Just when the entire Thutmose Kingdom was plunged into the chaos of war, no one noticed that a headquarters-class warship with a dog's head on the bow was slowly approaching from the distant sea.
"Vice Admiral, it seems that Rear Admiral Irwin and the others are in a tough fight. Do you want me to bring someone to help them?"
Wearing a gray suit with a top hat of the same color, plus a pure white cape of justice and a long black sheath sword on his waist, this person is Vice Admiral Garp's exclusive adjutant.
There is a legend in the Navy Headquarters that the strongest swordsman in Marineford may be the Rear Admiral Bogard who is unknown to the outside world.
The main reason is because in the past ten years, every time Garp caught up with the Roger Pirates, it was this adjutant who was responsible for stopping 'Dark King' Silvers Rayleigh.
Someone once said that if Rayleigh is the Right Fist of the Pirate King, then Rear Admiral Bogard is the left fist of the Naval Hero Garp.
"Bwahaha... forget it, this is a task that belongs to that kid, let them handle it by themselves for the time being." Garp looked into the depths of the island and laughed.
"But in my opinion, with Rear Admiral Dragon's current strength, the probability of defeating the 'Slaver King' Taklama is very low..." Bogard looked a little worried.
Although their location was quite far away from Shabak City, the Kenbunshoku Haki made them aware of the fierce battle situation at a glance.
"Isn't that great? Only by defeating an opponent that is difficult to defeat will your strength become stronger." When he said this, Garp's expression became slightly more serious.
"Both you and I know that Haki can only be improved in extreme situations. Although long-term high-intensity exercise also has an effect, the gap between the two in efficiency is too big!"
"..."
Regarding Garp's remarks, Bogard chose to remain silent because he knew that he could not change the other party's decision.
"Furthermore, in my opinion, the strength of this Slaver King is so-so, the Busoshoku Haki is so-so, and the Kenbunshoku Haki is not worth mentioning. The development of his devil fruit ability is the only notable thing. Although he is stronger than Dragon, he is not so out of his league that he cannot match him."
Garp, for some reason, was more talkative than usual, and his assistant Bogard became his best listener.
"In my opinion, this guy is the most suitable opponent for that kid at this stage. Presumably, he is also the opponent that he is most satisfied with. If you listen carefully, this guy is very excited now!"
After saying that, Garp laughed happily again. To be honest, he now began to have a good impression and gratitude towards the World Government.
Because without the decision of the top leaders of the World Government, Dragon would have no chance of becoming the commander of this operation. After all, he was just a Rear Admiral, and he had rebelled before.
If it were up to the Navy Headquarters to decide on its own. The task force to capture King Taklama and thoroughly investigate the Kingdom of Thutmose would probably be led by Sengoku himself, or even he himself would be sent, and Dragon would be, at most, a general assistant.
Unable to understand the intentions of the Five Elders in choosing Dragon as the chief officer for this operation despite all opinions, they also did not allow a Vice Admiral or higher to be sent.
Until now, Fleet Admiral Kong and Sengoku still suspected that the World Government was deliberately trying to trick Dragon to death.
Actually...he thought so at first, but now that he actually looked at the battle situation, he found that this was not the case. The Slaver King was not a completely unbeatable opponent for Dragon.
On the contrary, this mission to fight for the freedom of hundreds of thousands of slaves would only awaken Dragon's unbreakable will and inner strength, which would be the best catalyst for improving his Haki!
Bogard agreed with Garp's analysis.
Although Dragon is now suppressed miserably by the Slaver King, and his image is quite embarrassing, he could still feel his Haki aura becoming more and more powerful.
Besides, if he really loses in the end, it doesn't matter. Aren't Vice Admiral Garp and himself already here?
"Wait and watch. Let's see how long it takes for the Slaver King to make Dragon surpass his limits..." Garp crossed his arms and stared in the direction of Shabak.
The sky above that area has been occupied by a large amount of yellow sand, and a tenacious green whirlwind will appear from time to time.
At this time...
The battles of the other Navy officers were already over. After all, the effect of the Luxury Water is only five minutes, and they will automatically die suddenly after five minutes.
Therefore, although all of the fifty elites brought by Dragon were injured, fortunately none of them were killed. However, due to strong winds and debris, they had to retreat from the city and gathered on a high hill to watch the battle.
But the problem is that they can't see anything...
At this time, a Lieutenant Commander stood up and suggested to everyone: "Everyone, the situation is clear. We are of no help to Rear Admira Dragon here. It is just a waste of time, so I suggest that we support the battlefields on all sides."
"It's true..."
"We cannot lose more time."
The Lieutenant Commander's words immediately received approval and support from many people, but at this moment a Captain asked: "How are we going to go to various battlefields?"
"What does this mean?" The others looked at each other in confusion, thinking they would just run there.
Seeing the looks in the eyes of these officers, the captain understood that they did not realize the important point. He shook his head helplessly and said: "It seems that you don't know much about the desert."
"I am from Arabasta, and I would like to tell you that although the Kingdom of Thutmose is not as big as my hometown, it is still a medium-sized island."
"We have no drinking water, no tools to navigate, no mounts or vehicles. Running towards the sea of sand will only lead us to get trapped and die of thirst."
After the Captain said this, everyone suddenly realized.
In fact, they came here flying on a warship, but it still took them quite a while. If they had to return on foot...
Looking around, they saw an endless sea of golden sand, and they fell silent.
As for the flying warship, who knows where it was blown by the wind and sand in the distance. Even if it is found, Rear Admiral Dragon is busy now and there is no time to take them flying.
"What should we do?"
"We can't just do nothing here, right?"
These elite officers from the Navy Headquarters felt like they had all their fighting power but had nowhere to use it.
"Let's go rescue people!"
"Recall that the core goal of our mission is to save hundreds of thousands of slaves underground, not just to come and massacre the soldiers here."
"Most of them are either on the battlefield in all directions, or we have already eliminated them, so there won't be many guards inside."
Finally, a lieutenant who was rarely good at thinking stood up and pointed out a new direction for everyone, which also made everyone's eyes bright.
"Well said, Lieutenant Amos!"
"Saving hundreds of thousands of slaves is also a great achievement!"
"But how do we get down? I remember that the underground access is inside the city..." Another Lieutenant raised his own question.
"Leave it to me!"
At this moment, a sturdy-looking Lieutenant with sharp claws on his hands, with a wide smile, stepped forward. He activated his Mole-Mole Fruit ability and transformed into some kind of giant dark-skinned mole.
"Isn't it just digging a hole? Come with me!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the whole person was like a large black drill bit drilling into the sand layer, digging out a dark hole big enough to accommodate two people walking side by side...
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