finally killing Kaido.

Otherwise, there was no way to explain how he, a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral, hadn’t heard even the slightest news about a campaign against Kaido. This had to be an absolutely top-secret operation!

The surrounding Marines heard their conversation, and their eyes nearly popped out. It really was the corpse of Four Emperor Kaido.

”So this is Kaido of the Beasts? He’s enormous!”

”They actually took down one of the Four Emperors. Did the higher-ups carry out some incredible secret operation?”

The Marines were all extremely shocked and began discussing it excitedly.

The Marines longed for a great victory because the defeat at the Summit War had left too many negative effects on them. And it seemed that a great victory had arrived before they even realized it.

Fortunately, this was a military base. Although everyone was curious, basic order was maintained, and no one disrupted Nagasawa’s group.

Because the news was so astonishing, it spread extremely quickly. Before Nagasawa had walked very far, a group of familiar faces had already found him.

”It really is Kaido’s corpse.” Sengoku recognized at a glance that the enormous corpse belonged to Kaido.

Immediately afterward, waves surged through Sengoku’s heart. During his time as Fleet Admiral, the Whitebeard Pirates had utterly ruined the Marines’ reputation, yet not long after his retirement, the Marines had regained their honor.

However, Sengoku was still extremely puzzled. How could such a major operation against one of the Four Emperors happen without him hearing a single thing? Although he was no longer Fleet Admiral, he hadn’t completely retired. Had he been excluded?

Garp didn’t think that much about it. He laughed heartily, stepped forward, and forcefully patted Nagasawa on the shoulder.

”Hahaha, as expected of the Marine I had high hopes for. You quietly accomplished something earth-shattering.”

Nagasawa also played along and replied, ”Of course. Now that I’m an Admiral, I have to accomplish something.”

”This isn’t just ’something.’ Kaido is dead, King has been captured. Was the entire Beasts Pirates wiped out?” Sengoku asked as he stroked his graying beard.

”Not completely. I didn’t encounter Queen and the pirates under his command. But I eliminated most of the Beasts Pirates’ forces. The Four Emperors have become history. Now there are only Three Emperors,” Nagasawa said.

”Only Queen is left? Then that’s not much of a problem.” Sengoku couldn’t help smiling. The greatest strength of the Beasts Pirates had always been Kaido. The Three Calamities were powerful, but they were no match for an Admiral, let alone with only Queen remaining.

Although he was no longer Fleet Admiral and none of the credit belonged to him, Sengoku still felt happy for both the Marines and the world.

With one of the Four Emperors eliminated, the Marines would reestablish the prestige they had lost during the Summit War. At the same time, the world’s balance would be greatly affected by the disappearance of one of the Four Emperors, weakening the pirates’ overall strength.

For those who dreamed of the sea and aspired to become the Pirate King or an Emperor of the Sea, this would be a significant blow, producing an extremely positive effect on the world as a whole.

”Now that the operation is over, can you tell me how Sakazuki came up with the plan to eliminate the Beasts Pirates?” Sengoku couldn’t help asking.

He had earned countless achievements in his lifetime and, together with Garp, had made immeasurable contributions to the Marines.

Yet in his later years, the Summit War had become an enormous stain on his record.

As another Four Emperor crew, even if the Beasts Pirates were weaker than the Whitebeard Pirates, the difference couldn’t have been too great. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been Four Emperors in the New World—there would have only been Whitebeard.

Sengoku believed neither his intelligence nor his strength was inferior to Akainu’s, so he was extremely curious how Akainu had managed to defeat the Beasts Pirates.

Without knowing the answer, Sengoku felt he probably wouldn’t even be able to sleep peacefully at night.

”What Sakazuki’s plan?” Nagasawa looked at Sengoku in confusion. What did his fight against the Beasts Pirates have to do with Akainu? There hadn’t been any plan at all.

Nagasawa’s question left Sengoku stunned, making him think Nagasawa was deliberately keeping it secret.

”Was everyone ordered not to leak anything before the news was released?” Sengoku asked.

At that moment, Tina, who was standing behind Nagasawa, couldn’t stand it any longer and stepped forward to explain.

”This operation happened because of an accident.”

”While we were on patrol, we accidentally arrived at Onigashima, the Beasts Pirates’ headquarters. We were attacked by the Beasts Pirates, so in order to protect ourselves, Admiral Nagasawa killed Kaido and then defeated the Beasts Pirates.”

Sengoku became even more bewildered. He wanted to tell Tina to listen to what she was saying.

Just how do you patrol your way to the Beasts Pirates’ headquarters? How badly do you have to lose your way before you end up there? And you still dare sail a warship?

And because you were protecting yourselves, you killed Kaido and wiped out the Beasts Pirates?

Then what exactly had his Summit War been? He hadn’t even managed to protect himself.

Feeling the oppressive gaze of the former Fleet Admiral, Tina looked up at the sky, as though something there had suddenly caught her attention.

She had to make it sound better somehow. Getting lost sounded much better than acting without authorization. In any case, this mission had earned them tremendous merit. No matter how ridiculous the reason sounded, neither the Marines nor the World Government would care.

Because no matter what had happened, they had killed Kaido and destroyed the Beasts Pirates, the Four Emperor pirate crew that had dominated the New World.

After thinking for a moment, Sengoku asked, ”So you’re saying Nagasawa led the expedition against the Beasts Pirates by himself? Just with this handful of people?”

Tina nodded.

Sengoku instantly felt everything go black before his eyes.

Had his deployment during the Summit War really been that bad?

No, it hadn’t. He had lured the enemy deep into the battlefield, surrounded them, and even used schemes to sow discord.

So why had the carefully planned Summit War ended with the Marines suffering heavy losses and losing all face, while Nagasawa casually led a small group of Marines—not even including a single Vice Admiral—and with such a lineup managed to eliminate the Beasts Pirates?

Sengoku suffered a tremendous blow and began questioning his life.

”It was mainly thanks to Admiral Nagasawa’s overwhelming strength. During his battle against Kaido, even after being ambushed by King, Admiral Nagasawa dealt with it calmly, killed Kaido, and severely wounded King,” Tina said without sparing any words of praise, doing her best to describe how powerful Nagasawa was.

Sengoku raised his head and looked at Nagasawa, filled with emotion.

He remembered Tina, the highest-ranking Marine in Nagasawa’s group. Although she was fairly strong, there was no way she could fight Kaido or even any of the Three Calamities. That meant Nagasawa had undoubtedly played the decisive role. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Nagasawa alone had suppressed an entire Four Emperor crew.

Sengoku also remembered sparring with Nagasawa once.

At the time, he had been suppressed by Nagasawa, but Sengoku hadn’t paid much attention to it because he hadn’t used his Devil Fruit, and his Devil Fruit was extremely powerful.

Thinking about it now, Nagasawa had probably held back a great deal. Otherwise, with the strength to suppress the entire Beasts Pirates, there was no way they could have fought so evenly when Sengoku hadn’t even used his Devil Fruit.

”With a Marine like you leading the new era, seeing the end of the Great Pirate Era in my lifetime is no longer impossible,” Sengoku said with a cheerful smile.

Sengoku even felt a little envious of Akainu.

With a fierce warrior like Nagasawa under his command, breaking the existing balance would only be a matter of time.

If he had possessed an Admiral as formidable as Nagasawa back when he was Fleet Admiral, there would have been no need for the Summit War at all. He could have simply attacked them one by one.

Very soon, the news spread throughout Marine Headquarters. The prisoners Nagasawa had brought were shackled with Seastone handcuffs and imprisoned, while Kaido’s corpse was handed over to the Marines.

When Akainu first heard that Nagasawa had led the Marines in wiping out the Beasts Pirates, his immediate reaction was that some absurd rumor had started spreading through the Marines.

Could it be that Nagasawa had hired people to spread it?

But after Akainu saw Kaido’s corpse, he fell silent.

He remembered what he had told Nagasawa before—not to come back until he had dealt with the Beasts Pirates.

So the method of dealing with the Beasts Pirates had been to wipe them out completely.

He had to admit that it was indeed an effective solution.

It was just incredibly difficult to accomplish.

Akainu suddenly wanted to tell Nagasawa the same thing about Whitebeard, Red-Haired Shanks, and Big Mom.

However, considering that such a conversation would probably lead to an argument, he decided that, as Fleet Admiral, it was better to remain steady.

Naturally, the Marines quickly informed the World Government of such an inspiring piece of news.

In an instant, the entire world learned this news that was enough to shake the world.

Inside the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, the Five Elders were also paying close attention to the report.

”It seems the World Military Draft truly was the right decision. Some experts hidden among the civilians concealed themselves too well. There was actually someone capable of killing one of the Four Emperors,” said the man wearing a blue suit with a long beard.

”Even Kaido, that pirate known as the immortal monster, has been killed. The seas should become much calmer from now on,” said the man with white curly hair, wearing a flat cap and a black suit.

”This Fujiwara Nagasawa isn’t bad. We can shape him into a new Marine hero to inspire other Marines while also intimidating pirates.”

”But with Kaido’s death, the Four Emperors have become Three Emperors. The balance among the Three Great Powers has been affected. We must pay close attention to this,” said the only man present who was not wearing a suit.

The other four all nodded.

To the World Government, pirates were not something that absolutely had to be eradicated. In fact, under the current balance of power, pirate forces were also an important part of maintaining stability.

As those standing at the pinnacle of authority, the Five Elders cared most about whether an incident would upset the balance and make the world unstable.

When the newspapers reporting Kaido’s death spread across the world, regardless of whether people believed the news was true, they were all deeply shocked.

Some applauded, believing that the death of such a notorious pirate was wonderful news.

Others felt regret over the death of this Emperor of the Sea, believing that the overall strength of the pirates had weakened.

Overall, however, those celebrating far outnumbered those mourning.

Because the largest group in this world was still ordinary civilians.

It was difficult to expect ordinary people to like pirates. Not every pirate was like Luffy and his crew. In fact, they were the exception.

Most pirates were just as Nagasawa remembered them—murder, arson, looting, and pillaging were the norm.

Not only among ordinary people, but even among pirates themselves, many considered this a good thing.

The Great Pirate Era had lasted for so long that the New World had long since been completely divided among the Four Emperors.

If someone wanted to make a name for themselves, after entering the New World, they basically had no choice but to join one of the Four Emperors’ crews. Otherwise, it was very difficult to establish a foothold.

Now that one of the Four Emperors was gone, a vast territory had suddenly become vacant, along with an empty position among the Four Emperors.

For ambitious people, this was an excellent opportunity.

New World, Whole Cake Island.

After Charlotte Linlin happily finished eating her dessert, she saw the news that Kaido had been killed.

Instantly, she flew into a furious rage and let out an enormous, bizarre scream.

Whether because Charlotte Linlin’s voice was simply too loud or for some other reason, the strange scream actually caused physical destruction to the surrounding area, and even her sons wore pained expressions.

”Kaido, you were actually killed by the Marines,” Charlotte Linlin growled angrily.

Charlotte Linlin and Kaido had known each other for a long time. They had both once been members of the Rocks Pirates.

Charlotte Linlin had even been the one who gave Kaido his Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit. She had always regarded Kaido as her younger brother, even if that younger brother had never been particularly obedient.